Video interview with Malemort at the Hellfest Festival!
2. So, verdict? Indeed, it was strong, and you are the first ones to have the whole band! So in fact, two surprises. The first surprise it's that we felt comfortable on this big stage, while we are used to smaller scenes. One day, it pays visibly! And then, second surprise, we did not expect to have so many people in front of us. I did not expect, after the first title, to have people behind the control room. People do not move to visit, in fact! And when I see people, who, even in the back, sang our lyrics. That's... It's the surprise visit! I was impressed that, in fact, we started the set, there was already a lot of people and the more it went on, the more we saw the waves of people arriving, who stayed! You know the guys who don't have faith in them! Ah, but it's for us, that?! It was amazing! They didn't leave! That's right, they didn't leave, they stayed. You must have had a good view from the stage. Yeah, that's it! We don't realize in fact, what happens behind! You see very well... You see very well, when you're on stage, when an audience is behind, when an audience becomes more numerous, when an audience is a little bit distracted... That, you feel it very well! And me, this surprise of the crowd hyper receptive and that does not stop agglomerating and yeah, that's it! There were also hardcore fans who were there from the start, you know, the first ranks, Malemort t-shirts etc. Second thing, when we ended up at the Rock-Hard signings we were told: “Well... maybe there will not be a lot of people, but it's nice to do it”. And we ended up being late for an interview. I had to talk with 10 minutes late, but there was a lot of people! They were nice people. People who had bought albums for a long time. People who had just discovered but who were taking the time to come and see us in signature, while there are other bands to go see after, you know? It's surprising! It was awesome during the autograph session!
You have a style of your own. Was it intended in the Malemort guideline or was it done naturally in the composition process? It was wanted because the idea, it's that we all did our things in metal, in different stuff. The idea of Malemort was initially, indeed, to offer a style which is really ours. Which plays on other levers than what we can hear fluently. Otherwise, most styles, there are lots of other bands who do them much better than us, you see? Your second album “Ball-Trap” came out at the end of last year. Can you tell us about the milestones that followed the release of this record? (Xavier) Well “Ball-Trap”, the first thing was the avalanche of rave reviews on the album. Including Rock Hard. Rock Hard, it was double album of the month, it is true that we had set the bar high. We said that we couldn't miss it, that one. We worked a lot, it was hard. We had that, after, nice first parts too. And then, the people who were talking to us about the fact that “Damn you should be at the Hellfest”, “It would be cool if you were at the Hellfest”. And then, that's the kind of things that you do not dare to hope. (JC) What must be highlighted, for me the turn anyway, for Malemort, that was the moment we ended up playing at the Divan du Monde. We ended up with Acyl and 6:33. And it was packed! And it was purely the French scene and Parisian! And you see people wearing the Malemort t-shirts, who are singing songs. People you don't know! Who know the text better than you! And you say “shit”! And regarding the meetings, I would say, more professional, it was the turning point. At the date level, it was the turning point! Opening of the Hellfest, Metal Days, Kave Fest, etc. This year 2018 seems very promising in terms of festival and live. (Xavier) Yeah, but we'll have to be measured on that. That is to say, we do the MetalDays, after that there may be dates which will appear in October to try to do a little bit France, you know! That's not sure yet! And then we will try to take only big occasions, because we have to focus on what comes next and to compose. And that's a process that requires to be fully there. So we'll see, we don't know exactly! (JC) What needs to be emphasized is that in fact, what Xav says, we don't really know. Because in fact, today, we do everything in self-production. It's a personal investment of everyone, and that is huge. Today we focus on concerts and on today. The promo, the concerts, the life of the band, it's a dog's life. We have to give it all! And today, in fact, so that we can devote ourselves to an upcoming album, we need to clear some time and that is primary! So we find ourselves, all together, and today, we can't. Later, it will come, I think we will focus on 2019. But anyway, we're motivated as ever! That's for sure! The goal is to release something. If it's big opening parts, big proposals, we will say yes. But for the rest, we will have to calm down a bit, because we can't do everything at once. And us, in our band actually, the concept of album is primary. For us, music is the key. We do not release CDs or EPs with the idea of justifying our next concerts. It does not work like that, here. The idea is to create a beautiful work, well, something we can carry, which we can be proud of, which we can consider that it brings this small stone to the building! What is your view on the French scene? The French scene, she craves rings of hats! Basically, we now have a distribution, it's Season of Mist. Everything else, we manage alone. However, we still have really cool results. Here, we play at the Hellfest. There is not a structure, especially for a genre a little hybrid like ours, to say “Come on, we take the reins and we go, we try it”. And that, we know it's like that generally. Now, in the musical landscape, international and French even more, because there is no cash, finally, that's the goal of every day. Either you put your hands in grease, either you move forward. So we do it, but that's why it's big tiredness, big moments of work and we do things one after the other. It's personal investment, it's the passion! (Seb) We have a critical mind! We arrive at the end of the interview. Do you have a last message to convey? (Julien) Valérie Lambert, I love you! (Xavier) Nah, thank you to everyone who worked their ass off to take transports, the day before yesterday, yesterday, people we don't even know. Who showed up to be able to be at 10:30am at the Fest, in front of the scene. And that, we had a lot of testimonies, and it's amazing!
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