CONTRE-FEUX - Live Suffer Die ! (Screamo/Hardcore - Interview with Paul)

Please introduce yourself and let me know how it all began with the band ?
Hi it's Paul , I play guitar in Contre-feux and also sing sometimes. Contre-feux is ¾ a band of old friends ; Mickael, Guillaume and I have known each other for a long time and we've had lots of bands together, including one in the same vein (hardcore/screamo) in 2005-2006 which we stopped a bit abruptly at the time... And as we missed it, Guillaume and I made a new record which came out in 2020 called "Mort/Vivant" and as the feedback was good, we carried on. Mickael and Boris joined us and now we're releasing a second album that we really like, called "La morsure".
I think we all make music because we need to do some, it's important to us, there's not much more to say. It's a bit like the NOFX song, "we're just doing it for the cause".

Describe your sound and explain why I should listen to YOUR band at all costs ?
We play intense, fast, melodic music. There's a desire to be both very spontaneous and at the same time quite thoughtful... AND above all it seems to me to be quite sincere...IF you like sincere and honest music I'd advise you to listen. That's also why the lyrics are in French, they come straight from the heart. And you should definitely give our band a listen, because our new album is incredible !

Lyrical and musical inspirations/influences? How important are lyrics to you ? Are there any specific messages or thoughts that you try to develop and share through your lyrics ?
When we were looking for a drummer we said our influences were Converge, Envy, Tragedy and Amanda Woodward... I think if we limit ourselves to the big names, that's it ... I love Napalm Death and I think that's a big influence for the intensity, but there are also bands like Have Heart and all that for the hardcore side of things....
Lyrics are very important to us, our latest album is mainly about political defeat and opposition in all its positive and negative aspects. It's all quite poetic in form, maybe because we've listened too much to Amanda Woodward...

What about your latest album ?
It was Boris, our drummer, who mixed it and then we were pretty happy with it, so we had it mastered in the States by Brad Boatright from Audiosiege, who's also the guitarist for FROM ASHES RISE which is a band we love. We're extremely productive as a band, so we wrote 5 tracks in 4 years, making 13 minutes of music. The album comes out digitally on 3 May and then in June we'll be releasing a vinyl compilation of our two albums thanks to Yannick from Voice of the Unheard, who we'd like to thank a thousand times over.
By the way, our album can be pre-ordered from our label VOTU Records.

What are your plans for the future ?
We'd really like to do lots of concerts all over France.

Your most insane dream with the band would be ?
Get concert offers from all over France

Your BEST & WORST gig and why ?
We were invited to support Mutoid Man in a really cool venue in Bordeaux and it was really great, but at the same time I was out of tune for the whole gig, which wasn't great at all.... so it was both Contre-feux's best and worst gig.

Next live appearance(s) ?
Probably in June in Bordeaux, and we hope to play all over France in autumn 2024 and during 2025....

A few words about your local scene - the bands you're friends with that you'd like to name ?
There are a lot of really cool bands in Bordeaux, but I live pretty far away so I don't get to see too many gigs. There's ARI who are pretty much in the same niche as us and they've just released an album that's really cool, and there's also SOLITONE who make more laid-back music, which I think is a bit along the same lines as Chaviré, like emo-punk. Both bands are on tour together in May, so don't hesitate. And I also really listened to the latest GOLDEN SEAMS record in my car on the way to work.
Aside from punk, Mickael sings and plays guitar in MOLOCH/MONOLYTH, an indie pop band who've just released a huge album that the whole world should listen to.
And Boris plays in MAMAKILLA, a rather electro-rock band who should be releasing a new album one of these days.

Last words are yours...
That's it, I don't have much more to say ! Thank you so much !

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Band pic @MatthieuGERBOISE - Live pics @LouFERRERE