Interview with Annick of Cauchemar 2013

by Bradley Smith

Your new album Tenebrario is finally here.  How do you feel it differs from your debut?  Do you feel that it is somehow a progression despite the adherence to an ancient sound?  How was it writing while on the road?  Do you think that helped you incorporate some new and different influences into the music than if you had just stayed at home?

Hey Brad! Nice to talk to you again! Tenebrario is quite different from our first EP. I can say the songs are a bit heavier and less rock, both in the production and in the riffs. Everything has progressed, the guitar work, the concept, the drums, the bass (our new bassist is much better than what I could ever do), and the vocals. Writing on the road was very inspiring… we had so much time on our hands, and so many things to discover that it was really easy to come up with new songs. Everything we saw and felt influenced us in a way, so for sure, it would have been way different if we would have been home. For example, we wrote most of our "doomy" songs when we were in Peru, as we were really influenced by its Heavy Rock scene! We are also very happy how the album came out, visual-wise. It looks really good! Paolo Giradi did such a great job on the artwork, also! He really captured the essence of our sound!

When we last talked in 2010 Cauchemar had only performed one live show.  But now I know you have done a full tour and a ton of one-off performances.  So how is it different now when you approach a live performance.  I mean how do you feel you have grown and what important lessons do you think you have learned since those humble beginnings?

Wow, has it been that long already? That's amazing, thanks for being there since the beginning, Brad!! The early shows were a little bit all over the place on my side… now, we take more time for ourselves before the gig, to be alone and focus on the show. The results are really different - I feel it becomes more liturgic and less like "just a live gig". I also learned to stop saying useless things in between songs, it's better to keep quiet and let the music do the talking! I also visualize every song in my head, and really let myself get possessed by them. Drinking a couple of beers before the gigs help with that too.

You seem pretty humble, however a lot of people seek out your opinion on quality metal.  How does that make you feel?  I mean to be viewed as an authority on good music and to have people value your recommendations?  So what new bands can you recommend aside from Violentada and GYIBAAW?

Hehe, now the VIOLENTADA guitarist is now our bassist! On my side, I love giving recommendations and opinions on good metal. I'm really passionate about it, and thrive to spread good metal to as many people as possible. Always have, always will! There are tons of good new bands since we last talked in 2010. FUNERAL CIRCLE (Epic Doom Metal), OCCULT BURIAL (Bathory-style black metal), CHTHE'ILIST (Finnish-style Death Metal), BARROW WIGHT (totally sloppy LoTR-influenced Venom-style metal), BEAST WITHIN (Celtic Frost-style metal), IRON DOGS (Heavy Metal), AXXION (Heavy/Speed Metal), and the list goes on!

Despite being a metal band I would say there is more of a punk ethos to Cauchemar.  Would you agree?  Or do you think that those DIY ethics are true for both scenes?  I know you were influenced on Morbid Tales by punk/hardcore zines so there's that connection as well.

I think that doing everything DIY is a great way to control quality, while reducing costs! I was influenced on Morbid Tales by "Born 20 Years too Late", which was my friend Jo's zine. He was indeed a hardcore guy, but also totally into metal. Also, our drummer, Pat, plays in ASILE - which is a Swedish-style crust/metal band. You probably know them already, they are really good! I saw them just a few days ago for the second time, and they relentlessly kicked my ass once again.

You spent the recent past Travelling the world which is something that so few of us can really ever experience.  How long were you out there on your journey?  How much planning went into that trip and how much of your travelling was just "winging" it?  What was your favorite place to visit and why?  Do you miss the travelling yet or did you exhaust your desire to travel, at least for now?

My trip was 18-months long, although we had originally planned to go for two years. We had to be realistic - our money was eventually going to run out, and we spent much more than we wanted in Europe and some places in South America! It basically took us two years to save up and loosely plan our trip. Most of it was "winging" it like you said, because we never really knew exactly where we were going to go next. For example, we were traveling when we heard about the earthquake in Japan, as well as the floods in Thailand. We therefore had to lengthen our South-American part of the trip a little bit to let the steam off from those countries before visiting them. We also met a lot of other travellers who would give us tips on cool places to visit, etc. Finally, it's so much better to not know what the future will hold! It really gave me a sense of liberty! I do miss traveling a lot… but I did also miss having a roof of my own. What I truly miss are the friends that I met all over the world… I bonded with such great people. It hurts not being able to spend more time with them! I will travel plenty this year though - I've already been to Maryland, will go to Germany in a few weeks, then Chile, Texas… of course, it's not constant travelling like before, but it will be exciting nonetheless!

One of the aspects from your journey that you embraced was "simple" living.  What does that mean to you and how do you feel living with all these modern contrivances affected you?  Did you learn any insights to yourself?  Did it help make you feel liberated or did you feel "naked", at least at first?  What are some aspects of the life you left behind that you won't go back to?

I was a bit paranoid of losing the few things that I owned (a favourite shirt, my camera, etc…) but most of the time, I felt completely free. It feels really good when all the stuff you own fits inside a small backpack. You don't need much more than that to be happy!! All I missed was my records really… I won't go back to spending my money on useless and overpriced stuff. I'm much wiser financially - living on a few dollars a day gave me that! Also, I don't own a cellphone, I prefer walking instead of taking public transportation and I do not waste food.

One of the purposes on your trip was to experience real foods from the places you visited.  What do you consider "real" food and what do you think was your Favorite cuisine that you came across during your travels?  I know I was surprised personally at how awesome I found actual Turkish cuisine to be and it remains my favorite (along with Cajun).  Can we expect a volume 2 of Heavy Metal Cookbook?

A huge discovery for me was Peruvian cuisine, which I basically knew nothing of. I pretty much loved everything that I tasted there! It was amazing! Nowadays, I make Peruvian food almost every week; ceviche, palta rellena, papas a la huaincaina, arroz con lecche, etc. But mostly, what I discovered on this trip was that the best ingredients in food was FRESHNESS. A lot of the countries I've visited don't even have access to a refrigerator, so food needs to be fresh every day. It makes such a huge difference in the taste! I'd love to do a second issue of Hellbent! Maybe it'll come within a few years, who knows!

Being a fan of food and cooking, I was wondering what your take is on genetically modified organisms and the giant corporation Mosanto.  Are you familiar with them and the issues with GMOs that is going on right now?

I long for the days of our grandparents when food was still 100% real and probably much tastier. We are slowly poisoning ourselves with that shit food these giant companies are feeding us. I try fighting back by encouraging local farmers, and every week I get an organic veggie/fruit basket. Yes, the veggies are uglier and smaller - but holy hell do they taste so much better!

You mentioned that during your tours that you noticed how many prejudices you still had.  What are some of the ones that you had and how did it feel to confront them when you encountered what they were?  Do you think there are any demons you have left to slay, so to speak, when it comes to societal programming you have to undo?

They were actually not that bad, except for a few drunken Germans making shitty sexist remarks. I always wondered why European guys were always asking me questions about "how it is to be a girl in metal?", but I kind of understood when I arrived there! Metal is much more male dominated over there than in Canada. I remember the vocalist for VULTURE saying on stage at Keep it True fest "Hello Ladies! All 20 of you!". I thought it was funny… but sad! Haha. I never let shitty comments go though, and eventually one of the guys stopped with his remarks.

The resurrection of Morbid Tales is on.  So what are some of your plans for the zine?  Any interviews you can name yet?  How does it feel to be rejoining the world of metal journalism?

Shit, I've been so busy these days that it's been delayed for quite a while now. I'm currently working on another zine for now; "Les Templiers #3", which is done with three other friends. It's going to be 100% traditional doom metal, and written in French. It was a project I had started after Morbid Tales, and which I kind of resurrected. Hehe. For Morbid Tales, I have only two interviews done so far! I don't want them to be too outdated by the time it is released...

I read in another interview your final meal for the end of the world and all the alcohol pairings that came with it?  I was saddened that I did not see any Tequila in there.  heh heh.  Do you ever drink tequila?  And what is your favorite type of alcohol in general?

I'm not a big fan of tequila, but perhaps I never had the real good stuff. I don't like hard alcohol in general. I love margaritas and daiquiris, but I think my last drink would probably be a micro-brewery beer or a pico sour (a Peruvian drink! See, again! I'm obsessed with Peruvian cuisine now!) My favourite alcohol hands down is beer. IPA or Czech pilsners preferably!

So what are some of your upcoming plans for Cauchemar and yourself personally?  Any special shows or new music on the horizon?  How was Maryland Death Fest?  Are you organizing any shows as a concert promoter or do you even still do that?

For Cauchemar, we are going to do a small US tour (4 dates only), a show in Toronto (and perhaps Ottawa),  and then a couple of gigs in Chile. The future is looking really good!! We don't have any new music, besides the new record. We're working on new riffs and new songs at the moment for a second full length. I'm currently the co-promoter of "Wings of Metal", a two-day festival in Montreal. The festival actually just sold out today, two months ahead. It's going to be mental! The bands playing are Satan, Manilla Road, Midnight, Magic Circle, Blood Ceremony, Voor, and much, much more!!!

As always Annick, thanks for spending a few moments with me and my readers. Doom On!  I'll leave any final words to you!

You are totally welcome Brad! Thanks to you for thinking of Cauchemar, we really appreciate your support - and we really appreciate you taking the time to write such well thought questions. Thanks to everyone out there who also listens to Cauchemar! Abandonnez-vous à la nuit noire...