Hi guys. Thanks for doing the interview. How are things with you all today.
Matthieu (guitars): Thank you for having us, we’re doing great, waiting for the summer weather to finally kick in so we can showcase our tattoos a bit more (laughs).
For people not in the know, can you give a brief history of how the band came together and where it is today.
M: It has a lot to do with Nico (vocals) moving from the South East of France to the South West and me moving back to France with my wife after spending 6 years in Germany. Through work relations Nico met Stéphane (bass), they bonded and decided to form a doom / sludge / stoner band together. On my side, as soon as I got back to France I looked for bands via dedicated websites which led to me answering to an ad from Stéphane and … never hearing from him again (laughs).
Something like six months later, he realized the email he intended to send me never went through. I had started another project in the meantime but felt like I still had bandwidth for a different and heavier band so we stayed in touch. When my project collapsed, I met the guys and we started from there in early 2021. Florian joined us in June of that year after Stéphane posted another ad to find a drummer. Pretty old school way of finding bandmates but 3 years later we’re all still there so I guess it worked great!
Since then, we recorded a live session, played a few gigs, released the video for Silence is Great and focused heavily on the songwriting. We all have a different approach to music so we took plenty of time at the start of the project to find a sound and an identity that allows each of us to shine and have fun.
Why did you call yourselves VOIDOZER
M: It was Stéphane’s idea. We organized a brainstorming session to find a band name and out of all the ones we had come up with, this really was the one that felt like it fitted our sound the best while still being easy to remember and pronounce. We all simply felt like it was the one right from the moment it was suggested.
From what I recall, Stéphane found it simply as he was thinking of band names with Void in it as well as something Bulldozer related. He smashed the two words together and there you have it.
How would you describe your overall sound for your excellent new song SILENCE IS GREAT,
M: It’s always hard for us to describe our band’s sound because we have very different musical backgrounds. We all love Sludge and Doom but all came to these genres via very opposite roads. Therefore we often hear things in a riff or a melody that make sense knowing which one of us brought this or that idea but the audience might have a totally different view on it.
Overall I would still say that “Silence is great” mixes a post sludge intro, full sludge core and a caveman doom finale.
What can people expect from the song and what is the creative outline or story for the track.
M: I think people can mostly expect to embark on a riff-filled trip. The song takes you into many different detours but the finale should really appear as cathartic for the listener.
The fun thing with “Silence is great” is that it’s by far our longest and most sophisticated song yet it’s the one that came to be the fastest. Stéphane came in with the verse / pre chorus / chorus riffs and we built the song from there. In our first jam, we added right away the “slower chorus”, the guitar solo and Stéphane came up on the spot with the main riff for the entire second part of the song. Later that same week, I was noodling on the guitar at home, playing a soft and quiet part and realized that with a few twists, it would fit right in as a potential intro and outro. By the time of the next rehearsal we had all the parts for the song and just needed polishing.
Where did the name SILENCE IS GREAT for the track come from
M: I can’t remember if we had that line written in the lyrics or as a song title first but it came very very quickly. The song describes an unjustified and violent murder. The way I see it, the sentence “Silence is great” acts both as an ironic song title for a band as loud and noisy as we are but also demonstrates the tension relief after any such atrocity is committed.
The silence that comes after illustrates the horror of the scene. I would even go as far as to say a world fully silenced from all the terrible human behaviors would probably be a great place to live in. When all you can hear are screams and cries, you can easily think to yourself “you know what? Silence is great”.
What are the long term plans for the band. Do you have an upcoming EP or Debut Full length being released in the future.
M: We are all looking forward to releasing an EP or a full album, ideally we’ll be able to record it next year but it’s not fully set in stone yet. For now we need to finish the songwriting for several tracks we have in our back catalog and play more shows to live test these songs.
What is the creative process or setup within the band? Do you write the music together or do certain people within the band do that.
M: In general it starts with a few riffs that either Stéphane or myself will bring to the band. Then we usually jam a bit on this, take some time to think about it, draft ideas on our side, then when we reunite and share those ideas, restructure, play the song and see if it works or not. Our drummer and singer usually draft basic ideas live and fine tune them once the bass / guitar parts and the structure are more finalized.
Your press release advised that all members have a long history in many past bands. Can you advise which bands you were part of and what type of music that you played.
M: I surely can’t name all the projects we worked on. Before Voidozer, Nico sang in the chaotic hardcore band The Dawn and since his teenager years he players in various screamo and post hardcore projects. He came to the doom / sludge side of the force from the post hardcore / post metal side of things.
Flo plays in a prog metal band called Moïra, he’s a massive fan of Envy (and Tool like any drummer ;)). Stéphane played in everything from death metal to prog reggae to french neo folk. He always had a love for stoner doom and decided he was going to focus on forming such a project and dedicate himself to it 100%.
On my end, I started in punk rock bands, played in stoner / grunge projects as well as more noise rock ones too. Voidozer is both the heaviest but also the most challenging project I’ve been part of and I feel very privileged about that.
You're from Toulouse, France. What is the local Hard Rock and Heavy Metal scene like there. Is there a thriving gig scene and community that allows you to perform regularly or do you have to travel further afield to perform on a regular basis.
M: We are rather fortunate in terms of bands in the greater Toulouse area. Of course the main driving force at the moment has to be Slift. These guys simply reinvented psych rock / kraut rock for the masses and watching them play live here always hits differently.
In the doom department, we have the horror based Witchthroat Serpent. In the more underground scene, our dear friends from Kaalbaar create the best of stoner doom without ever taking themselves too seriously. Ultimately, it’s a lively scene with tons of great bands. We simply lack a few smaller venues to play extreme music in but compared to most cities in France, we can’t complain.
What future gigs have you coming up.
M: This coming Tuesday (25th of June) we are opening for High on Fire! By the time you read this interview maybe we already opened for them though. That’s obviously a massive deal for us and we’ve been preparing for this one for months at this point!
After that we have a show planned with our friends Brüle and Junkyard Birds in September still in Toulouse and we are currently booking shows outside of our town for the end of the year, early next year. Stay tuned!
What bands or artists influenced you to pick up an instrument and to become a musician.
M: On my end, that would be the punk rock bands that were prominent in the early 2000’s like The Offspring etc. I always doubted my ability to learn an instrument as a kid even if I’ve always wanted to pick up one. I started playing a bit of guitar at 14 but it’s only once I saw a punk rock band play live and discussed with them that I got hooked. As soon as I realized that to play this kind of riff, it would not take me 5 years of classical training, I dove right into it. Further down the road, this lead me to The Stooges, Fugazi, The Melvins, and then Red Fang, Yob, Baroness, Mastodon, etc.
Before you go, do you have any words of wisdom for your any potential fans that will come across your music.
M: The world can be an incredibly dark and shitty place at times. If you feel down, angry, tired or disillusioned, simply put some super heavy fuzz music on, turn the volume up and let this cheer you up. Oh and you can use our music for that as well. ;)
Words by Steve Howe and VOIDOZER
Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Voidozer
Bandcamp: https://voidozer.bandcamp.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@voidozer
Spotify: https://shorturl.at/hLNAc
