Promise & the Monster – Antarktis (mp3) [download this file]
Promise & the Monster – Sheets (mp3) [download this file]
… and another great artist signed by Imperial Recordings (look at this interview), the José Gonzalez and Samuraj Cities label ! If those guys go on, they will be soon as successful as Labrador.
Promise & the Monster, then. Four words for one lady named Billie. The first time I listened to her song Antarktis I was stuck by its dark and deep atmosphere. A bit like in a David Lynch movie, lyrics such as “it burns, don’t look” means something to me, even if I could not exactely picture what. What I do picture when I listen to it is snow. I asked Billie what she thought about that. She replied : “Antarktis is, first of all, named Antarktis. That’s Antarctica in Swedish, so the entire song is obviously about something which is cold. Antarctica is made of snow, ans so is the song. I always visualize everything in pictures, and when I think about that song I see three tiny persons dressed in black, trying to get a sleigh through a wide open panorama landscape of snow, and then they all lay down to be covered with whiteness”. Well… ehm… I guess it makes sense. Still, it does not tell me what is the colour of the snow when there is no sun.
Anyway, except my snow obsession, I had several little things to ask Billie :
Why this name “Promise and the monster”?
“Promise and the monster” is a name that has connotations that suits my music. It feels both dark and naive, just like I perceive my songs. I want everything involving my art to be thoughtful and associative with the things I want to express.
With which other bands did you play before this one?
I played in one cute little band called Carmine St. when I was sixteen. We played twee-pop, and brought cookies and lemonade to the jams. Sometimes, we also bought candy, but mostly we just played quirky tunes about cats, red shoes and loneliness.
After that, I played with a group of excellent people in our band Shore For Shelters. We did post-rock influenced by Explosions in the Sky, with a bit of a shoegaze twist in it. I really loved that band, but everybody got too busy doing other things, so now I just make my own music.
How did you come to sign to Imperial?
I sent them a demo tape, and they liked it
Tell me what is Antarktis all about?
Antarktis is about two persons who are in love, but disabled to talk to each other, because of their nervousness. It’s about the cold that can be felt in the air when such moments flicker by.
Your plans? Any album planned?
There is an album planned to be released in September. Possibly there will be an EP, or 7″ released before that. Then, it would be nice to tour a little bit.
Which artists do you listen to those days? Some Swedish ones?
I’m really fond of slowcore bands like Low, and Early Day Miners. I adore shoegaze and post-punk like Interpol, Slowdive, Ride and when it comes to Swedish music, I have to say that Silverbullit, Broder Daniel and Håkan Hellström have been really important
What were you doing before to answer those questions?
I had a lecture on philosophical esthetics. We talked about Martin Heidegger and his book The origin of the work of art. It’s sometimes mind-blowing and amazingly interesting to read about such things, but today I was mostly thinking about coffee during the entire lesson.
Pour mes compatriotes français
Promise & the Monster, donc. Quatre mots pour une seule et unique artiste : Billie. Dès ma première écoute de sa chanson Antarktis, je suis entré totalement dans cette atmosphère sombre. Un peu comme dans un film de David Lynch, des textes tels que “it burns, don’t look” (“ça brûle, ne regarde pas”) me touchent sans que je ne puisse exactement indiquer comment ni pourquoi. En tout cas, lorsque j’écoute ce morceau, je visualise de la neige. J’en ai parlé à Billie.
Mais bon, mise à part mon obsession pour la neige, j’avais quelques questions à poser à la dame. Les voici :
Pourquoi ce nom “Promise and the monster”?
“Promise and the monster” est un nom qui a des connotations qui conviennent à ma musique. C’est à la fois sombre et naïf, exactement comme je perçois mes chansons. Je veux que tout ce qui touche à mon art soit réfléchi et en accord avec ce que je souhaite exprimer.
Dans quels autres groupes as-tu joué, à part celui-ci?
Quand j’avais 16 ans, j’ai joué dans un petit groupe tout mignon qui s’appelait Carmine St. Nous jouions de la “twee-pop”, et nous ramenions des gateaux et de la limonade lors des répétitions. Parfois nous achetions aussi des bonbons, mais la plupart du temps nous jouions des chansons étranges qui parlaient de chats, de chaussures rouges et de solitude.
Tu es la dernière signature d’Imperial. Comment ça s’est passé?
Je leur ai envoyé une démo et ils ont aimé.
De quoi parle ta chanson Antarktis?
Antarktis raconte l’histoire de deux personnes qui sont amoureuses l’une de l’autre, mais qui restent incapables de se parler à cause de leur nervosité. Ca parle du froid que l’on peut ressentir dans l’air durant ces moments-là.
Un album est prévu pour septembre. C’est aussi possible que l’on sorte un EP, ou un 7″ avant. Après, ce serait bien de faire une petite tournée.
Quels artistes écoutes-tu ces derniers jours? Des Suédois?
Je suis fan des groupes de slowcore comme Low et Early Day Miners. J’adore les groupes de shoegaze et de post-punk comme Interpol, Slowdive ou Ride. Pour ce qui est de LA musique suédoise, je dirais que Silverbullit, Broder Daniel et Håkan Hellström ont été vraiment importants.
Qu’étais-tu en train de faire avant de répondre à ces questions?
J’avais un cours sur l’esthétique dans la philosophie [AbsNoise : "philosophical esthetics", en anglais]. Nous avons abordé l’oeuvre de Martin Heidegger et son livre The origin of the work of art. C’est parfois passionant et incroyablement intéressant de parler de ces choses, mais aujourd’hui je pensais surtout à du café pendant le cours entier.
actually much more than “nice” !
nice