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Featuring Victor and Sven Interview by Ruud Dreessen aka ebm-industrial.nl Date:16 mrt 2009 From: La Lune Noire

Thanks La Lune Noire that you have found time to give answers to these questions,

Can you give an introduction La Lune Noire?

La Lune Noire is a new wave/electro band from Dordrecht The Netherlands.Band members are Sven (nevS) : drums,funny noises and programming) and Victor (Vix):vocals,synthesizers,guitar.We write our own music and record it at our own home studio De Muziekkamer.We also make our own video’s and website www.svinx.com

How and why did you come about starting La Lune Noire?

Victor : Sven and I just wanted to continue making music after Say when! split up.This time without any other band members,but just the two of us.This way we can keep close to our own goals in music and play the music we really like. The more members in a band,the more opinions which you have to consider.In the past that did not always work, so we decided to start La Lune Noire with just the two of us.

Sven: Creating is part of my live, maybe even the goal of it.Together with Victor I’ve created some amazing things.Just because of that our musical talents have a positive effect on each other and we need to create music together.

How did you come up with the name of La Lune Noire?

Victor : We figured out a hundred other names,but somehow there was always a band who already had the same idea. Somehow the name La Lune Noire came up (when Kyoto Noire and Mirage Noire were already taken).Later we found out that there’s also a comic and game in France with the same name.

Sven: We’ve been trying to figure out a name for ages.We have used the name “svinx” for some year.As you might figure it is created of both our names/nicknames.The problem with it is that is does not reflect the kind of music we make. Victor came up with La Lune Noire one day and it hit me! From that day on that’s the name.

What else inspires you to La Lune Noire?

Sven: The world is my inspiration. My own life as well as that of my wife and kids, work, hobbies etc. Though Victor is mainly the creative mind in lyrics and music, I try to be the driving force at the keys and buttons. Graphic designs, sound levels, drum rhythms, those are mostly mine. Searching for sounds is always difficult, and that is where we spend lot’s of time together. The result is always surprising.

Victor : Just life around me and politics in general inspire me to write a new song or lyrics. For example I was diagnosed cancer last year, so I wrote a song called Tumour about it. A song called Skin to Skin was written as a protest to the war in Iraq. A sequence on a synth can also inspire me to write a song. Inspiration is all around you !

What bands are your major influences?

I’ve been a fan of Gary Numan (Tubeway Army) since Are ‘Friends’ Electric? Because of his music I bought a Moog Prodigy Synthesizer (followed by several others), so it’s easy to say that he’s my biggest influence. Besides Numan there are lots of other bands like Simple Minds, Depeche Mode, Front 242, And One, The Sound, Clan of Xymox and Killing Joke that influenced me.

What kind of equipment/software do you use?

We use Cubase as the recording studio. Synths : There’s a Yamaha AN1X, a Korg Wavestation, Rob Papen Blue, Rob Papen Albino and there must be a Roland D550 somewhere. There’s an EMO Xboard for the VST as well. Futher more Sven drums on Roland TD6. The mic is a Shure M56 beta and for guitars : a Squire Strato and a Jarrock Gibson imitation.

Have you got many video’s and songs now on your debut album and what you can tell us about the done work of lyrical compositions?

The debut album Nitrogen is due to be released in the early summer of 2009. We have 2 video’s of our own songs on www.youtube.com and 2 video’s of covers to promote our name (these will not appear on the cd). 8 tracks are now finished (interview dated the 16th of March 2009). There is no overall concept of the album. Lyrically the songs vary from cancer (Tumour) to the suicide of a friend of mine (Landmark), from politics (Skin to Skin) or religious disbelieve (Waiting for God) to complete nonsense (Split). The song which you can download from this website called Ice is about the hope to a better future of the world (after 8 years of Bush as president of the USA). I’ve taken parts of Obama’s inaugural speech and mixed it with my own lyrics. At the moment I don’t know if Obama will be a good president, but after Bush it can only get better.

Because we have no record deal we can basically just do what we want to do, without any limits.

What inspires you to keep growing as La Lune Noire?

We just really enjoy making music, that’s the only motivation.If any one else likes it as well, that’s great. If not, we’re not bothered.

What ideas, movements and personalities would you say were crucial for the definition and development of La Lune Noire as a creative entity?

nothing or no one in particular. Just like to say thanks to Rudy for his critics and tips.

Can you tell us a little bit more about your personal life, what you do on a daily basis?

I am married and have a 2 year old son. Besides music I like photography (see my website : vixphotographix.nl),hiking, squash, geocaching, stroopwafels, castles, larp and have lots of other interests. Besides that I work as a manager at a transport company.

How is the scene New Wave and Electro bands in the Netherlands?

apart from La Lune Noire and Clan of Xymox I really wouldn’t know if there are any new wave/electro bands left in the Netherlands. That’s possibly why Xymox left for Leipzig. Does The Essence still exist ?

What are your top ten favourite New Wave / Electronic Club Songs of all time?

in no particular order (and just what comes up in my mind first) :

Tubeway army – Are ‘friends’ electric ?

Simple minds – New Gold Dream

Killing Joke – Millennium

Depeche Mode – Enjoy the Silence

The Sound – From the Lions Mouth (album)

Front 242 – Headhunter

Anne Clark – Sleeper in Metropolis

Fad Gadget – Collapsing New People

Freur – doot doot

IAMX- Kiss and swallow

Sven: My personal interest is electronic,but less wave.

for instance. My all time favourites are:

The Prodigy – Firestarter

Kraftwerk – The Model

Front 242 – Never Stop

Kraftwerk – Pocket Calculator

The Prodigy – Voodoo People

While New Wave is your main musical pallet, what other music do you listen to?

Sven: I have a weakness for electronic music. Jean Michel Jarre and Klaus Schulze are my musical heroes. Next to that of course easy listening (Sade, Phil Collins), Ska (Madness) and old-school House, Techno and New Beat. A bit of funkiness of Candy Dulfer is always pleasant.

Victor : I like all kinds of music: Gothic, Pop, Rock, Ska, you name it. If you listen to our song Split, you have to admit this is the first electro-ska song written. Both Sven and I also liked Madness very much. Some other names are : Editors, Kate Bush, The Who, Bowie, Nits, Peter Gabriel, Sisters of Mercy, Clannad, Dead can Dance and Fischer-Z.

How long have you been in the Music industry and how has it changed over time?

Victor : I’ve been in bands for about 25 years now.We’ve done lot’s of covers (of Gary Numan,The Cure,Sisters of Mercy,to name a few) and then our own songs.Before La Lune Noire the best songs were written in the band Under The Rose (you can check it out on our website for songs of UTR) which I wrote together with my friend Rudy. Personally,I think the most changes you will find,are the sound of the synthesizers and the way I sing.I think all the songs are still written in the same way,melodically and catchy.Also, before Under the Rose I did not play guitar.Of course that’s a big change,it made our sound a bit more heavier/aggressive and much better for me when performing on stage.

Sven: I started music lessons at 6. At eight I started drumming. Twenty years ago I was asked to start a band with some friends. We needed a synth-player and someone knew Victor. We have never split since! My musical education is classic and jazzy. Since I started playing in bands it changed to pop/rock and later to the electro/wave. I enjoy playing it all alike.

I like this Industrial New Wave sound, tell me more about this?

Victor : Most of the time, I first come up with a melody. We find a good sequence or arp to go with it. This sound comes usually from the Rob Papen Blue or Yamaha AN1X synthesizer. I like dark and heavy sounds, sometimes it takes hours to come up with the right sound. It was much more easier when I had just my Moog Prodigy. When needed we add guitar to it, to give it more edge, make it more aggressive.I like lots of snare and fills on the drums and Sven helps me out there perfectly.

Sven: The always expanding library of sounds presents a problem sometimes. We are never happy with the first sound we hear. Indeed, when we just had the Moog Prodigy and the Korg 707, we didn’t have the choice. But to be honest, now we have these major libraries, the songs sound much better. Modern, more industrial and much cleaner.

You told us about Gary Numan and Front 242. Your style is very cool, I like it. Maybe Gary Numan and New Wave fans like it too?

Victor : Numan was the pioneer for synth pop, new wave and electro.Front 242 were pioneers in EBM and Industrial. The way they both use sequences, dark sounds and creating moods is fantastic. La Lune Noire has got its own sound, with influences of so many other bands, certainly including Numan and Front 242. If fans of these bands, or for that matter any band, like us too, we can only be thankful for that.

Sven: You really need to ask the fans ?

I like the cover video "Tracks" from Gary Numan. Tell me more about this video and music?

The original is on Gary Numan’s Pleasure Principle album. I’ve always liked it and covered it in many versions over the years. This one I like the most. It’s completely different from the original and I think that is

what covers should be like.If you make a cover, don’t be a copycat,but try to give your own style to it.The cover was done to attract some more people to our own music.We made the video ourselves (as always),put it on www.youtube.com and hope people like it and check out our own material.So basically it’s a promo for our upcoming album Nitrogen,but it will not be listed on the album.

Are you currently working on, or planning any new releases, any work or new material? What is the future for La Lune Noire?

Sven: Because our inspiration is based on the lives we live, it delivers a never-ending stream of creativeness. Even after we have released “Nitrogen”, keep checking our website for new material. If you can’t find new music, just check out the video section, the design of the website itself or click through the links section for our other creative products.

Victor : We are now working on a song called Ice, which hopefully will be finished this month, and a song called The King is Dead (about the death of my brother). We hope to finish the upcoming album Nitrogen at the end of spring for release early summer. Check out our website www.svinx.com to keep up too date with La Lune Noire.

Furthermore, we are planning to make at least 2 new video’s for the album. One is for a song called Blow a Kiss, which we will shoot at the Elf Fantasy Fair on the 26th of April this year.

It has been a pleasure to interview you on your musical activity, Well, any last words to your ebm-industrial fans?

Victor : When monsters hide under my bed, I’m looking at the stars instead. For me it means : when everything seems to be against me, I still find sparkles to light my way. For you ebm-industrial fans it might mean : whatever shit is on the radio, there are always bands like La Lune Noire to be found on the internet ?

Sven: We are in the process of creating our first ever official CD.Somehow,somewhere,there are people like you that already find our music. We are honoured,it makes me blush! We love to hear from you when the CD has seen the light.

In closing this interview, we'd like to thank you for your time. Do you have any final words or requests?

We would really like to know what you think of our music.Please contact us on our website www.svinx.com to give us your opinion.Our upcoming album Nitrogen can also be ordered via our website (it will not be in the shop)

Any last words for www.ebm-industrial.nl ?

Victor : Thank you for inviting us for this interview and good luck with your excellent website !

Sven: As mentioned before, we are honoured. Thank you for your time and interest and keep up on the good work on the leading EBM site in Holland!