Thursday, March 26, 2015

Anthropia 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?

Hi everyone! Well, after a lot of work, “Non-Euclidean Spaces” is finally released. We are currently in the promotion step and everything is going smoothly. Feedback is already great!

2.Recently you have released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
I'd say it's a good mix of power and progressive metal, with some classical music elements. As a classical guitar player, it was a real pleasure to try to turn my favorite tunes in a metal way,
it's clearly one of our specificities. We also have 2 singers : first Nathalie who takes care of most of the vocal parts, and myself.

3.This is the first full length to be released in 6 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame?

Well, we all had a lot to do during those years, especially other musical projects to take care of. That's why Anthropia was a bit delayed in the process. But we also took all our time to study Lovecraft’s work and to give the best album possible.

4.The lyrics are based on the writings of H.P Lovecraft, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this author?

I've always been a Lovecraft fan and this since my teenage years. I read all the short stories, played to all the related board games, card games... Also mastered some role playing games too! I especially love the atmosphere of this universe and the background around it : 1920's, magic, curses, old cults worshipping ancient forgotten gods... Just love the ideas around it. It's quite the same for the other band members, I remember some very good Arkham Horror games with them!

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

It of course comes from entropia. It's a physical concept I discovered during my studies ; it measures the disorder at microscopic level in a manner of speaking. I found that merging it with Greek prefix anthros (man), was quite a good idea, to illustrate how destructive human beings can be: they can indeed create the biggest disorders.

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?
We performed some very good shows for the first Anthropia albums, particularly one with Magnum some years ago in Paris (Trabendo). It was a great souvenir, there are some videos on Youtube. We also shot an acoustic show in 2010 to release “Acoustic Reactions”, with some songs from “The Chain Reaction” but also some covers (for example Wasted Years, Iron Maiden). You can again find all those videos on Youtube.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?
It’s sad, but nothing is scheduled as we speak… but everything’s possible, so who knows? J

8.Currently the band is signed to Adarca Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
We actually created this label to release Anthropia albums. We were a bit tired of asking labels to take a look on Anthropia : with all due respect, they don't have the time or money to put to grow new bands. So we are our own label now, and I must say that I really like the concept. We can take our time to release albums, and even if it is a lot of work, we're totally free. It’s priceless for me.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your newer music by fans of metal?
We already get great feedback for our previous studio album “The Chain Reaction”, it was even “Album of the month” in the biggest metal magazine in France, RockHard. I must say that we received a lot of messages the last 5 years, to know when its successor is coming. This cheering was quite helpful for us, it gave us the strength to finish asap “Non-Euclidean Spaces”. As we speak, we already get 8-10 reviews, all going from very good to great. I couldn’t be happier!

10.Are any of the band members also involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?
Yes, we all have/had other projects at some point. Nath and Yann got cover bands (Cold Train, Acid Rain, Karma…), they play very often on the French Riviera. Julien is also a member of Lord of Mushrooms and of Ivrogne Maiden, a great cover band of you-know-who. Finally Damien works as a sound engineer in Los Angeles. He -of course- took care of Non-Euclidean Spaces, but also of many albums from famous artists (Fear Factory, Almah,…).

11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
I have some good ideas about it, but it’s quite early to talk about it. What is certain is that I’d like to continue merging classical guitar with metal, I really like the concept. There are so many amazing guitar pieces waiting to be adapted in a metal way J

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?
Actually, I’m not listening to a lot of “new bands” these days. I’m pretty convinced that some of them are great, but I just don’t have the time to listen to them. My main influences are of course prog metal bands like Symphony X, Pain Of Salvation, Opeth… and of course Ayreon, and all the projects of Arjen Lucassen. His new one The Gentle Storm is really great! On the classical music side, I can mention here Heitor Villa-Lobos, a great Brazilian composer, and Roland Dyens, an amazing french one. I borrowed them 2 tunes on Non Euclidean Spaces : Etude 11(Villa-Lobos) for Silver Twilight Lodge and Fuoco from Dyens. Roland has personally approved our cover, which is a great satisfaction to me.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?
Well, I have a lot of hobbies. Unfortunately, there are only 24 hours in a day, so I can’t do it very often J. I like playing board games a lot, essentially in the Cthulhu Mythos universe of course! I also love books, movies and stays in the countryside.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Well, thank you, and I hope your readers will enjoy the album. It was really a lot of work but we’re now very proud of what we have done. You can get it on all digital platforms, and on Digipak mainly on our site: http://www.adarca.com/store. Cheers!

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