by Christophe Pauly
– Senior Photojournalist —
AqME is a French Alternative Metal band originating from Paris. Vocalist Vincent Peignart-Mancini recently talked with Christophe Pauly about replacing Thomas Thirrion, his bands before AqME, the new album Dévisager Dieu and more …
HRH: So the band has chosen you as their new singer after Thomas’s departure. How did that happen?
Vincent: Well I already knew Charlotte (bass) and Julien (guitar) because we stayed at the same parties in Paris. Then, one day, I received an SMS from Charlotte asking if I’d like to have a drink and talk with the band. I didn’t realized at first that it was about their singer’s departure. Then, we’ve seen each other at a concert and I accepted to fill in because I thought It would be a very great opportunity. That’s how It all started.
HRH: Did you fear disappointing the band?
Vincent: Yes, at the beginning, you think it won’t work. But you have to know that I came in just after the last album’s release. And it was very tough one. So we’ve worked a lot together and my colleagues were really nice with me. After that, we had a great tour and had the privilege to enter together in the studio for this new album, stay 24/24 together to work on the new songs and share a lot of good moments. Now, I’ve got plenty of good memories of those days with them.
HRH: Was it really difficult to convince the fans when you joined the band?
Vincent: Yes, we felt that the audience had some doubts when I arrived. In the beginning, the fans preferred to observe me. Then, little by little, things got back normal and the tour ended in a very positive way. That’s also why we’re so excited to start this new tour and see the audience’s reactions to the new songs.
HRH: Now, let’s talk about you. What did you do before you joined AqME?
Vincent: Well, I already was the singer of two bands, The Butcher’s Rodeo and Noswad. And I’m still their singer! So we have to work in parallel and adjust our schedules to be sure everything works. That also include a lot of understanding from my girlfriend.
HRH: So, let’s talk about this album, Dévisager Dieu. It seems that many things changed when Julien Hekking came in as the new guitarist of AqME. The melodies are deeper and have more nuances. Multiple guitars parts that add something more when we compare this new album to the old ones.
Vincent: Yes, I think so. I think the fans will feel a particular atmosphere with each song.
HRH: What about the lyrics? Did you have to adopt the style that Thomas was used to? Or did you find your method and your way to express yourself on this album?
Vincent: I didn’t chose to copy what has been done before. I think that AqME’s music can inspire a lot to find the right lyrics. The atmosphere is very important for the result. At the beginning, it was difficult because Thomas had built something very important through the years with the band. But once I’ve started, everything came fluently. I also asked the band for some tips to be sure I took the right direction. And people seems to be pleased with my lyrics, so everything’s fine.
HRH: I looked at your posts on Facebook during the recording of Dévisager Dieu. The recording seemed pretty fast. How did it happened?
Vincent: Well, actually, we’ve worked during two years on these songs. We’ve composed 17 songs and only kept 9. We preferred to maintain the quality instead of quantity. We just asked to ourselves, “Is it right?,” “Is that what we really wanna do?,” and not “Is it powerful enough?” “or complicated enough?” Those are useless questions when you want to make a really good album. Everything was a question of feeling.
HRH: Could tell us about this particular artwork. It’s a really different one if we compare it to the previous albums. So who did it?
Vincent: It was done by Stéphane Casier who works at Yeaaah Studio (www.yeaaah-studio.com). He did an artwork for The Butcher’s Rodeo and Superbus already. He’s well known for his work. So I thought he would be the right person to do it.
HRH: Did you get many positive feedback from the press with this new album?
Vincent: Yes, it was mainly positive and so we hope to tour more in 2015 in some indoor venues as at some festivals.
HRH: Do you feel something different when you’re on tour with the audience in France, Belgium or other countries?
Vincent: You know, every audience is different. If you look at the French audience, it’s different in the north, the south, the east and west of the country. Belgium is funny, because you have that kind of switch (0/I). So, for example, people won’t move until a specific moment. And then, they all become crazy! They’re very unreserved and it’s very nice!
HRH: Have you ever played in a country where French wasn’t the native language?
Vincent: Yes, we’ve played in Germany. It was interesting to export some French music because it sounds different than the other bands. So that make people to be inquired about us.
HRH: I see. But let’s talk about the metal scene in France. I have to say that we were very surprised to see those people in France saying that metal music was for the Satanists and the Hellfest (the biggest Metal festival in France) was an event to adore Satan. When I see the fighting of Patrick Roy (a politician) who supported the metal scene until he died. All of this seems really like nonsense for Belgian people who have known of the Graspop Metal Meeting for 20 years now. So how did you see the evolution of the rock scene through the years and the efforts done by the government to help the artists?
Vincent: In the past, lots of efforts were done by everyone to help the artists to develop their projects. There were lots of concerts, people went to see the bands live, the fees were lot better, bands were always on tour, they could airplay on TV and radio… Today, there’s nothing anymore.
HRH: Do you think the digital support favored this decline?
Vincent: I think that the best way to listen to an album is with a CD or a vinyl. And digital probably forced the bands to do more creative artwork for the faithful who like owning the physical media formats.
Visit the band online: https://www.facebook.com/aqmeofficiel
