Fans of 80’s cold wave rock will once again adore this French band and making sure the band’s name is exactly what you think about them! It’s a very dark album with a lot of emotions: all mixed up with the perfect music that enforces the feelings (in a perfect mix). The album comes in a time where a lot of bands are popping up withing the same genre and I can say: they are simply the best! Getting towards the level of JE T’AIME should be the ultimate dream for a lot of bands swimming in the same deep waters! Right, said Fred! Enjoy our cool interview with the boys!
JE T’AIME: you have been working hard, releasing already a lot of albums in a short time (of your existence). You must have been very inspired? I still remember I adored the first tracks and didn’t even knew who was playing in the band. The new album is pretty dark: about aging, mistakes from the past that haunt you … What’s happening?
dBoy : As far as the lyrics are concerned, I started writing them when I broke my ankle. It was right at the end of the second covid lockdown in France. I saw all my friends going out again, while I stayed at home again. I swore to myself that day that I was going to write the darkest album of my entire career. I wasn't well at the time. Today I'm in an even darker mood, I'll leave you to imagine what comes next. To be perfectly honest with you, I'm asking myself a lot of questions today about the point of all this. As I said in a previous interview, I love music as much as I hate it. And that's the truth. Music, in my life, has done me as much good as harm. But I'm talking about a period that's now thirty years old. I have no choice but to carry on to the end. I'm in Heaven’s Hell, but that's my choice.
Little Bastard : Midlife crisis I guess.
You also have a new member (but still go on as a trio), how come replacement was needed and can you introduce a bit your new member (past experience etc)?
dBoy : Tall Bastard simply asked us for permission to retire, he was tired, and we could only understand him. As luck would have it, we had a guy who'd been working behind the scenes for us for a while, remixing our sounds. So the torch was passed quite naturally to Little Bastard. And since then, we've come to realize that this was the best choice to make.
Little Bastard : As dBoy said, I had been lurking around in the shadows of the band before joining them. We know each other for quite a long time before JE T’AIME, be it in musical projects, touring or just personal moments. So when I was asked to be the new guitarist, I was as surprised as I felt like it was kind of obvious, all things considered, they thought of me.
I have always written that your English is on an amazing high level, on this new album I hear for the first time a bit of a French accent. You have been hiding it for so long, lol. Now seriously: how come you sing in English on such a high level (some French speaking people singing in English can really learn a lot from you)?
dBoy : The fact that you can hear a slight French accent on this album is probably due to the fact that the lyrics I wrote for it are much deeper and more complex. In the end, the difficulty for me in the studio has never been getting the vocals right and in the right tempo. For a band like JE T'AIME, the biggest difficulty is always managing to sound English. And the vocals come first. With Crazy Z at the controls of the mixing console, but also Tall Bastard behind him, we worked hard on the accent. I sincerely hope we've done our best. It's always been my greatest fear, to sound French.
Little Bastard : His tailor is rich.
Another great thing is the guitar play: I even commented that The Cure can always ask Crazy-Z top join them if needed. Crazy-Z figured in the past in Herrschaft, toured with Ambassador 21 … How was that and are there other side-projects ready? Still have to get used to the new name.Why did you all choose these names instead of using your real names?
dBoy : Making music is all about making people dream. Giving yourself a nickname helps you to escape from reality. Like an actor. Music is a game, in fact we say ‘playing music’.
Crazy Z. Well, the band started out as a sort of joke, and this one wasn't meant to be a serious story. So I came up with the name Crazy Z to extend the joke, because frankly, who'd want to be called that way? (laughs). And now it's the cross I'll have to carry to the end.
It was also to separate the project from the worlds of Herrschaft and Ambassador21, which are radically different. It meant I could start from scratch, without my other projects being mentioned and influencing public opinion.
Little Bastard : They told me it was mandatory.
Afraid of stalkers are not wanting your real life boss finds something awkward?
dBoy : Yes, there's also this need to differentiate between civilian life and the life of an artist. Even if, in the end, the artist's life spills over into civilian life. Your life becomes a game. Not always a happy one, unfortunately. In fact, we were discussing this recently with Crazy Z at a party : As far as I'm concerned, and this is really frightening, each of my albums has always had a premonitory side, like an oracle. It's probably due to the way I write my lyrics, the automatic writing. A lot of what I sing on my records almost always ends up happening in my life.
Crazy Z. I fixed it this way : I'm my own boss by running my own studio and producing other artists and voice talent, and if I do something awkward, I already share it online so everybody knows (laughs)
I suppose JE T’AIME is not the one who pays all the bills and taxes? Can I ask what you do for real life or is that the forbidden question?
dBoy : Today I'm lucky enough to work for other bands, like IAMX recently, as their stage technician. I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you that these people are absolutely brilliant, a team of fire. I can't wait to get back on the road with them in May in Europe.
Little Bastard : I mostly work as a post-production mixer, sound designer and music composer for television shows or documentaries.
Another amazing thing is how good the vocals are: from low to high, from male to female slices, on Nightcrawler: sounding like Jimmy Sommervile for god’s sake! Sometimes it’s even as if I hear 3 different voices. Is it pure talent or do you have a vocal coach?
dBoy : I started singing when I was four, imitating Michael Jackson, when I lived in Atlanta. Back then, I wrote my first song in my head, saying that ‘really, it's very easy to do’. Well, in reality, that song must have sucked. I think I'm just lucky enough to be able to sing in four octaves. I've also always loved imitating girl's voices. But also film characters, especially the bad guys. I think all that has fed my ‘vocal imagination’.
As far as vocal coaching is concerned, I was lucky enough to study these vocal techniques during this last year, at a school in Paris. The teachers were just incredible. I studied and understood what happens in the human body for each type of singing voice, which was fascinating. Today I understand, physically, what happens in my body for each type of voice I use.
Another highlight is called Silent Monsters: great tempo, great global sound … but what are the silent monsters?
dBoy : It's very simple. It's these monsters that give you sleep paralysis. You're the only one who knows about these monsters, they're silent but monstrous. Personally, the night makes me very pessimistic and anxious. During the day, I'm a rather optimistic person. At night, I'm afraid. Afraid of losing the people I love, afraid of my future, afraid of everything. That's probably why I like to be out at night, surrounded by my friends. Away from the silent monsters.
I can connect with all the songs and call them all pearls, I just have a bit of a hard time connecting with Letter From Hell. It’s a slow song, but so is Wrong Fold. Can’t explain exactly why I Can’t get a connection with it. Did you have any feedback about this one yet?
dBoy : This song is the only one that remains connected to the story we told on the three previous albums. It's this character talking to his daughter from the Underworld where he is. I hesitated for a long time about keeping this song on this album, because we had decided never again to talk about this character who died at the end of AGGRESSIVE. But, in fact, it has its rightful place in the journey that is Useless Boy.
Useless boy will have 3 different covers. From where did you get that idea? Do you have already an eye on which one has been ordered the most?
Little Bastard : I don’t want to talk about the slime experience anymore.
Crazy Z. We were in the studio with our photographer and long-time friend Quentin Caffier, testing a few different things.
I remember I was doing some rather absurd stuff with feathers on my shoulders, when Quentin suddenly pulled out a bucket with hot water and this slime.
It didn't take us long to find ourselves naked, throwing this gunk in each other's faces. As it turned out, the result was exactly what I'd imagined this album to be, with its title and atmosphere.
But the others had to be convinced... (laughs).
We thought that the “dBoy” edition would be the most popular, because he’s the singer. But against all expectations, pre-orders are very evenly balanced, including for the “Little Bastard” edition. He even has the prettiest color: the Orange vinyl is magnificent.
I dropped some names in my review: Bronski Beat (obvious to me), The Cure (also obvious and for sure the darker side, check Stories Not Told), David Bowie (Useless Boy) and also Nine Inch Nails (Wrong Fold). Do you agree with these names? Does it flatter you or is it more like: What the fuck, we are JE T’AIME?
dBoy : We'll never be able to stop the public finding bridges between us and the artists they love, it's only human. We do it ourselves with the bands we listen to. I don't mind it, as long as the listener is honest and has enough musical knowledge to understand the many influences we have.
Crazy Z. It is natural, human and normal : It's the easiest way to describe a sound to a friend who's never heard it, isn't it? You have to find points of comparison to describe and make them want to give it a try.
So if you use references that you like (and it seems to me that you do) to convince your friends and readers to give JE T'AIME a listen, I'm delighted.
You have played a lot of gigs and being part of huge festivals all over Europe. Which one was the nicest one and why?
dBoy : This is a difficult question for two reasons:
Firstly, when you've played as many gigs as we have, it's hard to remember them all. Secondly, we wouldn't want to disrespect all those who have put their trust in us by programming us at their venues. If I had to answer your question right now, I'd say the Owls'n'bats festival, where we headlined. Playing for 90 minutes and finally having the time to put on a really dense and complete show was a real pleasure for me.
Little Bastard : I remember being in the audience during this Owls’n’bats show. What a blast of joy and energy. Personally speaking, I’d say the second show we played together last November in Reutlingen, Germany, was quite wonderful. But there’s never been any gig I went off stage thinking that I didn’t have a good time playing with my friends, may it be on a big venue or in a small club.
Crazy Z. : So, picture this: I’m a musician, and my friends decided to throw me a surprise for my birthday. Now, you know, I wasn’t expecting much—just a nice evening, maybe a gift or two. But that night, we were playing a concert opening for She Wants Revenge, which is already a big deal in itself, right?
We’re up on stage, playing our hearts out, and suddenly—out of nowhere—this girl walks out of the dressing room, and let’s just say, her outfit was... minimal. Like, really minimal. She’s holding a cake and a bottle of champagne, heading straight toward me like she’s delivering a VIP package!
I think I blinked a few times, just to be sure I wasn’t seeing things. Definitely a birthday surprise I won’t forget.
As you are a French band: have you been a lot on the French “national” radio and on national TV?
dBoy : Not really. The reason is quite simple: when we set up JE T'AIME, our first decision was to export ourselves outside France as quickly as possible. We wanted to travel as much as possible. Away from home. On the positive side, we got the chance to play all over Europe very quickly. The downside was that French audiences took a long time to discover us. That's why we decided to do a proper French tour for the new album.
One of the most hyped Belgian bands is The Ultimate Dreamers, are there plans to play together in Belgium or in France with them? Might be good to have them as opening band.
dBoy : I don't know them yet, but I'm going to go and listen to them! Thanks.
What will the future bring? More gigs, new clips?
dBoy : Yes, and try to kill as many silent monsters as possible!
Crazy Z. : The next extract from our upcoming album is Unbroken Sleep. You will discover the song and its affiliate clip on Friday 10th. I hope that you will enjoy it as much as I do. It has been done by my friend Axel Delwarte, and once again we had to give a lot of ourselves, like dancing in a junkyard all night long (laughs).
And then, go go go on tour !
Anything I forgot to ask or maybe you want to ask me a question for a change?
Little Bastard : I REALLY don’t wan’t to talk about the slime experience anymore.
Crazy Z : cheers Filip, see you in Belgium !
reviews:
SNOOZECONTROL - Je T’aime – Passive (Manic Depressions Records)
SNOOZECONTROL - Je T’aime – Agressive (Manic Depressions Records)
SNOOZECONTROL - Je T’aime – Kiss The Boys EP
SNOOZECONTROL - JE T'AIME Deluxe - Remastered 2022 (Manic Depressions Records)
And for the Flemisch speaking fans a review from a gig in Belgium:
