Artweg are a 5 piece band from the suburbs of Paris. Playing an eclectic mix of Modern Metal Hardcore with many different musical styles, they appeared recently in London as support for Orphaned Land and Arkan during the “Tour to OR Shalem”. Since then Andrew Doherty caught up with Mugen, the band’s vocalist to find out some more about them.
MTUK: Hello Mugen! It was good to meet you in London, and thanks for agreeing to this interview for Metal Team UK. Let’s start with the origins of Artweg, as many people in the UK won’t know you. As I understand it, you came together in 2005 to form the band. How did this come about?
Mugen: To tell you the truth, we’d all known each other for more than 10 years and were just doing our own thing musically, and the idea just came to us to join up and work together.
MTUK: What were your aims when you started out?
Mugen: We just wanted to play music and have a bit of fun together, then over the years we’ve launched ourselves into it.
MTUK: And has your outlook changed since the start?
Mugen: We’ve always had the same outlook. Having fun comes before everything. We continue to make progress and we hope we can pursue our passion as far as we possibly can.
MTUK: Your music now contains many styles. Within your work, I hear Metal, Hardcore, Punk, Jazz, Rap, Hip Hop and more, with regular changes within a song. Do you consider that you have a dominant style which precedes all else within your work?
Mugen: We are very diverse musically. We listen to a lot of music overall and that can be felt in our music. Our basis is Hardcore Punk and our diverse influences take care of the rest.
MTUK: There seems to be a deliberate lack of fluidity within your music. Why’s that? Do you consider it to be progressive or anarchic at all?
Mugen: We try to get close to our own preferences. That’s no doubt the reason why some passages don’t seem clear the first time you listen to them. There are a lot of rhythm changes. That may seem a surprising approach for a musical genre like Hardcore which is supposed to have a main theme or musical thread. Having to adapt to our sequence changes is why the fluidity isn’t what you might expect.
MTUK: Is there any musical style that you would not be interested in trying?
Mugen: Sure, but then we always set about listening to styles of music we would like to share.
MTUK: As a band, do you have common musical likes and dislikes?
Mugen: It’s true that we are different but in general we agree with each other.
MTUK: Who would you say are your main musical influences?
Mugen: We couldn’t quote one single person as our influence. We learn a great deal from everyone and from everything around us.
MTUK: When I heard Artweg for the first time in London, I was reminded of New York Hardcore where the roots and realities of everyday life are brought into the experience. Would you say that you are bringing the hard streets of Paris into your music?
Mugen: We talk about everything which happens in everyday life. Our music is a reflection of the things we all see. The reality of the street is pretty much the same everywhere, not just in Paris. Our base is the whole world. That’s where we come from.
MTUK: I sensed a lot of fun and energy in your show, but also felt intensity and anger. Titles like “Unstoppable” and “SLAM” don’t suggest this anger. Is there a message in your music?
Mugen: We’re not there particularly to get a message across. We talk about what we see every day. Our themes deal with what life can sometimes give us but we maintain as our main interest the ideal of making music, in other words to have fun for ourselves and convey to the public this passion. That’s the most important thing.
MTUK: You’re fairly unusual in that you have two vocalists. What benefits do you get from this?
Mugen: Our voices have different trademarks which add to the band. We find that the vocals can bring more subtlety.
MTUK: I wouldn’t say that you are a logical accompaniment to Orphaned Land or Arkan in terms of musical style and type of audience. That said, you went down very well in London. How did audiences react to you elsewhere on the tour?
Mugen: People were surprised to see us opening the bill. It’s true that the contrast can be alarming but we’ve often been told that it’s a pleasant surprise. It’s allowed us to encounter a public which doesn’t know this style and which sometimes asks to find out more about it.
MTUK: What did you gain from being part of the “Tour to OR Shalem”?
Mugen: We have been able to share our music across different European countries but in a special context as we’re only the only dedicated Hardcore band on this tour. That also shows the open-mindedness of the musicians and of the music itself. We have great respect for the public and the groups with whom we have played. It’s enabled us to project ourselves differently in the future.
MTUK: Is there any other band that you’d like to accompany on tour?
Mugen: Agnostic Front, Madball, BLS and many other groups we’d like to tour with. The list is a long one.
MTUK: Do you have any more live concerts lined up in the near future?
Mugen: On the 17th February with Lofofora at the Deux Pièces Cuisines, Blanc-Mesnil, Paris (District 93).
MTUK: You have released an EP and I guess you must be thinking of your next moves to take the band forward. What immediate plans do you have?
Mugen: We’re in the process of composing an album which, all things being equal, will see the light of day in the first part of 2012. We will of course continue to play.
MTUK: Which musical direction do you think Artweg will take in the future?
Mugen : We will endeavour to work on our music and enhance our passages with as much as energy as possible.
MTUK: What is your greatest achievement as a band so far?
Mugen: I don’t think we have a real goal but rather a desire to live out our adventure to the full.
MTUK: And what would you like to achieve?
Mugen: To share our music with as many people as possible.
MTUK: Finally, is there anything that you would like to say to readers of Metal Team UK?
Mugen: Yes, we were really pleased to be able to come to England and play at a venue like the Borderline. We hope it’s not too long before we come back and play in London.
MTUK: On behalf of Metal Team UK, I’d like to thank you once again both for the pleasure your music gives us spectators and for this interview. Let’s hope we’ll see you again in the UK soon. All the best for the future!
Mugen : And thank you for this interview ..
See you soon !
For more on the band check out
http://www.facebook.com/pages/ArtWeg/137707212940871
Interviewed by Andrew Doherty
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