Vaerohn: Vacuum was my first experience in terms of composition, recording and mixing and today I feel I better master these processes. Grotesque is more mature and looks more like what I’m looking for. I think it is more complex in terms of composition but of concept too. On the one hand Grotesque goes deeper on the “mixing everything” thing and thus is more absurd and ludicrous than Vacuum which is more common, if I may say. But on the other hand there are more brutal parts and thus more extreme metal pieces on Grotesque, Vacuum being more into the “Depressive Black Metal” style. So to sum up I would say Grotesque is at the same time less serious and rougher, less righteous and more unhealthy than Vacuum. I think the main improvements between these albums concern the production, the voice and the composition, far more original and complex.

LH: I read that with Vacuum you were really inspired by urban life and the destruction it brings, and with the idea that the lives of such people are spent doing so many things that distract them from life. This really came across on that record – it had a particularly depressive sound and one I described as a vacuum sucking away all hope and happiness. I don’t think this is so true of Grotesque and I think there is so much more going on – to me it is much more unhinged, there’s a sense of madness to it that really comes across to me, of surrealism, and to quote my own review quite a Grand Guignol-esque way of mixing the grotesquery and darkness with the light. Would you agree with any of this – was there anything in particular you wanted to portray through the music on Grotesque?

Vaerohn: Life doesn’t have a deep meaning, a precise objective, an absolute truth. The fact that human lives rest on their share of illusions and are led by a never-ending hope is undeniable. Nothing we do has an existential foundation aside from spending time. As if life comes down to everything that allows us to forget life… But despite this emptiness we have to “live anyway” and this kind of nihilism makes it possible to see life from a totally different point of view and to try to create something from this absurdity, something that you have chosen, something that doesn’t have to be conventional or “normal”. It’s a losing battle, so we have to make fun of life and laugh at our condition. Grotesque is a little bit of all these things and therefore it is pretty much the continuity of Vacuum, if I may say but with enough time to stand back to assess this condition.

LH: There is a very clear classical element to your music – in fact a friend of mine was wondering if you have reworked any famous compositions in your work. Are there any composers or particular musical time periods you are particularly influenced by?

Vaerohn: Well your friend is right; there are a lot of external references and it is not limited to the classical parts or even to the music but also in the lyrics. So about the classical side, you can find more or less obvious references to Berlioz, Verdi, Mahler, Brahms, Grieg and Prokofiev…but this is more a kind of homage; implied references for true music lovers. Honestly I didn’t really try to copy a band or a musical style and the fact I have no musical training and I have learned everything by myself makes it possible to create something really personal. Sure I’m not credulous, Pensées Nocturnes isn’t a revolution and is influenced by what I’m used to listening to but it is not a purpose I try to fulfill when I compose. So I can’t really tell you what artists inspired me, but I can at least tell you what I’m used to listening to. Generally speaking I prefer to judge bands on a case by case basis and try to avoid cataloging as far as possible; Black Metal obviously (in all its forms: Symphonic, True, Depressive, Melodic, etc.) Death Metal, Classical Music (mainly Romantic Period and the ones that follow), Blues, Jazz, Post-Rock, French variety…

LH: I understand that you recorded and produced the album yourself. I imagine this was one of the biggest challenges for you, especially as there are so many layers to your sound. I have heard so many self-produced albums that have just been let down by terrible production and yet that is certainly not the case here as production is excellent. I am guessing one of the main reasons for you choosing to self-produce the album is because you aren’t confident in finding a producer who would 100% understand and share your own vision of what you want to do – is that correct?

Vaerohn: Indeed, and it’s the same reason that made me create this one man band; being the only responsible for the result. I often play with other people and I also play live with other bands which means that PN is a way for me to try something different. I can assure you that running a project alone is quicker than having to deal with a lot of individualities and points of view; it’s more spontaneous and coherent. You don’t have to convince anybody, to agree on something, to rehearse, to deal with the fifth wheel… Sure sometimes you may feel a little impatient because it’s a lot of work but it’s really pleasant to feel you master everything. Mixing is very important in the process when coming to experimental music. For example, you can find an accordion with a “wah-wah” effect in Grotesque, which is something which only I know how it should sound. A sound engineer wouldn’t be of any help here.

The other reason for running everything alone is that it’s impossible to innovate when reducing the instruments used to two guitars and a bass. I think that together with only using (often unconsciously) the minor harmonic scale, this is the origin of the fact everybody is doing the same thing, again and again. How can you do something new if you begin by restricting yourself on the choice of the instruments? What I mean is that you won’t ask for a trumpet player to come to play only a few notes on the whole album, and this is particularly true for a band which plays live. You just do it yourself and it’s the same issue for production and recording.

LH: You are from a country that has some very interesting black metal bands – Deathspell Omega, Peste Noire, Alcest, Blut Aus Nord and Spektr to name just a few. Do you have much contact with the “scene” in France and do you have any idea why there are so many strong bands in the country?

Vaerohn: I don’t really see it that way since I put music before side issues (country, musicians, artwork...) and generally speaking I prefer to judge bands on a case by case basis and try to avoid cataloging as far as possible. I think with the development of the Internet this notion of nationality has no signification anymore (in music), so I’m not particularly proud of being French even if indeed it seems we have a strong Black Metal scene. I don’t really try to fit to a style and what I’m used to listening to follow the same rules; I’m not led by any kind of chauvinism, only the way I feel the music. So at the risk of disappointing you I don’t think there is a unique reason for our scene to be that way.

LH: You rightly pointed out in one interview that nationality of a band shouldn’t be so important in the age of the internet, as it is so easy for a person with a computer to get in contact with someone else anywhere in the world, hear their music, share ideas and even if they wish to make a record together from other parts of the world. While there are aspects of the technology I hate, I know that personally the internet has allowed me to discover some great bands who aren’t really known in my local area, who the print magazines won’t touch and who I would still be very much ignorant to if not for things like webzines, myspace and downloading. Is the internet something you – as both a musician and a fan – embrace with open arms, or do you wish you could go back to a time when it didn’t exist? Do you have any opinions on this?

Vaerohn: Well this loss of national identity is obviously linked to the development of the Internet but I think it’s the result of a more general evolution called globalization. I had the chance to study abroad recently and the thing that struck me the most is that the people you meet - mainly students in this case, are pretty much the same kind of people you would find in your home university. It’s “the same” American guys, Italian guys, Spanish guys, etc... I don’t know if you see what I mean but by wanting absolutely to promote “diversity” in our world we are just destroying it, and with it national identities also.

So about the Internet. As a fan it is obviously, as you said, a wonderful means to discover a lot of bands, of different music, etc. and moreover to develop your knowledge about everything. But the problem about the Internet is that it’s a place where everybody can play the role of whatever he wants. Everybody can be a journalist, a writer, a scientist, a music critic, etc. Therefore finding relevant information in all this mess is a real loss of time, when you manage to find something... I don’t think I would be able to go without the Internet today, like everybody, and thus I really hate this situation in which everything has to be quick, entertaining and funny, and in which thought and seriousness have just disappeared. Nonetheless it’s not a characteristic of the Internet since all the media follow the same path: television, music, the cinema, etc... Actually it’s just the dark side of democracy; a place where the opinion of the village idiot is given the same weight as the opinion of Aristotle. I’m not for a world in which we wouldn’t have the right to speak, a lot of people are dead for that and a lot are still fighting for it. What I mean is when you don’t have anything interesting to say, you just shut up.

LH: Both albums have been released via LADLO productions – from what I can gather they are more into concert promotions and have quite a lot of experience of putting on shows in France, but Vacuum was the first record release for them. I was wondering how the relationship with LADLO productions came about, and if you had any apprehensions in the beginning about signing with an inexperienced label? Things seem to be working out pretty well with them?

Vaerohn: Les Acteurs De L’Ombre is a non-profit organisation which was indeed created by Gerald to organise concerts in France (mainly in Paris), and I am used to giving them a hand from time to time. Later it evolved to be also a webzine and last year Gerald quit the president function to create the label, LADLO productions. I guess you can understand that being a part of it makes it quite natural for me to work with them. On the one hand it is still a small structure so I can’t have the same expectation as I would have in a bigger label, but on the other hand this situation provides me the freedom I need. I am not under a contract which tells me what I have to do, the objective of LADLO productions is to support the scene and not to make money.

LH: The artwork is done by an artist called Stephen Rothwell of www.darkhousequarter.com. It is very eye-catching and also unusual. Did you have any input into this side of things – for example, was there a particular concept for the artwork that you gave to Stephen to work with?

Vaerohn: The artwork is the work of Stephen Rothwell, a British artist who evolves in a surrealistic and unhealthy atmosphere. I thought that these kind of strange and absurd combinations fit totally within Pensées Nocturnes’s universe, trying to give another point of view of the everyday life ending eventually in something thought-provoking. It has always been the main goal of PN to try to show another point of view on our life, our world, our condition. Therefore the artwork is rather important because it’s what you have in mind when you think about the album and that’s why I don’t want it to be too precise also. Imaginary, absurdity, originality is what PN is all about and I don’t want to restrict listeners’ thoughts with an image. It’s the same problem with the lyrics. The lay out has been realized by 3-Crosses.

LH: That’s all my questions for now! Thanks for your time, and feel free to leave a few final words…

Vaerohn: Thank you and all the best for the future.

For more on the band check out http://www.myspace.com/penseesnocturnes

Interviewed by Luci Herbert

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