{"id":21374,"date":"2020-06-11T14:01:59","date_gmt":"2020-06-11T12:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elgarajedefrank.es\/?p=21374"},"modified":"2024-01-10T21:26:18","modified_gmt":"2024-01-10T20:26:18","slug":"interview-frozen-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elgarajedefrank.es\/en\/interview-frozen-nation\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Frozen Nation"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is nothing that I want more than to finally be able to party after all these months of lockdown. And listening to the music of the Belgium-based band Frozen Nation doesn\u2019t help either: I even want to party harder. But hopefully we will be able to do it soon, at Sinner\u2019s Day, where the band is going to play or at any party where the music of Frozen Nation is played. They call it Dark Belgian Disco, now let\u2019 dance.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2013Let\u2019s start the interview with a question about Elvis, your modular synthesizer built during the 70s’ for the band Jethro Tull and third member of the band. Where and how did you find it? Did you \u201ctrust\u201d an instrument used by Jethro Tull (just joking)?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/strong>D&D<\/strong>: We found Elvis in 2011 near a town called Angers in France. He was owned by a guy making silly noises with him, he was so glad we found him. Jethro Tull<\/strong> looked like ugly hippies but Ian Anderson was a great showman. Jerry Heller talks about that in the 1st<\/sup> part of his book<\/strong><\/a> about Gangsta Rap when he writes about the \u201970s and the period when he used to manage rock bands. Great stories about Bowie<\/strong>, Van Morrison<\/strong>, Creedence Clearwater<\/strong>, etc. too. Great book!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014How were the first years of the band before the releasing of the album?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014D&D<\/strong>: D spent time to produce the tracks, to work with Moss on his singing, and to improve our collective abilities to do something solid during lives. Then, he spent a lot of time mixing the songs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Moss, you have been a singer with several bands, can you please tell us more about your background?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Moss<\/strong>: I was the lead singer of a band called Dust<\/strong>, then I was involved in a project called SSL. <\/strong>We were rehearsing in Brussels at Spector Studio, that\u2019s where I met D&D. We reduced the band to a duet, and the project is now called Quarantaine<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014And D&D, you have worked in Paris with many projects such as TTC, Holden, DJ Cam.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Mainly hip hop artists (at least two of them). Do you think that working with them has helped in any way the sound of Frozen Nation? Can you tell us more about your work with DJ Cam? I like some of his records.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014D:<\/strong> I was in the music business in Paris as a drummer, producer, songwriter and sound engineer, DJ Cam<\/strong>\u2019s Underground Vibes<\/em> was produced in my studio. All experiences are good for making music. These are the rules for the sound of Frozen Nation<\/strong>: a dancing beat, a catchy melody sung by a dark singer in a melancholic atmosphere in the \u201980s style.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014D&D, you are also part of D&D Modules, a company (I guess) that create their own modules, and some of them have been used in the songs of Frozen Nation (Like Lord of the Wah.) Can you please tell us more about this?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014D&D<\/strong>: We launched a eurorack modular synthesizer modules brand called \u201cD&D modules\u201d<\/strong><\/a>. We craft fat sounding synth modules in the spirit of the \u201970s brands like Moog, Arp or EMS. We started this adventure because we are working on an electro-house musical project called Nervian Society<\/strong> where we mix a DJ set-up with some modular synthesizer. Elvis was too big for going on tour, so we needed a eurorack format modular synth (eurorack format is much smaller), so we created our own brand, D&D Modules, with modules like the Lord Of The Wah, a voltage-controlled wah but, in fact, more a kind of awesome techno\u00efd acid filter and distortion. We also invented a device called \u201cThe Bodyplug\u201d for singers who want to use guitar pedals effects on their voice during live gigs. We started D&D Modules after the release of Frozen Nation<\/strong>\u2019s album Dark Belgian Disco<\/em>, so there\u2019s no D&D Modules in Dark Belgian Disco<\/em>, but a lot of modular synths, though, and a lot of Elvis on every track.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2014In the pictures of the band that I have seen you are three, but live you are four, right?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014D&D<\/strong>: D&D are 2 people, so there\u2019s Moss, D&D and Elvis (the human synthesizer). 4 people yes!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013Let\u2019s move to the band\u2019s influences: The sound seems inspired by 80s electronics and the Italo disco movement. I have lived in Italy for a few years, and been interested in Italo, do you think it\u2019s an influence? What artists do you like of this genre?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014D&D:<\/strong> Italo Disco is the name of how dance music evolved in Europe in the late \u201970s when drum machines and sequencers appeared. The same thing in the USA was called Hi-NRG. There is a great Sci-Fi prophetic book called \u201cDiscoteca Clandestina\u201d<\/strong><\/a> by Paolo Danese where they explain how Italo Disco will reign all over the world and the 5 dimensions after the global meltdown and the collapse of our civilization. It is very funny, inspirational and you learn a lot about Italo disco and Hi-NRG. <\/span>
\nGiorgio Moroder<\/strong> is NOT an \u201cItalo disco\u201d guy, he\u2019s a genius producer who revolutionized dance music with his use of the sequencer, he\u2019s a god for us. We\u2019re not Italo disco specialists, but we like some songs by Gino Soccio<\/strong>, some productions of Patrice Cowley<\/strong> (his work with Sylvester<\/strong>), some kitsch stuff by Stock Aitken Waterman (Dead or Alive<\/strong>\u2019s \u201cYou Spin Me Round\u201d, can you consider this as \u201cItalo disco\u201d? We don\u2019t know). Bobby \u201cO\u201d<\/strong> is also quite fascinating, he chose to produce thousands of middling tracks instead of producing only tens of great ones. A visionary in his way: the intro of The Flirts<\/strong>\u2019 \u201cPassion\u201d is one of the best rhythmic ever.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014When I think of disco music I think of the New York of the late seventies and Larry Levan\u2019s Paradise Garaje. Although I would never say that this is a clear influence, are any of you interested in this period of Disco Music?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014D&D<\/strong>: That is awesome that you talk about that. Because this nightclub in New York, the Paradise Garage\"\" went through the \u201cDisco Sucks\u201d period when everybody started to get fed up by disco, and only through the love of music it became a place where producers started to make music just to get their tracks played in this place of excellency. And some of these productions became hit records only by the love of partying and having fun. It is an important place for the switch of dance music from disco to house and techno, and there was a kind of link between New York, Chicago and Detroit. It reminds us somehow this scene in the Netflix series \u201cVinyl\u201d when the young A&R discovers the birth of disco in this underground club where the DJ plays Barrabas<\/strong>\u2019 \u201cWild Safari\u201d (check for that scene on YouTube<\/strong><\/a>). This might have been six years before Larry Levan<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014If you have to choose: Cerrone or Moroder?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014D&D<\/strong>: Moroder<\/strong>: he changed the face of dance music with \u201cI feel love\u201d. We also cover \u201cFrom here to eternity\u201d, but \u201cSupernature\u201d & \u201cLove in Cm\u201d by Cerrone<\/strong> are great classics too.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013At the beginning of the 2000\/end of the \u201990s, we had the electro-clash movement. I guess you were quite young at the time. Was it an influence? Did you used to dance to these songs in the Belgian clubs?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014D&D<\/strong>: We\u2019ve heard this word \u201cElectro-clash\u201d sometimes but we didn\u2019t know really what it means. The Wikipedia page talks about Felix Da Housecat. <\/strong>We love him, we cover his song \u201cMy Life Music\u201d with Frozen Nation<\/strong>. We\u2019ll play it at Sinner\u2019s Day if you are here.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014And the Belgian part in the title of your first album comes from the New Beat influence (and the fact that you live in Belgium I guess). How has this style influenced the band?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014D&D<\/strong>: The song \u201cDark Belgian Disco\u201d is a tribute to the New Beat, but with some real drums and a disco Cerrone<\/strong>-like bass. Also we call our music \u201cDark Belgian Disco\u201d because Moss\u2019 voice is dark and the music is funkier and it\u2019s made in Belgium. So this track is a way to connect all of this in a form of \u201cbelgitude\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u2014The lyrics of your songs are about Pascal, Giono, Homer and Gengis Khan. Don\u2019t you think they are a bit too deep for the dance floor?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014D&D<\/strong>: Hahaha, you\u2019re probably right. KLF<\/strong> say in \u201cThe Manual\u201d: \u201cPure dance music, if it has any lyrical content at all, will only deal in the emotions experienced within the four walls of a club late at night: basically, desire and, more importantly, that area which is beyond desire at the very center of the Human Psyche. Everything else is meaningless. Any creator of pure dance music that is attempting to communicate any other subject should be treated with deep suspicion.\u201d We have translated this book into French, but we didn\u2019t read it at the moment we recorded our album.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013<\/strong>In \u201cAlone in Berlin,\u201d the band uses vocoder. What do you think of the use of auto-tune and vocoder in modern music?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014D&D<\/strong>: Moss hates it. We think differently, we are very open-minded toward pop and dance music. Singers and producers love to modify their voice, because they have a good relationship with their ego somehow. All these effects were used by very creative guys like Roger Troutman and his talk box (later used on Dr Dre & Tupac\u2019<\/strong>s \u201cCalifornia Love\u201d). And don\u2019t forget that Kraftwerk<\/strong> used the vocoder a long time ago. In fact, the first use of the vocoder on a record could be on the \u201cOde To Joy\u201d on A Clockwork Orange<\/em> soundtrack, recorded with the Moog synthesizer by Wendy Carlos<\/strong> with Bob Moog himself. Anyway, on Frozen Nation<\/strong>\u2019s album, these vocal effects were more used as double voices or backing, not really as modifying effects on lead vocals.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014What can you please tell us about the recording of the album?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014D&D<\/strong>: A lot of work for D: recording, producing and\u00a0mixing until the final cut. Writing songs is a nice game for children, but making all that stuff real is a serious work.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014When you were writing the songs, do you think first in the dance floor or the living room?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014D&D<\/strong>: The living floor: a nice melody and a good beat.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2014Do any of you also DJ? When do you think is the perfect time to play a Frozen nation song in a club?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014D&D<\/strong>: We\u2019ve just started a new project called \u201cNervian Society\u201d, it is an electro house music hybrid DJ set with some modular synthesizer, live, the music is very different from Frozen Nation<\/strong>, so we don\u2019t play Frozen Nation<\/strong> tracks in this set, but the ideal moment to play a Frozen Nation<\/strong> song is during dark parties, when the goths start to get extroverted.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014How has your first album been received in the Goth scene so far?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014D&D<\/strong>: It has been welcomed very positively. The reviews on all Goth media were great, and the audience enjoys a lot our concerts during dark festivals.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014The track \u201cGengis Khan\u201d sounds a bit glam and you have said that this style shared the same sexual energy as disco. Do you think that the band has managed to charge the album with a strong sexual energy?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014D&D<\/strong>: Not enough.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014There is no party with this situation. How is the band coping with Coronavirus?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014D&D<\/strong>: Right now everyone in Frozen Nation<\/strong> is involved in other projects, but we are all severely impacted by this situation, and as music producers and recording engineers it is very worrying, but we\u2019ll have to adapt to survive. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014What are the plans of the band for the future? As soon as we have a future.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014D&D:<\/strong> At the origin, Frozen Nation<\/strong> was a side project for everyone, we had our projects and Moss had his. It took us really further than expected. We\u2019re thinking of releasing a new song with some remixes on vinyl.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014How will be your concert at Sinner\u2019s Day?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014D&D:<\/strong> Danceable.<\/span><\/p>\n