I knew these guys in some internet surfing and I have just one thing to say: Is the one of best bands I already hear, strong, mature and doing a great job, showing to everybody hat you can do great music and that the metal isn’t dead. If you want to do a favour to yourself, listen them and support the band.
GroundCast – First of all, tell us how everything began?
Guillaume Singer: Well, things began quite a while ago when I met Nicolas, bassist of the band. We had common influences and started to build the first line up. Then came Guy Noël, the other guitar player.
It took some time finding the right team. We asked Gregoire, the drummer, to fulfil the line-up. We played in other bands together. We were introduced to Julien, the singer, after the recording of +the instrumental parts and the band was ready to go.
GroundCast – Tell us about the influences of the band.
Guillaume Singer: We have, let’s say “classic” influences for a metal band: Megadeth, Testament, Death, Pantera, Grip. Inc., Martyr or Nevermore are a few of them. Other influences can be as various as Shining, Panzerballet, Freak Kitchen or Satyrycon. We also listen to various stuff apart of metal music. Everybody brings its own tastes.
GroundCast – Recently you released the album “From Rust to Dust” and the songs that I heard are brilliant, are strong, with personality, the vocals are great (as vocalist as well it hold my attention for days), I can say that it is one of my favourites for the 2013 best album. How is your process to compose (for me, the band is one step ahead from the metal bands we have nowadays)?
Guillaume Singer: Well, thanks for that. I am the main composer of the band, I bring most of the material and we arrange it together. A few songs were arranged during rehearsals, but most of them were entirely written in my home studio. We are a bit far from each other so this is the best way we have found to get things done. I am very selective about what I chose to keep or not. Only the best songs will go to the recording sessions. I know what Dead Season must sound like, so I try to stick to it.
Arrangements are also an important part of the job. I work a lot with Nico on this. We also care a lot about the writing of the lyrics.
We have recorded this album in Simon Fache’s studio, who is a great keyboard player and friend of ours. He did a great job on the sound engineering and had a few brilliant ideas during the sessions.
GroundCast – Tell us about the acceptance of the album, how is the feedback and what this material is bringing to the band’s horizon?
Guillaume Singer: The album was released in January so we now have some feedback about it. We have good reviews until now. We try to push the frontiers and to get known across Europe. There are so many bands, it’s a tough job…
With this first album, we hope being noticed.
GroundCast – What are the next step in Dead Season, planning some long tour?
Guillaume Singer: We also have unreleased material from the recording sessions. We are currently working on the finalizing of this, so you’ll have some new stuff soon.
About the tour, it’s not scheduled until now. We will be playing in a few festivals this summer and other venues. We are looking for a tour manager, I hope this album will be able to bring it.
GroundCast – How can you describe the sound you play?
Guillaume Singer: We often call it “modern thrash metal”. The “thrash” aspect is very important to us because of the riffing. There are also a lot of extreme influences such as death or black metal. We also try to make something which will sound the closest as it would be on stage.
GroundCast – France is great in bands, we have lots of great bands there, with something unique in the sound, I can say Alcest, Anorexia Nervosa, Lethian Dreams and I can spend all my day talking about it, what do you think that makes your music unique and special?
Guillaume Singer: I don’t really know. Bands like Gojira may have had a good impact on the overall reputation of French bands. It’s quite recent, because in the past, French metal bands didn’t meet international success. We have a lot to catch up with so we unconsciously want to prove we can deliver good music to…
GroundCast – Do you have some project that you would like to share with us?
Guillaume Singer: As I said before, we have some extra material left and we’re currently working on the finalizing and on a future release of this. Also, we are currently working on the writing of the second album. Lower, darker, faster!
Finally, we will release a video clip in the middle of the year.
GroundCast – We are in internet era, where everything can be downloaded for free. What do you think about it?
Guillaume Singer: This is a big question. In metal music, I think that we are a bit luckier because people like to have cds, shirts…
Metal fans mostly behave like collectors, fetishists, they like to own the objects of the bands, and I think that they respect the band and their work. This is maybe because metalheads are often musicians or friends of bands.
The fact that music can be downloaded for free makes a money problem, for sure, but small bands don’t earn much money with their sales anyway. I would be glad if we could earn a bit more during our venues. Some bands often pay to play as support bands and I really think that that kind of practice is really damageable for all. At the internet era, everything is accessible, but there’s also a loss in the quality of what you get. This is true for music, but also for informations. You have to be selective. The “free of charge” feeling make some people feel that bands can play for free, if a band doesn’t want, there always be bands agreed to do it. I don’t agree with that.
GroundCast – Are you professional musicians who live with his own music or you have another job?
Guillaume Singer: As myself, I work as a professional musician but Dead Season doesn’t pay the bills. It’s a lot of personal investment. As a musician, I work in a show for teenagers which deals with auditive risks prevention. I mix that with other activities (pay the bills!) and this interview would start to be boring if I explain… Nico has a job, but he manages to have time for music (he will replace a bassist in a band opening for Vader on a European tour). Julien, works as a sound technician. Gregoire is currently studying musical engineering. Guy-Noël works as a guitar teacher.
GroundCast – Now this space is yours to talk with our readers and to spread your word. Cheers from Brazil and good luck with your work.
Guillaume Singer: Olá brasileiros metaleiros (can’t speak portuguese!), thanks for your support and send us some sunshine.
I hope this will be the occasion for brasilian metalheads to discover our band. “From Rust to Dust” can be freely listened on Bandcamp or Reverbnation and our cd can be bought or downloaded on the usual web shops. Spread the word if you like it, but shut up if you don’t, and thanks again for this interview.
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