Beyond the Styx raises its voice once again.

Formed in 2010, the band currently led by Emile (vocals), Adrien (drums), Guillaume (guitar), David (guitar), and Yoann (bass) has signed with Innerstrength Records for the release of its new album, DIVID.

The band kicks things off strong with Dust Off, a quintessentially defiant track featuring Okan Deniz (I Am Revenge), where fierce screams meet riffs that are as effective as they come, blending the band’s diverse influences with gusto while also relying on the musicians’ backing vocals, a track sure to get the crowd moving in every way during live shows. The guest adds a bit of variety to the vocal assault, while the rhythm section delivers one mosh pit moment after another with Bystander, the next track openly dedicated to the scene thanks to its heaviness that will snap more than a few necks, and which leaves us no time to catch our breath before launching into Never Ending War, which adds a slightly dissonant touch to its pure rage thanks to shrill harmonics. A very brief interlude gives us a moment to catch our breath before Chaosystem comes along to assault us in turn, continuing to capitalize on its abrasive elements to maintain a relentless onslaught, much like on Flowerviolence, which returns to two-step patterns while featuring Delphine from the band Sisterhood Issues, who helps them sustain the raw intensity at a brisk pace. The final slows down a bit and gets heavier before Anyøne offers us a strangely melodious intro lasting a good minute before returning to bellicose Hardcore and likely crowd movements, piling on the effective palm-mutes. We move seamlessly into Graveyard FS, a new track with searing guitars that punctuate the charge the five guys from Tours proudly lead, even allowing themselves a short guitar solo on the fairly slow final, then the rage returns with Kiss of the Cobra, which, unsurprisingly, will also be another chance to shake your whole body while the decibels hit without mercy. The track doesn’t hesitate to blow us away before moving on to Deadlock V, a new sonic declaration of war with plenty of metal-style patterns that goes down a treat, then to Storm of Life, which brings this Hardcore firebrand to a close without ever letting up; and even if at times the track seems to slow down, it flares up again even more intensely afterward.

There’s no escaping the wrath of Beyond the Styx! While the band is sure to ring a bell thanks to its presence on the French music scene, it’s far from resting on its laurels and delivers a top-notch performance on DIVID that we can’t wait to experience live!

85/100

Version Française ?

A few questions to Beyond The Styx’ singer Emile Duputie and drummer Adrien Styx about their new album, DIVID.

First off, gentlemen, good afternoon and thanks for joining me. The first question is going to be a real pain in the ass: without using genre labels like “Hardcore,” “Crossover,” or other subgenres, how would you describe Beyond the Styx?
Emile Duputie (vocals): I actually like that question! Without using labels… To me, there’s a principle of authenticity that I think is important to highlight. While it’s true that on stage… something different happens, something else, I think we’re just as authentic on stage as we are off stage. There’s no pretense there. Authenticity, sincerity – that’s something. And maybe a little raw, too – you have to say things as they are. Whether on stage or off, I say the same things. Not necessarily in such a blunt way, maybe more in an educational way off stage, but still with conviction.
Adrien Styx (drums): Yeah, I have straightforward, no frills.

That perfectly works for me! And so, the second question is less of a drag: why did you choose that name, and how do you connect it to the music you make today?
Emile: Ah, the name has a long history. I’ve been a huge fan of Greek mythology since I was a child… You should know that I must have read the dictionary of Greco-Roman mythology when I was about 10, maybe 8 or 10. I actually checked it out from the library every three weeks. So really, I’m a huge fan of Saint Seiya. After that, I didn’t really think of using it as a band name, but we brainstormed a bit when we started Beyond the Styx, which wasn’t really Hardcore in the strict sense of the word at first. And what I really liked was that, actually, I really love this mythical river that appears in a whole bunch of religions, not just in Greco-Roman mythology; you find it under different names in a whole bunch of religions, and I’m someone… I’m not going to get into my horoscope, but I’m a Gemini, so I’m someone who’s pretty split, and this world of the dead and this world of the living is something that’s always resonated with me deeply, partly because of my own history, too, since unfortunately I’ve had far too much experience with it. And I thought to myself, “This can touch everyone.” So Beyond the Styx kind of came from there, but “going beyond”, and what I really liked about the idea of going beyond is, well, actually, you don’t know which side of the riverbank you’re on, you don’t know if you’re on Hades’ side or if you’re actually on the side of the living, and I really liked that contrast, it makes you think you’re the living dead, but you don’t really know which side you’re on; you don’t know if you’re heading toward limbo or if you’re actually heading toward the exit from the underworld. Even though now I think I really know which direction we’re heading in, that’s where the name came from, and in the end, despite the so-called stylistic changes, I think that name still fits us like a glove!
Anything to add?
Adrien: Nah, he said it all! (laughs)

At the same time, it is pretty obvious, actually. So, your new album DIVID comes out next month, how do you feel?
Emile: I’m a little nervous, Natacha.
Adrien: If I tell you you’re nervous, you’re nervous!
You’re nervous, as tense as a cramp! (French reference to a movie, called Dikkenek, ed.)
Adrien: We’re entering that phase, we’re in the phase where there’s a ton of stuff to do at the same time, so it’s a bit… I won’t say overwhelmed, but overflowing: I have a ton of stuff to do and I want to do a ton of stuff, so I’d say overflowing, but at the same time impatient. I also want people to hear it, because we’ve pretty much been living and breathing it since we started writing the tracks until today, when we have the finished product. It’s that moment when you just want it to be out, you want to let the baby go. Not too much, though, you might shake it a little too close to the wall, but that’s okay (laughs).
Emile: But yes, there’s also a phase of excitement and tension that I wanted to highlight because it’s true that we’re an independent band, we carry a lot of the load on our own, and it’s true that births rarely happen without pain, as I said, and it’s true that we feel the contractions.

Have you gotten any feedback yet, other than from the label? Maybe from friends or family?
Adrien: It’s still a bit of a secret. Aside from the label… but it’s still a label, actually we have a friend – in the broadest sense of the word – who offered to press an audio tape of the album. So that’s outside the label. He gave us the go-ahead. But he was the first to hear it too, since he produced the cassette. So we got some feedback where he actually told us that his favorite track on the album wasn’t one we’d originally had in mind at all, and then eventually other people told us, “Oh, that’s the track we’re sticking with.” It’s funny! As for me, my partner obviously heard it because since the rehearsal room is at home, she lives right next door—she’s constantly hearing it. So she heard it, endured it, she heard the demos, but she didn’t hear the whole finished product because when I played it back, she wasn’t there. And actually, she likes to discover the songs on release day, or rather at the concert too. So no, very few people have actually heard it.
Emile: Aside from the media, I’ve shared demo versions, it’s true, but only with a very few people, just really close friends. We like it when each single comes out as a genuine surprise, and when the full album is released, we want it to surprise people, whether pleasantly or unpleasantly, even though I think those who follow us… I have a hard time imagining that they could be unpleasantly surprised, given the satisfaction, at least shared, that we have within the group. We might not be the most objective people, but personally, I’ve never listened to an album as much as this one in the past without getting tired of it, because it’s true that over time… I don’t usually like listening to myself, but in this case, I have to admit that… Whether I’m working or just listening for the details, I never get tired of it, I really never do.

And how would you describe this album in just three words?
Adrien: Are you going to come up with something, Émile, or not?
Émile: I play Pyramide; I like that game, but not in that sense, actually. Ah, they might not be the same three words you’d choose. Raw, powerful, and…
The last one is always the hardest.
Adrien: That’s good, it gives me time to think. Go ahead, think of one.
Emile: My third one, I’d say… I can’t think of one, maybe somber? I feel like there’s something there, it’s like there’s a smell of sulfur, actually.
Adrien: I’d say the words “experience,” “organic”… I like the words “experience,” “organic,” and… I don’t have the right word to describe it; I do, actually… I know what I mean, but I don’t have the vocabulary.
You can say “vocabulary” if you want!
Adrien: Dictionary, page 23. (laughs) Satisfying.

So, how did the songwriting process go, and did you notice any changes compared to the previous album?
Adrien: Well, as for the songwriting process, we pretty much used the same formula we used before. I’m really talking about the process, not the content – namely, David, the rhythm guitarist, comes in with an idea for a riff or two, sometimes three, but usually when he comes in with three riffs, one of them stands out. But that’s just to give you an idea: we compose separately together, or together separately, I could say. Ideas come up, and then we try them out together. So sometimes David already has a rhythmic idea, but other elements get added, and then we tweak the riff, we’re like “We should try it a bit more like this”, we build around it a bit, we jam a little. We look for a rhythmic idea, what could we do, what do we want, what does this riff make us want to do, if we play it live, what would it sound like… well, lots of questions like that. And it takes us a long time to compose, but that’s because when we settle on a riff, we settle on a riff and build from there, and then we start over again… I mean, David looks for other ideas, comes back… there’s a bit of back-and-forth like that, where things come together and fall apart. Because sometimes we completely tear things down—we’d get three riffs done, and then we’d go back to square one and say, “No, actually, it’s something else; I have another idea.” We try the new idea, and it’s great, but everything we’d built up to that point doesn’t work anymore.
Emile: I think it was long and hard at the start, but once it gets going…
Adrien: It’s always kind of the same. It always takes us a little while to write two or three tracks, and then there’s a bit of a lull, you know, and then that’s it: we get into the groove and it takes off; it’s like a machine. So that’s the process, and then Émile lays down his vocals without necessarily having lyrics yet, but he lays down his vocals, tries out some rhythmic stuff, starts getting ideas, and then you write your lyrics once the song is almost finished. I mean, you already have the ideas in your head.
Émile: Sometimes not, but I tell myself, “We’ve done things on this album that we’ve never done on the others where I’m involved,” I wrote last because I like to really immerse myself in a track, and I find it a little harder than you guys to cut lines; I try to weigh things carefully, especially since on this album, I tried not to write too much, because it’s tied to my memory.
Adrien: The next album is going to be just a few words… (laughs)
Emile: Let’s just say it’s true that there are some tracks where, the further I go, the more I try to let the music breathe, to let it be music for music’s sake, and to place the words as precisely as possible. Anyway, all that to say that there’s also been a touch of maturity in our process, without going overboard. In all humility. And I definitely felt it, a fresh start, and it’s true that once we got going, I still feel like the studio session went beyond just an update, because I didn’t really expect… Between the demo and what came out of the studio, it’s not Frankenstein—it’s even more monstrous; it’s something that really held together!
Adrien: That’s where, on the other hand, something changed in the songwriting process—it was actually the studio experience where Dan brought in ideas. We rewrote things during the studio sessions; there’s one track that was rewritten more than halfway.
Emile: And I had Master Dan taking the song, tearing up the sheet… I’d written half the song, I have my lyrics, I forget them… sometimes I forget them during a concert, but in this case, I didn’t come here to forget my lyrics, and sometimes we even took lyrics from one song and grafted them onto another, and it’s true that it feels a bit like playing Frankenstein. But when I look back on that experience – which wasn’t always easy – I’m like, “Hell yeah, thank you!” He really was a surgeon! He wasn’t Dr. Frankenstein; it was done well. That’s cool.

Your first two singles are Dust Off” and Never Ending War, both of which carry a very strong, politically charged message. How important is it for you to take a stand in your songs?
Emile: Ah, for me, it’s actually essential! At the end of our first album, Leviathanima, we asked ourselves a question because we really wanted to tackle certain themes: death, for instance, and we really wanted shorter, more impactful tracks. And in that context, I also asked the guys if I could write in a less metaphorical way, if I could really just basically get to the point, clearly have a message and drive it home, like other music does, meaning in a much more incisive way. The guys told me, “Yeah, no problem, we trust you.” And so, clearly, I’m still going for it and I’m not faking it, but we’re not in the Neolithic Age anymore. We’ve moved forward a bit, even if Donald tends to make us regress, but all that to say that yeah, this message seems essential to me. Every song really has a message, and if I had to have a message at the end of every song about the track in question, well, I could do it, I’d piss people off at concerts because people don’t come to lectures, they come to concerts, but if we could, I could at least one day have a discussion about this song, that song…
Adrien: I think that if you want to be engaged, if you want to speak your mind, then you shouldn’t hold back. I had this conversation that really opened my eyes—well, not exactly opened my eyes, but it made me think with… I’m a teacher, and a student of mine told me, “These days, I feel like, um, for art to exist, it has to be socially engaged in the contemporary world, in the 21st century, and so on.” And no, art doesn’t necessarily—well, any type of art, not just mainstream art—need to have a meaning, and that bothers me a little. I also want to have thoughtful works, but not necessarily ones that are always socially engaged with a message behind them, and I found it interesting to think, “Oh yes, actually, we also have to accept that there can be art that isn’t politically engaged.” On the other hand, if you want to do it, don’t hold back because there are too many artists who have things to say, but out of fear that “I might not get invited on that TV show anymore, so I’ll say a little bit and then hold back right away”, you feel like it’s controlled and taboo, and that, on the other hand, I actually find a shame, so I think it’s important to be politically engaged if you want to be. But you’re not obligated to, it’s just how I feel about it.

Okay! You have two guests – I’m probably going to mispronounce their names: Okan Deniz from I Am Revenge, and Delphine from Sisterhood Issue. How did you get in touch with them and invite them?
Emile: Actually, we didn’t want to invite just anyone, because, as you mentioned in the previous question, we wanted to build on that. Actually, for me, music is a counterculture and also a counterforce, and I believe that at our level in music, we have every right to try to be a counterforce because I believe that music unites people, and can certainly unite crowds, and that at that level, we can do great things through music. In any case, there has never been a great revolution without women and without music! I’m convinced of that! End of discussion. About the two guests, Delphine and Okan. I really wanted to invite him, and of course, I brought the guys along. Okan and I met on tour. We did a European tour with I Am Revenge, and we just clicked on a personal level. Artistically, he was someone I knew even before we toured together, because I’d listened to I Am Revenge a ton of times before playing with them. And it was love at first listen, both artistically and personally, so I asked him to contribute to the track Dust Off, it just seemed like the natural thing to do. I even asked him to write, to co-write part of the track, because he had asked me during a live show to sing on a track called No Alternative by I Am Revenge, so I thought to myself, “If we were to have another so-called anti-racist anthem, would you want to be part of it?” He said, “Of course, you can count on me.” So I gave him carte blanche, and I think he really brought the song to life. And who better than a German of immigrant background to share this song together! It’s a real pleasure, and I definitely hope we can perform it live together because, well, I’m hoping to play in Hamburg again someday! And then there’s Delphine, that’s a completely different track, and in this case, she didn’t contribute to the writing of Flowerviolence. It’s a track with an equally serious message, the life expectancy of our planet Earth and our own responsibility for that limited lifespan, and Adrien, I asked you this question; we’ve been asking ourselves for years, “But couldn’t you finally share a song with a woman, but who?” And it’s always the question of “but who,” and I’ve shared karaoke videos, it might make you laugh, but I’ve shared karaoke moments with Delphine, and Delphine is part of the band Sisterhood Issues, which is over for quite some time, but which was still a very notable band in our city of Tours, and which was also an all-female band—which is relatively rare, as I said; aside from the Spice Girls, I don’t know of many that have stood the test of time, and it’s true that this band really caught my attention both live and in the studio, so I suggested it to Delphine, she agreed, and it’s true that right from the start, though this is just my take, there’s something quite spontaneous about it. It might not be a word we’ve emphasized much for the group, but I operate on the principle that if it doesn’t click… I don’t go around asking eight people, “Do you want to do this collaboration?” If it’s meant to happen, it happens. And in the entire history of the group, I asked just one person, and it clicked right away. And I told myself that was a really good sign.

So, I wanted to follow up on that, because earlier you mentioned that you’re an independent band, but you’re supported by the label Innerstrength Records. How did that collaboration go?
Adrien: Jason (Jason Curnow, the label’s founder, ed.) had been following us on social media, if I’m not mistaken, since our last album, and when we got the process started, etc… once we had the first pre-production tracks, we started reaching out to labels, and well, we approached him since he was following us – it just happened that way. He responded very quickly; we were in the studio, and I think the very next day we had a reply. It happened very, very fast, he said “Listen, guys, I like the pre-production tracks; now I’m waiting for the master” . But that was already a “I’m giving it the green light,” it wasn’t “I’ll see when I get the master,” so we moved forward, we sent him the updates, it wasn’t the master, but we sent him the mix updates as we went along; and then it worked out, they sent us the contract, we talked business, and that’s how it happened. When we say we’re independent, it’s because we do have this label that supports us with the pressing, but everything else, we do ourselves.
You have freedom too!
Emile: We have a degree of freedom. Let’s just say we definitely have less support than a band signed to a major label or a really big label. When I say we’re independent, what I really mean is that we have our own garage, but we have to work with a whole bunch of people to keep our car running. And without that, it wouldn’t run, and it’s true that at this level we can’t rely solely on Innerstrength Records, we can’t rely solely on Jason, we have to rely on ourselves and our network, just like a whole bunch of other independent bands. There are positive aspects, and there are aspects that are a bit more stressful.

As for the artwork, which is really well done, what were the guidelines?
Emile: I already had everything figured out. I pretty much had it all in my head. For a while now, I’ve been having flashes of inspiration, and I really like the artist – he’s Indonesian, his name is Hafiz. That’s what I love about this album: it’s truly an international album. We’ve worked with Bangladesh, we’re working with Indonesia, we’re working with the United States, we’ve never worked on such an international scale before.
Adrien: For the tape, we’re working with Lille (laughs).
Emile: That’s true! We’d had cassette pressings that came from Indonesia, but this one actually comes from France. So I sent Hafiz the project, and what was unique was that neither he nor I are native English speakers. I’m not very good at English, but I understood, and I don’t think he’ll mind that English and him aren’t exactly a match either. And explaining an artistic graphic concept…
Adrien: Remotely!
Emile: Not to mention that I don’t speak a word of Indonesian… Well, it hasn’t always been easy, but I’ve always had this image of Avalokiteshvara, this primarily Buddhist figure of the 1,000-armed redeeming Buddha, who is an androgynous figure. So I’d even say feminine in some cultures and masculine in others, but I’d stop at the term “androgynous.” And I had that image, and that image was, once again, split – that’s my Gemini side coming out again – and I was thinking, “Why don’t we just make a real A-side/B-side artwork?” We’d already talked about it a bit…
Adrien: No, that’s not the story; it’s even more subtle than that! You had that idea on your end, and you told me about it, and I said, “Damn, Emile, you read my mind”—I’d had the same idea a few months earlier. I could totally see an album where the front and back are half of one and half of the other. And when he told me that, I said, “Listen, I have the same idea.” We said to each other, “We had the same idea without ever talking about it,” and when it clicked with Hafiz, and with the guys too—well, that’s how it happened! Each of us on our own, and I’m not a Gemini! (laughs)
Emile: And it’s true that I feel there’s a pretty strong yin-yang aspect to this cover art, and anyway, I’m really proud of it, I think he did an absolutely amazing job! It’s true that it’s packed with details, and I like that; I feel there’s something quite contemplative about it, and at the same time, strangely sad. But there are a couple of little nods, little things here and there. Well, there are a few things I asked him to potentially tweak, but they were really just minor details because, honestly, his initial feedback exceeded even my expectations!

So, let’s talk a little bit about your live shows, as I mentioned, I saw you at Mennecy. How do your live shows go?
Emile: What do you mean?
What’s your mindset when you go on stage? How do you tell yourself, “OK, now I’m playing”?
Emile: For me, I go on stage like I’m stepping into a ring – definitely. There’s a bit of a ritual to it for me. So, of course, there’s the soundcheck and all that, but that’s just the warm-up. Then there’s this ritual-like aspect where I’ve also learned over time not to start off too fast, because a live show is more like a marathon – even if we don’t play for very long, it’s still closer to a marathon than a long-distance run.
Adrien: It’s a sprint marathon!
Emile: There you go! And honestly, the hardest part for me is keeping my emotions in check, because I feel a lot of emotions, and, well, when you get overwhelmed by them, you can really end up losing energy, you can run out of breath, and lose… vocal quality. And I’ve learned over time to try to stay calmer. But then, once I’m on stage, the goal is to get the message across. There are several ways to do that. Either I have an audience that’s not on board, and then there’s a chance the guys will tell me, “Damn, Emile, you were a bit of a jerk, you didn’t hold back,” because I can be provocative. Then there are those who get it and those who don’t. Once it really worked out well in Paris (laughs). The message got through!
Adrien: We got cursed at (laughs)!
Emile: We sold well and not everyone left, but… there’s what I really love doing, which is trying to… “transcend the crowd”, it’s not always easy, it’s real work, we all have our part to play in that too, but I’m aware that I’m kind of calling the shots, and that at that level, the slightest word, the slightest little jab can also, at some point, spice up the discussion, spice up the show, and that we mustn’t let the audience down so that this encounter, this dance, can be effective. That’s pretty much my mindset.
Adrien: As for the live show, I completely agree with everything he says, because it’s the same, there are plenty of things we don’t agree on! But we’re not going to get into the details; we’ll just end up arguing (laughs). I, on the other hand, would add one more thing, though it’s more of a personal thing: I also go on stage because… the stage gives me something, and that’s why I used the word “satisfying” earlier when talking about the album – there’s something that drives me on stage that I really enjoy in terms of how it feels to play. I mean, when you start playing and you’ve got that sound right there on stage and you’ve got that rumbling sound… you’ve got something that… I don’t know, it’s physical, you know!
No pun intended: does it resonate?
Adrien: Yeah, that’s right, but it really resonates into me and there’s just something about it… But damn, I love what I’m doing! So sometimes I might walk off stage thinking, “I messed up there, I’m not happy with myself,” but that’s beside the point; the thrill of the stage and the music is incredibly energizing.

Let’s keep talking about the stage. You’ve got a release party planned for May 9th with Final Shodown, Six Grammes Eight, and Scumbags. How did you organize the show?
Adrien: And Fatal Move!
Oh, I hadn’t thought of that one…
Emile: As for the show, we’re part of an association, so we would have liked to collaborate – without any judgment against the Nouvel Atrium, which, by the way, I’m very grateful to. We hadn’t necessarily thought of it that way; we were used to working with a SMAC (Scene of Actual Music, French for a local and cultural institution, ed.) that had usually supported us in the past, but due to everyone’s schedules, and I’d say the memory of others, we had to roll up our sleeves a bit to find a venue where I actually heard about it again last weekend at a concert I went to,  someone told me, “You know, the wildest thing I’ve ever seen in this venue is Hilight Tribe (French band of “Natural Trance”, ed.).
Oh yeah, it’s going to be a blast…
Adrien: There you go! It’s going to be a big move, but the venue is totally fine, no worries there! It’ll also be nice to use new venues in the Tours area and shake things up a bit.
Emile: Exactly! So we have a network of partners and a network of organizations – since we’re members of an association ourselves – which means we can pull this off and also have the trust of venues when we say, “We’re bringing you a lineup of five bands; it’s almost a festival. And we guarantee it’ll go smoothly, and we’ll do whatever it takes to make sure it does.”
Adrien: For the lineup, bands from Tours playing their final shows.
Emile: Yeah, we have two bands playing their farewell shows.
Adrien: Six Grammes Eight, that’s because they’re also people who’ve booked us, who we’ve booked…
Emile: And some of whom are friends.
Adrien: Yeah, so people we’ve known for a long time, etc… so when we ask ourselves, “Who else should we think of?” We say, “Yeah, that makes sense.” Anyway, I suggested that name to the association, and well, it was a done deal. Fatal Move too, we toured with them, we did a few shows with them. So it was kind of a…
A friends reunion, then?
Emile: Not just that, because I think there are some bands that have really come into their own, that are doing well, I’m thinking of Six Grammes Eight and Fatal Move, and then, yeah, the guys… it’s true that Scumbags had actually been waiting for a while for our release to play their final show. So it’s cool, we’re having a baptism and a funeral at the same time, so two venues, two different vibes (laughs). It’s true, and Final Showdown, it wasn’t originally planned to be their last show, but the band is moving on to… I don’t want to spoil it, but they’re moving on to new things, and it’s true that I said, “Hey, since we’re doing this, we might as well make a big deal out of it! Because we with the association were there for your release, we might as well make a big deal out of it and close the chapter properly.” We don’t really make music that gets a lot of attention, so if we can at least highlight the first and last concerts, that’s something!

A slightly more general question: what are your plans after the album comes out, after the release party?
Adrien: Tour for the album! Tour it, promote it, play show after show…
Emile: Sell it.
Adrien: And not just in Europe, keep going out to other countries that don’t have the same perspective on extreme music. It’s also great to meet new people and see new places. These are awesome experiences, so I’ll say that and use the same word again: keep the Beyond adventure going, bring the album to life.
Emile: Yeah, bringing the album to life, I think that pretty much sums it up. And then meeting new people, too. When you mentioned going abroad, it’s about testing yourself, putting yourself in a tough spot, challenging yourself. I think that’s the right word, because I know not everyone in the band likes that, it’s much easier to play in front of an audience that’s already on your side. I like it too, though – to borrow Adrien’s term – I get more satisfaction after a concert where, clearly, I didn’t know what to expect and it went really well than after a concert where we were expected and it went just okay. For me, the real satisfaction, I think, comes when I feel that together we’ve won over an audience to our cause and that we’ll come back for a second show because what happened that day in that place, at that moment, people will talk about it with those around them and will want to share it here or elsewhere. But there’s always that… the idea of truly connecting, of bringing people together. That’s something important.

So, I’m going to bug you guys again with my last question!
Emile: Go ahead, bug us, that’s what we’re here for!
No, seriously, you’re not ready! What dish would you compare Beyond the Styx’s music to? I told you guys you weren’t ready!
Adrien: It’s okay, it’s cool, it’s not a pain in the ass, you just have to think about it! What dish… I’d say a bo-bun. Do I need to explain? Because there are so many different elements—there’s crunch, there’s softness, there’s sauce, there’s spice… there’s so much going on that even if you have a huge plate, you still end up eating it all.
But now I’m really curious to know what instrument you’re comparing the sauce to!
Adrien: What instrument am I comparing the sauce to?
Now I’m really giving you a hard time!
Adrien: No, actually, there isn’t necessarily an instrument for the sauce. I’d say that if you take the sauce off the bo-bun, it’s fine, but it’s just a raw vegetable salad. I’ll put it that way. It’s necessary, but it isn’t necessarily an instrument.
That little extra touch.
Adrien: Yeah, I’d put it that way. But in the sense that there’s a lot going on and it’s cool!
Emile: I would’ve thought more along the lines of mezze, because in the end, it all ends up in the same place, even if it doesn’t start from the same place. And also because of… the side effects! (laughs)
This is getting philosophical… (laughs)
Emile: No, hummus makes you fart!
Adrien: No philosophy there! (laughs)
Emile: And let’s say there’s what happens during the concert, and then some people send messages afterward saying, “Yeah, damn, I got knocked out, I went wild,” and all that. And it’s kind of in that spirit. “Oh yeah, the hummus was really good last night, but on the other hand I ruined the mood at the family dinner…”, and I’m like “oh yeah, okay” (laughs). It’s more about that aspect, and on the other hand, I totally agree with Adrien on the mixing aspect—mixing tastes, flavors, textures. It’s funny talking about gastronomy… well, not too much, or I’ll get a date!
Adrien: You’ll notice we didn’t use any French dishes at all.
Emile: Yeah, that’s true, but at the same time, that’s just how it is, France is a melting pot, too.
Adrien: If David (rhythm guitarist) had been there, he would’ve suggested an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Emile: But he would’ve cleaned the place out—that’s the problem, it’d be a disaster!

So, that was my last question. I’ll let you have the last word, and thank you!
Emile: My closing remarks are always the same: I want to say thank you—it’s very rewarding… is that the right way to put it? Anyway, I’d like to thank everyone…
Adrien: Yeah, use simpler words (laughs).
Emile: I’d simply like to thank everyone who puts their trust in us—from the organizers to the media to the audience. Humility is one of my core values, and as I always say, we aren’t much, but in any case, thank you to the people for allowing us to become, to try to become something, and on our own small scale, to try to make small changes, but it’s by making small changes that one day, perhaps, big things will happen. I really want to thank everyone who allows us to exist and to express our art fully, because without them and without their trust, we wouldn’t be much. And I think we’d have a much harder time dealing with what we’re already experiencing and enduring on this planet.
Adrien: I’d add that we should keep supporting local scenes, whatever they may be. Not just music, but keep supporting the things that make up your daily life—and that includes music, too. Small venues, medium-sized venues, big venues—but you’ve got to get out there and live your life! You can stay home too, of course, but just keep living.