2016-04 Chips & Beer
What psychedelics do you partake in as a band, in rehearsal. Especially in the songwriting process?
Antoine Hadjioannou: Actually nothing, we're pretty much sober when we practice. But it doesn't mean that we do not go through amazing psychedelic journeys... the music is the drug.
How do you remember the good parts from improvising? Do you record everything?
AH: Yes we record a lot. While listening, different things can grab our attention, including "accidents", and then we start again from there, including the rupture in the continuum. But even though we improvise a lot during the writing process, it's never "out of the blue", we most of the time start from a rhythm, a bass or guitar line, or just a specific sound, but we always have a direction.
How much are the pedals important? Do you have custom made ones?
AH: I'm the drummer, all my pedals are DW. But, yes effects are important, only as tools though. We do not rely on it, but use them when needed. And yes, we do have a few custom made ones.
What part do you have in engineering and recording of your own music?
AH: It depends of the album, we recorded and mixed Descension and Finsternis ourselves, while Occult Rock and Voix were done at Drudenhaus studio, a very special place in the western reaches of France, far from the cities. Even though the sound ingeneer handles the engeneering / recording / mixing and mastering, he does it according to our will, as we are present through the whole process. The method is pretty experimental. No receipe! As he says it himself, Aluk Todolo isn't easy to record as we focus on details of the sound that usually don't matter so much, something that is more about vibration than tune. We record live, which means that we take a lot of time finding the position of the instruments, amps and mics in the room, in a way to have a raw mix that is already satisfying.
"Occult Rock" actually sounded more like krautrock to me, settling into the motorik groove with the repetition. "Voix" is much more evolved. To what do you attribute this achievement?
AH: It's hard to tell, we are servants of the music so we do what the music requires. Every album has its own vibe and life. But maybe the fact that we recorded Occult Rock in Drudenhaus led us to focus on sound textures, timbres, and residual melodies during the writing, so it might have led to this "more evolved" thing you perceived.
Your previous recorded works are relatively quite calm compared to the live show. "Voix" seems the closest to the energy of your live show. Was this something you guys were striving for?
AH: Yes, more than anything else we wanted to capture the energy of the band and the intercation in between the three instruments in the very instant.
That single lightbulb of yours has been quite effective in small venues. How did you guys settle on such a minimal How important is it? And how do you adjust to playing bigger stages and festivals?
AH: Our light show is pretty much the same in any venue, no matter its size.The light bulb is here since our very beginings. When the band was formed we used to practice in a garage with a horrible neon tube as only light that we swiched off immediately, so we were in complete darkness. After ending a couple of rehearsals with bleeding hands and bruises we brought the light bulb which never left us. Now it's connected to the guitar signal for more hypnotic effect.
Besides St. John's Church in London, have you played any other sacred places?
AH: Yes, we recently played st Merry church in Paris, it was awesome. Playing in a sacred place gives a special feel, that is both what we seek and what we need as musicians, to become a link between the invisible and material worlds.
Do things ever get away from you live? Do you have non-verbal cues, telepathy, or other means, to rein it in, or do you go for total abandon?
AH: Well the first thing to feel at ease is to know the music by heart, with a physical memory, then you can go for total abandon without fallling in the well. Telepathy surely is at work too, but I guess we name it vibrating on the same wavelength.
What's the most bizarre reaction you've had from the audience, or fans?
AH: We played this show in a very crowed venue a few years ago, it was packed but by the end of the gig it seemed empty. We thought that everybody had left, but in fact they were lying on the floor.
Have you moved away from the Satanic ideas of Diamatregon?
AH : I joined Diamatregon for the album Crossroads, which was already a step away from the early satanic vibes.
Is the wordless approach a way of expressing that, or are there still Satanic ideas at play even without the words to say it?
AH: There's nothing satanic about Aluk Todolo, and the wordless approach has nothing to do with it. But Satan is only a name, among many others, given to one of the Antediluvians, who are our energies. His presence actually depends of who is listening, as our music works like a mirror.
There are many parts, where you lock into a riff, like a Slayer riff fragment in "7:01." That song probably has the most direct riffing. Have you guys ever cut riffs that were, say, too Black Metal or too Death Metal?
AH: Not really, that is not the way we proceed. We are not working with a stylistic approach. We need a feeling of absolute necessity. If fragments of Death Metal, Hawaian music or AfroBeat find their way into our music, it is not deliberate.
Is the current that you seek to tap into distinctly French, or does come from the cosmos? If the latter, have you found a specific fountain from which this current flows? Any "space" real or imagined that has supplied you with the juice?
AH: I'm not sure I understand what you mean, but I'd answer cosmos, as to any question. The "source" of inspiration is something that is difficult to locate. Aluk Todolo is about vibration, synesthesia and entheogenicity. The way we proceed is kind of mediumnic, as I said we empty our minds to let the forces come in. Then it's all about vibrating together, in the very instant. That's certainly not specifically French.
I hear lots of moody American vibrations akin to bands slint, Bitch Magnet, or Jesus Lizard. Ever get into those bands?
AH: No, sorry. I don't listen to any of those bands. But maybe the others do. We have very different taste in the band.
What about Lard Free. You into those guys?
AH: Yes Lard Free is more my thing, I didn't listen to them since a long time though. I must say I'm a bit obsessed with the band Magma since a few years, as well as with John Coltrane. I don't feel the need for anything else, it's all there to me, and it is infinite.
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