"The Fountain of Tantric Worship" by BLACK MOTH CULT was (and still is!) indeed a masterful surprise of dynamic and fuzzy Stoner Rock - as France rarely offered so far, at such a high level of tightness and catchiness...
Beyond the classical, yet so effective, elements that a great band from this genre offers (dynamism, melodism, burning fuzziness...), BMC can prevail on stunning vocals which are in my opinion simply the best you can find on our territory actually and infectious grooves who make this experience crunchy as fuck !!! If not done yet, listen to the album immediately and watch out for its physical release - expected for the end of the year... In my review, I promised an interview "shortly", well... it took more time than planed but finally here it comes ! enjoy and support.
Hey guys, so what happened since the release of your 1st album ?
Hi everyone, first of all, we want to thank you for doing this interview, it’s the first time we’ve been given that opportunity! A couple of changes occurred since our first release, the major one being the hiring of our new drummer Alex. We played some gigs and started writing new material, basically defining what our next moves will be.
“The fountain of Tantric Worship” was recorded in Summer
2011 but only (digitally) released in March 2013, a pretty long delay… why that
?
We’ve been delayed by the same old issue that
affects most self-produced bands like us: the lack of money. Besides, when we
started the project, the writing went faster than expected and we rushed in
preproduction without any particular plan but recording. Later only would we
figure out what the whole process took: perfect the mixing, hire the artwork
designer (Coven Illustracion), the mastering (Sonics Mastering) and eventually
produce the record. By the way, our producer Anthony Belguise did a fantastic
work on the album, both as a recording and mixing engineer, but also as an
artistic director. He’s the man behind the “sound” of BMC, extremely talented
and very patient. A total stickler, always worried about the smallest things.
The bandcamp page said there’ll be a
physical CD edition when the score of 200 downloads is reached… are you still
under that number or what ?!
We’re getting closer every day, but we’ve scheduled a release before the
end of the year, no matter what.
Don’t you feel a kind of frustrating
shift between those number of downloads and the number of “likes” on your
facebook page which are 4 or 5 times more important ? it looks like more and more people don’t want (or
can’t allow) to pay some stuff anymore but just listen it on streaming or
download illegaly… ?
We weren’t surprised at all by the gap, being entirely aware of the way
music business works today for independent artists. That’s why our initial
commitment was to set up free listening for the whole album in order to have as
much audience as possible. We consider developing a fan base to be the major
priority and we’d rather have thousands of illegal downloads than a few hundred
sales. It’s become obvious now that only real supporters actually buy from
artists, but somehow, this enhances the nature of the physical products small
bands and small labels can offer, since quality prevails over quantity.
Have you been satisfied with the general response the album has gotten so far ? outside France, from where do you get the most interest ? what’s the most surprising and/or flattering contact you’ve made with the band ?
We’ve been extremely pleased with the enthusiasm sparked off by the
album, especially by the prospect of an actual record release. Most of the
support comes from abroad, the US of course, and all the European countries
where the genre isn’t just a niche, with a peak in Scandinavia and the UK. We
met a lot of people, headlined with awesome bands (Mother of God, Abrahma, The
Socks…) and received a number of requests for reviews, distribution deals and
concerts.
Could you please give us some
details about new songs ? Is there any particular development in the new stuff
?
Right now, we're in the process of writing music. All we can say is that it
will sound less poppy as we have chosen to impregnate it with new influences
and intentions.
I think it is safe to say that the new equation of BMC allows us to explore
places that would have otherwise remained uncharted.
How is it going on the Live front ?
any special plans for this 2nd part of 2013 ?
There aren't any particular plans as regards performing before the end of
the year. Next year shall be otherwise.
I know it would be kinda insulting
to ask you (as southern guys) if you’re
envious about northern French bands but one must reckon that those ones have potencially more possibilities in terms
of gigs and festivals… don’t you
sometimes feel a bit isolated from the rest of the scene on the French Riviera?
Everybody acknowledges there won't be a rock scene epiphany in France, let
alone in the South. Yet I believe one can go and promote their music wherever
people want to listen to it, and that's the very essence of touring. Some may
be luckier than others in terms of possibilities and exposure, but in the end, it's
all about touring and commitment.
Well, you know, these things bloom out of nowhere and we just use them for
the fuck of it, because it's dated and glamour, who knows... Plus, 80% of our followers
being foreigners, it seemed pretty obvious that "côte d'Azur"
wouldn't mean much to them.
What’s the next priority for B.M.C.
: find a deal before recording a new album, tour… ?
Extend our set list, touring, have more fans and of course, the prospect of
signing remains a primal motivation.
The album’s title let suggest an
interest in Hinduism cosmology, can you explain which dimension does it reflect
exactly ?
The album was written as a whole concept revolving around the Kāmikāgama scriptures from 600, which
focus on an extensive knowledge of principles of reality. Their influence on
our work tends to be more westernized than purely Hinduistic as the lyrics deal
with the reaffirmation of identity in pure consciousness (in a pretty simple
way). In other words, tantric methods channel the energy existing within us all
in order to help us access awe (here, through music). The lyrics (mantras) also
point to the idea of a real world and, connected to each other, they form a
running metaphor of the teachings life provides. One could discuss these
matters for days, so let’s say the music illustrates both the initiatory
journey men take in their lives, and the one we take as a band.
In my opinion vocals by Thimothey
Gelly are a distinctive force of the band, how does it come that he’s so at
ease with English singing ?
I just love the language, I teach it and most of the music I’ve been
listening was written in English. So let’s say it wasn’t much of a challenge to
deal with English itself, though I really appreciate the compliment. Having the
adequate technique was the hardest part.
Your sound takes as much from US
Desert/Stoner Rock than from the Heavy Stoner Rock of Swedish bands like
Truckfighters and Greenleaf… is that a
natural balance or do you feel more into one than the other ?
I guess the balance is natural; it is somehow induced by all the music
we listen to, that infuses equally in the maelstrom of our inspiration. Our
influences extend to a variety of genres, from Californian Robot-rock to
Swedish heavy fuzz, but also grunge, doom, blues and all the artists each one
of us digs on his own. I think most musicians who try to be artists have no
choice but opening themselves to what happens around them.
Thanx for your time, please add
something you feel important we might have forgotten to talk about… oh by the
way, is the T-shirt still available ?
Thank YOU for your interest and time, it was a pleasure to answer your
questions. We also want to thank all the people who listen to BMC and bought
the album and T-shirts, for their support and enthusiasm. And yes, we do have
some Tees left, until the next issue we’re working on, that we hope will please
our fans.
