![]() And yes I do enjoy cold and snowy climates and to camp and hike in the snow during winter, it’s my second favorite thing after music. Yeah I'm aware of the snow in your area, I have friends living there, good luck! For my stage name, it’s very simple, it’s the maiden name of my mother, so it’s a kind of tribute to her and my family. Is it associated with the German painter or does it have the meaning of “stopping” or “halting” winter? Do you enjoy cold, snowy climates? Forgive me if I’m not keen on the snow theme, but I’m wondering why you chose the name “Winterhalter”. I live in New Jersey and my area has been pummeled by snowstorms for the past few weeks. There was no time for anything else in my life, after a while it didn't work out. ![]() So it was a mix of a lot of traveling, rehearsing, touring and recording every day. ![]() I think it was better for all the bands this way, the geographical distance between each member also didn't help us. Because of the growing interest in Alcest and a lot of touring, I had less and less time for Les Discrets. For Amesoeurs it was mostly a studio band with no gigs or tours and we stopped the band after the Amesoeurs album. It was quite extreme and also why I'm no longer in these bands. This sounds like a complicated schedule to maintain! How did you juggle being in more than one band? But now it is second nature for us to work together, we have evolved together as musicians and friends and now share the same vision and direction.įrom what I understand, you were also in the bands Amesoeurs and Les Discrets at the same time as Alcest. Neige has created Alcest for personal reasons and it took several years for us both to fully connect musically because of this. It was quite difficult for me to enter a solo project. Neige formed Alcest in 2000, you joined black metal band Peste Noire (of which Neige had been a member) in 2006, and then in 2009 you joined forces with Neige as the Alcest line-up we know today. It was a challenge to do it differently and not to use certain « tools » like blast beat, double kick, etc… I love the challenge and the experience. I like to play slow and atmospheric or fast with tons of drum fills, but it depends of the music. Thank you, I like to play a lot of different kinds of music, so I'm trying to mix these influences in my drumming. Do you miss playing in this way or is the more stately, measured pace on “Shelter” a nice change for you? I’m blown away by some of your fast and furious drumming passages on the album “Ecailles de Lune”. On this album the drums are more in the background because we wanted the music to be more atmospheric. So it was very difficult to restrain myself and to find the balance between « too much » or « not enough » without being overdone. The goal for us on this album for the drums was to be simple, with a lot of dynamics and feeling. What has this sonic metamorphosis been like for you as the drummer of Alcest? While “Shelter” is not a total 180 from your most recent albums, 2010’s “Ecailles de Lune” and 2012’s “Les Voyages De L’Ame”, it is a fully-fledged shoegazer-inspired album with no (post-)black metal influences that at least I can detect. So now I'm back home, but I'm leaving tomorrow to fly to Russia for 2 gigs! Hi Jen, I'm glad that you like “Shelter” and yes we have been quite busy with the interviews! I'm doing well, a bit tired after the European Shelter tour with the Fauns and Hexvessel which was amazing and only ended a few days ago. You and Neige must be buried by a blizzard of accolades and interviews these days. Salut Winterhalter! It’s a pleasure and a privilege to communicate with you about Alcest and your extremely appealing new album “Shelter”.
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