Featuring Mandragore & Bergerac |from EYCROMON Interview by Ruud Dreessen aka ebm-industrial.nl 22 november 2009 19:26
Thanks Mandragore & Bergerac,that you have found time to give answers to these questions,
1-For the first question will be - do you know the netherlands?
Of course we do. Unfortunately we didn’t have the opportunity yet to give concerts here…but we hope that this will change soon.
2- Greetings Mandragore & Bergerac, could you please shortly introduce our readers your music project EYCROMON?
Our interpretation of electronic music is the mixture of retro-futuristic sound-design, intensive beats and expressively interpreted lyrics. In other words: Synthesizer meets classical vocals combined with pop-structures and expressive harmonies – lyrics swayed by dark romantic reveal traces of the bitterness and intensity of live.
3- Please fill also a biographical resume about how, when and where EYCROMON was founded, give us a more background information?
We, Mandragore (singer, lyric writer) and Bergerac (keyboarder, composer) first met in February 2009 through the musicians of another band project. Within few weeks we both felt a kind of mutual artistic completion, which made us leave every other project behind to focus on the mutual work. After a very short time, we had created a number of songs we were so immediately convinced of that we knew we had to start thinking about our live line up…and so the project expanded more and more…
4- How did you start to make Electro / Gothic / Psychedelic and what is Gothic for you?
Gothic is much more than just a lifestyle or a conglomeration of clichés (like Satanism and shit like that). The roots of Gothic are complex, global and profound: themes like weltschmerz, melancholia, end time, war are just some of the impulses that led to wave, a musical culture that developed in the 80’s. In those days, it was the outlet for our fears, anger, horror, suppressed emotions and longings, for feeling misunderstood, the desire to rebel against society etc… The current Gothic scene seems to be only a fraction of what wave was about. In a time where we all seem to be lost in the illusion of consumption, conformity and mainstream, we should get back to the base; that’s why we started to make Gothic/Electronic: We felt its origin inside of us, longing to find a new expression in the language that we speak best: music.
5- What and who are some of your influences in gothic?
Just a selection:
Music/Musicians:
80’s: Depeche Mode, New Order, OMD, Anne Clark, Joachim Witt, Peter Heppner, Camouflage, Wolfsheim…Currently: Björk, VNV-Nation…
Classical Music: Händel, Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi, Puccini, Schumann, Chopin, Wagner…
Literature: Ovid, Plato, Homer, Goethe, Heinrich Heine, Georg Büchner, Max Frisch, Hermann Hesse, Robert Schneider…
Movies: The Others, Mirrors, The Haunting in Connecticut, Schlafes Bruder, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Mary Shelleys Frankenstein, Casablanca, The Evil Dead, Fight Club, Nosferatu, Sixth Sense, The Happening, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Island…
6- What are your top ten favorite Electro / Gothic / Psychedelic / Industrial Club Songs of all time?
Depeche Mode – Behind the wheel
Depeche Mode – Never let me down again
OMD – Jeanne d‘Arc
New Order – Blue Monday
Kraftwerk – Das Model
Wolfsheim - The Sparrows and the Nightingales
The Cure - Lullaby
Anne Clark – Our Darkness
Anne Clark- Sleeper in Metropolis
Camouflage – The Great Commandment
7- Tell one secret about EYCROMON that you have never told to anyone?
We carry all our secrets in our music – it’s up to the audience to disclose them.
8- So tell me a bit more about yourself, such as musical?
We have very different backgrounds concerning music: Mandragore is trained in classical singing, Bergerac gained his experiences as a keyboarder and composer over the years in the Progressive Rock - and Electro-Wave Genre. But we both agree in our taste in music and in our intensions: Though we are an electronic band, we always wanted to focus on our live performance to bring electronic music to the next level: We try to give the audience a multi-medial experience.
9- By the way do you like my questions? Tell me what you think about it! ;-)
Of course because they give us the opportunity to express what we have to say.
10- What is the main idea, the message you want to leave to people who listens to you? What is your motto?
The observer can see what he wants to see. It’s more important to get into the flow of our sound.
11- What’s the name of your band? What’s the origin of that name? Have you changed the band’s name before?
EYCROMON (EYe - CROss - MoON) emblematizes three coherent levels:The Cross stands for the union of complementary extremes, may it be heaven and earth, life and death, beginning and end - cornerstones of every human's life. But it also stands for the inside and outside (macrocosm and microcosm): Beauteousness and truth, which we try to satisfy with our awareness of aesthetics and profundity.The Moon mirrors this duality into every space of change and time. It stands for an infinity that we long for and that holds us in our duality.The controlling glance of the observer (the Eye) rests on these two. It alone weighs the seen and gives eternity or expiration.
12- Where did the concept come from? And what’s planned now that your album is finished? Or anything else you're working on? Tell me why this title "EYCROMANIA"? Tell us a few words about the concept of this?
We’re currently working on the demo-version of our first album “EYCROMANIA”, and almost completed it. Just to give you a short overview: The compositions, sounds and lyrics all center on the duality of human life, its challenges, intensity and bitterness. Besides we tried to offer a wide musical spectrum: You will find the darker, more sound- and beat-concentrated songs as well as the ballad or songs with a wider, more harmony-focused structure.
13- Are you a member of any music organizations?
No.
14-How is the current promotional tour going for supporting this music?
As we are at the moment still working on our demo, giving it the time it needs, that is still ahead of us…
15- What do you think of a modern Electro / Gothic / Psychedelic and about Gothic scene?
Gothic gives us the opportunity to be unique and independent, to have a free mind, to break new ground if we don’t forget what Gothic is based on and what it represents…
16- Our usual question - what is music for you?
Music is the connection of all human concerning aspects (everything that life is about) with something beyond, something supernatural. It’s an expression of everything that life can be and it can touch you in a way nothing else can.
17- What was your best live experience so far?
Getting to know each other ;-) Our music changed our lives.
18- Please list the name, age, school, and respective instrument of each band member
Madame Mandragore – Vocal Coach and Singer – Lead Vocals/Backing Vocals/Lyrics
Monsieur Bergerac – CAD/CAM Programmer – Keys/Composition/Programming
Madame Urielle – Marketing Assistent – Live Support – Backing Vocals
19-What are your views on the current state of this electro scene in Germany in terms of creativity and audiences? And the scene in other countries?
We generally don’t have the time to look into that too much…but it seems that the scene grows…and more bands seem to set their focus on the live performance.
20- You have very nice numbers and many, many more, tell me about lyrical compositions, what you can tell about the done work? How does your music creation process work? How do you create a song?
Usually first, there is a musical idea, a theme, that Bergerac develops on the piano. After that, Mandragore tries to find the lyrics, most of the time, some ideas come to mind instantly, and the text emerges, inspired by the music. After that, we bring it all together, we find the melodies, create the sounds until we found the perfect electronic sound design for the song. Though the main musical ideas mostly emerge very quickly, we invest a lot of time in fine-tuning until we both are 100% positive about the result.
21-What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Who are your major influences?
Electronic, Gothic, Psychedelic, Wave, Neoclassic/Classic, Romantic, Retro, Future-Pop
22-What do you do to chill out?
Making music in any way, working for our project, sports and watching good movies.
23-So what are the main influences as a band at the moment?
Personal experiences as well as all matters concerning society and world affairs find their way into our music. At the moment, we try to get a closer look at the complementary-oppositional relation between biology and technology, humans and machines.
24-What is currently inspiring your material as an artist? Tell me all about the Electro / Gothic / Psychedelic scene of Germany?
We’re still inspired by the 80’s, their sounds and feelings…a musical spirit that many musicians vainly tried to recreate after…
25-Do you think that people from the music press didn't expect you to grow up musically?
No.
26-What is the key to making music from EYCROMON and what inspires you to keep growing as a musician?
EYCROMON is our life – we always had the dream of self-fulfilment and the chance to express ourselves – EYCROMON gives us the opportunity to show who we are, grow musically and personally and reach the audience with our music. That keeps us motivated ;-)
27-How do you see the future of download / Copyright in area of goth-EBM industrial music? What are the best ways to develop it in your mind?
We should see the current situation as a chance. The focus shifts to the live performance, selling CDs becomes less important than the skill, expression and energy that an artist needs to be a good performer on stage or the quality of the concept behind the show.Besides the platform for artists and their music in the internet becomes bigger and bigger and so do the possibilities of spreading music for all of us.
28-If there was one thing you want people to know about your band what would that be?
Listen to our songs – our music speaks for itself…
29-Please let us know about your upcoming plans, some new releases you like to confirm here.
Our first demo will be finished soon – meanwhile we are working on our live performance. Plans for upcoming concerts and promotion are underway.
30-It has been a pleasure to interview you on your musical activity. Well, any last words to your ebm-industrial fans?
Stay critical!
31-And what is next on Germany agenda?
Concerts, concerts, concerts and promotion ;-)
32-Thanks for your time! Great work and good luck with everything. How can fans-to-be gain access to your music? Do you have a website with sample songs or a demo CD?
33-Were you asked to play or did you have to ask for a slot?
At the moment, we are still searching compatible bands for upcoming concerts...
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