Rockezine.com interview with No Return on Apr 17, 2002

with Singer Steeve on Apr 17, 2002


		No Return is not very well known in the Netherlands. Can you tell us something about the band we need to know? Well, the band is primarily a live performance band. No Return has been formed in 1989 and the band released their first album in 1990. ‘Machinery’ is the 6th album of the band and No Return has become one of the leading metal bands in France with this release.
		Can you tell us something about the new bass player? How did you get in touch with him? First of all, the new bass player is a lady! She is called Olivia and the band got in touch with her in a very exciting way. We had placed an add on the Internet that we were looking for a new bass player because the old one had left the band due to family problems. We interviewed a lot of bass players, but none of them qualified for the type of music that No Return plays or the lifestyle the band leads. But then Olivia contacted us and she became our new bass player.
		The new record will come out next week. Are you satisfied with the way it turned out? Yes, we are quite satisfied. We have recently signed up with Nuclear Blast, which is of course one of the bigger metal labels in Europe. This is our first opportunity for a large-scale operation. It’s also the first time that a No Return record is released in the US with real distribution. Also very important is that No Return is the first French band to sign up with Nuclear Blast.
		How is the French metal scene doing at the moment? It’s getting better, there’s a real evolution going on. There are a lot more interesting bands around then a couple of years ago and bands are also playing more often live than they did a while ago.
		Do you think that people are still interested in thrash metal? Is it hard to come up with new ideas in thrash because the genre has already been around for twenty years? It’s hard. The metal scene has never really had its place in France. People here are more interested in fashion and what’s trendy nowadays, like ‘nu metal’. The real fans still like the bands of course, but they are really a minority. The people who like thrash metal are the same ones who also liked the music when it started twenty years ago.
		No Return plays a traditional type of metal. What do you think of all these ‘nu metal’ bands like Slipknot and Korn? Do you consider them to be metal at all? (Laughter) Actually, no. On one hand, it’s difficult to say whether it’s still metal because music changes all the time. These bands definitely have a metal background, but they combined it with a lot of other music styles. It has become a fusion of styles and it’s not really metal anymore.
		The lyrics weren’t included in the promo copy of ‘Machinery’ I received. What are the lyrics about? ‘Machinery’ is a concept album. The whole album is about biomechanics and biogenetics and expresses a very negative view on these subjects. It’s about the idea that machines are taking over the world. You can also see this on the album cover, on which a woman is mutilated and replaced by machines. This is also a concept in the music.
		On your homepage you list your favorite books and movies, among which are X-Files and the Matrix. Are these books and movies an inspiration when you write new songs or lyrics? Yeah sure, Science Fiction is very much an inspiration for No Return. Some of the lyrics are based on these kind of futuristic stories.
		Is it important for No Return to have a message in the lyrics? It’s not a message; it’s a vision, a reflection. The album ‘Self Mutilation’ was about a secret society, about ‘the powers behind the powers’. That album was a lot more raw and rough, while “Machinery’ is more fantastic and futuristic. The band definitely does not want to give a message to the listener; it’s really an opinion. It is a way to open people’s eyes or to open doors. We want to encourage people to think about things for themselves. We want to share an image, not to impose a message on someone.
		When you started the band you must have had some goals. Do you feel you have reached these goals by now? At the beginning, we just wanted to record music and to get people to appreciate our music. And now, after ten years, we feel like we are finally getting there. It has taken a lot of work, but finally we’re getting there.
		What was the beginning of the No Return like? In the beginning, the band already had the opportunity to play with some of the bigger names in the metal scene like Motörhead and Sepultura. No Return had a good place in the French metal scene, but usually, French bands get stuck in the French scenes and do not get the opportunity to grow bigger. In a way, this also happened to No Return, until now of course.
		What are the future plans for No Return? What do you still want to accomplish? We are currently working on a European tour. We’re trying to put about 35 dates together for a tour with Nile and Hate Eternal. The tour will take place in September and October, but we’re still working on all the dates. Unfortunately, we can’t confirm any dates in the Netherlands yet, but we hope we can come over to Holland as well. Before the European tour we’ll be doing a French tour together with Dew Scented.
		You said the thrash-scene is pretty small in France. Do thrash bands play a lot with bands from other scenes? Yes, usually at shows you’ll see several types of bands playing together, so for example you’ll have a mix of black metal, death metal and thrash metal bands playing on one occasion.
		What kind of deal has No Return signed with Nuclear Blast? We’ve signed a deal for three albums, but only for distribution. Our records still come out under the Kodiak label, which is just a tiny label with only three bands. We think that it’s the only label that works this well with us, so we are still really happy to be signed up with Kodiak.
		Will No Return also play in the US now that the record is going to be distributed there? No, we don’t want to move too fast. First, we’re going to do the European tour, and maybe then we can take a look at the United States.
		And finally, do you think France will be world champion soccer again this year? (Laughter) We don’t know. France is really good at soccer but we really don’t know. It would be some good publicity for France, so we surely hope so.
		(Jasper Klein)