Pavillon Rouge Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?

Mervyn : Many things actually, our guitar player YVH left the band, and we had to search for a new guy to replace him... We have decided to involve a good friend of us, Sly S, who was a huge fan of the band. A couple of weeks after, we were able to perform great gigs thanks to him and it was a kind of rebirh for the band. We made a mini-tour in Netherlands which was a great time, and then we played in Paris for one of the best gigs we had ever made...
Presently, we're working on new tracks for the next album.


2.Recently you have released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

I would describe it as a kind of cosmic tekno black metal ! Antic mythology and space structures were a great inspiration for us, and I think you can feel it listening each of the tracks. We all listen to different kind of music (any kind of metal, electro, new wave, commercial shits etc...), and we've tried to mix it together in a cosmic atmosphere.
Our first album « Solmeth Pervitine » wasn't so conceptual, it was a kind of compilation of new tracks and 6 years old tracks, without many common points between them... I still love these tracks, but there was not a real coherence in it. Maybe because the members of the band, in those days, didn't really know each others... But after a couple of years, we became a real family, and from this brotherhood was born « Legio Axis Ka ».


3.This is the first album to be released in 4 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame?

Actually all of the songs we composed in 2012... a couple of month's after the release of « Solmeth Pervitine ». But it took a very, very long time to record it, mix it, find the cover, and, eventually, find the label to release it. Dooweet Records was motivated to work with us, and we are really glad about it.


4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?

Roughly, most of the lyrics deal with the search of light and any kind of ecstacy. Here is our main difference with every black metal bands, we don't give a shit about darkness and all the things that come with it... We love black metal, even the « darkest » bands, but we don't want to follow this way for the lyrics, because it would be fake. We are not « dark » people, we don't want darkness in our lives, so why would we talk about black forests, graveyards, old castles and depression ? Most of the bands that talks about it are not « dark » in the real life... And I defintely feel sad for the ones who really are...


5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Pavillon Rouge'?

« Pavillon Rouge », is the name of a track by a new wave french band, Indochine, which wrote my favourite albums in the 80s. This track was about cunnilingus, and it's a totally killer track, from my point of view (many people think I'm crazy because of it). The expression « Pavillon Rouge » is a metaphor, used in asiatic tales, to name the female sex. When I created the band, I thought that it would be a good band name, in order to contrast with classical black metal ones.


6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Our best gig was definitely the one we made in Gibus, Paris, with Perturbator and our friends Division:Crystal and Styxian Industries. This show was exactly what we had wanted to create since we began to play live : a kind of badass cosmic ceremony, in front of extatic and positive people. Definitely far away from average black metal gig, in which the audience is always trying to look « evil », judging the performance without trying to have a real experience with it. In Paris we've met the audience we had always searched for : enthousiastic, joyful, probably also drugged, and totally familiar with our message.
As for the performance itself, it's difficult to describe it for me because I'm on stage, but I think one could see it as a meeting of punks on a cosmic dancefloor.


7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?

We'll play on a festival this summer in the south of France, and we'll probably open for Hanzel und Grettel in Paris this autumn. Some other gigs, in France, Italy and Switzerland will soon be confirmed.


8.The new album was released on Swamp Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?


Swamp Record is under a label of Dooweet Record created at the beginning of 2015 dedicated to extreme music bands.



9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of industrial and black metal?

For « Solmeth Pervitine », we had some very good feedbacks from USA, Hungary, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic and Poland, which was really cool.


10.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a a part of?

Pavillon Rouge is my only musical project, because in this band I can do whatever I want ! A long time ago I used to play some traditionnal black metal and it's a very bad experience, I'll never do this again ! After that I took part in a minimal electro duo in Hungary, KHK and then GK Agenda,  which was much better, but now I prefer having my own band, cause I feel totally free with it.


11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

We already have a couple of tracks ready, and it will definitely be more electro, very catchy and dancy. The beats will be more present, the guitars won't be as important, and yet it will be fucking hostile. Many aggrotech influences in our own style, with a badass rock n roll touch.


12.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

We've always been listening to every kind of music, so it will be very long to mention all the bands which had an influence on us. In Black Metal, the bands that influenced me were Emperor, Aborym, Arckanum, Black Lodge, Enslaved and above everything Crystalium. My other heroes were the bands from the 80s, in any kind of music : Indochine, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Hanoi Rocks, Depeche Mode, Social Distortion, Vangelis...
And nowadays, I listen a lot to Dope DOD, Faith No More, Combichrist, Psyko Punkz and... Scooter !  As I told, you, I don't care about the genre of music I listen to, as long as it kicks ass. If I find a killer melody in a Britney Spears or Rihanna track, I'm not ashamed of listening to it all day long or playing it in a party...


13.What are some of your non musical interests?

Fitness is my other passion, and it's also my job. And I can tell you that every track I wrote on « Legio Axis Ka » were inspired, in a way or another, by the music I use in fitness classes.
Sport is a kind of religion, for me it's a spiritual experience, that's why we refer a lot to Antiquity, which considerered body and mind as indissociable.
Besides, we're all crazy about parties and everything that comes with it...





14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?


Thanks for the interview and your support, hope you'll have a great experience with our tracks !




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