W-FENEC INTERVIEW 2001

May 2001, 6 months after the exit of their 3rd album Fashion Victim , it is in Escapade (Hénin-Beaumont) that Artsonic play their first date in North-Not-of-Calais. The occasion for Oli to approach with Sylvain and Stéphane "the subjects which annoy" or at least those which are not most pleasant, namely in the disorder: machines, Linkin Park, Warner Europe, the official site, money... but also of speaking about the clip, Pink Floyd, the French scene... With final, that must be the longest interview of W-Fenec!

Oli: The first vision of new Artsonic it is the bomb in a wheel chair, it is right a victim of the mode or it there another thing behind?
Sylvain: It is to sell discs! [ laughter ]
Stéphane: One put good a meuf on the small pocket to sell discs, as they make in the fashion or the tricks for the shampoos
O: And does it go?
St: Euh... not [ laughter ]
O: It is a photograph or a drawing?
St: It is a girlfriend with us
S: You want his number? [ laughter ] It is a girlfriend, it is a dancer, in fact, one repeats below a school of dance, one proposed to him and it agreed, it was very well.
O: And the idea of the wheel chair?
S: With the base, one wanted just to put a wheel chair and to keep Fashion Victim like title, and then one said oneself that it would be funnier with super good a meuf on the small pocket. It would be more "double direction" and as there was a chick lends to do it free... because in general, that monnaye rather expensive [ laughter ]

O: On did the level of the music, the machines take much importance in the composition of certain titles, I think of "Time", "Taste" or "Educate the masses" but it has nobody yet there behind a sampler, that would try you to have a fifth member who deals only with the machines?
S: Not! Not me...
St: Not particularly, and moreover, for what there is to really do, the guy would be bored to death, they are often loops, sounds... There is no precise intervention at such time, one does not need to have somebody behind whom occupies himself some.
S: One is not "a group with DJ" either...
St: I think that the guy would be made a little shit especially that there is not on all the pieces, it does not have there that on half of the set thus I do not think only that vale the blow of adding a person.
O: In any event, I do not force anybody! [ laughter ]
S: Ah, but you make us shit Oli! [ laughter ]
St: One wants fifth nobody brothel!!! [ laughter ]
O: Even on the level of the play of guitar, y' has pieces which sound more industrial and they could be worked, by admitting that there is a fifth member, that could leave more in this direction there...
S: But it is not the direction which one is taking and that that one takes for the continuation. It is true that one is always divided by these two sides there, between the side groove that that brings to have machines and at the same time one has a very organic culture of the rock'n'roll, very instrumental. There is even a little an almost philosophical conflict to use machines. Me, I find that a group, they is initially truths musicians, it is well to have some on certain pieces, y' has pieces where that brings a truth more and y' has pieces where it would be right history to add or hide misery of it, for a given moment, it is necessary that there are instruments. Even on these pieces, when they were composed, one them did not compose with the samples, at the base, the goal of the play, it is that the piece sounds even if there are not the samples. Like that, if one evening, the sampler breaks down, one is not found like certain groups with having to cancel the concert. Ca restricts enormously, and for us, it will be never a base of composition.
O: And it is Stéphane which is occupied some?
S: Not, it is a little me and a little Stephan Kraemer at the time of the prod'
O: And thus into live all is programmed?
S: Yes, there is multitrack MiniDisc which turns
O: Ca nevertheless limits the play on scene...
S: Not, because certain pieces were adapted, one modified them for the live one, one changed tempos of the things like that and there are nevertheless no badly pieces on the album which do not have a samples or then one is not obliged to put them
O: On the intros for example
S: Here, you will see this evening...
St: And one adapts on the scene, one can add parts without problem.

O: Why have to integrate on the album the resumption of Pink Floyd which you have played into live for several years?
S: Bah, for that! Because one plays it since one moment and that one wanted to leave it recorded. There were other titles but which were perhaps not as well as those that one had already chosen and rather than to put a title stops hole, one preferred to put that because it is a piece which one plays for a long time and which people which like us knew, that to us realized pleasure.
O: And on the level of criticisms?
S: Y' has some which likes, others which hate.
St: Some say that this piece leaves the batch and that it does not have anything to make there and others that it is super.
S: It is like all... Y' has even people who said that it was an album of death [ laughter ] In the "Last news of Alsace", one would need that you read it, it is Mort Of Laughing! [ laughter ]
St: The guy of the "Last news of Alsace": "an album of death with all the attributes of the death, much of double pedal, the howled voices..." Good Ah? [ laughter ]
O: It is necessary to send an album of death to him...
St: It listened to Digimortal with the small pocket of Artsonic, they confused CDs! [ laughter ]
O: Or it has several discs in the turntable and it was mistaken...
St: Or then 2-3 times that sometimes happened to me to buy an album metal, once it was an album of Kiss and that did not have anything to see, it was of the Claude François
S: Nan, it is not possible!
St: If, a trick kind Signal 100 of years 70-80 or children's songs [ laughter ]
S: Ouais but there, the guy it spoke about Pink Floyd thus it was not mistaken in group! It really found that it was death, trés extremely!

O: There, Wea/Warner signed the album aprés its recording, the fact that it is more "calm" that the preceding ones played in the signature or Wea had already an eye on you?
S: More calms?
O: More accessible in any case, it is barred less.
S: Mwouais, finally, that depends, a piece like "Fake" for example, it was bloody plannant. It is true that it is barred less, that scatters less in all the directions. With Fake one experienced things, one did not know yet well where one went, and then it did not completely represent us into live because there was full with pieces where one could not move as one likes to move... That one, one composed it of way more spontaneous and while thinking more of the scene. And it is true that one likes the pieces where there is a true refrain, and it is an evolution which was already started on Fake but me, I did not have yet the voice, I did not assume the fact yet of singing, I did not sing for a long time thus one did not dare too much to make true songs, I hid a little behind [ bwouééé Bwoué ], I did not dare too the melodies but it is towards that that one goes because a song that is based on a melody line, one needs large riffs to put potato but it is necessary at the same time

O : You have always all to manage, even via Wet Music, there, the house of disc badly does not make a job in your place, you controlez the things always suffisament? What happenhappen does really?
S: What it is really... Would like you to know, hein?... [ laughter ] the largest thing that Warner brought to us, it is credibility compared to people who would not have listened to what one made if there had not been the Warner logo on the disc. People of the press, people with tele, people like that. After, on the level marketing, which one had done at Wet , it was kif-kif-kif, because what it occurs, it is that a major pays much dearer all that is marketing, therefore one had almost as many things at Wet. What occurs, it is that one continues to do the work of ground because the majors cannot really do it and especially time does not have to do it. There, one is in contact with a site like yours, it is we who do it, it is not somebody at Warner who will foam all France, all the contacts, all the fanzines and all, they do not do it that. It is with double edge, one should not fall asleep and let make while being said: "it is good, y' has a house of disc which manages" because there are other things to manage, they have Madonna...
O: Especially that now, they do not have any more a person in charge metal
S: Ouais, it has there no more Fred [ Frederique Burlet ], that has us foutu the balls, hardly 3 months after the exit of the disc, Fred who is made transfer, it was our head of product, one thus does not have more direct interlocutor, that made a little funny... But it is not for that that they left us fallen, there, they are making tricks for the re-entry. There is nevertheless a complementary work which missed and it is also owing to the fact that one does not have to manage. There is not a team as Sriracha which is behind to be in contact with the true network to feed it, that it is what one would like to have.
O: And will the future, it be always with Warner?
S: A priori yes, they, they want to remake an album but there are other contacts also in this moment abroad which would be possibly perhaps likely to propose a European exit to us what Warner cannot make. For the moment one left to Spain, in Portugal but under conditions... In any case, for us, the objective is to sign a better contract on the next album, a trick where one has more guarantees marketing on the foreigner. Because there, one left to Spain but with 0 F of marketing, nothing, not 1 F of budget, it is catastrophic, for the limit, it would have better been necessary to have a distrib' into direct managed by Wet because there there was not a chronicle, not a sending in fact to the magazines Spanish whereas RockSound Spain voualit to make an interview... They is tricks abhérrants...
O: There was a round in Spain?
S: One was obliged to cancel it because of that... There were 5 dates, one in did only one because Warner did not do anything! And when I say "anything to you", it is not to even send 1 disc to 1 magazine and not to even send a disc to RockSound which had required it to do one 2 pages! It is weak...
O : C'est Warner France qui pilotait tout ça ?
S : En fait, chaque Warner est indépendant sauf si Warner Europe décide que tel groupe est prioritaire, dans ce cas-là, ils doivent le sortir tous. Comme chaque Warner est indépendant, ils s'envoient tous régulièrement leurs produits et chaque Warner décide de les sortir ou pas selon différents arguments. Là, Warner Espagne l'a sorti, Warner Portugal aussi mais ce sont des sorties politiques, c'est juste histoire que ce ne soit pas quelqu'un d'autre qui le sorte.
O : Pour pas se faire piquer l'album 6 mois aprés quand il est libre de droits...
S : Voilà, donc il faut pas croire que c'est un petit monde magique où parce que y'a le logo Warner tu te mets à vendre des disques. C'est vrai que c'est un plus, en France, ils ont quand même relativement travaillé...
O : C'est pas parce que c'est Warner que ça ouvre l'Europe ou le monde...
S : Non, il y a même des labels indé qui se battent plus pour leur groupe que des majors. Nous chez Warner en France, on a un contact privilégié parce que les gens nous aiment bien, parce qu'il nous ont signé et qu'ils aiment bien ce qu'on fait. Ils ne nous ont pas signé pour faire un score, ce n'est pas une signature stratégique. "On" s'en fout du métal en France.
O : Ils seront pas riches avec ça...
S : Ils sont riches avec "Wazzzzaa" et Madonna, en France, je pense qu'on est un peu les chouchous donc ça va !
O : Et du côté du public en France dés qu'on signe sur une major, quelque soit le groupe, on devient un "vendu" au grand capital, vous avez entendu des réflexions comme ça ?
S : Non, déjà : non. Et moi, mes convictions politiques, je les ai exprimées dans le premier album et je pense qu'on peut les comprendre au travers de mes textes, je crois que "le grand capital", tout le monde sait ce que j'en pense ! Mais ceci dit, je pense que pour combattre un système, il faut aussi être à l'intérieur pour comprendre ses forces et ses faiblesses. Un groupe comme nous qui signe chez Warner, ça permettra probablement à d'autres groupes de signer derrière nous, pas forcément dans des majors, mais aussi dans des labels indé qui voient que la route a été ouverte, il y a un phénomène d'entraînement. Je pense que rien que pour ça, ça valait le coup de le faire. En ce moment, il y a une dynamique, je ne sais pas si tu te rappelles mais il y a 2 ans et demi quand on a monté Wet, le territoire français c'était dans le genre morne plaine avec aucun débouché pour les groupes, c'était terrible. Quand on a monté Wet, tout le monde s'est foutu de notre gueule et a fait "Ahah ! bon courage", maintenant, ils se battent tous pour signer nos groupes et des labels signent des groupes...
O : Et les groupes se battent pour rentrer chez Wet
S : Aussi, il y a un peu de tout quoi [rires]. Il faut dire que les groupes qui ne sont encore signés nulle part et qui galèrent, ils se battent pour entrer chez nous et une fois qu'on a fait le boulot et que ça a bien marché, ils se disent "ah, on aimerait bien être ailleurs", c'est la vie ! Mais je pense que les choses avancent, à force les portes s'ouvrent. Et puis les groupes sont supers forts en ce moment en France, ce n'est pas comme il y a quelques années où vraiment c'était nul, il y avait 4-5 groupes qui tenaient la route et le reste... Là, on a fait notre jeu pour gagner une première partie, on a reçu genre 150 démos et sur les 150, y'en a bien un tiers qui est franchement très bien.
O : C'est clair il y a des démos ou des albums autoproduits avec des supers productions et beau packaging...
S : Les mecs ont compris qu'il fallait se prendre en charge et ça c'est bien.
O : Quand on écoute les Sherkan, les Backstab, c'est vraiment énorme ce qu'ils sortent.
S : Ouais, je connais bien les Backstab... Et puis y'a plein de groupes pas connus, là, en Provence, j'ai vu le truc débarquer, tu vois la bio, la photo, tu te dis "ouh lala !". Genre des mecs peints en clown, je ne sais pas si t'as écouté Cirkus, moi j'ai pris une grosse claque. Les mecs sur la photo, tu crois qu'ils sont mongoliens, ils sont peints en clown, tu te dis, c'est des mecs qui font ça pour rigoler, et quand t'écoutes, ça rigole pas !
O : Sur Nice, y'a aussi Mal d'Aurore, on n'en a jamais entendu parler et la production est énorme, y'a des supers compos...
S : Y'a aussi les Psykup sur Toulouse... Ce qui se passe, c'est que j'ai l'impression que tous les mecs qui écoutent cette musique ont un groupe, pratiquement... Tous les mecs qui viennent nous voir aprés les concerts, c'est "moi dans mon groupe..." Y'en a plus d'un sur deux ! Et je pense que y'a que dans cette musique là que c'est comme ça, tu vas dans un concert de U2 ou de Depeche Mode, les mecs ne jouent pas dans un groupe, ils sont juste auditeurs...
O : Et il y a un gagnant à ce concours ?
S : Bah, là on galère pour trouver une date qui accepte de faire ça, théoriquement ça serait le 13 juillet à La Rochelle et si on ne peut pas le faire là, on le fera à la rentrée sur une grosse date.
O : Et vous n'avez pas encore choisi qui
S : Non, on n'a pas encore choisi, il y en a une dizaine de préselectionnés qui tiennent vraiment bien la route... Mais on ne veut pas non plus un groupe qui ai fait déjà beaucoup de concerts, on veut un groupe pour qui ce sera une chance.
St : Un groupe à qui cela apporte quelque chose
S : On ne veut pas un groupe qui tourne déjà, il faut trouver le juste milieu entre un groupe qui joue quand même bien sinon il risque de se faire jeter, et un groupe qui n'ait pas encore fait trop de concerts....