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?
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C: Our schedule has been pretty tight because we had booked a tour for November 2022 and logically, the release date had to be around the same time. While we did our best to plan ahead, with vinyl production delays and all that, we ended up having to deal with a lot of different things in a very short amount of time, like promotion, final tour details, printing merch... It was challenging but it went well, the release went as planned and we went on tour with everything we hoped for!
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2.Recently you have released a new album, musically how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
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G: I would say that we incorporated more influences, like "Mathcore/Noisecore" for example, which can be heard on "Kabuki", and we also added synths parts which was new for us. In my opinion we have a wider range of sounds, noises, sonic textures and atmospheres on "Thermoclines".
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W: Yes, still a sludge/doom musical base, but with a larger soundscape, with on the one hand psychedelic and melancholic phases (including synths parts, but not only) and on the other hand more aggressive ones, with d-beat patterns and blast beats.
3.This is also your first release in 7 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame?
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G: The line up changed, we toured in 2015 and 2016 across Europe to support our previous release "Apnée" and we have to admit it : we like to take our time !
W: It was not an explicit desire, but we were embarked in a complex composition process, absorbing the musical influences of the newcomers and also wanting to enlarge our musical spectrum. COVID phase was also not very helpful, of course, as well as our personal and professional lives.
S: Yeah, we don't have any excuse really… We just implicitly decided we'd rather do it well than do it fast I guess!
It took us a long time to find which composition process was right for us. And even when all the songs had finally been written, we took the time necessary to get every detail just the way we wanted them.
4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the new release and also how would you describe your progress as songwriters over the years?
A: I would say that since the first EP that we released in 2012, we have always followed a common thread which was water and diving to the depths, like an allegory of the existential questioning of the human being.
Each project was an opportunity to push this reflection a little further.
The texts are also borrowed from feelings by which I could be submerged in my personal life at the time when I wrote them, while being enough imaged, in order to leave to the listener his own interpretation.
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5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Valve'?
A: Finding a name for this band has been subject to a lot of debate, which in my opinion is something inseparable from the identity of VALVE, 5 thinking heads, so a lot of debate! We even went so far as to put random letters in a hat!
C: It’s “VALVE”, all caps! More seriously, back then when we created the band, we did not want its name to bear a “deep” meaning, that felt a little pompous to us. And we were laughing about some noise rock bands with common names like “Cheveu”, “Tondeuse” or “Pneu”. “Pneu” means “tire” in french, and at some point somebody said “Well, some bands are named “Pneu”, so we might as well call ourselves “Valve”, and that stuck with us. We liked the word for its sound, and the absence of meaning, I guess. But we like to write it all upper case, “VALVE” 🙂
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W: Disappointing, isn’t it ? :)
6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
A: Ëmgalaï had worked on the artwork for the project of one of my beatmaker friends, Aguirre, and I loved his work! Then I realized that he had worked for a lot of bands with a tendency to doom, sludge... I immediately thought of him for the artwork of Thermoclines.
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W: We really like Ëmgalaï’s work and, especially, his fascination for dystopian landscapes, so he was given free rein to interpret visually his perception of the album, the atmosphere and the message conveyed in it.
7.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
A: Without hesitation, the small and medium venues with the pit totally filled!
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G: I have great memories of playing gigs at small venues, bigger venues or at festivals.
I remember a gig in 2015 at "Le 3 pièces", a small venue in Rouen, France which was an absolute mess ! We had wonderful times on stage on this tour too.
I would describe our stage performance smoky but intense ahah !
S: This last tour we just came back from (November 2022) has been packed with great shows. We have been playing together for a while now and I feel we really have become a well oiled machine. The fact we are now mostly playing songs we wrote together definitely adds to that too. I don't know if it is up to us to describe our own performance, but I hope the people coming to the shows find them worth remembering!
W: Our best scene experiences were probably shows in short/medium sized venues, with dense crowd and proximity between the stage and the crowd, facilitating interactions.
8.Do you have any touring or show plans for 2023?
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G: Yes, we are planning to tour in Europe next spring, possibly in Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary… and maybe some shows in France as well.
W: We’ll try to play as much as possible in France, in Europe and… Who knows ?
S: We love to play, invite us and we'll come! Simple as that…
9.On the new album you also worked with 3 different labels, can you tell us a little bit more about the labels that have helped you with the new release?
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W: 4 labels in fact : Itawak & Moment of Collapse for the LP, Poutrage & Yoyodyne for the tape, and we released the CD by ourselves. Itawak, Poutrage & Yoyodyne were basically friends, even if we like their previous releases. Regarding MoC, we feel lucky since we consider this label as one of the most important in the underground european scene.
10.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your newer music by fans of extreme metal and post hardcore?
A: Thermoclines came out while we were on tour, so we mostly saw the reactions of the public to this new album that was presented to them live in its entirety.
And honestly we can say that people were quite enthusiastic and eager to get Thermoclines 😁
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W: It’s too early to get worldwide feedbacks at this point. That said, it seems so far that our friends and the people met during our November tour were very enthusiastic, indeed.
11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
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W: I guess we’ll explore deeper the sonic territories we entered in with “Thermoclines”.
S: Although we're all extremely pleased with how Thermoclines turned out, I think we're all eager to try and make an even better album next, indeed going deeper into the new sounds we experimented with on Thermoclines. We'd love to manage that in less than 7 years this time, but I feel we're not comfortable with working with deadlines composition - wise, so…
12.What are some of the bands or musical styles the band members are currently listening to nowadays?
A: We are quite eclectic music lovers.
For my part, I listen to a lot of rap, especially french rap, techno, jazz and of course metal with a big preference for bands with a tendency to sludge, doom, post hardcore, chaotic…
To give you a few names, all styles combined, Alpha Wann, Veerus, Converge, Wolves In The Throne Room, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Autechre, Venetian Snares...
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G: I would name Cave-in, Botch, Car Bomb, High On Fire, Fantômas, Kowloon Walled City and even some soundtrack composers (Howard Shore, Richard Band, Harry Manfredini…).
S: There are of course a few references we share. Bands like Isis, Torche, Yob or Converge come to mind. But we all have very personal tastes the rest of the band don't necessarily approve of haha. I believe I am alone in VALVE to unironically enjoy Bon Jovi! Some of us are really into techno, others into old school hip hop…
W: We share a musical base indeed, but beyond that, we listen to very different music. For example, for my bass player cred, I really like dub (roots or electro), drum’n’bass, trip hop (Seriously, I really like this music). Regarding “heavy” music, I used to mainly listen to what we call post-metal or post-rock, but now more and more “straight to the point” music (punk/hxc;crust;d-beat…). As I was a teenager in the 90’s, I’m also deeply attached to grunge, noise, post-hxc and (good) pop rock bands.
13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
A: Let's see what the future holds for this band!
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G: Yes, we will see ! Thanks for interviewing us !
S: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us, and thanks to people who have read this far! See you on the road hopefully!
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