Click Interview with Denuit: ‘If Our Music Is Dark, We Always Put Hope And Light In It’
Denuit is a French male-female duo which last year released their second album “Inferno” on different formats (digital, CD, vinyl and cassette) by Manic Depression Records and No Need Name. The year before they released their debut album “Black Sun”. They’re actually busy working at the next album planned for Autumn 2023. The duo clearly is a prolific band finding their main sources of inspiration in the 80s Cold-Wave and Post-Punk scene. Time to discover a promising formation so I got in touch with both members: ‘Ivi Topp’ and ‘Liss Araignée’.
(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)
Q: Tell us a bit more about the origins and set up of Denuit? What have been potential sources of inspiration and influences?
IVI: DENUIT started on a cold night, surrounded by synthesizers and the warm voice of Lis. My influences range from Minimal-Techno to Arcade Fire, from Prodigy to Nirvana, from The Doors to Pink Floyd.
LIS: I’m a big fan of The Cramps and The Doors. They were the first bands that made me want to perform on stage. At the moment I’m listening to a lot of Cyber-Punk/Dark-Techno, especially Sierra and Swarm. It’s really my favorite style of music. I’m a big fan of Rebeka Warrior and all her projects, Mansfield.Tya, Kompromat, Sexy Sushi. I am also very much influenced by literature, as a lyricist. I read a lot of poetry and fantasy. I love Edgar Allan Poe and Vladimir Maïakovski.
Q: What means music to you and what does Denuit stand for?
IVI: Music for me is a way to express and communicate raw emotions. To connect and share with everyone around me. Denuit is my life, it’s an energy that has always been inside me. Denuit is ‘de nuit’, which literally means ‘by night’.
LIS: Denuit is my reason for being, it’s the breath that makes my lungs rise, it’s the blood that runs through my veins, it’s the cry of my soul. We want to bring poetry into this harsh world, to find the beauty of life.
Q: Every single aspect -like bandname, album- and song titles but also the music, sounds pretty dark and tormented. What did you try to express by darkness and in which way do the dark times we’re going through have an impact on the global production?
IVI: We always express with our music what we experience around us, in this sense Denuit is like our personal diary. If our music is dark, we always put hope and light in it. We are very optimistic in our everyday life 🙂
LIS: I think when I see the darkness, I feel at home in a way. I’m not afraid because I know I have the light inside me to light my way.
Q: You’ve been very prolific; releasing a first album “Black Sun” in 2021 and next “Inferno” in 2022. How did the switch from one album towards the other happened? Were there significant aspects of the production you wanted to improve and/or change?
LIS: It’s funny you say that because we’re recording our third album right now. In fact I can let you in on a secret, it will be out in October and the first single will be out in June. The transition from one album to another is natural, we follow our cycles, our phases. We always want to progress and to do that we always push our limits, in terms of production and work. As beings, we learn and evolve all our lives.
IVI: We are constantly writing and working on new material. We have a need to express the important moments in our lives. With each album we try to push our limits and explore new territories musically. Colour is also important to us, as well as the visual aspect. “Black Sun” is = black, “Inferno” is = red, our next album is = purple.
Q: And how do you look back at your latest album “Inferno”? What did you keep in mind from the writing process and the way it all took shape?
LIS: “Inferno” contains a lot of anger, it’s born from a constant frustration, from the oppression of the society at that time. Now we see the world differently, there is so much beauty around us and in the end the most important thing is love. Love for yourself and for others. With “Inferno” we were able to overcome this anger and be reborn in a very positive way. We have hope for the future.
IVI: “Inferno” is an important step. We had to go into this red, dry land to come out the other side.
Q: It all looks like the video clips clearly are a very important part of Denuit. What did you try to express by the clips and this other creative side of the band? Do you think clips still make sense in a world where streaming became the standard?
LIS: Video is a complete art because it includes music, photography, acting and writing. For us it is a way to illustrate our music, to show it to people the way we want them to see it.
IVI: I love films! I think the relationship and the fusion between moving images and music elevates the music and the films at the same time. For us, it is very important to extend our artistic expression to clips.
Q: Another important part of the band seems to be the stage. How do you transpose the songs from studio towards the stage? And how do you see yourself as a live band?
LIS: The stage is the performance of our music. When we are with our audience, we feel free and at the right place. We prepare our shows in residences with our technicians and before we play a new set, we check all our scenography and sound to give our audience the best possible experience.
IVI: The stage is our home. When we play, everything else disappears. There is no past, there is no future, only the present counts. That is why we make music, to play it live!
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