{"id":19731,"date":"2020-05-04T11:27:29","date_gmt":"2020-05-04T09:27:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elgarajedefrank.es\/?p=19731"},"modified":"2023-11-03T22:18:06","modified_gmt":"2023-11-03T21:18:06","slug":"interview-vuduvox-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elgarajedefrank.es\/en\/interview-vuduvox-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Vuduvox"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the bands that we, at the Garaje, have always supported is Vuduvox. We already interviewed them in the past, <\/a>we tried to see them live at the Liege New Wave Festival (we missed the flight), and this year, they were going to play at the W-Fest. Sadly, we will have to wait for 2021 to see them live. In the meantime, you can read our new interview with J-C Van Thienen and listen to their songs in Bandcamp<\/a>.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0\u2014Are you still thinking about releasing an alternative version of the first album mastered by MF of Pankow? So far we could have a glance at \u201cBerlin\u201d (Pankow Mastering) and \u201cSilex\u201d (Pankow mastering)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u2014<\/strong>Yeah well, this might be out some day most probably on a Belgian indie label this time; it\u2019s verbally agreed but I\u2019ve been really busy recently and there\u2019s no real hurry since some people have only just discovered our first album Vaudou \u00e9lectrique,<\/em> now sold out incidentally. Dirk Da Davo – of Neon Judgement<\/strong> fame – had worked on the pre-prod, I\u2019d completed the mixing and Len Lemeire from Implant<\/strong> handled the mastering. Maurizio did a great job too and it does deserve to see the light of day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014What happened with the new album Fetiche<\/em>? So far only \u201cLes infrabasses\u201d has been released and some songs played live. How were they received?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/strong>Fetiche<\/em> is still in the pipeline, it\u2019s almost completed, all the tracks were recorded and mixed and I had a technical mishap that forced me to redo a couple of tracks. Then, I\u2019ve been working anew on a couple of bits and pieces only I can hear and redoing all the vocal parts\u2026 but we\u2019re getting there. Parallel to this, I never stopped recording and writing for the next one. All its tracks are waiting to be mixed properly now, and we have many more in stock\u2026 \u201cLes infrabasses\u201d won\u2019t be on the album although it\u2019s a great track but since it was released on the EKProduct compilation last year there\u2019s no need to re-release it. Besides we did a couple of tracks for various releases, such as a remix for Zwaremachine<\/strong>, a cover of Front 242<\/strong>\u2019s \u201cHeadhunter\u201d for the German compilation Im Rythmus Bleiben<\/em>, also featuring L\u00e6ether Strip<\/strong> or Plastic Noise Experience<\/strong>, another of Indochine<\/strong>, would U believe it?, while another track was issued on the Orphans compilation on Northshadows Records, alongside IAmTheShadow,<\/strong> She Pleasures HerSelf<\/strong> and Autopsie d\u2019une Ombre<\/strong>\u2026 The tracks from F\u00e9tiche<\/em> that we\u2019ve included to our live set were truly well received each and every time, be it \u201cEntre chien et loup\u201d, \u201cAboyer\u201d or \u201cF\u00e9tiche\u201d itself\u2026 And we\u2019ve also been testing various tracks from the third album, namely \u201cElektro Tanz Machine\u201d, \u201cParis br\u00fble-t\u2019il\u201d and \u201cNos coeurs sont des machines\u201d and they went down a storm\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Last year, the band has been touring a lot. We were supposed to see your live, as you know, but we missed the flight. How would you resume this year of concerts?\"\"<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/strong>Indeed, last year we played France, Belgium and Holland in very decent venues, festivals and clubs. Every single gig was a treat, sharing the stage with She Past Away<\/strong>, Ash Code<\/strong>, Zwaremachine<\/strong>, Neon Electronics<\/strong>, Larva<\/strong> etc. You truly missed something, but there will be other opportunities after that coronavirus shit gets sorted out, not thanx to our respective governments by the way who have proven for once and for all that they are no more than useless arrogant tossers, every single of them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014What can you please tell us about Olivier T., the other member of the band?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/strong>Olivier adds his guitar riffs on my demoes and is in charge of our live gear and implements, he\u2019s the technical wizard when it comes to the live-shows; Jacky of SA42<\/strong> for whom he plays live electro-percussions introduced me to him about 10 years ago and when I asked him to join me a little later for a series of 9 gigs starting the following week he agreed, adding his electro-perx to the set before switching to guitar when I opted for a name-change from BUZZ<\/strong> to VUDUVOX<\/strong> and I\u2019ve never looked back. Plus, we recently worked together on a couple of SA42<\/strong> tracks, adding some guitar to them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014In these days the other really bad news has been the death of Genesis P-Orridge. Was he an influence for your music? Also Andy Gill from Gang of Four died last month. You liked his music, right?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/strong>I was never deeply interested in Psychic TV<\/strong> and the like, and have always been more into less extreme stuff, like Chris and Cosey<\/strong>, The Young Gods<\/strong> or Cabaret Voltaire<\/strong>. Andy Gill\u2019s departure was a tough blow too. I was fortunate enough to see GoF<\/strong> ten years ago in a Belgian festival and they stole the show, just as I\u2019d expected, all the more so than Jon King was still on vocals.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u2014What are the lyrics of your songs about? Why have you chosen to sing in French?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014To be perfectly honest with you, I prefer the tongue-in-cheek innuendo approach to ranting about current politics, I leave that to RATM<\/strong> and mail-order prefab rockers.\u00a0 My subjects range from the Islamist bombings (\u201cParis br\u00fble-t\u2019il?\u201d), animal cruelty (\u201cPas d\u2019\u00e2me\u201d), Post-war Europe (\u201cSo Kalt\u201d, \u201cBerlin\u201d) to the Holocaust (\u201cIls descendront du train\u201d, \u201cVarsovie\u201d), the dereliction of the Western world (\u201cSilex\u201d, \u201cEntre chien et loup\u201d) or great figures of the 20th century , such as the eponymous \u201cMishima\u201d, \u201cKennedy\u201d or \u201cMaiakowski\u201d. But nothing on Greta since I\u2019d rather be seen dead than sing her praise. Others are simply about electronic music, like \u201cBruit blanc\u201d and \u201cLes infrabasses\u201d whereas \u201cS\u00e9r\u00e9nade pour un ren\u00e9gat\u201d is dedicated to Gary Asquith of Renegade Soundwave<\/strong>, and \u201cDaniel D. d\u00e9colle\u201d to Daniel Darc<\/strong> of Taxi Girl<\/strong>, another sad loss.<\/span><\/p>\n

Choosing French was a bit of a challenge at a time when it was only used for M.o.R or vari\u00e9t\u00e9 crap. I wanted to use French just like Par\u00e1lisis Permanente<\/strong> or El Aviador Dro<\/strong> were using Spanish, DAF<\/strong> German, Litfiba<\/strong> Italian and Gary Numan<\/strong> English\u2026It also corresponded to that burgeoning European feel, a spontaneous decision to bond across borders with fellow musicians and audiences, and was miles away from the masquerade politicians have made it, from Merkel to Mitterrand and Macron\u2026 Funnily enough, I got\/get very enthusiastic feedback from other European countries whilst many French aficionados – and more often than not, the very posers who rave about \u201cle rock\u2019n\u2019roll\u201d, love to stick stupid little labels on bands and wouldn\u2019t know an irregular verb if they were pissing on one -, hated me for doing so, and still do. So I stuck to my guns, partly to bother those cunts and partly because it had become some sort of trademark; ie<\/em> machines + guitar + lyrics in French + vocal samples in every possible language\u2026 Interestingly enough, I witnessed an actual evolution around the turn of the century, and when we played England with Attrition<\/strong> and The Venus Fly Trap<\/strong>, or Rome a couple of years back, or the NCN and E-Only festivals in Germany people really went for it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014You mentioned Sampler et Sans Reproches, whom we have met a couple of times last year, as one of the only radio stations promoting the scene. What other radio or magazine is helping the scene in your area?\"\"<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/strong>Sampler et Sans Reproches have been doing a great job for innumerable years now. Magazine-wise it\u2019s mainly fanzines or webzines, since the official press are generally expecting a cheque with your CD so that they should review it at all. We\u2019re more of an indie DIY act appealing to other indie DIY mavericks like you for instance\u2026 In our region, like in the rest of the country, there is nothing. Among the indomitable, I can mention the fanzine Twice, and the radio-shows Coma Electrique on Aligre Paris, Eclectronic on Radio Scarpe Sens\u00e9e, Cyberland Radioshow on Franche-Comt\u00e9\u2026 But I can also mention vudu-people from all over, including Luminous Dash and Peek-a-Boo (Belgium), Retroactivity Radio and Radio Deepland (Brazil), Twice Mag or Cyberland (France), Ver Sacrum and Flux (Italy), The Slab, Intravenous and Pulse (UK), Dark Essence Radio (Au), EBM Radio (Germany), as well as talented photographers such as Marija Buljeta, Patrice Hoerner, Yannick Lagier or Roger Op Den Camp and Xavier Marquis. But to get a full view you\u2019d better go to our Facebook\u2019s reviews and interviews photo-page to check it all.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Is it difficult to promote a band nowadays? Do you think that Bandcamp and YouTube has been useful for the band?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/strong>It\u2019s tougher than ever, believe me. When we released our first album it was pirated the very next day by some cunt on his Russian site. But indie labels like EKP or Wool-E do a great job, and have never been in it for the money but for the music\u2026 As regards Bandcamp and YouTube, they are rather useful and have proven a good means to get across to people who haven\u2019t seen you live (yet) and spread the news, although it would require a full-time job to handle that, Facebook comes in quite handy at times too\u2026 otherwise we\u2019d remain stuck in some cave instead of having some decent visibility. But it\u2019s also polluted by a lot of dunces and posers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u2014What gear are you using to compose and record your songs? Do you prefer digital or analogue?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/strong>It\u2019s gonna sound like heresy but I\u2019m more into music than sound. I\u2019ve got no time to spend on that. I don\u2019t give a toss about that analog\/digital rift. I sold all my analog gear when I was broke in the 90\u2019s, having spent all my money on recordings and never getting a single penny back from our label\u2026 So when I was able to buy some new gear it was cheap, easy, and portable. My mike is a mere SM 57, which I also use on stage. I tried more expensive ones and they didn\u2019t fit me, it\u2019s as simple as that. Once a Punk always a Punk and I\u2019m not interested in getting \u201cthe machine that goes ping\u201d. All my VUDUVOX<\/strong> tracks are based on the same sound, just like the Ramones<\/strong> used to, and the only time they changed their sound was by hiring Phil Spector who turned it into an abominable dirge.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014You were going to play at W-Fest, right?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/strong>It\u2019s never been so close but unfortunately we won\u2019t be part of the 2020 edition. We\u2019ve just received a mail telling us that due to that f**** Covid-19, they had to postpone the festival and switch to a smaller venue\u2026 Although they had to cancel again that option because of the lockdown. But they assured us we\u2019d be on the bill in 2021 and it\u2019s a great opportunity, when the day comes it\u2019s gonna be a blast, and the long-awaited \u201cF\u00e9tiche\u201d should be out by then, together with some songs released in compilations… But let\u2019s all stay in and stay safe for the time being. The dark bea[s]t go.<\/span>[r]es on!<\/span><\/p>\n