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- Hey, this is Nick Azinas from Peek from the Pit and I'm here today with Boris Le Gal
from Chimp Spanner and Neonfly
Boris, welcome to Peek from the Pit. How are you today?
- Everything is great! As you know we are in Ibiza
for the Hard Rock Hell Roadtrip festival
We are playing tonight with Neonfly and the weather is just great
All is good!
So, nice and warm weather as well as Neonfly headlining the Saturday night
So, you played here last year and now you're back. So first of all, how was it last year,
ans how will it be this year?
-Well last year went so well, that they've asked us to come again
and of course, we accepted the offer immediately
so here we are again this year with a bigger show, Willy being even crazier
he's probably gonna break everything on stage I think it will be great!
It's going to be a nice party tonight!
-And of course this is a warm-up show for a big upcoming date
It's of course the Download festival date next week
So you are doing something rather special, you're playing on the Jagermeister stage
and you're playing with a string quartet with violins and cellos
So why the string quartet?
-Well when we got the offer, to play on the acoustic stage, we thought that it would had been cool to do
something different
and since our arrangements contain many backing tracks and orchestral elements
we thought "Yeah, let's do it, let's play with violins and cellos"
and I think that it will bring something organic to our music
and the fact that its an acoustic gig will force me to change my style
I can't play as fast and do too many things you know
I need to "purify" my game a bit and be careful with my sound
not to be too loud. It's going to be interesting. Now we're going
back to rehearse, so we're in Ibiza tonight then back to London tomorrow
and then we have a week of rehearsals and we will try out with the strings
It's going to be good!
- So there's this big date, but then there are more gigs coming up
Notably in eastern Europe, right?
-Yes, we've got a few festivals in eastern Europe, I've actually noted them
so that I don't forget anything
So, we've got Download -That's on the Friday of Download
which is...I don't remember the exact date but it's around the 13th or 15th, right?
-No, not really. We play on the first day, Friday, which is the 8th, at 3pm on the Jagermeister stage
I think it will be a nice gig to watch and the quartet are only girls so...
Other than that, we're playing in Brighton south of England on the 23rd of June
What else? We're playing in Bratislava -Czech Republic?
-Are you sure? -I think
-Bratislava? Isn't it Slovakia? -Maybe you're right!
-Slovakia then
-So yeah, we're playing Brighton the 23rd of June and then Bratislava in Slovakia on the 11th of July
Then we do the Masters of Rock in the Czech Republic on the 13th of July
Then we go to Lithuania for Roko Naktys which is the biggest festival in Lithuania
which will be cool and is on the 4th of August
and then we do Rockovani on the 25th of August in the Czech Republic again
followed by a cruise that we've booked which goes from Stockholm to Riga
and that will be at the end of October
-And there more dates around November? You're working on a tour?
-Yeah, we can't really talk about it since there's nothing confirmed
but yeah, they are working on an European tour.
-Excellent, so the album "Outshine the Sun" came out almost a year ago, last August
-Yeah, end of August beginning of September -So how did it go? You had loads of gigs since
with many songs that people already knew since they were on the EP
-Yeah, there were a few of them, there were a few tracks which were on the EP
which was our first, and you know your first EP is never really well done
So we went to Italy in a big studio with a good production
So the tracks are up to level now and it sounds really good
This album sounds really nice -I was talking with Frederick who is the
composer in the band, and he is preparing a new album so tell us a bit, for you
how does it work? Frederick composes the tracks and brings them to you. Do you do the drums?
How does it work? -In general, Frederick does almost everything
and he is really good with everything that has to do with orchestral arrangements,
guitars, vocals, he writes some lyrics too
but for the drums he does pretty simple stuff which I arrange the way
I want afterwards so that it sounds a bit better
So it's more like that, Frederick brings all the music and then when we're
together we make some arrangements and discuss how would it sound better
on stage or for the album you know, all this kind of work.
but the basic ideas all come from Frederick's compositions
-So apart from Neonfly, you also are in another band, Chimp Spanner
the djent/progressive metal, melodic -The big debate
-A small debate between the members, but anyway the new EP came out in February
so last February, loads of good reviews, gigs, like Moscow, a couple of dates
in Germany, A Night of Tech in London
So how did the public react to the new songs?
-Well, the public reacted superbly well they are crazy about the new tracks
because when Paul, Chimp Spanner, composed "At the Dream's Edge" it was just a solo
project you know
So he was on his own, in his room doing his music and he was signed
on Basick records, so Basick wanted to build a band around it and that's
where we come in
And then after doing a few gigs and a few tours
the compositions slightly changed for Paul
He thought a bit more about having songs
that would sound good live rather than in his room
so there are some passages which are more energetic
and are really nice to play live!
-So how does it work with Chimp Spanner? Paul writes all the songs, so I guess
that on the first album he didn't have you in mind but for the 2nd one
did he keep you in mind for the drum parts? Was it closer to your style?
-No, it's his own style, but Paul is really good with drum parts
and when he records,it's crazy, he does all the drum parts on the keyboards
I saw him doing it, everything you hear is done on the keyboards
and then he does a few, small corrections and we were thinking, I actually don't know
if I can say it, but maybe later on during gigs we will try to have a drum battle
with Paul on a keytar and myself on the drums
but that's a little project that we have in mind -It could be interesting!
-We're talking about it. We'll see! -So you have one confirmed date
which is UK Tech Fest if I'm correct -Yeah, that's it!
-So that's in July, and I imagine there are more dates coming up
which we can't really talk about
but the big news are the US and Prosthetic Records
-Yes, so at the beginning of 2012 Basick Records and Prosthetic Records
joined forces in order to distribute in the US
all the products and all the bands from Basick Records
so distribution and promotion
so that's a nice step forward
because now we have a good presence in the US regarding CDs and promotion
The only thing left now is to go to the US to gig
-So, the debate
Chimp Spanner, it's djent, it's not djent how do you see things?
-Yeah, well the big debate, djent or not I don't know but for me djent is just
a word that brings people together, a community
I really don't mind using this word
If people indentify themselves by it and are all part of the same movement
rather than saying "Yeah we play instrumental prog, djent whatever"
it becomes way to complicated and the people get lost
I really don't mind calling it djent
-So Chimp Spanner is djent -Yes, but I will get destroyed for this!
-Other than that, some endorsments right? -It's happening, slowly.
-There's one which is pretty obvious right now
Keetch Clothing -Well yeah, Keetch Clothing
-So endorsment for Boris, sponsor for us so explain to us a bit, the relation with Keetch
-So I met Gianni who is one of the owners, he is the owner of the US branch
while his brother is the owner of Keetch EU/Swiss since it's a Swiss company
so I met him in London at Tech Music Schools like Frederick and the other guys from Neonfly
So we both liked metal, we started to chat and he was even my housemate for a while
So he saw that I was doing a few gigs already So he asked me if I would like to be endorsed
get some clothes and make some promotion? And I was like "Yeah, sure"!
So as you can see we have some nice t-shirts, very pretty!
You can also visit the websites. -So yeah, we have
www.keetchclothing.com for the USA and www.keetch.ch for the EU
the newest one is www.keetchclothing.com which is just for the USA
-On top of that, Keetch endorses Meshuggah, Fear Factory, Unearth
Clawfinger you know, just big bands like that so I'm really happy to be part of it
-How is it for you, because you are a big Meshuggah fan right?
-Yeah! -How is it to be endorsed by the same company
that endorses Meshuggah? It must be pretty nice no?
-Yeah, it's funny. It's really cool!
-So apart from Keetch, there's one more endorsment
for your drumsticks
-At the moment I only have the drumsticks, I play on Vater
I chose Vater personally. I chose my endorsments If people come to me and I don't like
their product, I don't want to be endorsed just to be endorsed
Vater does some really good sticks for me I play with the Session
You should try them and you'll see They fly very well!
-And that is something you're really good at, making them fly!
-You also have another project on the side which is the Pantera tribute band
Is that still going on?
-Yeah we're still giging but mostly in England
Since we are the number one Pantera tribute band in England
So tribute to Pantera
It's always loads of fun to play on stage. Some groovy Pantera
Superb! Our guitar player is really good Chris Jones from Voodoo Six
We have a good team which is nice. I like it everytime!
-And do you have any dates in France coming up? Are you trying to get any dates? It's been a while now
both Chimp Spanner and Neonfly you haven't played France, I'm not even sure if Neonfly ever
played France. -Once
-So yeah, are you working on this?
-Well, we did one date with Neonfly in France which was the first time I was coming back to
France to play
It was at the Ramfest, somewhere in the North of France
With Chimp Spanner we did a big European tour with Cynic in December 2011
I think there were 18 dates,non-stop in 14 countries, was really good
So we played Paris
But what I really want is to take Chimp Spanner back home
since now I live in London, but I grew up in Nantes
and I would really like to return there and play a Chimp Spanner gig
at the Ferrailleur for example which is a mythical venue
that's something I would really like to do
But yeah, since now we are also working with the Euroblast Collective
the booking agency
So I can't really say anything, since they are the ones working on it
-A little Hellfest also would be nice, no? -Yeah, I'd tried to book us at Hellfest
for this year but it didn't work. At the same time they booked no djent bands
so I guess it was a choice since the line-up is every year based on a few genres
since this year they had some special stages too
I hope that next year it'll work out, with our name getting bigger
they'll see it and...yeah, Hellfest is my favourite festival
I've been going since 2003, every year so yeah if one day I find myself on one
of those stages, I'll be very happy!
-What are your influences, for you personally, what drummers do you
look up to?
-Well, there is a lot of variety,
but yeah, regarding drummers I can give you a few names
one of my biggest influences is Christian Vander
he is a french jazz/rock drummer from the 70s-80s
who plays in Magma. I'm a very big fan of Magma
There's Tomas Haake of Meshuggah of course, Mario Duplantier
who is a big influence on me, from Gojira
I adore Morgan Agren. He's the one who did the solo project of
Frederick Thordendal, the guitar player from Meshuggah
which is called "Special Defects" I think which come out in 1997
when I heard this the first time I was like...big revelation
Morgan Agren
And of course, great drummers like Vinnie Colaiuta
I was very influenced by Phil Collins too at the very beginning
He is the one who made me want to play drums
Yes, exactly!
So that's pretty much it.
And musically, any bands without having any particular feelings for the drummer?
-Well, there's always Meshuggah in the Top 5
-Meshuggah, Gojira all of these and also Envy you were telling me?
-Oh yeah, I'm a big big fan of Envy which is a Japanese screamo band
So yeah, big big fan of them
Eitherwise I adore Cinematic Orchestra which is a bit jazz/electro
on Ninja Tunes -A bit of post-rock too?
-Yeah, totally! -This Will Destroy You, Explosions in the Sky
-Yeah, Explosions in the Sky, This Will Destroy You, I also like a band called
Rinoa that had members from Devil Sold His Soul
They broke up a year ago, but I would like them to come back, I'd love to see them
-It's been a while since you've been playing the drums now
-Yeah, it's been 13 years I think 12 or 13 years
-So what is your personal goal? Do you want to bring something new
to the drums? What is it?
-That's a good question
What's my personal goal?
I just want to share some good moments on stage with lots of people
So if I can play some big stages... I really like to move on stage, I'm expressive
I love it, you know I like to do a bit of show
I really like it
I want to play everywhere. My goal is to travel by doing music
-Bein able to live of it -Yeah, of course
-Pay the rent and have fun -Yeah, that would be nice
That's the ultimate goal. Being able to live from music, travel, play everywhere
meet loads of people...totally! And then if the people find something
special un my playing that they want to use, then I'll be happy
but then, I can't say that I'm bringing something new to the table
To bring something really new to the table regarding all instruments
it's pretty hard. Of course there are ways to do it but...yeah
-Well, Boris thank you very much -Thank you Peek from the Pit
-So good luck with the gig tonight Hard Rock Hell, Ibiza
On the 8th of June at Download Festival on the Jagermeister stage
That's near Derby in England and then there is Bratislava in Slovakia
and not in the Czech Republic
There's Masters of Rock in the Czech Republic
One concert in Lithuania, one more gig in the Czech Republic
And the cruise in October and keep an eye open for the tour in November
If it goes on, while Chimp Spanner will be at UK Tech Fest
-Yeah keep an eye open it's coming very soon. Some big announcements
I unfortunately can't say much but it's on its way!
-Excellent! Boris, thank you very much!