By Nicholas Jason Lopez
A blissfully assembled blend of rough vocals, “post-something ambience” and heavy riffs, French post-metal outfit Quietus recently released their debut album, ‘Chaos Is Order, Yet Undeciphered.’
Quietus are Bassist/Vocalist Guillaume D., Guitarist Guillaume C., Guitarist Charles D-L and Drummer Jérôme T.. The group is influenced by acts like Refused, Converge and Mutoid Man.
The Music Bugle recently had the opportunity to chat with Guillaume D. and Jérôme T. about the new release and more.
Music Bugle – How did you guys decide the name Quietus? What does it signify?
Guillaume D. – Well, the name was not an easy decision. We started this band under a couple of different names until Charly, our guitarist, reminded us we were all big fans of the band Forstella Ford, a post-hardcore band from Milwaukee in the early 2000’s. They named one of their albums ‘Quietus,’ so we kept the idea. I would highly recommend people to listen to this band. They influenced us a lot.
Music Bugle – How would you describe the “scene” for your genre?
Guillaume D. – Hard to define honestly. I don’t think there is such a scene for our “genre” and I don’t even know how to put a name on what we’re doing. We’re putting a lot of influences and textures in our music and we played with quite a lot of different bands and often fitted.
Jérôme T. – As Guillaume said, difficult to answer. The fact is that we can’t and so the listeners, enclosed ourselves in a genre. Our music is inspired by so many things, but the cool thing is that due to this situation, we can play on very different shows in front of very different crowds. That’s very rewarding as a musician.
Music Bugle – How would you describe the process of putting together your first album, ‘Chaos Is Order, Yet Undeciphered’?
Guillaume D. – So, it took us around two years after the band officially started to have those eight songs and enter a studio to record the album. For us, it was really fast! (Laughs) We were playing in another band until our previous drummer left the band and the process of writing music was not too fluent in the past. We had a lot of hopes, motivation and expectations with that new band. We created the music all together, in a very “democratic way” with some rules like, if one of us doesn’t really like something, then we don’t play it. Everyone is participating to the creation process and I think we’re more disciplined than in the past! (Laughs) For the lyrics, I used to write them. We like concepts and these sort of meanings in the music when lyrics, music and artwork match in order to create an artistic entity. The title of the album is coming from a movie.
Music Bugle – Has the COVID-19 outbreak affected the band in any way?
Guillaume D. – Unfortunately, yes it does. We had to stop rehearsals and it will probably last two or three months. We were supposed to play a couple of festivals in the summer, but they may all be cancelled, I think. It is what it is. We will soon try to rehearse from home with some new stuff we bought, like an electronic drum and some equipment for our computers. Let’s see how it will go! Everyone is trying to adapt to the situation.
Jérôme T. – Yes, it sucks, but it’s just a “pause” for us, not really serious. We all think about the people really touched by this situation, all the people who work for the festivals, in venues. etc.. The artistic economy is really bad now and many people can’t work. That really sucks.
Music Bugle – Which of your musical influences do you feel shines the most in your songs?
Guillaume D. – Like I said, it’s hard for us and probably any band to describe their own style and have enough backward on their own little monster! (Laughs) We’re coming from the emo/screamo scene in the late 90’s/early 2000’s, so I think it’s still somewhere hidden. Our sound is now more close to the post-metal and post-hardcore genre, so we’re obviously post-something! (Laughs) We also like noise music or math rock. Some people said we were a progressive band!
Jérôme T. – I personally listen to many things. I came from the punk-rock scene with bands like Satanic Surfers, Millencolin or No Use For A Name, but I also grew up with my dad’s stuff – Led Zepppelin, Deep Purple, etc.. I’m a huge fan of Black Sabbath and I came to the hardcore/emo/screamo scene. Bands like Funeral Diner, Envy, Forstella Ford or Amanda Woodward and Gantz. All of them were truly an inspiration in the music I play today.
Music Bugle – What are your future plans, as far as the rest of 2020 goes?
Guillaume D. – We’re planning to record an EP if we can have enough material before the end of the year. For shows, at the moment, we can unfortunately not plan anything.
Music Bugle – What is your most meaningful song or set of lyrics you always quote?
Guillaume D. – For me, it’s the song “Johnny Crevé.” I like to dedicate this one to our lost fathers.
Jérôme T. – I agree with this. There’s something special with this song, but I really like a new song we played on a couple of shows, called “La Gestation De l’hippocampe.” It’s about all these “…ism” things that came during the last years. They’re all starting with really good vibrations, denouncing horrible things, but they often become as extreme as the movements they fight. That’s a vicious circle and many people don’t think enough when they engage themselves in these movements, so it ends in serious shit!
Music Bugle – What do you look to accomplish that you feel you haven’t yet?
Guillaume D. – I think we’d like to have a solid record label now. Our first album is a co-production of different record labels and record stores that helped us, but we’re definitely not good at promoting our music and all the stuff aside from playing. I wish we had the chance to find this help to be able to grow and have more solid tours for example.
Music Bugle – What is the most frustrating aspect of today’s music industry?
Guillaume D. – To me, it’s the easy access for everything. People don’t really have to put in any effort to discover new bands and music. It became a massive thing with so many bands. The hardcore and metal genres are not popular here in France. The same “big” bands are here for over 20 years doing the same stuff and trusting the attention and despite the talent of so many good bands, they will never really reach a point where they can achieve something. Just look at the success of cover bands. Man, people are so not curious that they’d rather see a cover band than discovering a cool band in their area!
Music Bugle – Where has been your favorite place to play in terms of a live setting?
Guillaume D. – We recently played in Le Havre and the public was really hot! Very good memory!
Jérôme T. – Yes! Le Havre, you rule! Also, we always love to play in Belgium. We have good friends booking shows there and it’s always really cool shows!
