PipemanRadio Interviews Alcest at Download Festival 2025

0:04 Hi you Larnt. Yes, that's true from W for see Wow Crazy Young. This is the pipemin here and venture to the pipe Man W four c y Radio at Download Festival and I'm here with. With Naish from Alcest French band French Project. Yes nice here So how was it here at Download so far? How was the set? Yeah? So we just arrived this morning. So it's actually the second time we pay a download. We played here maybe in twenty nineteen. So it's great to be back again.

0:45 And there are many amazing bands paying. So in France we tend to say that, I mean the country never had like such a big metal scene and I think it's changing now we like Bend's like Gujera or like Igor or so yeah, it's it's great as a French band to be invated in such a such a legendary country for music. You know, speaking of which like to blow your mind when Gojiro was playing the Olympics, yeah, of course, like I'm like, oh my god, how did that happen? Yeah, and all the country was so proud of them, you know, because we don't have a very big tradition of rock and metal music in France. So Gougiero is maybe the first band to really get such a big recognition on an international level. So even people who are not like like the biggest fans of their music, everyone respect them so much and admire them so much.

1:37 So what got you into music the first time? What made you think like, this is what I want to do. So I don't think I really had like a moment when I thought, Okay, that's what I want to do, because I was never my plan to make music. It kind of happened, you know, because so my grandmother is a piano teacher, so she gave me playing pianoisms when I was a kid. Then when I was a teenager, I discovered I discovered range music and a Nirvana, and then I discovered black metal, so very very different stuff. And it is a very special type of project because it starts from an experience. You know. When I was a child, I had some kind of like a spiritual experience and I never knew what to do with it. It was so like life changing. And when I was a teenager and discovered metal music, I thought, okay, maybe I could make like a project to be able to speak about these experience and make music about it.

2:33 And that became essist. But I never wanted to be like a professional musician. I just had something to say. I love that. And what I love about that too is when I listen to music. Well, I love about your music is it's it's unique, and that's hard to come by these days. There's a lot of bands that they sound exactly the same because I use some kind of formula. And I can hear the spirituality in your music. Too, thank you. Yeah, I think it's a very weird project. You know. We a lot of people like us, a lot of people. Don't like us too, But at least I like to believe that we don't sound like another band, you know, so so yeah, I guess in industry where there are so many bands which sound like similar, I guess that's a good.

3:19 Thing, definitely good. I think that's what gives you longevity and stand out because. A very old band. Actually I started in two thousand, so twenty five years. It's amazing, right, Like, did you ever think in two thousand that you would be saying here at download twenty twenty five? When I started, I thought, if there is one other person who like my music, it would be like America. I thought because it was so weird. As I told you, it starts from a very personal thing, so I thought that nobody could identify with this, it would stay. Something very, very, very niche. And actually I mean we are not like a very big band, you know, it's still like a niche thing.

4:00 But I would never have imagined, you know, we would tour everywhere in the world like we do, because you know, we we just come back from throwing the States, you know, nice after this, we are going to Asia, so we do what Iland, Mongolia, China, Wow, or Japan, and that's where we have our biggest fans, like our biggest crowds. That's so amazing to me. For a lot of bands, like. I think in French, I don't even think in English. Well, it's just like America bands that go to like Asian countries and they don't speak that language. And it's like I hear people singing the songs, I'm like, how did they know the words? Yeah, And it's it's a bit like I don't know if you are familiar with the band Cigarees from Iceland.

4:44 So it's like this very emotional music and they are huge in the States and they sing in Icelandic and people just say I don't understand the world of what they say, but I feel. I feel them. That's music. Yeah, so I like to think that maybe that's what people feel when. They hear yeah, as in French. But maybe what kind of trendscends, like borders and stuff. It's kind of like the Who when they come to the States. Everybody loves the Who in the States. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, like the from Mongolia. Yeah yeah yeah, not the other. Who, yeah for sure, for sure. Yeah. So being at your in France, I'm going to cover next weekend Healthfest, which is one of my favorite festivals.

5:29 That place, Oh my god, the decoration thing, it's amazing. Like I do festivals all over the world, and just just that place, it's like holy ground to me. They say, fucking it's the holy ground. I think Healfest is the holy ground. Healthfest has a little bit of dislake American like sense of theatric. Right, that's why you maybe you like it. Yeah, well because at night, okay, when all the fires coming up, I'm like, we really are in hell right now. I also love how, like you said, the decorations and you can go to different parts and experience. People don't go there on need to watch bands. They go there for like Theians.

6:12 Totally. Yeah, there's like a pool and I remember I went. I did it right after COVID when they had the seven day two weekends one. You were in the VIP area too, right. And pressed Yeah of course, yeah, so yeah, yeah, yeah, and so it was interesting. It was one hundred and four degrees so people were just hanging out in the pool. I think I did an interview in the pool because it was so freaking hot. In the press. Yeah. Yeah, And the VIP section at Headfest is really cool, like they really treat the people like super. Well, and so I totally love too. Like I was going back in like the merch or little town area and there was a band playing up on a roof and and like it was just like everywhere you go.

6:54 It was an experience. And as I told you, for Friends Friends has never been like a metal country, so it's it's a big deal for us to have a festival like that. Yeah, and like you mentioned, go Jira, I think that year ago Jira played. Yeah, it's probably one of the biggest crowds I ever saw. It was amazing, it felt so good to see a band in our own country, like people just so loyal inter them, you know, yeah, for sure, do you find that for you in your local area that you have like this Coltish following, cause there's not many like you. It wasn't the case in the beginning, Like it took us through very long time to be popular in friends, but we eventually got there and now I think it's where we have our best fans, like our best cross too.

7:43 When we played in Paris last year and we played this venue called Olympia and it's like maybe the most iconic venue in France. The beaters played there, like the ring Stones and edit, yah, you know this French singer. It's a very legendary venue and we managed to set it down, this tiny band from the southern France. But Al says, you know, like what, but the hell so my family came from the southern friends, because you know, I'm from the countryside. Yes, and it was a very big deal for us to see that. Okay, now in France people like us, people are proud of us and it but it took like fifteen years. Maybe. I always say people think bands become overnight successes, and I always say an overnight success takes about twenty years.

8:28 Yeah right, I. Mean it can happen, but it's very rare. So I know you're the town you're from is countryside, but American may cannot pronounce the name of the town. You want to tell everybody what town you're from? My town, Yes, that the band originated, that the music originated from. We are from different places in France. But because al says, started as like a solo thing, so for ten years it was just me in my parents' house. I love it because I was you know, I was like fifteen, you know, I was very young when I started and made town is called. She could understand that. Yeah, I would never be able to say that. Your Avignon if you've ever heard about Avignon. So yeah, it's like a thirteen minutes strive nice.

9:12 Yeah. Tell everybody how they can reach out to you guys on the web, on social check out your tour dates, get your music, buy your merch all that good stuff. Tell them how to reach you. So how to reach like on social media web, the. Main social media the Instagram and the Facebook. Of course we want to be on TikTok, but I guess we asked too much of bloomers to be on TikTok. So not TikTok but Instagram. Instagram is great for throwing our live shows and stuff. Well, I'm so happy you're here at download and thanks for being on The Adventure's pipe man. For the interview.

9:52 Thank you so much. Thank you for listening to the Adventures of Pipelin on W four c u I Radio. Yeah.