Transcript of an interview with Jean-Francois Dagenais of KATAKLYSM - 27/03/2019. Full article here. MAL-
Talking to JF from KATAKLYSM. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me today JF- Awesome thank you for doing this MAL- It's no problem at all. Now you guys were formed in Montreal in 91 now what do you remember of that time? JF- Man we're such a long time ago feels like it was another lifetime for me. We started in high school like, like any metal high school band would form, I met a few metal guys in my high school and we just got together and we Yeah, we wanted at the time to be the most extreme band in the universe and we formed KATAKLYSM and in that that aspect and we just started playing together at a few shows right away. We I guess that we got some interest from the local promoters and they started booking us on local shows and things like that and we made our first demo very early, we had written five songs and we went right away in the studio and recorded four of them and just not long after that got a record deal from nuclear blast records and we're still very, very young and we didn't really know how to deal with all that but like Yeah, we got signed went into the studio, bigger producer and released our first album and I think we were not even like 16-17 years old back then and then one we've got thrown on the road with really big bands in Europe and North America and things like that. So got an early start then we were not really ready or prepared for it, but with the years I think we learn the trade a lot better and we are writing better songs and I think we know what we're doing right now and we enjoy what we do very much so it's a long story short, but it's been 27 years later we're still around loving it and we keep on going. MAL- As you mentioned, signed to Nuclear Blast very early and you mentioned like almost not ready for that. Wwas the scene in Canada ready for you or did you have to sort of get out to get to your market as it were? JF- The Canadian scene has been really like, we were lucky because we come from a country and a city that the scene is super strong. There's always been tons of musicians and tons of fans as well to listen to the music. And so we got used very early in our career to play to bigger crowds and to play to insane crowds and it was kind of was kind of a shock for us to start touring the world because we realized later that that our scene is actually really good compared to some other cities and countries around the world, cos the imagery you have when you're at like 16-17 years old and you and you're coming from the city like Montreal you think it's the same everywhere else but then you realize that it's not then you feel like very lucky about where you're from. And I think that's how we felt but we discovered other countries and other scenes that were pretty strong like like Germany and Austria, Switzerland, some of these countries have very strong scenes as well. And some big cities in the US have a strong scene as well, but it's a was a blessing that we were from Montreal and another sense, harder maybe because back in those years of 1991-92,the big stronghold where bands were getting signed were either like Florida in the US or Sweden. And if you're not from those two countries back in those years it was really hard to even conceive to get a record deal. But we managed to come out somehow and we got an offer with Nuclear Blast, which is one of the big labels and we got really lucky I can't say any otherwise just because I think we we, we had what it takes with the energy and the anger and the creativeness of things but we are not by any means like professional band we were just kids. MAL- Did you have any idea, did it even enter your head when the band started that Maurizio would, who was playing bass at the time, would end up or could end up on lead vocals? How did that come about? A bit of a weird situation, isn't it? JF- We had no idea at all because, I mean, he was the bass player and he always did the backing vocals on the earlier stuff. And when when Sylvain quit the band after the 'Temple of Knowledge' record, we kind of went into a little period of time where we didn't know what we wanted to do. And if we even wanted to continue as KATAKLYSM we so we had the we had to think a lot about what we were going to do because it was only me and Maurizio left in the band. The drummer we had on 'Temple Of Knowledge', Nick, he quit and Sylvain quit. So it was just us two and we decided to call Max, our first drummer to see if he wanted to play with us again. He had a little bit of a beef with Sylvain so when he learned that Sylvain was gone he jumped right in his drumming spot and was happy to join us again and play the drums for us again. And so and then we weren't sure what we were going to do as far as vocalist. So we came up with the idea of like, if we keep going playing KATAKLYSM as KATAKLYSM, then we should have somebody from the band singing instead of bringing somebody new. So because people knew Maurizio already, so that's why he chose to take over vocals. And, we kept going for a while as a three piece but then we realized maybe it's better to be a four piece. Maurizio had the idea maybe we should get a bass player and I'll just be the vocalist. And that's how it went. So we found Stephane that was a friend of Max was one of his best friends. So he joined then and we restarted as KATAKLYSM, the KATAKLYSM you guys know today. MAL- Your latest album 'Meditation' has been out almost a year now, how's that one gone for you? JF- Very well. We're so happy with the response from the fans. Actually the sales and the streams like, because nowadays you qualify the success of an album through a much streaming, you're getting through all these new platforms. So the label's super excited because we're surpassing anything we've done in most in our career with this new album is just I mean, it's a it's a slow and steady upward slope and we're, we're getting more and more traction than attention every record we're doing. So it's a it's exciting. It's exciting to see that the fans like it, because sometimes we take decisions, then we're not sure if fans or the industry is going to like what we do, but we we kind of do it for ourselves and we want to please our fans as well. But like I mean, sometimes we take decisions I'm just not sure if it's the right one but that's what do you feel in your gut and just go for it. It's exciting to see the results a year later. MAL- Let's talk about these two shows coming up in Australia. May 3rd in Sydney at the Metro. May 5th at 170, Russell's trade in Melbourne, you're coming with hypocrisy. Have you toured with these guys before? JF- Yes. We're so excited about little shows like you. We haven't been to Australia, and five, six years now. So it's very excited. Very, we're very excited to be back and have the opportunity to come back again. And with the HYPOCRISY, they are a band we toured with really happy to tour with them again. It's an arrangement we did before we released this new album and HYPOCRISY they were talking about, like coming back because they were not a band for almost five years now. They just decided to come back and tour again and put out some new music. So they're working on a new album and they were very excited to do this whole world tour with us. And it's so far so good with did all of Europe together now it's Japan and Australia in May and we're going to do some more shows in South America and other parts of the world MAL- What happens next for KATAKLYSM after Australia? Have you thought about the next album yet? JF- After Australia we go straight to Japan and and then after that we have a bunch of open air festivals throughout throughout the summer in Europe and we have a big stuff in Canada. We're playing Heavy Montreal, which is the biggest open air festival in Canada in July and going to be in Sweden or Germany or going to be a little bit all over the place over the summer. It's busy times like yet we all have families and children and, and also I do a second career on the side. I'm a music producer. I run a recording studio and I worked with a ton of bands there. And that's Just non stop craziness for me, but that's how I like it. I am not the type of guy to sit and do nothing. I need action and I need to be doing something. So it's exciting. I prefer to be busy than not busy for sure. MAL- All right, JF from KATAKLYSM, absolutely magnificent talking to you today. Thanks for taking the time and taking my call. Congratulations on everything so far and we look forward to two massive shows in Australia. May the 3rd in Sydney and May the 5th in Melbourne. Thanks for taking the time. JF- Thank you so much and see you all there. We're so excited about those shows and I think it's going to be massive. Thank you guys and we'll see you guys real soon. Comments are closed.
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AuthorMetalhead who hates bad parking. |