LH: Hi there. How are things going for you so far in 2009?

PB: Excellent, thanks! I am currently in quite a creative mood so I am preparing the rough conceptual structure of our next album. Until now I am quite satisfied … ;-)

LH: Congratulations on the release of the Great Maddening! I understand that it was actually released in 2007, but has only just secured a distribution deal for the UK. Have you already had much response to the album in other countries?

PB: Yes, as the first release of the album was in late summer 2007, we already got loads of feedback from all parts of the world and once again it’s amazing to see that art can work as an intra-cultural communication device. It’s understood everywhere even though the interpretations might differ, but this makes it even more exciting. I was really a bit surprised by the overwhelming responses from so many people. We were aware that our album wouldn’t be the easiest one to listen to but apparently there are still many people who are thrilled by something that demands a bit more than one round to unfold properly.

LH: The album has been a long time in the making by the sounds of it. You started working on it in 2001, and I was reading that you re-recorded the album three times. What were the reasons for re-recording so many times – were there some real technical problems/band issues, or were you just striving for perfection?

PB: I have to admit that we didn’t live in the studio for 6 years in a row, haha! But we did spend an awful lot of time on the album. The reason for this were not really technical problems or band issues, even though I had to pause for several months in the middle of the recordings due to health reasons. The basic ideas and melodies to most of the songs were already written around 2001/2002. During the recording and arranging process we noticed that we would need enhanced equipment/technology to properly realize our vision. By the time we procured the equipment we noticed that our musical skills had evolved over the weeks, months and finally years. So this forced us to re-record several parts again and again. Patrick, the man responsible for the recording, is a perfectionist regarding sound quality so at one point we really had to stop him and say: OK, it’s perfect now, no more re-recordings, haha! What’s the purpose of recording a perfect album if perfection lies in infinity?

LH: Are you satisfied with the end result you have now achieved?

PB: Yes, we are all more than satisfied with the end result! Even though some hair turned white during the whole process, the waiting was worthwhile! The technical execution at the release of the album was at the top, the only thing that didn’t evolve over the years were the lyrics as most of them were written when I was in my early twenties. Of course I would write different lyrics now as I have crossed the 30. But there’s always a next album. ;-)

LH: The album cover was done by well-renowned artist Kris Verwimp, and it seems to have a certain grotesqueness and avant-garde feel to it that really fits the music. You seem to be quite a visual band, so I was curious to know, did you go to him with a very concrete vision of what you were after, or did you leave him to work his magic without much of your direction?

PB: When the main idea about “The Great Maddening” was set, I sent my visions along with a few advance-tracks to Kris. Most of the elements in the picture were our ideas and Kris made it possible to unite them all in a fantastic artwork. Just like the music it unfolds more and more the longer you look at it and the more details you can perceive.

LH: Your music is really unique, but it’s the nature of the beast to try and draw comparisons…the metal bands that kept springing to mind for me while listening to the album were the more symphonic style of black metal bands like Dimmu Borgir, Bal Sagoth, Cradle Of Filth and also Arcturus. Would you say this style in particular has influenced you quite heavily, and do such comparisons ever annoy you?

PB: I am not a fan of comparisons at all even though I understand that some people need a certain “anchor-point” to start off with. Comparisons are never flattering for me even though they might be related to artists I respect. Personally I think that the best approach to art (both in creating and consuming) is with a free and unladen mind. As for the bands you mentioned, I have to admit that I am not really familiar with Cradle of Filth or Dimmu Borgir as I hardly know a few songs of them. On the other hand I used to like Bal Sagoth and Arcturus a lot. But as I am not the composer in our band, any similarities in our music could only be accidental.

LH: I notice a lot of diversity in your music; certainly hints of jazz, avant-garde, film scores and especially classical music. I believe Yves, who is the main songwriter in the band, considers himself more of a classical music lover than a fan of metal, which must help to make things interesting coming from that world. Do you all have such eclectic musical tastes, and do you feel that your music is able to appeal to a range of music fans, not just metalheads?

PB: We all have a rather wide interest in music and the very smallest common denominator is metal. Why would we want to suffocate artistic freedom by squeezing it into a genre upfront? We play the music we like, regardless of the outcome. We’re not aiming at a special external target audience, the target audience is ourselves. If we like our music, we reached our goal - if some more people like our music, awesome! We wouldn’t change the natural composing process only to reach or to please more people. Emotions make music, not genres.

LH: I was interested to discover that you were previously known as Vindsval, and were originally a folk metal band. It’s not too uncommon for bands to find their feet in one style of metal and then to gradually change their sound as they develop, but it does seem like it was quite a sudden shift for you. How did this come to fruition?

PB: When we started off as a real band in 1996, we were fascinated by this new movement in extreme metal – almost every album that appeared at that time appealed to us so we wanted to be part of it ourselves.

Back then we were interested in northern mythology (Enslaveds “Frost” had quite an impact on me)) so our first songs dealt with that topic and the bandname fit this idea just well (Vindsval is the name for the father of winter in northern mythology). Our music wasn’t really folk-metal but rather raw melodic black metal with norse topics. But very soon we discovered that this topic was far too restricting for our ideas and visions. As we still liked the bandname we decided to keep it but already our first album “Imperium Grotesque” had got nothing to do at all with northern mythology or whatever. Over the years the Vindsval-straightjacket grew tighter and tighter until we finally decided to burst its bonds and to opt for the far more fitting name Le Grand Guignol.

LH: Do you have any interest in maybe reviving Vindsval and keeping it as a project/band on the side, or have you moved on from that too much to consider that?

PB: The Vindsval concept is not fertile enough for us to keep it alive. It would be “just another band” and to be honest, I don’t want to spend time on something that curbs my creativity. Although it could be funny to play a last gig with only very old material.

LH: Of course, you do have some history with Falkenbach, as initially you were signed to Vratyas’ record label, and some of you lent your talents to the Falkenbach albums. Could you talk a bit more about this? Do you think you will collaborate with Falkenbach again some time in the future?

PB: In 2000, Vratyas Vakyas signed us on his label Skaldic Art Productions and gave us the possibility to present our album to a larger number of people. During the years we became close friends so at the time when Falkenbach had to record “Ok Nefna Tysvar Ty” he asked Michel, Patrick and me for some help in the studio. It worked perfectly so that the three of us also took part in the latest Falkenbach album “Heralding – The Fireblade”. We were merely studio musicians and only involved in the executive, not in the writing process. I cannot speak for the other ones but I will always be available for a new Falkenbach album or even for some live gigs.

LH: Getting back to your album, ‘The Great Maddening’. I was quite surprised to read that it is not actually a concept album, simply because to me it seems to have that conceptual flow to it. However, there is an underlying theme of madness to all of the songs and you have mentioned the type of insanity that affects those artists and creators who are so determined to reach the top that they end up going mad. Could you elaborate a little on this?

PB: The fact that “The Great Maddening” is not a concept album is due to the long process of creation. Nevertheless many of the songs deal with different forms and states of madness as you observed correctly. At the base of madness often lies the forlorn striving or neurosis to reach another level (be it intellectual or physical). This madness can manifest itself in either a positive or negative way, it can be bound to certain persons or to global situations, it can be concrete and freeing, but it can also invoke helplessness, fear and anxiety. Sometimes that madness is inhibitory, sometimes catalytic. History knows many examples of great artists or thinkers who became mental or physical wrecks due to their endless striving to reach a certain goal, be it a next level or the ultimate achievement.

LH: I understand that one inspiration for the lyrics came from ‘Faust’ which was a story by German writer Goethe. I’m guessing quite a lot of inspiration comes from literature, but are there any other, maybe more real to life, themes that influence you when thinking of lyrical concepts, as well as some of the plays performed at the Grand Guignol?

PB: Goethe’s Faust has grown to be a great inspiration to me over the years. I know the book for 15 years now and it does not lose its fascination on me. I am very much interested in many forms of art so I cannot speak myself free from being unawarely inspired by many of its facets. But the majority of the lyrics on “The Great Maddening” were inspired by personal emotions, reflexions or experiences (in a certain way and to a certain extent). When I begin to write the lyrics to a song, I don’t know the end yet. I know the start and some waypoints I have to pass, but the writing process dominates me and searches its own way. It pulls me deeper and deeper, leads me to mindscapes that I never explored before and when it leaves me sweaty-handed and with a pounding heart at the end, then I know that the lyrics are finished and that they are good the way they meant to be! Some parts in my lyrics are only explainable in the moment they were written because right then they unfolded their true meaning.

On “The Great Maddening”, none of the songs deal or refer to the plays performed at the real Grand Guignol, also because the songs are so much older than the band-name.

LH: The Grand Guignol was a theatre in Paris in the 18/19th century, and generally I find that your music does kind of take you back to that sort of time, and can very much hear these songs as though they could be dark plays performed on the stage at the time. The themes covered were all to do with madness, murder and other horror themes that were very much taboo at the time. Is this something you really like to put across in your music, and do you plan to keep to this general theme on future albums?

PB: I think on future albums the emphasis will be even more on the elaboration of fin-de-siècle moods as we first had to create the framework for everything. Now’s the time to flesh things out. Besides horror themes there were also many humourous plays at the Grand Guignol – to relieve the audience from the tension but also to make the contrasts bigger for the next plays. Even though there was a social taboo on many themes, the theatre was extremely successful because it didn’t close its eyes on reality. Even though the plays were ficitonal they are of a great naturalism, an approach which I highly appreciate. As I am planning a conceptual album I can very much imagine to opt for a similar approach: very naturalistic and crossing the borderline of taboos - even though the setting might be vintage, the message will be of a shocking up-to-dateness …

LH: There are some lovely female soprano vocals on the album. I was wondering who provides these, and if she has done much other work either in the metal or classical/opera worlds?

PB: The woman who had the kindness of helping us out is called Nina Schromm, a professional german soprano singer. It was her first time to contribute something to a rock album. It was a big surprise and success for everyone involved as the result is really fantastic.

LH: Maddening Media is run by yourself, which you set up after the collapse of your previous label Skaldic Art. You currently have four artists on the label, and I was wondering if your original intention was simply to run the label to promote your own band, or if you had a particular vision for the label right from the word ‘Go?’ You seem to have a very strong label manifesto to nurture bands that are unique and creative in some way.

PB: I didn’t start the label because Skaldic Art closed its doors. So it was not made only for Le Grand Guignol. For a long time I had the vision in mind to set up a label, to support really outstanding artists and foremost to deliver good quality music to the potential listener. I was so sick of listening to half-baked albums with a bad prodution topping! Unfortunately these times aren’t over yet, even though it shoots in a different direction now. Many of the modern productions are so much over-the-top only to be the loudest, that they are almost not listenable. All finesses are lost in the quest for decibels and aseptic sounds. I want to offer both good musical and good technical quality with my label. That’s also why Maddening Media is not specialized in a genre. Each of the four artists are very different, and they all convinced me with their true dedication to art and music, as well as with their personalities. They all have full artistic and decisive freedom as I believe that this ensures the best possible and true-to-art result. Why force someone to release an album each 15 months? This sooner or later ends up in half-hearted albums which don’t do any favour to the fans or to the artists themselves. The market is already overfull, why flood it with shit?

LH: You have some really great artists on the label at the moment. Do you plan to concentrate on promoting this small roster of artists to the best of your ability or as much as your budget will allow, or would do you have bigger plans for the future?

PB: Both. As for now there is still so much potential in promoting the artists which are already on the label. So many territories to distribute the albums, so many potential listeners. Unfortunately the global music pool has many shallows at the moment and the remaining sharks are very bitey. The music industry is heavily wounded and it will take some time until a healing-process will set in. But I strongly believe that quality will be one of the surviving factors.

There are already bigger plans for the future which will be made official as soon as they are ripe for decision.

LH: How has your experience been thus far with running the label? I guess it’s a lot of hard work involved, but are you starting to reap any rewards yet?

PB: As in every other business or work, there are good and bad times, advantages and disadvantages. After knowing the insides of the music business you can never listen to music with the same feeling again as before. But there is no greater satisfaction than to achieve something together with friends, and I consider all bands on my label my friends. I had many good times and I met fantastic people – on the other hand I also met many people making idle promises,, hypocrites and companies that are simply cheating etc., but again, this is nothing specific to the music business. But there is one thing that really pisses me off: piracy initiated by music journalists!! I mean, MP3 piracy itself is already a very severe problem, so I cannot understand how people working for the music press are deliberately destroying their own “playground”. It’s difficult not to lose faith if I find my releases illegally on the net one month before the official release-date!! On the other hand, each fan telling me that my albums make his day make up for everything.

LH: I read somewhere that you do plan to make the next album a concept album. Am I to guess that you have already begun work on the new album, and will it take as long as the last one did?

PB: I guess I already partially replied to this question a few lines before. Until now the only work for the new album is of a conceptual and lyrical kind. No music has yet been written. We want everything to be fitting one to another, so I will first prepare the lyrics and the overall mood & emotions and only afterwards we will adjust the sounds and the music. This way we hope to ensure the most emotional approach possible. And I really hope that it won’t take as long to finish as “The Great Maddening”, but hey, it’s ready when it’s done!

LH: I notice on your website that you don’t have any gigs lined up, and I get the impression that you haven’t had much experience playing live. I mentioned in my review that I imagine you would put on one hell of a live show and would be fantastic to see live if it could be pulled off. Is there any chance of this happening and you coming to the UK?

PB: We were playing quite some gigs in the past, still under the name of Vindsval. But since the release of our album we didn’t play any concerts. One reason is the difficulty to gather all the band members to rehearse (we live spread over hundreds of kilometers and countries). But the main reason is that the music on the CD is far too complex to simply present it live like an ordinary metal-band. That would kill the magic and the spirit of the music. So in order to be able to present our music in an adequate way, we would have to enhance our live presentation. Currently we are thinking about how we could arrange that! Maybe by the use of a video-projection, additional musicians and make a more theatrical stage presentation (but then we would also need someone who covers the expenses)… We definitely want to play live again, but if we do so, we will do it in a way that both audience and the band are satisfied. A live performance has the potential to add a new dimension to the music, so we must take full advantage of this fact and create something that stays in mind for a long time and not something that simply stays in the ear as a tinnitus! So we are facing an organizational and monetary challenge right now, but we are definitely willing to play live in the future! I have been to the UK 6 times already and I really like it there so I would be more than glad to play “on the island”!

LH: That’s all the questions I have for now! Thanks for the interview and all the best with the label and with the band! Feel free to leave a final message for our readers.

PB: My first message goes to you and it is a big thank you for the nice interview. It’s rare to meet such a well-prepared and interested interviewer! Also a big thanks to the readers of these lines. Don’t trust other people’s opinions, so please feel free to visit our MySpace-site and make up your own opinion about our music:

For more on the band check out http://www.myspace.com/legrandguigno1
http://www.maddeningmedia.de/

Interviewed by Luci Herbert

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