Tag: Interview

Mixing it up with Andrew Saks of FLDPLN

You’ll remember Andrew Saks from Sway and the seminal track ‘Fall.’ which came out way back in 2003 and remains a cult shoegaze classic to this day.

Andrew aka ASAKS is defined by his experiments with audio. As Sway he didn’t hesitate a moment as he moved from classic shoegaze on The Millia Pink and Green, to game-changing bleepy-bloops on This Was Tomorrow. If there’s anything that defines his music, it’s that it has remained undefinable for a decade and a half.

Today, Andrew is FLDPLN and he’s just put out his first album, Let You Down. In this interview, He’s going to tell us about his evolution from Sway to FLDPLN, how he conquered uncharted territory (again – this time it’s hip-hop), and if we’ll ever see him shapeshift back to the Sway we once knew.

AE: OMG you’ve lost your vowels! What is FLDPLN?

ASAKS: Ha! FLDPLN is vowel-free for “field-plan”, which is derived from my other life/day job where I’m a utility a designer or planner. I thought it would be kind of a funny way of branding my music –  a weird way of bridging dimensions. The day job is such a big part of my life, and it really keeps me from doing as much music as I should be or would like to, but I can’t escape it.

I know it’s my job, but I’m having trouble defining your sound. Could you do it for me?

I’m not really sure what to call it or how to define it either. I guess it’s primarily electronic music with maybe some lo-fi hip hop? I sort of look at it like sound collage. The other night I was trying to think of a food that would be metaphor for the sound of what I’m doing. The best I could come up with was some sort of parfait, but then I thought of Halo-Halo, a Filipino dessert. It’s like a big cup of shaved ice, some cheese ice cream, prune or taro ice cream, condensed milk, coconut, gummy candies, sweet corn, dried fruit, mochi… and pretty much anything else that’s sweet. It looks like a parfait when you get it, then you mash the hell out of it and mix it all up. It’s amazing – all these layers and textures mushed together. FLDPLN is kind of like that. A couple of hip-hop guys told me my stuff was ‘chill’. So… noisy chill-hop?

Talk me through the evolution from The Millia Pink and Green > This Was Tomorrow > Let You Down and why you felt you needed a new identity for the last one.

With The Millia Pink and Green I was still very much enamored with huge, dramatic guitars and swirly Robin Guthrie-ness. I just wanted to make music that was like windy+carl but with really melodic bits to it. I loved Slowdive, and at that time (maybe like 2000-2003) I felt like that whole shoegaze thing was so dead that the handful (or so it seemed at the time) of bands doing it were unique in a sense that we were holding on to these sounds when so many other bands were going very snappy, pop-punk and all that. Or like rap-metal shit. I wanted to do something that reflected what I liked and made me feel nostalgic.

In about 2004 or 2005 I had a couple of friends that were messing with electronic stuff, like Fruity Loops (pre-audio FL) and they got me into it. I got into Ableton Live, which is THE greatest instrument/audio workstation ever made. This Was Tomorrow as Sway and the ASAKS singles I did for Saint Marie Records compilations were meant to be a bridge between the shoegaze stuff and my love of electronic stuff.

I was always fond of 80’s pop stuff, even some of the cringe-worthy, sugary sweet stuff. I’m also a die-hard old-school video game nerd, so I love chiptunes sounds. I’m a decent guitar player, but for some reason the whole guitar thing annoys me a lot. How many pedals do you have? What kind of pedals do you use? What guitar? I feel so ordinary as a guitar player – it just bores me. With electronic music and synthesis, I feel like there’s this whole endless universe of sounds that one can create. When you start smashing sounds together, it’s kind of like the whole shoegaze/noise thing but using digital tools. I’m completely captivated by the possibilities. FLDPLN is going to be my outlet for the things I’ve been experimenting with on my own since 2006 or so. My Northern Two album with Seth from Sway was kind of a beginning to this I suppose.

I think many of us loyal Sway fans saw something along these lines coming our way since This Was Tomorrow. But I have to admit, the hip-hop component is a welcome surprise. What’s the story behind that?

I was really hoping NOT to lose the Sway fans with this. I feel like shoegaze/dreampop fans have the potential to be really open-minded about mixing sounds and stuff, so I’d hoped I really wouldn’t alienate anyone that’s been following Sway for so long. Since I was a kid, I’ve always loved rap music. I kind of have a love/hate relationship with the genre these days. There’s a lot of really cool, more underground stuff out there. You know like more indie rap than the big, over played shit you hear on hip hop radio. A lot of that stuff annoys me because of the really basic, crank-it-out production and over the top misogynist lyrics. I’m an art guy, so I won’t fault peeps for making their art, just some of it’s not for me. I love the artists featured on the Let You Down and picked them out because of their varied and unique sounds. The idea of featuring some hip hop artists came from one of the first times I did a little street performance/busking deal, just out making my beats when I had a few dudes with their crew come by and start freestyling over my shit. It was kind of a ”um, yeah… that kind of sounds legit!” moment. I’m excited about the potential to do more production for others.

Do you think you’ll ever go back to your shoegaze roots and one day we might hear another ‘Fall’?

Hmmm. I dunno. I feel like that’s kind of flown, as far as the guitars thing. MBV is back. Slowdive is back. Ride is back. I feel like the time for homage is over. There’s ways I can make music and sounds I can explore that don’t necessarily have to step in on that territory. I will always have those sounds and the Sway sound as part of my production, so you will absolutely hear more huge swirly textures. The next FLDPLN release will feature some downright ambient stuff, but it will be mostly synth stuff. I love dramatic soundscapes. It’ll be in the mix.

I know I’m not the only one to think this but we’re all happy to have you back on the scene. What’s been keeping you busy since This Was Tomorrow?

My day job. I’ve been desperately trying to tough it out and make music for years but it’s been slow going, and I’m a very harsh critic when it comes to my own stuff. The FLDPLN album is actually the second album I’ve done since then. The first one started out very This Was Tomorrow-ish. I put it on ice. I started doing a lot more field recording stuff and sampling and stuff and that led to what you have with the Let You Down. I also used a lot of sounds that I made on my phone using music apps and stuff. If you listen really close, and I hope some folks will, you’ll even hear some Sway samples from The Millia Pink and Green in there. I sampled my own stuff! I’ve just been plugging away. Last year, I got a new position at work (field planner) and I now work closer to home and have more time to make music so there will be more on the way. I already have a rough framework for the next FLDPLN release, which will probably be an EP.

Tell me about what inspired the music and the songwriting on Let You Down.

Like most of the stuff I do, nostalgia is the main driver. I love mid-century modernism and while it’s become super hip over the last ten years or so, I still really notice the beauty in things that were once supposed to be part of the future, and were so contemporary at the time, but have been abandoned and neglected. I’m really influenced by architecture (a field I wish I would have studied professionally) and print art.

I absolutely love 50’s and 60’s jazz. I love Expressionist art and things that experiment with texture. Street art gets me going. I’m just very interested in making very textural, layered but not necessarily chaotic music. I like fuzzy, broken sounds. For the past five or so years now, a lot of what I’ve done is experimenting either in my home or out busking. I’ll improvise using synths and collected samples and just make a mess. These sessions usually have their golden moments, so with Let You Down I tried to do an album that sort of captures that feeling. It’ll be an ongoing challenge. The improvisational spirit is a focus with this project. I love the accessibility of electronic music, and the potential for textural experimentation. Making sonic collage really makes me happy. I just hope people enjoy listening to it!

Perhaps it’s too early to ask this question, but what’s next for FLDPLN?

I’m going to be working on a follow-up EP with about 5-6 songs that I hope to release by the end of 2018. It’ll be a similar vibe, but there’s definitely going to be some very ambient stuff in there. I do love my ethereal stuff, so I have some pieces that I’ve already put together with some really pretty stuff. I’m not sure if the next release will feature any guest artists yet, but I’m open to it. I’ve already discussed with a couple of different peeps. We’ll see. For now, I’m looking forward to playing versions of the tunes on Let You Down out at some shows and just enjoying having something new out!

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Let You Down released on 23 March, 2018 and can be bought here.

Dawn Breaks Through: In Conversation with Jeff Kandefer of the Daysleepers

I cut my shoegaze teeth on The Daysleepers back in 2008. To me they were the most enigmatic of the new lot of shoegazers, dropping the majestic Drowned in a Sea of Sound and immediately vanishing into the ether leaving the rest of us hanging on for a decade before announcing their next full-length. Creation is out Fall 2018.

As it turns out they aren’t all that inaccessible – they’re just regular, busy humans. Jeff Kandefer kindly consented to being interviewed for AE and I had the chance to ask ten years worth of questions about the band, their new album and marine life.

AE: There’s this music review trope that goes ‘no review of a shoegaze album released after 1995 is complete without a reference to how it is influenced by MBV/Slowdive/Ride.’ While I am sure this is not entirely untrue, I feel it’s unfair to the work and creativity the bands put into defining their sound. I can tell a Daysleepers track apart from a stack of other bands by the music alone, and I know I’m not the only one. This is just a really round-about way for me to ask the question – how did you and the band come to discover the sound that defines The Daysleepers?

Jeff: The sound in a way just defined itself. A happy accident I guess. When we first started this band my intention was just to make more shoegaze in the style of some of my favorite bands like Slowdive, which you mentioned. At first that’s pretty much what we did, but the sound evolved into something else by the time we got to Drowned in a Sea of Sound. Back in 2003-2004 I was really not able to find too many new bands making shoegaze music, at least not in a manner that I wanted to hear, so really we just set out to make our own. I guess others had the same idea because the scene started to grow again around the same time we put out our first two EPs.

I think our sound is defined by what influences us and those influences are not confined to the shoegaze genre. So even though we use the tools of the genre (reverb, delay, chorus, fuzz…) there are influences that take it in other directions too. I think we have a new wave feel at times and even some post punk elements here and there.

Your new album, Creation, releases later this year. Can you tell me a bit about your journey from Hide Yr Eyes to Creation? How have you seen your aesthetic evolve in that time – musically, lyrically etc.? 

I just think as we mature as individuals the music matures naturally. Creation has a way more mature, developed, big sound and because we are producing it, every decision is one made by the band, not anyone else outside of it. We have been able to take more time experimenting and exploring guitar and vocal sounds which is really fun. Also I feel my songwriting and lyrics are the best I have written yet. They are really meditative and personal to me. When I listen to the old stuff I still love it but with the ten-year gap between Drowned in a Sea of Sound and Creation to me, I feel we have stepped up to a whole new level. I can’t wait for people to hear it!

The music industry is not the same beast it was in the OG shoegaze era and the odds of ‘profiting’ from music aren’t as high anymore. What are your thoughts on the Bandcamp and/or Spotify models for musicians? What would your idea of an ideal platform for listeners and musicians be?

All of these models have positives and negatives. I don’t think there is a perfect solution to it. Bandcamp is great and probably the closest thing to being perfect. I mean you can upload lossless audio, high-res artwork, sell merchandise and post a release immediately. It gives the artist so much control and I think it can bypass the need for an official website which can be an added expense that an artist no longer has to deal with. It pretty much is your own simple website. I just wish it had a blog feature and It would be perfect. Actually it would be perfect if they took 0% of sales but I think we need to be reasonable.

As far as Spotify and Apple Music go, I think these streaming services all serve a purpose. What they pay artists seems almost criminal but they are very helpful in making music accessible to more people. I can’t help but think it makes music less valuable and more disposable. It’s hard to value music and focus on specific albums when you have millions of songs at your fingertips. I stream and I buy digital tracks. I like the convenience of just being able to cull up a song when you want to hear it anytime and anywhere, but I have also started getting back into vinyl so I can just sit in my living room with the TV off and appreciate an album. It’s nice to hold an album in your hands and see and hear an entire artistic vision.

When I was younger often times I would buy an album because of the cool artwork or maybe because it was a band I knew but didn’t hear that particular album. Sometimes the album ended up being good, sometimes it didn’t. Other times I didn’t like the album at first but because I committed to the purchase I focused on it and gave it a chance. Some of those albums are my all time favorites now. MBV‘s Loveless was one of those albums for me. If I was a kid now I might have missed out on that because If I started to stream it and didn’t care for it immediately I’d probably just switch to something else and never go back. That’s kind of scary to think about.

What inspires the lyrics to your songs? What are you usually writing about?

I almost always write the lyrics last. Most times, as we are writing the music I develop a melody that I like and then at the end I fit words to it. The sounds and mood of the song often times pushes me in a direction for the lyrics. Lyrics are easily the hardest part of the process for me. It always seems like a struggle for the longest time and then all the sudden they just start to come together and in the end I am usually pretty happy with them. As far as what the songs are about it is pretty varied from song to song. Often times I’ll write about big abstract ideas but I still try to keep a human element there. I’ll write about life’s struggles, experiences, dreams, fears, nature/creation, moods…all kinds of things. Creation is a bit more of a concept album. There is a theme that runs through it and it is more of a spiritual one. Meditations of the universe, how it began, where it’s going and how we move along with it. While it seems like a big theme, I also think it is very human and relatable.

A little while ago I wrote a few lines on my interpretation of ‘The Soft Attack’ – the first song I heard by The Daysleepers, and one I never grew tired of. One interpretation was instinctive – it felt like it was about flying and freedom. The other I developed after I paid attention to the lyrics and then it sounded to me like someone throwing themselves into the ocean (seagulls, waves, drags me down… etc). I can’t stand the conflict – what is it about?

Interesting interpretation! I’m glad you told me that because I purposefully write songs so that there is room for the listener to interpret the words and sounds however they want. They all do mean something specific to me though.

‘The Soft Attack’ was written about a reoccurring dream I used to have where I am swimming in the ocean on a peaceful evening and meet my end at the jaws of a Great White Shark. For some reason the dream is always in black and white. If you wonder why the song sounds so liberating for something that subject-wise is kind of morbid, there is a reason for that. In the dream, the whole experience naturally seems terrifying at first but as the blood drains from my body I enter this peaceful, euphoric state. Everything feels warm and numb, and I sort of accept this as my end. In those moments where my vision starts to go dark it does feel like a very freeing, beautiful thing in a weird way. Leaving the world in a beautiful ocean, by a primitive creature, but somehow enjoying the last few minutes left in the world… there was something sort of beautiful in that.

If you know anything about Great Whites often times they’ll just take a bite or take off a limb and then swim away. Most times people die from bleeding out rather than a relentless attack. That’s the case here. So it’s not like a violent attack, it’s more of a soft one – get it? The original artwork I designed for the EP cover had this awesome image of a shark lurking just under the surface of dark water. It was both terrifying and beautiful but sadly the photographer wanted way too much money for me to use it, so I went another route and decided to leave that theme more of a mystery.

Can we talk about ‘Dream Within A Dreamworld’ for a hot minute? I feel like it popped up during the long break after Drowned in a Sea of Sound, hinted at the promise of a new album that year, and then vanished. Where did it come from? Where did it go? What’s the story?

Sure – that song was an experiment and really kind of a one-off. It was never meant to be the start of a new album, just a single. At that time we had been talking more about recording a follow up to Drowned in a Sea of Sound but we weren’t sure how to go about it. We didn’t want to record in a studio like the previous releases, we wanted to record and produce new material ourselves, but we didn’t have all the equipment necessary at that point to do it right. Our drummer, Mario, had the closest thing to a home studio at the time and he showed me an early demo of ‘Dream Within a Dreamworld’. I loved it so much that I asked him to send me a copy of it so I could record vocals for it. I had some recording equipment at home so I put down vocals and some keyboards. After Scott recorded bass we decided to mix and master it and use it as an experimental track to see if people would respond to it. I sort of didn’t expect anyone to care about it and all of the sudden we started getting fan mail and people raving about it on the internet. That track started us down the path of where we are today. We have much better equipment to record with now. Once I got everything I needed for my studio setup in late 2016 we started on Creation. ‘Dream Within a Dreamworld’ is pretty unique for us and favors a more New Wave sound. When I started writing the songs for Creation I knew I wanted to go in a very different direction than that.

You’re not the first shoegazers ever, but you’re definitely the one of the first bands responsible for the resurrection of the genre. I’m not from your country or continent, but I believe the scene was pretty tight in the late 2000s/early 2010s – I’m basing this assumption on band lineups I’d see littered  ​across  my Facebook. Is there anything you can tell me about how this scene (re)emerged in the States and what it was like then?

I didn’t know much about the early 2000’s shoegaze scene back then. All I knew was that my favorite bands were not making this kind of music anymore so I was determined to put a band together and make it myself if they weren’t going to. I saw Mojave 3 live around that time. I talked to Neil about Slowdive and at the time he was so dismissive about it. He was focused on different things. I thought to myself that if these forefathers of the genre don’t care about it then I guess I will have to. Out of that The Daysleepers were born. Like you said, we weren’t the first to bring it back. Bands like Airiel, Bethany Curve and Air Formation were doing their thing before we formed but I didn’t find out about them until a little later. By the time Drowned in a Sea of Sound came out it seemed like this revival was really picking up.

I’ve read that you have a 9 to 5 job as a designer and your own freelance business, which sounds pretty gruelling. You also make music. I, too, have a 9 to 5 job and I struggle to juggle that and maintain this blog. Tell me the secret behind your time management skills.

My secret is that I deprive myself of sleep in order to make progress on the music. I’m probably taking years off of my life but it is working! I’m getting the results I want but that is why it takes us a little longer. We really have to work around a busy schedule. There is something so meditative about writing, creating and producing late at night when the neighborhood is asleep. It’s so quiet and calm. I don’t really freelance anymore so that frees things up a bit. I know what you mean though. It is a juggling act for sure but I make sure I don’t overdo it too much. I want to enjoy the process and not feel too stressed to do it. I feel like I have a really good system to manage all of this now. When the album is finished I plan on getting a lot more sleep though.

Your comment on my Life on Venus post made my day. I know you’ve been asked this question before, but the answer must keep changing: What are your (other) favourite shoegaze bands from the last year or so?

That’s nice to hear. Thanks for writing about them! In my opinion I think Life on Venus is the best new shoegaze band in years and I think they deserve a lot more attention than they get. They nail all the classic elements that I love about shoegaze music, but they add something fresh to the genre too. The vocals and guitars are so beautiful and they strike that great balance between sadness and hopefulness. I’ve listened to that album so many times it’s ridiculous!

Over the last year I have been heavily involved in making our new album so I purposefully don’t immerse myself in new shoegaze bands because I don’t want to be influenced by trends or where they are taking the genre. I want to do what comes natural to us and go on those instincts. I think that’s how we get a great and genuine sounding Daysleepers album.

Having said that I do tune into my favorite shows on DKFM (When The Sun Hits & Somewherecold) to see what’s going on in the modern shoegaze world. Besides Life on Venus I really like Lowtide, Yumi Zouma, Softer Still, Nothing, The Morelings, Bellavista… A lot of other stuff I’m sure I’m forgetting. There’s so much shoegaze now and that is a great thing!

Finally, let’s not kid ourselves: We pretend we listen to nothing but shoegaze, post-rock and other musical intellectualisms, but our lizard brains crave a periodic dose of pop. What are some bands/artists you listen to who we wouldn’t have expected you to listen to?

I was raised on pop music in the late 80’s/early 90’s so I think that’s what drew me to dreampop. Under all that noise there are some really catchy pop tunes. Unfortunately, I don’t like hardly anything on the radio these days. I like some Lana Del Rey songs quite a bit though.

One thing people might not expect is that I am a huge fan of the more ambient sounding R&B artists like Sade, Maxwell and Eryka Badu. Sade is a huge vocal influence for me. She holds those long, beautiful, melodic notes that just drip like honey. Her album Love Deluxe is in my top 5 favorite albums of all time. I would love to see her live.

I love trance music and electronic stuff. I’m also really into Post-hardcore bands like Mars Volta, Circa Survive and Coheed & Cambria. I love old and modern Jazz. I’m a huge fan of all kinds of Indie rock/alternative acts like Interpol, The Shins, Bjork, Washed Out, Stereolab, Dinosaur Jr, The Mary Onettes, Bon Iver and so on. I love experimental instrumental bands like Tycho, Bonobo and Jaga Jazzist. I love 80’s music, 90’s grunge music… I’m all over the place. Of course my staples are The Cure, Slowdive, Cocteau Twins, The Smiths, The Chameleons and Depeche Mode.

 

Past albums, EPs and, soon, Creation available on bandcamp

Ce fut quand même notre histoire: Une entrevue avec Milanku

Milanku, groupe Québécois, marqué par un son qui juxtapose les mélodies les plus douces contre des voix enragées, viennent de sortir leur premier album après 4 ans. De Fragments, comme son prédécesseur, n’a rien à voir avec les débuts du groupe. Lorsque Demo et Convalescence étaient presque ‘punk’ ayant donné la brutalité de leurs sons, ici, maintenant, on voit – on écoute – les compositions beaucoup plus structurées. De Fragments possède la même complexité que Prise A La Gorge. Cependant, ce dernier est peut-être moins lourd.

Ce mélange n’est pas très diffèrent que celui d’Alcest – groupe français enraciné dans le black métal – où on écoute clairement l’influence de leur ascendance même quand les chansons restent assez éthérées.

Bien que, au niveau de leur esprit, les deux groupes sont presque pareils, musicalement, ils ne se ressemblent pas du tout. En fait, comme Alcest, je trouve qu’il n’y a aucun groupe comparable à Milanku.

Ça fait deux mois que je leur ai envoyé quelques questions à propos à leur histoire, leur son atypique, et leurs pensées au sujet des téléchargements gratuits. Voilà – tout que vous vouliez savoir de Milanku mais n’aviez jamais demandé.

 

1. Pouvez-vous me parler de l’histoire de la formation du groupe? Y avait-il quelque chose en particulier qui a réuni le groupe ? Et comment avez-vous trouvé votre son ?

L’année 2016 marquera les 10 années de Milanku. Ayant tous évolués au sein de différentes formations dans le passé, à cette époque, nous avons fondé le groupe avec le désir de sortir des sentiers battus en comparaison des groupes plus hardcore, voir punk, qui dominaient alors la scène. Nous voulions un son plus mélancolique et évocateur, mais tout en gardant un son lourd et pesant.

2. Votre son a beaucoup changé depuis vos débuts. Demo et Convalescence étaient plus bruts que Prise A La Gorge. Ce dernier est plus lourd, mais, quand même plus raffiné que ses prédécesseurs. Pouvez-vous me raconter l’histoire autour de cette transformation ?

Je dirais que simplement l’évolution normale du groupe. Nous n’avons pas produit beaucoup d’album depuis notre formation et avons toujours voulu garder l’indépendance dans notre son. Nous avons voulu prendre notre temps pour créer. Nous avons aussi beaucoup de matériel qui a été crée et qui n’a pas été sorti sur album. Peut-être qu’un jour nous produirons un album avec seulement des bootlegs ou des idées de local! En fait, nous avons toujours voulu garder le son de Milanku aussi près possible de la base de la musique rock, sans trop d’arrangements. Guitares, bass, voix et drums, what you see is what you get. Nous misons plus sur les mélodies et les harmonies entre les guitares que sur des arrangements liés au matériel ou aux équipements.

3. Personnellement, au niveau du son, je n’ai jamais rien entendu qui ressemble à Pris à la Gorge. Quels sont les groupes qui vous ont le plus influencés?

C’est difficile à dire…Je dirais que nos mélodies viennent comme idées au début et on garde ce qu’on aime, on fait des compromis, et s’ajuste en fonction du « vibe » général. L’ambiance et les textures sont ce qui nous importent. Il faut que les sentiments véhiculés nous rejoignent et je dirais qu’on n’a pas d’influence particulière….. Chacun dans le groupe écoute des trucs différents et je crois que c’est ce qui apporte le son et la particularité de Milanku.

Nous allons sortir notre nouvel album, De Fragments, l’automne prochain. Le lancement à Montréal est prévu pour novembre 2015. Le son de cet album est différent de ce qu’on a fait jusqu’à maintenant et on le voit un peu comme un renouveau.

4. Il y a une pause de 4 ans entre Convalescence et Prise A La Gorge – qu’est-ce qui s’est passé pendant ce temps ?

Des soirées au local à lancer des idées, à créer et essayer des choses. Il faut dire que Guillaume (drummer) est aussi parti à l’étranger pour un an. Nous avons alors jouer avec un autre drummer à cette époque. Nous avons fait plusieurs concerts.

5. Des nouvelles à propos de votre prochaine sortie… ?

Comme je l’ai mentionné précédemment, notre album, De Fragments, sortira en novembre 2015. Cet album est le fruit du groupe avec un nouveau guitariste. Les chansons sont plus courtes et je dirais plus dynamiques. L’ambiance et le « vibe » Milanku est toujours là, mais je crois que nous avons amener le groupe vers d’autres horizons.

L’album sortira sur plusieurs étiquettes, notamment Moments of Collapse (Germany), Tokyo Jupiter Records (Japan), Grain of Sand (Russia), L’Oeil du Tigre (Montréal, Canada), Replenish Records (US) et D7I (Quebec, Canada).

6. Votre avis au sujet de la musique en streaming et des sites où on peut télécharger les albums, les discographies, etc. sans payer ? Selon vous, est-ce que ces sites aident ou sont néfastes aux groupes – surtout les groupes indépendants ? De même, que pensez-vous des sites Bandcamp et Soundcloud?

De façon générale, comme Milanku est un projet lié à une passion, celle de la musique, nous considérons que le plus de gens qui écoute et apprécie notre musique vaut beaucoup plus que quelques dollars que pourraient générer la totalité des albums ou chansons achetées. Ce qui est plus importants, ce que les gens viennent aux concerts et achètent nos t-shirts, nos albums, etc. C’est ce qui est le mieux pour nous.

De même, je crois que si les gens veulent aider les groupes indépendants, il est aussi pertinent de « donner ce que vous voulez » lors du download des albums ou des pièces en-ligne.

7. Quelle est l’ambiance idéale dans laquelle vous souhaitez que les gens écoutent Milanku ?

Dans toutes les ambiances! Chaque moment est englobé dans une ambiance et si les gens sont heureux et léger et écoute Milanku, c’est ce qu’on veut. À l’inverse, si quelqu’un marche seul le soir et est dans ses idées, et écoute Milanku, c’est aussi ce qu’on veut.

8. Un groupe que chacun des membres de Milanku écoute et que les gens seront étonnés de savoir que vous aimez ?

Haha, bonne question. De mon côté, j’aime beaucoup la musique électronique et tout ce qui s’y rapporte. Je pourrais te citer plusieurs artistes, mais j’aime beaucoup Kiasmos et Olafur Arnarlds (Iceland), mais aussi des trucs avec plus de bpm, ça dépend des jours! Mon groupe favori depuis maintenant près de 20 ans est Leatherface…J’aime aussi beaucoup tout ce qui est plus « crasse » comme des bands punks comme Nausea et des projets vraiment lourds comme Amenra et tout ce qui s’y rattache.

Frank (guitariste) écoute beaucoup Esa-Pekka Salonnen, plus précisément sont concerto “Out of Nowhere – Violin Concerto. Mais il a une grosse fascination pour l’époque où Brian Wilson a perdu la tête avec les Beach Boys (Pet Sounds, Smile & Smiley Smile). Godspeed You! Black Emperor et leurs projets parallèles, autant que l’époque psychédélique des ’60.

Guillaume (drummer) aime autant Future Islands que Cursed en ce moment il écoute beaucoup de Beatles et de Loud Lary Ajust

Guillaume (chanteur) est plus dans la musique lourde, comme Amenra, Sumac, Old Man Gloom, etc.

 

Milanku vient de sortir son nouvel album, De Fragments. Vous pouvez l’acheter sur Bandcamp  ou iTunes.

Si vous voulez l’écouter avant de l’acheter, je vous présente: ‘L’ineptie de nos soucis’: