AEPHANEMER have been gaining recognition as rising stars in metal and they recently embarked upon their first tour of the UK and Ireland. On the Bournemouth date of the tour, Rock Out Stand Out’s Lotty Whittingham spoke to lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist Marion Bascoul and lead guitarist Martin Hamiche about the tour, mental health and their dream festival.
Hello Marion and Martin, how are you both? It’s great to meet you both in person at last. Is this your first UK Tour?
Marion: First of all, it’s a pleasure to meet you in person too. It’s our first tour of the UK but we already played here five years ago for one show so it’s amazing to tour the UK and Ireland. We have wanted to do it for some years but it wasn’t possible due to COVID.
How is the tour going so far? You played at Warhorns.
Martin: It’s going very well. It was very difficult to know how this happen and if people would attend the shows because as Marion just said, we only played in the UK once before. On the internet, we have statistics which say that we have followers here and there but we can’t be sure until we actually arrive here.
What has been your favourite date of the tour so far? Any favourite moments?
Marion: Since it was our first time in every city, it was a special time every night. It was amazing to be able to go to all these UK cities, we also took a boat over to Dublin and it was brilliant to go there. I must say it was great to come back to Warhorns Festival because it was there that we played five years ago and it was the only date in the UK. It was absolutely delightful to come back because many people knew us already as they had seen us before. So every night has been a special night.
From your view, which songs have gone down the best so far?
Martin: I think that people seem to like Bloodline because it’s a big single we released a few years ago and also one of our newest singles Le Radeau de La Méduse. People seem to really appreciate those two tracks, especially live. I think the songs have a sort of energy the audience appreciates.
Marion: They are great songs to play live.
In terms of crowd reactions across the UK and Europe, do you notice any significant differences?
Marion: Yes, obviously people are different everywhere. In some countries like Italy or Spain, people are very exuberant. It’s very different to those in Germany or in the UK where people are a bit more reserved. Every country is great as it is different everywhere, when people are exuberant but I also like the UK as people are reserved but they are very warm and kind, you can sense it. It’s delightful to play here and to be with the audience.
Is this tour promoting your latest album A Dream Of Wilderness or is this to get your sound across to UK audiences?
Martin: We’re not really promoting A Dream Of Wilderness for two reasons. The first reason; in most places we are playing on this tour and our previous shows, we are playing for the very first time. So people have already been waiting for us to come play the songs from previous albums because they didn’t have the chance to hear them live.
The second reason is that unfortunately, I have a problem with my left hand. It’s a condition called focal dystonia and I have a therapist. A few years ago, I couldn’t play guitar for a while; I can play live which is fine but my therapy isn’t over yet. Whilst this therapy is still going on, I can’t play the hardest parts of the hardest songs and the hardest songs are on A Dream Of Wilderness.
At Rock Out Stand Out, we like to support mental health awareness and keep the conversation going. Is there any important lessons you both have learnt when it comes to taking care of your own mental wellbeing?
Marion: What I have learnt about mental health from being a musician is that we are responsible for our own emotions and handling our emotions. When we have unpleasant emotions, we have to take care of them by sometimes taking time alone, meditating or taking rest because if we don’t do that, we can burst off anxiety or maybe anger. When you are a musician with other people on tour, you really have to take care of your emotions. It’s really important because if you don’t, there are many consequences on yourselves and other people.
Martin: There is something I understood few years ago which has been very important and that’s the fact that we are all very different. We all have different needs, I am talking about physical and emotional needs. It’s pretty important to do some reflection and acknowledge our own needs so we can try to find ways to fulfil them because we are always tied down by a lot of norms set by society and if you try to follow those norms, it’s not going to work. It’s OK to embrace our uniqueness and try to fulfil our needs however you can.
Do you have any tips or advice for musicians when it comes to taking care of yourself on tour?
Marion: The main thing is to sleep well if possible. It’s not possible every time because when you are a small band like us, you have to drive everywhere and to do everything yourself. We cannot sleep very well every time but whenever it’s possible to take rest, you have to do it. Also eating healthily, whenever it’s possible. It’s very basic, eating vegetables when you can and sleeping when it’s possible. Before going on tour, being well rested before going.
Martin: I will add a few things to that. Those are to not drink alcohol or not as much alcohol as that improves sleep and the energy we have. Also to have some physical activity outside of the tour as when you are touring, you have to carry things all the time, move things around on stage and a lot of that is exhausting. So it really helps to have good physical health and so any kind of physical activity helps, whether that’s hiking or some exercise.
Which bands would headline your dream festival?
Marion: I think I have seen all the bands that I love live. The band I would like to see at my perfect festival would be Dark Tranquillity, the obvious answer. They are so great, we saw them about a month ago when we played the same festival as them. We love their music and their attitude, they’re a great band.
Martin: It’s a difficult question as there are many bands that I like very much but I wouldn’t call them headliners at the moment. I will twist your question and I will say that my favourite kind of festival will include a lot of bands I really like. So Dark Tranquility, Windir and this festival will happen in nature.
Do you have a message for your fans and our readers?
Martin: Thank you very much for following us, for reading this interview and for attending our shows. We can only tour because you’re coming to see us and it’s always fantastic to meet you all.
Marion: To all the people that will read this interview and live in places we’ve never played, we would like to say we are sorry and that we will come as soon as possible. We plan to come to many countries that we didn’t play and it will happen.
Thank you Martin and Marion for talking to Rock Out Stand Out today.
