Thanks for doing this interview, how are you doing?
Always a pleasure to do an interview.
You started with Detroit Diesel in 2006, what made you decide to start the band? Was there a trigger or a deeper drive?
As far as I can remember, I've always played in bands. I thought that starting my own band was the logical thing to do. I think that is why I was born to be.
Did you play in other bands prior to Detroit Diesel?
Yes, I used to play bass in an old school punk band, The Aversions. I quit playing with them in 2006 to start Detroit Diesel.
Can you give a brief introduction to Detroit Diesel and the current members?
The band is composed of deadbilly, lead vocal and main composer, and Greta Grey, keyboards and lyrics.
Detroit Diesel is not a common name for a harsh electro band, why did you pick this name?
Detroit Diesel is the name of an American company that used to produce tanks and trucks engines during WWII. Nothing is more industrial than a WWII tank engine lol.
In 2008 you released the demo “Dancing with terror” which lead to being featured on the Endzeit Bunkertracks IV album. This gave you also a lot of attention. Were you expecting this ? When did you realize you were making real good harsh ebm?
I am not quite satisfied with how the song sounds on the record, I think our track is the most poor-sounding one. So, I'm not sure it did us any good, especially when it is among 60 good bands. Terre Humaine production is definitely one step beyond.
You got signed to Infacted for Europe and Deathwatch Asia for the rest of the world, how did you get in contact with them?
Jamie from Deathwatch Asia asked us for a demo after we won a remix contest, it was for an xp8 song. After a couple of months, Jamie decided to sign us as his first official band. Then Infacted was chosen for the European market.
Earlier this year you released your debut ep “lost signals” on digital format only, why did you choose to just release it this way instead of a real physical ep?
It was a business choice. There wasn't enough content on Lost signals to make it a physical release, since we did not plan to sell a lot of these compared to the production costs of a physical ep.
How were the comments on the ep?
We had excellent reviews, this was really above all of our expectations. Some reviews wrote that the ep a bombing in the genre!!! We were extremely flattered. But having remixes done by soman and freakangel definitely helps... how can you not make a good ep with such good collaborators.
Now the album “Terre Humaine” is released. In 2009 you released a demo with the same title. Is the album a revisited version of the demo with some addition tracks or does it have all brand new tracks?
The album contains all the tracks that were on the demo but it also includes three new ones and 4 remixes. It is entirely remastered by Jan L from x-fusion and the art work is from Vlad from Kallisti Design who helped us put the 1950's touch in our visual.
How did the recording of the album went, did all went as planned? Can you give us an insight look in how the songs of Detroit Diesel are being made? Do you always work the same way?
It was incredibly painful!!! There were an amazing number of computer/technical problems. There was also a member who quit before the album was completed. It was very stressful and we had to readjust a lot.
Most of the songs are perfectly for be playing in clubs, is that what you in mind when recording the album?
We were definitely looking to create an album that people could actually dance to… As you may know, we live in Quebec City where there is not much going on regarding the electro/industrial scene, so we miss dancing a lot, we hope people in the rest of the world will have fun dancing to our music… cause we are not dancing a lot here lol.
What is the secret of keeping al album interesting for people that are listening to it at home?
This album is good to dance to but it is not just plain dance music, of course. I think people who are into ebm will enjoy listening to this record at home. The music and lyrics are intense and substantial I think, not just meaningless dance music.
One song that really stands out is “Not Yet” with female vocals. Why did you put such a track on the album, what is the thought behind it?
It is funny how this question keeps on coming back!!! We put it on the album just for fun. The song is a joke but we think it is good dance music… let’s say it is the only one that does not fit in the category of ‘intense and substantial’ I was speaking of earlier.
Do you stick with specific themes for Detroit Diesel, war seems to be one of them, or can songs deal with every subject?
War is certainly inspiring for us because of its universality since it contains all of the symbols of human suffering we wanted to express. But war is also about being strategic, fighting, and surviving and this is also something everyone can relate to. I guess our songs are fundamentally about chaos and trying to make some sense out of chaos, and war illustrates this. But yes, we could deal with every subject. We are looking for new themes for the next album.
On a photo of your studio on Facebook we see a lot of hardware, real synths and keyboards. These days it’s almost impossible to create music without software, what is the perfect balance for you between hardware and software?
We used to create music using only hardware but now, as plug-ins and virtual synths have evolved a lot, we tend to use more and more of them. They are really more accessible and they are more dependable that they used to.
You have done some liveshows already, in what way do the live versions deviate from the album versions?
Yes, we did live shows before. We played at the Kinetic Festival in Montreal, which is the largest industrial festival in North America. We stick to the album versions when we do live shows, except my cel phone rings while I’m singing lol
What will be next for Detroit Diesel?
We are working on the new album and we plan to tour in North America during Summer!!! It will be our first time in Mexico, by the way, and we are so excited!!! Can’t wait to play live in the States as well!!! We hope to hit Europe during Fall 2011, looking for openings there. But right now, I’m very busy with composing new songs and doing remixes.
Any last words for the readers?
Thank you for supporting us and the scene. We hope to see you at our shows!!!
www.facebook.com
www.detroitdieselmusic.com