Rockezine.com interview with Malmonde on Jul 31, 2003

with Malmonde on Jul 31, 2003

From the depths of their archives, the REZ editors digged up this interview I did with Malmonde, way back in july 2003. It`s a bit old but still an interesting read I`d say. Judge for yourselves...
		Good day to you, I know it’s an obligatory request, but please introduce Malmonde to our readers. So, Malmonde is a french cyber metal band which started in 1999 with Ludovic and Hervé. They were both playing guitar to a drum machine and a sequencer. The style was more gothic metal. Then Stéphane and I arrived, the music was getting more and more aggressive. And finally, Christophe arrived at the beginning of this year to replace the drum box! We define our style as Cyber Metal to describe the fact that our style is a combination of several kinds of metal including electro/techno and atmospheric parts.
		My French is terrible, but does Malmonde mean something like sick world? Why did you choose that particular name? Hum, the translation could be Evil World, or Sick World, why not. In fact this is not an existing french world but a combination of 2 words. This name has existed since the beginning of the band when we were playing more gothic stuff, and it describes how bad the world can make everyone feel... or something like that! :-) The important thing is that this name is french, which is something that we really wanted; to give a french identity to the band, beginning with the name.
		Malmonde has been released by Osmose Productions, but you first released it yourself if I’m right.
		Do you think it’s a clever move for Osmose to sign a band that recently released a professional promo and then release it worldwide (exactly like they did with Detonation)? I mean, it’s a cost reducing way for a label to release an album. Yes you’re right, I think that everyone wins in this situation. We can touch many more people with Osmose distribution than if we had to do it by ourselves. In fact, we signed with Osmose for the production of our next album, which is a really good thing for us, and the bonus is to have the opportunity to distribute our first album world wide instead of leaving it unknown.
		You don’t sound like a regular Osmose band. Why did you choose to sign with them? We sent our album to several labels, and Osmose was one of the first to answer. They seemed to be very interested and motivated to work with us. They are currently willing to develop their catalogue with different styles and it’s a good thing. They have a very good reputation, and no reason to sign us if they don’t want it, so, we chose to finally work with them!
		You chose to sing a couple of tracks in French. Did the French language better suit the lyrics or did you have other reasons? As I said before, since the beginning, we wanted to keep a french identity, so naturally, we came to write lyrics in french. The matter is more how french suits our way of singing than the lyrics themselves. Generally we first write the music, decide how the vocals will be on it, and then the language depending on it. This is something we will continue to develop on our next album, for sure!
		What kind of future do you have in mind for Malmonde? Worldwide recognition or a more underground status? We aim to become a major french metal band and of course, we would like to be a representative band of our musical style in the world. But our first wish is to be able to play live as much as possible in France and in Europe. Open for a bigger band for a European tour, to have the chance to get in touch with more people. Our music has to be played live, it gets another dimension that way, and so it’s a very good way to promote the band!
		You decided to replace the drum computer with a human drummer, why? We first decided to play with a drumbox to get a specific sound. Something very mechanical, cold, dehumanized. But we had the chance to make a try with Christophe for fun and he really convinced us! He has exactly the way of playing we were looking for, his drum is triggered, so we can get the sound we want, this is perfect! And it’s a lot better in live situations!
		I can imagine you were influenced by both metal and industrial bands, can you name some of them? We all listen to different kind of music, but common bands could be for example Dimmu Borgir, Rammstein, Samael, Fear Factory, Nine Inch Nails, Massive Attack, Nevermore, Pain... Our musical culture is more metal than anything else, even if we listen to some representative bands from other styles of music.
		It has been some time since the recording of “Malmonde” has been finished. Is there already a date set for the next album? We have been working on it since this summer, we hope to be able to release it mid 2004.
		Are there any plans for a (European) tour? No Europen tour plan for now, we have several dates in the south of France during this autumn, but we hope to get more opportunities. So feel free to contact us! ;-)
		That concludes this interview, do you have anything more to say to our readers? We hope to see you soon at gigs, but before that, if you are looking for something not so conventional, and if you are interested in music style mixing, don’t hesitate to listen to our album! Thanks, for your support!
		(Roy van den Brink)