MY OWN PRIVATE ALASKA
PHOTO BY: Nicolas Fleure  l  WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/myownprivatealaska

DID ALL OF YOU PERFORM WITH DIFFERENT BANDS BEFORE FORMING M.O.P.A. AND WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO THE PROJECT THE MOST AS A MUSICIAN?

The drummer and I performed in several bands (some are still alive!): PSYKUP, CATS ON TREES, AGORA FIDELIO, AERIA MICROCOSME… But the idea came up in our minds with the pianist and I. I liked how I screamed in my metal band, and I discovered the great pianist he was. We wanted to build something brand new, something never heard before: some guy screaming on beautiful piano parts.

We also searched a long time for a drummer. A guy who got the same savage feelings as drummers of TEAM SLEEP, HELMET, FOO FIGHTERS, WILL HAVEN, or of course NIRVANA.

WHEN ONE FIRST LOOKS AT YOUR “IMAGE” ONE WOULD NEVER THINK THE BAND ONLY USES DRUMS, A PIANO AND A VOCALIST TO MAKE THEIR MUSIC. DO YOU ALWAYS GET INTERESTING REACTIONS WHEN YOU PLAY YOUR MUSIC TO PEOPLE FOR THE FIRST TIME?

Yes, a bit. Especially when we play in metal festivals or hardcore / screamo festivals. We’ve got a pretty small backline. Just one piano at the front on the stage, left corner. A mic in the right corner. And it’s on. We squeezed all the big guitars amps, bass fridges, etc…

EVEN YOUR BAND NAME “MY OWN PRIVATE ALASKA” DESCRIBES ONE OF THE FEELINGS ONE GETS FROM LISTENING TO YOUR MUSIC; WHICH IN MY CASE MADE ME FEEL LIKE I WAS DRIFTING AWAY TO MY OWN DREAM WORLD. DOES YOUR MUSIC BASICALLY DO THE SAME FOR YOU?

Oh yeah, if you feel that, it’s really cool. The word “Alaska” was here to give the feeling of something really cold, empty, vast, rough, “humanless” I must say. Our music can be of course an invitation to dreams, to inner thoughts, to fight inner demons.

EACH MUSICIAN IN THE BAND MUST BE VERY SKILLED AND PLAY A HUGE ROLE IN HOW A SONG COMES OUT IN THE END BECAUSE YOU DON’T HAVE FOR EXAMPLE, HUGE SOUNDING GUITARS TO HIDE ANY “FLAWS” IN YOUR SONGS, IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?

I totally see what you mean. Yes, it’s kind of minimalism. And of course, the less you have instruments and noise on stage, the less you can cheat, and hide behind a wall of sound. But we like it! It’s definitely a challenge, but that taught us to play without any tricks or “show-off” cheats.

YOU RECORDED YOUR NEW ALBUM WHICH WILL BE OUT SOON TITLED “AMEN” WITH PRODUCER ROSS ROBINSON. HOW DID THE OPPORTUNITY COME ABOUT TO WORK WITH HIM AND SIGN TO HIS LABEL, I AM RECORDINGS?

Naturally. Ross explained us his vision of the musical industry. How people changed their habits. How labels changed their way of working. He believes in a new way of letting music exist between the listener and the artist. It’s of course a big challenge cause everyone in the record industry tries to have THE solution against the whole cultural crisis. But we wanted to trust Ross and work with his society. Because he was one of the first ones who believed in us so deeply.

IT SEEMS THAT ROSS REALLY PUSHED YOU GUYS AS FAR AS HE COULD TO GET EACH OF YOU TO JUST LET THE MUSIC TAKE OVER AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS. WAS THAT KIND OF A NEW WAY FOR YOU GUYS TO APPROACH THE SONG WRITING PROCESS?

Your brain cut it off! That’s what he was repeating. He wanted our body and heart to control our songs, not our heads. Cause emotions don’t come from the brain, from a reflection, from “is it the good tempo?” / “am I exactly in the right tune?” / “am I articulating enough?”… It’s a bit savage; even punk. But he understood the source of our music came from there. We needed this urge, this savage feeling, to guide us, so it made us stronger. When you trust your body rather than your brain, you feel so stronger. Like a rough and rock ’n roll yogi harmony!

WHY DID YOU GUYS CHOOSE THE TITLE “AMEN”, BECAUSE IT IS A WORD THAT HAS A LOT OF MEANING BEHIND IT?

Amen has several meanings. Exact. It’s not only a word based on one precise religion. It belongs to several religions, and even several faiths. Amen can even mean faith. When you trust something. Making a record with Ross Robinson was something so unexpected for us… making this work, on these songs… giving so much of ourselves… all that was something so unbelievable that we wanted to thank life. Simply life. We fought for that. To work with people like that. To play all around the world. And now we begin to live this kind of teenager dream. We wanted to say something positive on a so dar record: we trust life. Please trust yourself. Give everything, and all will come and follow. Trust, faith… Amen.

THE VOCALS OF THE SONGS THAT I HAVE HEARD SOUND VERY EMOTIONALLY CHARGED. WHAT TYPE OF ATMOSPHERE DO YOU LIKE YOUR LYRICS AND VOCAL STYLE TO CREATE IN YOUR SONGS, AND WHAT SUBJECTS IN YOUR LYRICS USUALLY HELP YOU TO ACHIEVE THAT?

I must confess that my lyrics are often really dark. MOPA was initially the “dark side of the moon”. I think I’m someone quite in a good health, mentally talking! Open-minded, quite kind with old people! … But MOPA was there to express all the hidden parts. So I used MOPA during a part of my life as a therapy, cause I was really really really down.

Psychologically and physically. And MOPA helped me to turn all the shit I came through in a sea of good wide. And Ross helped me to change my anger and hate into salvation and force to forgive. There is a pretty Chinese proverb: “Don’t trust revenge for your enemies. Trust life. Sit on the shore of the river. You’ll watch one day the corpse of your enemy floating and passing by.”

THE TEASER OF THE VIDEO FOR THE SONG “AFTER YOU” LOOKS REALLY COOL. WHAT WAS THE CONCEPT BEHIND THE VIDEO AND WHAT MADE “AFTER YOU” THE PREFECT SONG TO USE FOR A VIDEO?

Two beginnings:

1 pretty girl who seems really pure and cool. But some kind of oil seems to come out from her body… mouth, nose, and eyes…

1 ugly band. Covered with oil. And the more the guys play, the more they clean themselves from this shit…

Then you can imagine what you want, I won’t tell you the exact story cause I’m not already drunk yet! But you know, sometimes pretty things hide the most terrible and unbelievable vices. It’s also true for women, as you guess!

WAS THE RECORDING SESSIONS FOR “AMEN” THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY YOU HAD TO VISIT THE U.S. AND WHAT ARE YOUR TOURING PLANS FOR THE NEAR FUTURE?

We planned to tour with the excellent band called NAME next September. We thank the young agency TEAM AATM & Alex Gilbert who was the first one, so motivated to work for MOPA for US gigs! We’ll surely do one first tour, on a first half of the US, then the second half a few months later. We’re really excited to go there… and of course in other countries we must play in the forthcoming months: Russia, China, Eastern Europe…

ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR ANYTHING ELSE FANS SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR?

I would have loved to go to South Africa to see the soccer world cup! … And I really hope to see your wonderful country. A friend of mine talked to me about all the landscapes, the people, and it seems really really really cool to go there.

INTERVIEW BY NEIL VAN ZYL