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Hello, and thanks for
your time. First of all, introduce your band to the
world.
Gilles (machinery) & Dave (guitars): DMM is the
masterpiece of Gilles and Dave's combination of both
what electro and metal should sound like. Created in
1999, we've been busy supplying soundtracks for X-treme
Sport DVD and Action video games since then.
You guys met in a very strange way according to the
biography. How did the two of you became friends?
Dave: Well, the grudge in between our brothers'
didn't really have anything to do with us, so when I got
back from the US we started hanging out, willing to
collaborate on a project that seemed like a lotta fun.
everything went smoothly from the beginning, like we
were meant to work together. At every rehearsal we knew
the potential was here ready to be used.
The name Deep Metal Mechanic has a cool sounding, and
really fits to the music you make. Who came up with it,
and why did you choose it?
Dave: Gilles' fault. I just dug it the second I
heard it.
Gilles: The story behind it is fairly simple: a
couple of days after the second rehearsal, the name
popped up in my mind while waiting at a bus station.
Basically, I knew how it should sound, i.e. sharp and
aggressive, and those 3 magic words came up, translating
exactly what we felt.
According to the biography, Gilles used to be a DJ
and Dave also plays in a modern rock band called
MotherKingdom. How important is it for a band like Deep
Metal Mechanic to have different influences like this?
And what bands are your main influences?
Dave: Having a band "outside" DMM allows me to
experiment the full cycle of ups and downs, worries and
happiness you go through as a band. It's kindda like the
difference in between fucking and making love... You
really deserve both... hahaha!
Gilles: My influences come mostly from my teenage
years. For the electronic part, of course Prodigy
represents the right balance between the cold precision
of machines and the groove of rap beats. For the rock
part, as I'm a snowboard/extreme sports addict, I just
bought all the soundtracks of nowboarding and FMX
(Freestyle Motocross) videos! White Zombie, Ministry,
Pearl Jam, The Beastie Boys are example of bands I
discovered through this way.
I described your latest album as "an awesome war
soundtrack". How would you describe your music?
Dave: Just like you said, the soundtrack of
today's world we live in. Fast and paced, never slowing
down or barely, before speeding up again...
Talking about your latest album, it received
excellent ratings from our zine. But what do you think
of it yourself? And how do other people react on it?
Dave: Well, thank you very much for your ratings;
it's always flattering to have people enjoying our
vision. I personally love "Urban Guerilla" and can't
stop listening to it while driving, which is kindda odd
as I'm usually anxious to start the next one. Gilles'
probably sick of it, he's heard it 1'000 times more than
I did, Right Gilles??
Gilles: I'm exactly like Dave, really satisfied
with "Urban Guerilla" as it truly sounds like we wanted,
and at the same time already a little anxious about the
next album, as we want it to be even better.
The album is filled with songs who can be used in
many war movies straight ahead, and with the artwork and
a quote like "War is terrorism with a bigger budget" you
underline it. Why make an album this agressive? Is this
really your point of view on the world?
Dave: It's more like a personal snapshot of the
world as of today.
Gilles: Looking back, we noticed that most of the
greatest bands we know treated themes related to their
era. Like in the 70's where artists felt like
responsible to fight the Vietnam War. As we feel also
concerned about what's happening right now, we think
it's important to reflect what we see in the news, i.e.
upcoming energy problems due to oil shortage, and
conflicts like in Iraq. We don't have the pretension of
giving advices, just to reflect what is happening.
Britney can talk about love, cars and teenage issues..
When I hear the samples of your debut album and
compare it to the new release, I must say that your
music has been developed quite well. It sounds more
powerful and more mature if you ask me. What are the
differences between the two releases according to you
guys?
Dave: Maturity is definitely what comes to mind.
We mastered both the genre and the techniques to
accomplish what we thought DMM should grow up to be.
Gilles: After "System Failure", I went to Los
Angeles and attended the sound engineering program of
Musician's Institute. Learning from top engineers surely
improved my way of recording and producing the second
album. Dave at that time was recording the first album
of his band MotherKingdom. To sum things up, experience
and raising the bar is probably the reason we progressed
through time.
I am not known with your debut work, but I consider
Urban Guerilla as beeing a concept album. Is this true,
and was your debut a concept album as well? And will
your future albums be concept albums as well, so that
every album has a specific theme?
Dave: The concepts comes from the fact that we're
starting off with a visual, an album title and then
only, once we know the subject/feeling we want to
communicate, do we start recording the tracks. There's
then a common thread that's glues the songs together
based on the choices we made. We're planning on using
that theory on our next album as well.
Since there is no live gallery or gigs section on
your page, I presume that you don't do any gigs. My
question is, why not? Why not pick some live members and
do live shows? I am in a band myself, and playing gigs
is the best thing about being in a band if you ask me.
Dave: We're always getting that question.
Obviously, the world is ready to experiment DMM Live but
as a choice to not fake 6-7 layers of guitars, 10-12
different keyboards parts and having to deal with that
many samples, we'd rather use that energy to work on the
next track. Play and fake a live performance would just
demystify the entire experience, which is just out of
the question. But you're right, playing Live is really
exiting and that's when MotherKingdom comes handy for
me.
What can we expect of Deep Metal Mechanic in the
future? And what are your future dreams?
Dave: A shitload of beats and driving riffs!!! We
already started on the next album and it's getting
better and better. We currently have a working formula
handling everything ourselves. We don't have any
pressure or requirements from anybody but our fans. We
are really happy as we are.
Gilles: Unlike signed with a label, we don't have
any deadline to finish an album, which is important to
us. We only decide to release a new one once we're 100%
happy with all the tracks.
Almost there... hehe. I only knew Samael beeing a
good industrial act from Switzerland before I got to
know Deep Metal Mechanic. But, how strong is the scene
in Switzerland?
Dave: Switzerland has many extreme, pissed off
people if you look at the Metal/Industrial scene, which
is always a good thing to make things stir a little.
Samael just played the biggest festival here; only 3
Swiss acts headlined that main stage for the past 40
years. Big thumbs up!
The interview ends here, thanks again. If you have
some final words, place them here.
Both: The Netherlands kicks ass !!! We always
love visiting you guys. And make sure to drop us a line
from all over the world, we love getting comments on our
guestbook.
www.deepmetalmechanic.com
www.myspace.com/deepmetalmechanic
Available on ITune Music Store!
Interview by: Gerardo (August 2005) |
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