Mad At This World [no need to speak about what makes happy]

If you could have anybody, living or dead, hear your music, who would it be?

I really don’t know…. the only person who comes to my mind is Peter Steele.

I have not heard your full lenght yet, but the first EP destroys me. what can i expect from the new stuff? Compared to EP where do you think the biggest difference in the music is nowadays?

I think the new songs are more thought through. We still tried to be as straight forward as we were on the demo. Also, the sound is completely different. On the demo we’ve teamed up with Taylor Young (Twitching Tongues, Nails…) for all the mixing process and Brad Boatright for the mastering. On „domination” we’ve worked with Elliot Prudence for the mixing and mastering. We were really happy with the work on the demo, we just wanted something different. It was also difficult for Taylor to find enough time to produce this LP as he was on tour. I think we’re still working on our sound and our music. We love the 90s sound as well as more recent bands. We just try to mix everything up. We’re not the kind of band that will fit 10 mosh part in 1 song, we just love the riffs.

Did it motivate you differently that you landed on Beatdown Hardwear Records?

It’s a really good opportunity for us to release our album through BDHW. Toni (the boss) sent us a message when we released our 2 tracks demo saying that he wanted to release our next effort. We wrote some songs, sent them to him and he loved them, so it was good! Finding a label right now is really hard, and we’re kind of lucky that he offered us to release it on BDHW.

Lyrically what kind of subjects do you write about on the new album? Is it still uncompromising exposure of disappointment of world?

It’s all about what I feel and how I see this world. There are things about my childhood, some things I had to face when I was younger and still work through now. I don’t want to write about politics or positive things, I don’t need to speak about what makes me happy. Speaking about what makes you angry or sad is way more important. Anyways, I’m not good enough to do anything better than that. haha
I would have loved to be a talented person!

How did the collaboration with Martin from No Turning Back? No Turning Back is for you a special band?

We’ve been friend for years now. Since I also book shows in Paris, I’ve worked with him in the past and we’ve been in touch ever since. In 2013 he talked to me about a French Tour with NTB, I just told him that I could book the whole thing for NTB and then MATW would join the tour, he said yes instantly. He is a really good person. We shared the stage a couple of times after that tour and it’s always a pleasure.

 Besides Mad At The World, are you currently in other bands?

We all have other bands yes, End of Mankind, Summerhouse, Cowards, Lodges, The Worst Doubt… I play drums in Summerhouse, a grunge rock band. It’s really cool to play something else than hardcore.

Your music contains a lot of metal. Are metal and hardcore scenes in France more unified or divided?

To be honest, I know nothing about the metal scene in France. I’m really not into it. But a lot of people in hardcore love all the old school metal bands.

How much do you pay attention to what is going on in the underground and hardcore scene in general nowadays? How do you rate the condition of this genre?

I’ve been listening to less and less hardcore so I might not be the best person to talk about the situation of the scene today. I listen to all the new stuff that comes out, but then I know it’s not something I’ll want to listen to over and over again. To me, rock music is much more interesting than hardcore now. That is my personal opinion, of course.
Every band says the same things, me included. The whole Internet thing changed everything about this music, a lot of good things happened as well as a lot of bad things. What was underground before is now mainstream, people have to accept that.

As it is today, what would you say are some of the biggest problems with the hardcore scene ?

There are so many different scenes. I can only speak about the situation here, in France. To me, the biggest problem is the lack of support. When you are in a band, your friends are not as supportive as they are in some other countries (Germany, UK…). People here aren’t as much into this music as other places in Europe. It’s just music, you know.

French hardcore scene is very strong. Kickback, Alea Jacta Est, Providence, Shall Remain… What bands must I listen too?

You think so? I don’t think our scene is strong at all. In all the bands you named, only Kickback is a real reference to me. If you want to listen to hardcore, listen to bands like The Worst Doubt, Jack Move, Hard to Handle, Lodges (check out their new LP)… There are a lot of small bands in France who are more deserving than the big names you mentioned.

What are your views on the present political climate?

Personally, I don’t care about any of this. Nothing will change my daily routine, waking up, go to work, sleep. I just don’t give a fuck.

On the other hand: what do you love most about living in your country?

Just being free of doing whatever I want whenever I want. It’s something a lot of people can’t say because their government or whoever is in charge won’t allow them.

To vary this thing a bit before we approach the end, do you have any hobbies, interests, collections etc outside your bands that you can tell us about?

Basketball rules the world

How does the rest of 2016 look for Mad At The World?

We have a tour coming on February 2016, it’ll be around 10 days through Belgium/Holland/Germany/Switzerland etc … We’re going to do our best to schedule some weekenders too and maybe go back on tour in May, trying to hit the UK this time.
Also, we’re planning on recording a new album in 2016, we don’t really know when but it’ll happen. I am working on some cool stuff for second part of 2016 too!

Thanx for the interview and your time. Last words are yours.

Thank you for your interest, hope you liked „Domination”!