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Dekad

JB: We met at a party, began to discuss, and very soon realised we loved the same music. Jérôme has always been a Joy Division fan, and he will never miss a Cure concert. Seb has an impressive collection of synthpop albums, he made me discover De/Vision and Mesh. Personally, I grew up with Kraftwerk, Front 242 and Depeche Mode. We agreed that it would be a good idea to give ourselves a try. We started to improvise and to play live on cheap synths. The beginning was quite chaotic! Then we changed our working methods; the next natural step was the computer. Serious work began when we realized that we had enough material to make a full album.

Yoyo: Seb and I had been playing together for a long time. We had experiences in two different bands; we moved from punk to a more coldwave style with synths.

Seb: With cheap equipment, we achieved rather good tracks. These were magical moments, and we were very excited to play music together, even if the result was not always very efficient.

Tell us a little about your new album, Confidential Tears. How would you say it differs from your first album?

JB: Indeed, it differs a lot from the first album. If some part of Sin_Lab were taken from live sessions, my two fellows did not take part in the writing of Confidential Tears. Seb brought his voice and Jérôme plays his guitar parts. Technically, things also changed. The first album was 100 percent analog; for this one, I used a few efficient VST instruments, like the ARP 2600 from Arturia or the PolySix from Korg Legacy. I also learned a lot from the previous mixing sessions with Member U-0176; I really paid attention to the quality of my recordings. The sound quality of the whole album is really better, I think. I also tried to give more homogeneity to the album, keeping a certain coherence between the tracks.

Seb: I recognize that the result is very good. JB found a musical style in his role as composer. The guitar is better used. The mix is nervous, without harming the punchy melodies. The only thing I regret is that they have lost the spirit of the live group. I'm just a tiny part of the project, but I'm really proud to realize the art work.

Yoyo: I think that 'No Regrets' is an old song we wrote a long time ago, no ?

The beats and synthesizers on the new album seem to give it a more modern feel than Sin_Lab. Was this intentional?

JB: Definitely, yes. I was a little bit upset that the critics always compared our sound to the '80s. I decided that this time, the sound would be more aggressive. I used much more distortion and put more effects on leads and basses to get a more 'modern' sound. I also changed the way I write songs a little bit, giving more place to experimentation, trying different approaches. The use of VST instruments certainly gave a more modern sound, as well.

Yoyo: Some sounds have changed, and this is mostly due to the purchase of new instruments—virtual or not. Working with BOREDOMproduct also had an obvious impact on the sound, getting a highly serious electro side that we did not necessarily have at first.

Seb: The new generation of electronic music is made for epilepsy. The sound is brutal, sharp and jerky. We were a bit tired of this '80s image and its 'New Wave' sounds. Currently, the world is violent, fast. Our music is the best way we've found to express this feeling. We asked Member U to transcribe this violence in the final mix, a mission he fully accomplished.

Would you say your influences have changed since the first album? Have you discovered any new artists that you're particularly excited about?

JB: I think that our influences remain the same, deeply anchored in New Wave and EBM. But this time, as I wrote the songs, I was able to include exclusively my own influences. I must say that Daniel Myer is a great reference. This guy is an amazing musician. I really adore his new Destroid album, and I can't wait to listen to the next Covenant! At the same time, I'm very sad to hear that this will mean the end of Haujobb.

Seb: I continue to listen to the same music. The list would be too long. I love the last Miss Kittin and De/Vision albums. The Mesh DVD highlights my idea of electronic music struggling to keep its promises live. Speaking of live, Robert Smith once again delivered a a great show in Paris last week; I expect a lot from the next album! And I cry over the official death of The Mission.

Yoyo: I don't think we can speak of a change of influence, but rather of enrichment! An artist has particularly struck me: IAMX. I find him great, even sometimes hypnotic. I also appreciated Interpol's last album. I even went to see The Cure, who can play three hours live, without any synths!

Do you have a favorite song on the album? What is it, and why?

JB: I should say 'Once Again,' for its dramatic atmosphere, and 'A Reason' for its false romantic taste.

Yoyo: One of my favorites is 'Dive,' which seems to stand out a little bit more than the others, but I also like 'No Regrets,' which has a quite different, more personal style.

Tell us about Yoyo's role as guitarist in the band. He contributes to the songwriting process, but how much of his playing is actually featured on the new album? Are the guitars replaced with synthesizers, or are they run through effects to give them a more electronic sound? Or both?

JB: The guitar brings humanity to the songs and is not considered a complement. The guitar parts you hear is a real guitar that has been recorded and treated through different overdrives, delays, reverbs and crushers.

Yoyo: I confirm, on this album, no synth part has been replaced by guitar. Take a title like 'I Leave.' There are so many effects that you could say it's synth! On a track like 'Tension,' it's much rawer, purer. As JB said, guitar is the human touch of Dekad, together with voice.

Will you be touring for this album? Now that Confidential Tears is out, do you have any other plans you can let us in on?

JB: There are no plans for touring, as playing live has never been our top priority, and we prefer to focus on the creative process. As we always say, playing live would mean that we have to present versions of the songs that differ from the studio album, and this requires a lot of energy that I do not have at the moment. I have a few remixes and covers in the pipeline, and I've already started to work on a few ideas for an eventual third album.