Featuring Nico and stef from SKOYZ | Interview by Ruud Dreessen aka ebm-industrial.nl | 23 januari 2010 14:44
Thanks Nico and stef that you have found time to give answers to these questions,
For the first question will be - do you know the netherland?
stef : no, may be one day , i'll go there...
Nico : Just know Amsterdam spent a week end in this very particular town
Do you follow the electronic music scene, do you have any other favourite bands?
S : there are a lot of bands but i like always F242 and FLA
N : F242, DM, Nitzer Ebb, Kraftwerk and FLA for the most important.
Greetings Nico could you please shortly introduce our readers your music project SKOYZ Please fill also a biographical resume about how,when and where...give us a more background information?
Our official bio :
After several collaborations with some industrial, rock or cold-wave bands in the 80s, Stéphane A. discovered Frontline Assembly and Front 242 in 1988. 1995 - with a small synthesiser and an old sampler, Stéphane starts to create the spirit of what will become the musical style of SKOYZ. He meets Nico who takes part to the project and Stéphane B. joins the band with his guitar. 1996 - the first demo-tape, "Sofistik 8", presents 4 EBM and crossover tracks. The first reviews are very enthusiastic. SKOYZ play their first "big" concert as support-act for Inertia. 1999/2000 - after 2 years of silence and movements in the line-up (Stéphane B. leaves the band), SKOYZ are back for 2 concerts as support-act for VNV Nation and publish a 5-track demo-CD "Lies". 2001/2002 - the band sign a contract with the German label Trisol/Matrix Cube. 12 April 2002 - release-date of the first album, "Decay". 2003 - SKOYZ appears on several compilations and magazines (Orkus, Sonic Seducer…) The band plays many concerts, one of them as support-act for Funker Vogt. 2004 - Several gigs (Lille, Rouen…), many remixes (Beta, Schattenschlag, Infekktion, Void Kampf…) and sampler appearances 2005 - Cortex Records becomes the official booking agency of SKOYZ who play with their friends Neon Cage Experiment in Stockholm. SKOYZ write remixes for Implant, The Crystalline Effect, Syrian, etc… The second album, "Hologram", is announced to be released by Black Flames Records in September… unfortunately, this label disappears! The band asks its agency, Cortex Records, who did release the CDs of Neon Cage Experiment and Wired Brain in the past... Cortex Records book SKOYZ for a gig with Haujobb, Psyche, K-Bereit, N.C.E., Punish Yourself, Tamtrum, Clan of Xymox, etc… at the 5th Heaven's Gate Festival. 2006 - the consecration Daniel B. himself invites SKOYZ to play in Brussels in March in front of 2000 persons for the 25th anniversary celebration of Front 242. For this event, Cortex Records released "Hologram", this long awaited second album of SKOYZ, including 9 new tracks + 6 remixes by Interlace, Neon Cage Experiment, The Crystalline Effect, Polygon, SKOYZ themselves and Daniel Myer (Destroïd / Haujobb). At the same time, the American label BLC choosed one track of SKOYZ ("Distorted Dreams - Condition Zero Mix by Schattenschlag") to appear on the double-CD sampler "Interbreeding VIII" and other unreleased tracks or remixes will be published on some international compilations soon…
How did you start to make, EBM and what is, EBM for you?
S : before skoyz, i play with Thierry of groupe T and i like synthtizers i listened F242 ( tragedy for you ) EBM is energy and powerfull machine for dancefloor.
N : Stef asked me in an underground club during a party if I was interested to join him for a electronic project and I said… yes !!!
What and who are some of your influences in, EBM?
S :F242, FLA , Nitzer ebb and skinny puppy the maestro
N : F242, DM, Nitzer Ebb, Kraftwerk and FLA
What are your top ten favorite, EBM Club Songs of all time? Who are you influenced by? What would you consider your favorite cd's?
1 join in the chant
2 Neurobashing
3 millenium
4 let your body learn
5 der Mussolini
6 Plasticity
7 Moving hands
8 punish your machine
9 verschwende deine jugend
10 resist
Tell me about the classic number from Nitzer Ebb?
S : join in the chant the very classic , very powerful
N : We really love this song, so much that we made of cover. We play it in our live show and it is always a great and funny moment !!!
By the way do you like my questions? tell me what you think about it! ;-)
a bit funny no ?
What is the main idea, the message you want to leave to people who listens to you? What is your motto?
dancing, moving, having fun and nothing else.
What's the name of your band? What's the origin of that name? Have you changed the band's name before?
skoyz doesn't mean anything, we just like how it sounds, nothing else.
"DECAY and HOLOGRAM" where did the concept come from? and whats planned now that your album is finished? or anything else you're working on? Tell me why this title,DECAY and HOLOGRAM" Tell us a few words about the concept of this?
N : we can't say there is a concept behind theses two albums, we just tried to make the better music we could. For" Decay", some songs were very old and we can say it's a kind of compilation from our beginning, harsh, distorted , raw. "Hologram" is more complex, with layered pads and basses, heavy atmospheres with trance/goa influence.But one thing is always since our beginning, the big fat basslines !!!
tell me about cortex records?
The boss is a friend of us and he proposed us to produce Hologram.
How is the current promotional tour going for supporting this album?
N : You know when you are a French without a booking agency it is very very hard to have some dates outside France especially in Germany….
What do you think of a modern, EBM and about Electro scene?
S : There are some bands interesting like autodafeh now
N : Covenant, Haujobb, old vnv nation and some French bands like Void Kampf, Neon cage experiment or Ex tension are making very exciting music for me
Our usual question - what is music for you?
S : Difficult to say, a sort of therapy for me
N : a passion, can't live without music !!!!
What was your best live experience so far?
With F242 in Brussels of course, very exciting to open for such a legend !! Our concert in Stockholm was also a very great moment and experience .
Please list the name, age, school, and respective instrument of each band member
Stéphane , 40 years old, synthetizer, mixing
Nico, 33 years old, vocals words and mixing
What are your views on the current state of this, EBM scene in French.in terms of creativity and audiences? And the scene in other countries?
S : There is a lot bands very good , like Void Kampf in France.
N : As I said before there are very goods bands in France but unfortunately they are too much unknown ! In France, it is very hard to make parties, concerts, audience is not the same that we could find in Germany.
you have very nice numbers`.............. 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?
N : The most of time Stef create demos, I listen to them , we choose together the most interested demos, and then we start all the arrangements, mixing and sounds production. During this process I wrote the lyrics and add them to the song.
What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Who are your major influences?
EBM with trancy influence, influences are Nitzer ebb, F242, FLA
Since the music industry is more open now to purely electronic music has this made things easier for you?
Of course , there are more oppotunities for us to export our music but it is still hard because we are not making dance or RnB music !
Do you think that people from the music press didn't expect you to grow up musically?
Tthis is not a problem for us , we do our music and don't care about that.
what is the key to making music from SKOYZ and what inspires you to keep growing as a musician?
A good bassline, a punchy kick, a big energy
If there was one thing you want people to know about your band what would that be?
Stef : i like Mylene farmer but schuttt
Nico : just let us play in your town you won't regret !
Please let us know about your upcoming plans, some new releases you like to confirm here
some titles are ready but we still work, nothing ready for the moment, we don't want to have an album per year as some bands…
It has been a pleasure to interview you on your musical activity,Well,any last words to your ebm-industrial fans?
Thanks for your support and keep the faith !
and what is next on French agenda?
May be an album this year
thanks for your time! great work on the albums and good luck with everything.any How can fans-to-be gain access to your music? Do you have a website with sample songs or a demo CD?
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