Meet the French metal band, Furies!
Source photo: https://www.facebook.com/furiesofficial/photos/3734886849856937 Hi, Furies! Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions! Can you quickly introduce your band to our readers? Lynda Basstarde: Hi! To summarize and keep it simple, FURIES consists of 2 girls and 2 guys. On guitars, there is Billy Lazer and Sam Flash, on drums Zaza Bathory and on bass and vocals myself, Lynda Basstarde. We do Heavy Metal with touches of Thrash, Speed, Hard Rock. This current line-up has been around for about 4 years, we released a tape demo “Unleash The Furies” in 2017 and then, the album “Fortune's Gate” in October 2020. How do you manage your band in such a particular context (global pandemic, no concerts…)? Lynda Basstarde: That's the question! We are trying to adapt ourselves. It is true that this pandemic has radically changed the pace of the band, but we are trying to optimize the situation. We were able to spend more time working on the release of the album, but also composing new songs. For some, this situation of confinement weighs on morale, like many artists in the end, but we focus on goals and stick together and be there for each other. We are already very happy to finally be able to find ourselves rehearsing and moving forward. There is also a lot of work to manage concerts that have been postponed, to see what 2021 has in store for us! You released your album, “Fortune's Gate”, in October 2020. Can you tell us a few words about this album? How long have you worked on it? Lynda Basstarde: Since the arrival of the guitarists in the band around 2016, we have refined some old songs and especially tackled to compose new songs that clearly define our symbiosis and musical alchemy. As I said, after this tape demo from 2017, other tracks quickly emerged. We are multi-songwriters, usually guitarists come up with riffs that we arrange together or someone brings in a whole skeleton of a song. I do all the writing of the lyrics and the melodies of the song. For this album “Fortune’s Gate”, we recorded bass, drums, vocals at the famous Labomatic Studio in Paris, run by Dominique Blanc-Francard and Bénédicte Schmitt, more famous for recording variety. But we met sound engineer Igor Moreno, who got on with it right away, having the same vision of how it should sound. The guitar takes were recorded in the Home Studio and Sam Flash and all sent to Italy, to Simone Mularoni (DGM group) from Domination Studio who mixed and mastered everything! The album was already ready in February 2020 and we had planned a release later due to the pandemic in particular and to be able to surround ourselves with professionals to work on the release. If I'm not mistaken, this album was very well received by your fans and by the media, not only French but also foreign. How does it feel to have such feedback? Lynda Basstarde: We are obviously delighted to have such feedback! When we compose, we do it authentically and it comes from the heart and the guts. Having your work exposed, dissected for all to see can be scary in a way. But it's unique to any artist and we're happy to be able to share it and stir up emotions in some people, who can identify with the lyrics or just enjoy listening to the songs. This international openness shows that music is universal and transcends borders, we are very happy to have these doors open. Shortly before the release of this album, you also revealed a music video for “You & I”. How was the shooting experience? Lynda Basstarde: We had everything planned in advance for the shooting of the clip “You & I”, namely the rental of a room in an audiovisual school, as well as the rental of specific equipment both in terms of lighting and camera and all the filming crew. We had planned an aesthetic-based clip. But unfortunately, the day before the shoot, the school had to close for the first confinement so we ended up deciding the day before on a plan B! Thus, we were able to find a shed at the last minute to shoot the music video, but technically and in a reduced way. The day of shooting was very productive, no downtime, the team of director Hugo Poisson was efficient and all in freezing cold! We can also see the bass drum head sticker that we made for you. Can you tell us about your experience with Distrolution Merch? Zaza Bathory: Yes and don't worry, it's very good ;) Obviously, after working on the aspects of the clip, it was at the last moment that I realized that it seemed important for the name of the band to appear on my bass drum. So it was a week before the shooting that I contacted Distrolution Merch to order it! And I received it on time, just the day before the video, all with friendly customer service. On the other hand, drummer friends, don't do like me, and take your time to stick it, because I really did it hard on the big day between the set up and the makeup!
In general, is there a merch item that you attach particular importance to? If yes which one? Lynda Basstarde: Personally, I would say the traditional T-Shirt because in our Metal world, it is really an essential item, in its own right. We display and claim our favorite bands by proudly wearing the colors. It is a garment with powerful symbolism. And concerning FURIES, I would say that the tape is really nowadays a cult object and especially sexy when it comes in different colors, and also by its small size and the nostalgia that goes with it. I'm sure that like everyone else, you're really missing live shows. Do you already have dates planned for 2021? Lynda Basstarde: Indeed, we revolved around one date per month which implies a certain pace of work, as well as dates abroad including Sweden, Denmark and Germany. These concerts are therefore postponed in part. We have scheduled dates which are still being discussed for the start of the 2021 school year. We of course hope to be able to play beforehand, everything will depend on how the current situation develops! To close this interview, can we talk about your future projects? Lynda Basstarde: We are currently working on live performances, so in residence to set everything up from a technical point of view, we continue to rehearse and compose new songs! We also follow the sales of the album, our merch, and the administrative side. We hope to resume concerts as soon as possible! Zaza Bathory: Yes and after this residency we will seriously start working on the second album. We already have songs in the works and quite a few riffs coming from Billy Lazer in a case of ideas. The key now is to do the Tetris to make a record that I hope will be released in a less chaotic period! Thanks for your time!
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