Altesia 'Paragon Circus' Interview

An interview with Clément Darrieu regarding ‘Paragon Circus’ and the future direction of Altesia

I had the pleasure of doing a little written interview with Clément after the review of Altesia’s debut album ‘Paragon Circus’. Read on for the writing process, best bits of the album, and the future of Altesia:

How did the band form?

Clément : Hey James ! Well, I've always written music, but in 2017, I decided to take it seriously for the first time in my life and created Altesia. Back then, it was a solo project. I didn’t know any of the musicians I play with today. So I started to write an album, and late 2017, I started to look for some musicians. I’ve found all the guys I’m playing with today on Facebook as they were all involved in different projects. I told them about Altesia, they got interested, and that’s how it all started !

What was the writing process like for Paragon Circus? Was there anything you wish you did differently?

Clément : I wrote all the music and lyrics myself. I did raw demos of the songs, we’ve played them altogether many times so that everyone get to grips with the songs. I wanted every musician to bring his own identity, his own approach to the songs. So it took a little while. The writing process has been quite long and complex, I’d say. It was a first album, and there are so many awesome stuff out there, so I wanted to “make a big splash” with the album, so to speak. I wanted every song to sound perfect to my ears to stack all the odds in our favour. So I've put myself under pressure a lot, even if there wasn’t any pressure objectively as no one knew us ! So nobody wasn't expecting anything from us. But now, when I see how it all turned out, I’m pretty happy with the result, especially for a first album.

What are the main themes/concepts you wanted to explore in the album?

Clément : Lyrically, the record is all about manship’s self-destruction. It’s a theme that really appeals to me. So that’s the bottom line of the record, and each song deals with a different aspect of this self-destruction. “Amidst the smoke” for example is about the blinding power of money, “Cassandra’s prophecy” is about people who look down on the others and who don’t listen to them or despise them because they feel superior, “The prison child” is about those who forget what they are made for and who take the wrong path in their life, because of social pressure notably.

You can really hear influences of Haken, Opeth, Leprous - were these influences something you decided to concisely draw on or did the sound similarities happen naturally?

Clément : That was very natural to me. I’ve listened to these bands for hours, so when I grab my guitar, I tend to write stuffs that sound like them, I can’t help it ! (Laughing). Haken and Opeth are, to me, some of the best bands when it comes to vary the atmospheres, surprise the audience. This is what I wanted to achieve. I didn’t want to write a music that would be monotonous. Especially today, where people will get an opinion about you within a few minutes, or even within a few seconds… I believe it’s a shame, but at the same time, as I said earlier, there are so many bands out there ! You just can’t listen to all of them, so you have to judge them quite quickly. That’s why I try to arise the listener’s interest several times within a song.

Were there any massive problems you came across in the writing and recording of Paragon Circus?

Clément : Hopefully not ! (Laughs). We just delayed a bit the release date of one month, more or less, because we thought we had a few settings to work on regarding the mix and the master. We were lucky our drummer Yann dealt with it. He has spent a lot of time without counting it, working on the record and he did an amazing job. Alexis, our lead guitarist, did a great job in terms of production too. And everyone did his best I believe, so the finish on this album is very good.

Regarding the writing process, I haven’t had any major problem either. The only issue, as I told you, was to come up with the best songs I could write at the time. In a way, I wanted to write a “best of” with that album. “All killer, no filler” as we say, which was tough to me. Strangely, the second album I’m working on seems easier. Ideas come to my mind more easily I believe, which is reassuring. I’m not spending hours and hours on the same part of a song as it was the case for “Paragon Circus”.

Which part of the album is your favourite and why?

Clément : This is a good question ! I love the tricky part of “Reminiscence”. Basically, the whole beginning, until the first verse kicks in. Playing it is so much fun. It’s the same thing after the second chorus, starting from the funk section. We’re used to finish our set with this song, it’s just perfect and really fun ! Alexis loves running through the crowd at that particular moment ! (Laughs).

I also love the whole “Cassandra’s prophecy” piece, as there’s a progression from the first second to the last one. I also adore the ending of “Hex reverse”, when it becomes really loud and powerful. In terms of singing, I’ve needed a certain time to sing that part properly, while being comfortable. I love how it turned out, and that part live is just awesome. Not headbanging on this section is simply impossible ! (Laughs). Oh and I love “The prison child”’s beginning as well, which is very exciting to play. But actually I love the whole album !

Are there any new musical directions/sounds you want to explore with your next release?

Clément : Well… I’ve realised we were very good at playing the most “metal parts” of the record live. On stage, we need to unwind, and play those kind of songs is so cool. So I’ve tried to lay the stress of that kind of moments for the second album. It’s going to sound more metal I guess. I feel more free, writing the second album, not that the first one is out. In a way, the tension has been released already with “Paragon Circus”. But it’s only the beginning, we’ll see how it turns out when all of us will play the songs ! Having the songs in my mind or recorded and polished on a record, it’s not the same thing !

Anything you'd like to say to your fans?

Clément : Of course, thanks a lot for following us, for supporting us ! We’re always very happy to get some of your nice messages. We hope it’s only the beginning of the adventure, and we can’t wait to enter a new chapter with you ! Keep it up, and thanks again for this nice interview James ! It’s always a pleasure to work with you mate !

Thanks so much to Clément for answering my questions, it was really fun! Make sure you check out Altesia and their debut album 'Paragon Circus' through some of the links below!

- James Carstairs