(1) Could you tell our readers about your band Your Inland Empire ? – What kind of music
do you perform and when was it established?
Your Inland Empire is basically the continuation of Crown our previous band. It’s the
same line up, established at the end of 2023. I had the name in my head for a while. But
let’s say it’s a new era. We’re starting everything back from scratch.
Describing the kind of music we’re doing is not an easy task. We have as influences
NIN, Ministry, Depeche Mode, Massive Attack, Young Gods, Killing Joke, Skinny Puppy,
Godflesh, mostly industrial rock, metal and dark pop. We’re also big fans of post metal
like Neurosis, hardcore like Knocked Loose and this new hardcore scene. We’re all very
open-minded in terms of music. I would say it’s a mix of all those influences.
(2) Which bands or artists inspired you to play music?
NIN, Massive attack, DM, The Cure, Ministry, Godflesh, Neurosis, The Young Gods,
Killing Joke, Trontemoller, Boards Of Canada, Fink, Knocked Loose, Aphex Twin, The
God Machine, sooo many bands. I personally listen to a shitload of music, from extreme
music like Watain to world music like Tilibo, which is an African music project from one
of Abbath’s guitar players (I’m the sound engineer on tour with Abbath ). I also listen to
a lot of electronic music, folk like Brother Dege, Clipping , Wu Tan Clan etc etc.
(3) Who came up with the cover art for the album Your Inland Empire?.
We wanted something that could fit with the atmosphere of the album, something urban
and cold. David came up with an idea and Jeffrey Daniels made amazing artwork from
it.
(4)Who wrote the lyrics for your new album? How did they come to be?
I wrote all lyrics, mostly when the music was being written. It’s basically about the
duality we all have inside of us. But also various emotions through the crazy fucked up
world we’re living in.
(5)Who created the logo for the band and who takes care of the graphics and the
website?
Max Loriot created the logo. He did all Crown artwork in the past. Jeffrey Daniels is
taking care of all graphics.
(6) How many shows have you played? Which type of gigs do you prefer – venues or
festivals? Which of your performances would you consider as the best?
Zero hahaha. But with Crown a few 🙂 We’re looking for touring next year and first to find
a proper booking agent. As a touring engineer, I have some standards, I have to say.
But when you’re in a band in every kind of venues, squats, proper venues, festivals,
most important is to have a proper sound system because some places can be a
challenge in terms of sound. We’re dreaming about our best performance right now
hehehe. We played Hellfest in front of 6,000 people with Crown so it was something
really special for us.
(7) What was your songwriting process for the new single Grinding?
I had this cold wave post punk-ish riff in my head for a while. It’s something around
Killing Joke & Depeche Mode. It’s a very weird process. The song shapes by itself,
melodies are coming instantly usually. The whole album is very emotional I would say,
so the lyrics are too. It’s a proper trip, this whole album.
(8)How would you describe your band's unique sound?
Oh man, this is a difficult question. I let the people who will listen to this album to
answer this question. Extremely difficult to describe your own music, when you’re in it
24/7.
(9) What are the main themes or messages in your lyrics?
Mainly : the dark night of the soul. I won’t go into details but me and David went through
a very tumultuous year. Chaotic i would say. But we’re those kind of guys. Living on the
edge, We put blood, sweat and tears into this project. It’s true catharsis.
(10) Would you like to share any shows or festivals coming up?
It would be a dream for us to play Hellfest, Motocultor, Graspop, Alcatraz – those kind of
European festivals. Touring in US would be a dream, too. I toured several times in the
US with Alcest , Destruction and Abbath.
(11) How and where can your fans contact you? What about you and social networks?
They can contact us through social media. I hate social media, but this is the new shit
nowadays to promote your band so i have to accept that.
Thanks a lot for the interview and your interest in our album. It goes straight to our
hearts.
Fans can reach out to us on Facebook and Instagram.
