Hailing from Montreal, Derelict mixes the brutal and
technical elements of the Quebec metal scene with listenable structures and
melody, resulting in an unforgiving yet accessible package one that can only be
called only as... Derelict! Vocalist Eric Burnet and guitarist/vocalist Max
Lussier took the time to talk about the brutalizing tactics that make up such
an intense reality of music.
1. Where does a name like Derelict come from and does it
mean anything?
ERIC: The name Derelict was originally the title for the
song 'Flames Of The Righteous', from our first album. At the time we were
called Foreshadow, but decided to change our name to match changes in the band.
Derelict was a cool band name, and Flames Of The Righteous was a great
replacement song title. The concept behind that song and the name is a
metaphor. A derelict ship is one that is afloat with no crew, aimless,
abandoned. It was meant to reflect the direction society has taken.
2. Can you tell me about the title for your latest album
Perpetuation?
ERIC: Perpetuation is about the choice between continuing
the ridiculous system we currently use to manage the planet or moving on to
something new. It's also a nod to our struggles as a band and our decision to
continue making music after a challenging period producing this album.
3. Does this release have a concept behind it?
ERIC: Not specifically, but most of the songs are critical
of current human behaviors' and social systems. A few, like Yours To Surpass,
Shackles Of Indoctrination and Emergence encourage positive thinking and
personal power as paths to take.
4. Tell us the brief history of your band.
ERIC: The band was formed by myself and our original guitar
player Daryl, coming together in the ashes of his old band with the goal of
combining far-reaching influences within metal. We quickly found Jordan, and
released a few albums with different bass players. I was playing guitar and
singing in the beginning, but following some wrist problems, Max stepped in and
it became immediately apparent that we were better as a 5-piece. We had some
more lineup struggles, and Jordan, Max and I put out Perpetuation just the
three of us with the help of Seb Pittet from Switzerland on bass. When putting
Perpetuation together, we decided to focus more on the brutal, fast, melodic
and technical aspects of our sound, and cut out a bit of the experimentation.
We wanted to make a solid unified musical statement. We now have a great lineup
rounded out by Xavier Sperdouklis on bass and Simon Cléroux on guitar (also in
The Unconscious Mind), and things are going very well. We're looking forward to
releasing some material as this lineup!
5. What type of band are you?
MAX: Musically I would say our music is pretty relentless.
There isn't much chilling out on a Derelict record. Although we like to
incorporate melodic elements, at the end of the day we’re a technical death
metal band. There are no “core” breakdowns or fluttery moments in our music.
It’s fast, brutal and sometimes it can get rhythmically complex. As humans our
band is really laid back and down-to-earth. At least that’s the way I see it.
Also there is never a Derelict session without a few guffaws of laughter.
That’s something I love about being in this band. We take the music seriously
but we don’t always take ourselves seriously.
6. Who are your musical influences?
MAX: As a band our influences are extremely far-ranging.
Speaking for myself I drew a lot of influence from the 90’s progressive death
scene with bands like Death, Cynic and Atheist but I also like to draw from
other Quebec bands like Martyr and Neuraxis. Artists like Django Reinheardt,
Suffocation, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, !T.O.O.H.!, Frank Zappa and Charles
Mingus have also had a profound effect on me. As far as new bands are concerned
I love Between the Buried and Me, The Faceless, Revocation and Gorod among
others. I know Jordan grew up as a huge fan of The Cure and loves German
drummer Benny Greb. Eric loves death metal as well as more progressive stuff
like Yes and Ihsahn. Simon has progressive and maybe more black metal
influences like Old Man’s Child and Pink Floyd. Xavier is kind of like me in
that he listens to a ton of metal but also learned some jazz and likes
progressive and technical music like Obscura and Augury. Overall the influences
in this band are extremely diverse. Hopefully it’ll help us keep our music
fresh.
7. Who writes the songs, what are they about?
MAX: The writing has become extremely collaborative. For Perpetuation
it was usually Eric or me who would show up with a song and everyone would sit
down and dissect it until we decided it was a Derelict song. Some songs like
“Yours to Surpass” and “The Iridium Layer” required little to no editing while
others like “Olympic”, which Jordan brought in, and “Digital Birthright” took
over a year to write. As far as new material is concerned the collaborative
process is well under way. I've been writing a ton of music but Simon has
brought in some awesome material and Eric also has some material we’re going to
work on. I love songwriting and the new songs have me very excited.
8. Out of all of the members in the band who would be the
winner at headbanging?
MAX: Considering only two of our members have long hair at
this point, it has to be between Simon and Xavier. I would give the nod to Xav
I think as his windmilling can be pretty epic.
9. When it comes to performing what's your favorite type of
headbang to perform?
MAX: Having short hair, my options are a little limited
haha. I try to make up for it with facial hair and metal faces. I guess my most
common form of headbanging is “the nod”, where I tilt my head back and forth. I
guess you could call it the classic form.
10. Describe your show, visually and musically for us.
MAX: Energetic. As musicians we work extremely hard to make
the show sound as tight as possible. It’s technical music so we need to play
precisely. However we like to rock out as hard as possible and connect visually
with our audience. Eric is constantly in motion and has a few awesome power
stances. We also love playing live together so there’s a lot of camaraderie on
stage.
11. How do you promote your band and shows?
ERIC: I run my own music PR company, Ricburn Media, and
through that I do a lot of media outreach, both international and local for our
different live dates. We try to keep in close contact with fans, and also pass
out physical stuff like free download cards in the real world on top of doing
the usual website, Facebook, Twitter stuff.
12. What image do you think your music conveys?
ERIC: Hopefully one of positivity and strength. It's
challenging to play fast, aggressive and technical music, and for me
personally, it's much more about creating positivity from negativity, and proving
personal power by achieving something. We're not one of those bands who pretend
to be evil or rock stars or anything like that. We’re just five regular guys
out to play some intense music. Good times and artistic expression, that's what
it's about for us.
13. How do you describe your music to people?
ERIC: "Technical death metal". When people have no
idea about the metal scene, I just let them think what they want. People who
aren't even moderately into heavy music probably won't like us, so I don't
waste too much time explaining it. If they are into metal though, I'll say
something like "a cross between Death, Obscura and The Black Dahlia
Murder". Or I'll just pretend we're a hip hop band.
14. What inspires you to do what you do?
ERIC: Personal expression. Connecting with people. Being
able to put something real out there in the world that affects people. Proving
to myself that I can do it and always get better.
MAX: I don’t know what I would do if I couldn't write and
play music. It’s just such an integral part of who I am. I've learned so much
about myself through music. I guess it’s the constant personal evolution of
creating something that keeps me doing this.
15. What advice would you give to fellow bands?
MAX: Practice, have fun, plan out your objectives, practice,
play shows, gain experience and regularly make sure that all your members are
on the same page. Oh yeah, and practice.
16. Anything else you want to add?
MAX: We definitely would like to thank you for the interview
and thank anyone who takes the time to read this and listen to underground
bands. Cheers!
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