Tag: We Are Replica (Page 1 of 2)

2021 END OF YEAR REVIEW


As the world steadily emerged from a painful pandemic that put many lives on hold, nostalgia appeared to be the commodity most in demand as the music industry took steps to recover.

No matter which era, anything musically from the past was more desirable that anything that reminded the public of the past 20 or so months. The first escape destination in the summer for many restricted to staying on their own shores were the established retro festivals.

Meanwhile television provided an array of documentaries ranging from chart rundowns of past decades and informative classic song analysis on Channel 5 to Dylan Jones’ look at ‘Music’s Greatest Decade’ on BBC2 and Sky Arts’ ‘Blitzed’ with all the usual suspects such as Boy George, Philip Sallon, Marilyn, Gary Kemp and Rusty Egan.

SPARKS had their own comprehensive if slightly overlong film ‘The SPARKS Brothers’ directed by Edgar Wright, but the Maels’ musical ‘Annette’ starring Adam Driver was a step too far. Meanwhile the acclaimed ‘Sisters With Transistors’ presented the largely untold story of electronic music’s female pioneers.

It was big business for 40th anniversary live celebrations from the likes of HEAVEN 17, THE HUMAN LEAGUE, OMD and SOFT CELL, while other veterans such as NEW ORDER and ERASURE returned to the live circuit with the biggest indoor headlining shows of their career.

Meanwhile for 2022, Midge Ure announced an extensive ‘Voices & Visions’ tour to present material from the 1981-82 phase of ULTRAVOX.

Also next year and all being well, GOLDFRAPP will finally get their belated 20th Anniversary tour for their marvellous debut ‘Felt Mountain’ underway while there are rescheduled ‘Greatest Hits’ live presentations for PET SHOP BOYS and SIMPLE MINDS.

Always money for old rope, but also giving audiences who missed them at their pioneering height an opportunity to catch up, ‘best of’ collections were issued by YELLO and TELEX while JAPAN had their 1979 breakthrough album ‘Quiet Life’ given the lavish boxed set treatment. Meanwhile, while many labels were still doing their best to kill off CD, there was the puzzling wide scale return of the compact cassette, a poor quality carrier even at the zenith of its popularity.

“Reissue! Repackage! Repackage! Re-evaluate the songs! Double-pack with a photograph, extra track and a tacky badge!” a disgraced Northern English philosopher once bemoaned.

The boosted market for deluxe boxed sets and the repackaging of classic albums in coloured vinyl meant that the major corporations such as Universal, Sony and Warners hogged the pressing plants, leaving independent artists with lead times of nearly a year for delivery if they were lucky.

But there was new music in 2021. Having achieved the milestone of four decades as a recording act, DURAN DURAN worked with Giorgio Moroder on the appropriately titled ‘Future Past’ while not far behind, BLANCMANGE took a ‘Commercial Break’ and FIAT LUX explored ‘Twisted Culture’. David Cicero made his belated return to music with a mature second album that was about ‘Today’ as Steven Jones & Logan Sky focussed on the monochromatic mood of ‘European Lovers’. Continuing the European theme but towards the former Eastern Bloc, Mark Reeder gave a reminder that he was once declared ‘Subversiv-Dekadent’ and fellow Mancunians UNE became inspired by the ‘Spomenik’ monoliths commissioned by Marshal Tito in the former Yugoslavia.

For those who preferred to immerse themselves in the darker present, Gary Numan presented ‘Intruder’, a poignant concept album produced by Ade Fenton about Mother Earth creating a virus to teach mankind a lesson! Meanwhile ITALOCONNECTION, the project of Italo veterans Fred Ventura and Paolo Gozzetti teamed up with French superstar Etienne Daho to tell the story of ‘Virus X’! The video of the year came from UNIFY SEPARATE whose motivation message to ‘Embrace The Fear’ despite the uncertainty reflected the thoughts of many.

Despite the general appetite for nostalgia, there was some excellent new music released from less established artists with the album of the year coming from Jorja Chalmers and her ‘Midnight Train’ released on Italians Do It Better. The critical acclaim for the UK based Aussie’s second long playing solo offering made up for the disbandment of the label’s biggest act CHROMATICS, as it went into its most prolific release schedule in its history with albums by GLÜME, JOON, DLINA VOLNY and LOVE OBJECT as well as its own self-titled compilation of in-house Madonna covers.

As Kat Von D teamed up with Dan Haigh of GUNSHIP for her debut solo record ‘Love Made Me Do It’, acts like DANZ CM, CLASS ACTRESS, GLITBITER, PRIMO THE ALIEN, PARALLELS, KANGA, R.MISSING, I AM SNOW ANGEL, XENO & OAKLANDER, HELIX and DAWN TO DAWN showed that North America was still the creative hub as far as electronically derived pop songs went.

Attracting a lot of attention in 2021 were NATION OF LANGUAGE, who with their catchy blend of angst, melody and motorik beats welcomed synths as family in their evolving sound while also providing the song of the year in ‘This Fractured Mind’, reflecting the anxieties of these strange times. At the other end of the spectrum, DIAMOND FIELD went full pop with an optimistic multi-vocalist collection that captured the spirit of early MTV while BUNNY X looked back on their high school days with ‘Young & In Love’.

ACTORS delivered their most synthy album yet while as LEATHERS, they keyboardist Shannon Hamment went the full hog for her debut solo effort ‘Reckless’. FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY released a new album and some of that ‘Mechanical Soul’ was brought by their Rhys Fulber into his productions this year for AESTHETIC PERFECTION.

In Europe, long playing debuts came from PISTON DAMP and WE ARE REPLICA while NORTHERN LITE released their first album completely in German and FRAGRANCE. presented their second album ‘Salt Air’. There was also the welcome return of SIN COS TAN, KID KASIO, GUSGUS, MARVA VON THEO, TINY MAGNETIC PETS and MAN WITHOUT COUNTRY.

Featuring second generation members of NEW ORDER and SECTION 25, SEA FEVER released their eclectic debut ‘Folding Lines’ as fellow Mancunian LONELADY added sequencers and drum machines to her post-punk funk template. But Glasgow’s CHVRCHES disappointed with their fourth long player ‘Screen Violence’ by opting to sound like every other tired hipster band infesting the land.

The most promising artist to breakthrough in 2021 was Hattie Cooke whose application of traditional songwriting nous to self-production and arrangement techniques using comparatively basic tools such as GarageBand found a wider audience via her third album ‘Bliss Land’. In all, it was a strong year for female synth-friendly artists with impressive albums from Karin My, Laura Dre, Alina Valentina, Robin Hatch and Catherine Moan while comparative veterans like Fifi Rong, Alice Hubble, Brigitte Handley and Alison Lewis as ZANIAS maintained their cult popularity.

In 2021, sometimes words were very unnecessary and there were fine instrumental synth albums from BETAMAXX, WAVESHAPER, КЛЕТ and Richard Barbieri, with a Mercury nomination received by Hannah Peel for ‘Fir Wave’. But for those who preferred Italo Noir, popwave, post-punk techno and progressive pop, Tobias Bernstrup, Michael Oakley, Eric Random and Steven Wilson delivered the goods respectively.

With ‘The Never Ending’ being billed as the final FM ATTACK album and PERTURBATOR incorrectly paraphrased by Metal Hammer in a controversial “synthwave is dead” declaration, the community got itself in a pickle by simultaneously attacking THE WEEKND for “stealing from synthwave”, yet wanting to ride on the coat tails of Abel Tesfaye, misguidedly sensing an opportunity to snare new fans for their own music projects.

With THE WEEKND’s most recent single ‘Take My Breath’, there was the outcry over the use of a four note arpeggio allegedly sampled from MAKEUP & VANITY SET’s ‘The Last City’. But as one online observer put it, “Wow, an arpeggiated minor chord. Hate to break it to you but you might want to check out what Giorgio Moroder was doing 50 years ago. We’re ALL just rippin’ him off if that’s how you think creativity works”. Another added “If a four note minor key arpeggiated chord can go to court on the basis of copyright law, we are in for a hell of a few years my synthy friends”. It outlined once again that there are some who are still under the impression that music using synths was invented by Ryan Gosling in 2011 for ‘Drive’ soundtrack ??

There were also belated complaints that 2019’s A-HA inspired ‘Blinding Lights’ had a simple melody and needed five writers to realise it… but then, so did UTRAVOX’s ‘Slow Motion’ and DURAN DURAN’s ‘Rio’! Collaboration, whether in bands, with producers or even outsiders has always been a key aspect of the compositional process. If it is THAT simple, do it yourself! As Andy McCluskey of OMD said on ‘Synth Britannia’ in 2009 about the pioneering era when Ryan Gosling was still in nappies: “The number of people who thought that the equipment wrote the song for you: ‘well anybody can do it with the equipment you’ve got!’ “F*** OFF!!”

Over the last two years, THE WEEKND has become the biggest mainstream pop act on the planet, thanks to spectacles such as the impressive gothic theatre of the Super Bowl LV half time showcase while in a special performance on the BRITS, there was a charming presentation of the ERASURE-ish ‘Save Your Tears’ where he played air synth in a moment relatable to many. But everything is ultimately down to catchy songs, regardless of synth usage.

So ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK would like to present a hypothetical case to consider… if someone uses the arpeggio function with a sparkling patch from a Juno 6 synth in a recording, does Cyndi Lauper sue for infringing the copyright of ‘All Through The Night’ or the original songwriter Jules Shear or even the Roland Corporation themselves as they created it? More than one producer has suggested that THE WEEKND’s soundbite came from a hardware preset or more than likely, a software sample pack, of which there are now many.

However, sample culture had hit another new low when Tracklib marketed a package as “A real game-changer for sample based music. Now everyone can afford to clear samples” with rapper and producer Erick Sermon declaring “Yo, this is incredible. They’re trying to put creativity back into music again. By having samples you can actually pay for and afford”.

Err creativity? How about writing your own songs and playing or even programming YOUR OWN instrumentation??!? One sampling enthusiast even declared “I might go as far as to say you don’t really like dance music if you’ve got a problem with adding a beat to a huge (even instantly recognizable) sample”… well guess what? ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK LOATHES IT!!! ?

In 2021, music promotion became a bit strange with publicists at all levels keen more than ever to have their clients’ press releases just cut ‘n’ pasted onto online platforms, but very reluctant to allow albums to be reviewed in advance in the event of a potential negative prognosis.

While cut ‘n’ paste journalism has been a disease that has always afflicted online media, in a sad sign of the times, one long established international website moved to a “pay to get your press release featured” business model.

The emergence of reaction vloggers was another bizarre development while the “Mention your favourite artist and see if they respond to you” posts on social media only added more wood to the dumbing down bonfire already existing within audience engagement.

It was as if the wider public was no longer interested in more in-depth analysis while many artists turned their publicity into a reliance on others doing “big ups” via Twitter and Facebook. But then, if artists are being successfully crowdfunded with subscriptions via Patreon, Kickstarter, Bandcamp and the like, do they need a media intermediary any longer as they are dealing direct with their fanbases?

However, it wasn’t all bad in the media with ‘Electronically Yours With Martyn Ware’ providing insightful artist interviews and the largely entertaining ‘Beyond Synth’ podcast celebrating its 300th show. Due to their own music commitments, Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness were less prolific with their discussion show ‘The Album Years’ but it was still refreshing for commentators to be able to say that a record was sh*t when it actually was, rather than conform to the modern day adage that all music is good but not always to the listener’s taste!  And while various programmes came and went, other such as ‘Operating//Generating’, ‘KZL Live’ and ‘Absynth’ came to prominence.

Post-pandemic, interesting if uncertain times are ahead within the music industry. But as live performance returns, while the mainstream is likely to hit the crowd walking, will there be enough cost effective venues to host independent artists? Things have been tough but for some, but things might be about to get even tougher.

However, music was what got many through the last 18 months and as times are still uncertain, music in its live variant will help to get everyone through the next year and a half and beyond.


ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s year in music is gathered in its 2021 Playlist – Missing U at
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4rlJgJhiGkOw8q2JcunJfw


Text by Chi Ming Lai
17th December 2021

WE ARE REPLICA Miami

Arty dark synth duo WE ARE REPLICA are back with a new video for the song ‘Miami’, a highlight from their debut long player ‘Cleared Vision’.

“After the music was written and recorded I thought it sounded like Miami and improvised the first verse whereas the other verses came together the day after”, said Martin Kinz, the German half of WE ARE REPLICA about the song, “There is no particular meaning to the words. It’s all about matching sentences, that eventually become poetry. The chorus was written a bit later, and has more of a message, as in ‘every day’s a holiday’ is a state you can choose, that’s why we go on to ‘choose to go Miami’”.

“We wanted to show the apparent fake of a place like Miami, designing a set to create an atmosphere with plastic which represents the vibe of this kind of world” recalled Nadège Préaudat in her deep Gallic tones, “It could be found in many places but Miami sounded like a good example for this stereotype.”

“We wear masks and similar outfits to show the lack of individuality where everyone in society has to fit in. The real paradise that Miami is in many people’s minds is projected into a safe with a poison apple.” she clarified on the concept of the striking visual accompaniment, “Like the words of the song, the video is very abstract and we did not want to tell a story, so the viewer or listener can create their own meaning. The use of hands signifies the obstacles that we come across in day to day life. We finally face the truth by washing off the masks.”

Sharing the vocals, ‘Miami’ is musically a mix of post punk and pop with a rather suitable psychedelic influence. to confirm Kinz’s analysis that “our sense of reality is only in our heads”.

“The shoot was very DIY and the shots really came about quite organically. My take on the song is that it’s quite nonsensical in a way, but it’s like Miami becomes this fantasy place” director Tamsin Kavanagh remembered on the realisation of the video, “Thanks to Jorge’s amazing make up, and Ieva’s styling, Mart and Nadège became a bit like two aliens to me, that seem a bit out of place in the world, but then really come alive in the inner world, so the contrast between these two felt important.”

It proved to be an interesting experience technically for Cavanagh too: “All of the outside shots are quite smooth – shot with a stabiliser, and there is not a lot of movement. But then the inside shots (made possible by The Steamship PS allowing us to use their amazing space), that were shot in the basement, is where they really come alive, and I shot a lot of these with no stabiliser to accentuate that sense of dynamism and letting go. Similarly with the lighting – outside we made use of the natural lighting, which was quite stark compared with the colour gels I used inside- so it was a contrast between cold and warm, static and dynamic.”


‘Miami’ is from the album ‘Cleared Vision’, available as a download direct from https://wearereplica.bandcamp.com/album/cleared-vision

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Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Pauline Mongarny
15th April 2021

WE ARE REPLICA Cleared Vision

It was something of a sign for 2020 when WE ARE REPLICA’s first attempt at a full length album was lost when a feral cat got into their studio over the New Year holidays and urinated all over their computer!

But the London-based Franco German dark synth duo of Nadège Préaudat and Martin Kinz soldiered on and now have ‘Cleared Vision’.

“We always liked heavy music as much as electronic music and therefore often use synths like electric guitars” said Kinz while Préaudat affirmed “That helps to capture emotions in its rawest state”.

So it is something of a pleasant surprise amongst all the intensity from life in isolation during a difficult 2020, WE ARE REPLICA have introduced an enchanting avant pop element to their sound. With a muted down aggression towards the mindset that the album’s title suggests, is this possibly some optimism finding its way in through the back door?

‘Only The Best’ brings in some piercing noise but there is a refinement to provide some accessible punky synth. ‘Miami’ though unexpectedly offers a comparatively sunny disposition with Kinz almost perky like a German Eno, although Préaudat offsets all that but even she sounds less intense compared to WE ARE REPLICA’s previous work.

‘Sanitize Me’ is kind of business as usual though and will connect with anyone affected by the lockdown. It may be a bit too close to home, but it is an honest statement and Préaudat is still strangely sexy despite the doom and gloom. Some relief comes from a delightful closing section of cascading keys.

Previous singles ‘Parallele Universen’ and ‘Angel’ feature lyrics in German and French respectively as a homage to Neue Deutsche Welle and French New Wave. But the language is no barrier, acting more like additional instrumental elements.

‘Parallele Universen’ nods towards Robert Görl and sees Kinz in previously unheard territory actually singing. Meanwhile despite the sinister discomfort of ‘Angel’, Préaudat is wonderfully alluring with her deep Gallic tongue. Like Siamese Twins thanks to their common concept, they are separated by the brooding ‘Opus 5’ which is more abstract like a schizophrenic gothic art piece.

Kinz and Préaudat have a deadpan exchange on the creepy and monotone ‘For Whom The Dove Cried’ for the most foreboding and experimental track on ‘Cleared Vision’, before the mantric drone-laden ‘Isolated Star’ screeches with sharp synth lines and a steadfast rhythmic lattice over a concluding eight minutes.

Heavy music for heavy times, ‘Cleared Vision’ is like life, up and down and up before descending into a mental breakdown after a pop focussed start.

This album won’t be for everyone but in its enigmatic expression and artful sound sculpture, it reflects our strange dark times. There is light at the end of the tunnel, but whether that light is an escape the other side or a truck heading towards you is another story!


‘Cleared Vision’ is available as a download album direct from https://wearereplica.bandcamp.com/album/cleared-vision

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Pauline Mongarny
4rd January 2021

WE ARE REPLICA Angel

WE ARE REPLICA present an uncomfortable if slightly alluring visual accompaniment for their song ‘Angel’.

The London-based Franco German dark synth duo of Nadège Préaudat and Martin Kinz have always been into the idea of translating the intensity of the world into music. “That helps to capture emotions in its rawest state” said Préaudat while Kinz added “We always liked heavy music as much as electronic music and therefore often use synths like electric guitars.”

From the unforgiving electronic post punk twins recently released EP ‘Parallel Angels’, ‘Angel’ is a homage to French New Wave and features Préaudat on lead vocals in her native tongue. “I always found that voice is just another instrument” she said, “Listen to a song in a different language you don’t understand. It becomes an instrument.”

The video directed by LUXXXER is art reflecting life and the state of not just the nation, but the entire world. Having lost her mind, Préaudat is sectioned and a patient in a new dimension, yet in her confinement, bound in a straitjacket, she is disturbingly sexy. Meanwhile Kinz is an angel who maintains a sinister voyeurism as he watches her bathe… but of what kind of angel? As Préaudat stares into a crystal ball, is she foreseeing her fate?

The ‘Angel’ audio visual presentation is a powerful statement. “What I like in art and music is the atmosphere and feeling” added Préaudat, “Therefore I always try to replicate that in my life using music, art as well as fashion to express myself.”

Reflecting his musical partner’s ethos, Kinz affirmed “I generally find bands with a strong image more interesting than those that don’t care about that. And in our case there is a lot more to come in that respect. No boundaries!”

WE ARE REPLICA’s debut album is currently being mixed again following the first attempt being lost when a feral cat got into their studio over the New Year holidays and urinated all over their computer!


‘Angel’ is from the digital EP ‘Parallel Angels’, available from https://wearereplica.bandcamp.com/album/parallel-angels

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photo by Atlanta Rascher
11th November 2020

WE ARE REPLICA Interview

A pair of unforgiving electronic post punk twins, London-based Franco German dark synth duo WE ARE REPLICA are resilient and determined if nothing else.

Comprising of Nadège Préaudat and Martin Kinz, after mixing their debut long player, a feral cat got into their studio over the New Year holidays and urinated all over their computer.

Luckily, they had not lost any of their recorded material and after the replacement of the motherboard and sorting some software compatability issues, they were able to get back on track and mix their album again.

With a captivating live presentation that can come over like one heavy aural barrage, WE ARE REPLICA will not be an immediate proposition to some, but others will find their experimental Pan-European approach and sado-masochistic presence strangely appealing. The unbelievably photogenic Préaudat acts as the alluring bohemian seductress with the deep Gallic utterances in contrast to Kinz’s more mysterious but powerful supernatural persona.

Having released three singles ‘Africa’, ‘Angel’ and ‘Parallele Universen’ in almost as many weeks, WE ARE REPLICA kindly spoke about their own artistic brand of erotic deviance…

There is an intensity to WE ARE REPLICA, where does this come from?

Nadège: We are translating the intensity of the world into music and we like the energy of punk and that helps to capture emotions in its rawest state.

Martin: We always liked heavy music as much as electronic music and therefore often use synths like electric guitars.

Nadège: We really like using layers of sound effects in our music…

Martin: …and that makes it a very dense sound.

How did WE ARE REPLICA come into being as a distinct artistic entity?

Martin: We met outside of my studio in Cable Street which was then a vibrant place at night. There was a gathering with drinks and we were introduced. After hanging out for a while, we decided to start a band, so we checked out each other’s art and music the same night.

Do you have any common musical interests with bands you like?

Nadège: Yes sure, we like the same kind of sound but we like to be surprised how different influences come together in one. I personally never had the intention to sound like someone I heard. I am also not into covers for example. I am more instinctive about what I create.

Martin: On the contrary, I take more direct inspiration from what I heard in the past. That ranges from PINK FLOYD via ULTRAVOX to NINE INCH NAILS but that’s just three names among many.

But then how do you use your differences in the creative process?

Nadège: We fight!

Martin: Yes. The arena is open and we are the gladiators! Haha… to be honest, our ways are not so different and it all just comes together in the process.

So what would be your creative dynamic?

Nadège: We both agree on a beat and then take turns adding the other instruments which is in agreement with the other one normally.

Martin: That’s why we never have one writer for a song. Whoever comes up with the first chords doesn’t matter as the sound really is the main thing and shapes the composition.

How do your other artistic interests influence WE ARE REPLICA?

Nadège: What I like in art and music is the atmosphere and feeling. Therefore I always try to replicate that in my life using music, art as well as fashion to express myself.

Martin: I think what Nadège says about art, fashion and music is true because they’re all part of the same sub culture. I generally find bands with a strong image more interesting than those that don’t care about that. And in our case there is a lot more to come in that respect. No boundaries!

Your stage set-up facing each other while sideways on to the audience is interesting, how did this emerge?

Martin: Our studio is very long and narrow and we had some friends over for our first test gig.

Nadège: … and the only way that they could see both of us was us facing each other. But it also has the same impact as being in a circle which is good for creativity, communication and connection.

Martin: That’s right, but we also like to dress up on stage and hiding two thirds of us behind synthesizers doesn’t help that purpose. But then, even the synths are much better to see for the audience which would definitely matter to me if I was in the crowd.

What synths and keyboards are you each using and what do you like about their functionality?

Martin: For our live rig, we use a Korg Micro-Preset which is our main bass. Then there’s a Korg Monologue and a Korg Volca FM (which is like a DX7) for the leads and a Casiotone MT-100 that we use as an organ. Now we’ve added three Volcas to be sequenced via MIDI, the models are Kick, Sample and Bass at the moment.

Nadège: So we added a laptop to control all of that. This new set-up gives us the possibility to even loop certain sections and extend songs, change the filters and have a chance to improvise and be more in tune with the night’s vibe. Electro avant garde will be a strong new direction for us. Now our set up will give us the opportunity to alternate between our songs and jams.

We can even play little sequences from the Volcas between songs while we change settings on the rest. We now have very little backing tracks left, so in general this set up helps us to play most of it live and not use many backing tracks, even less than before. We are now working on a smaller set-up for gigs abroad so we only need to add MIDI keyboards locally.

Martin: Yes, travel light! In the studio we also use a Yamaha SK10 string synth, a Yamaha DX21, a broken Roland D-10 for very disturbing textures, an old Lowrey organ and a Korg DW but we clearly can’t put all of that on stage.

Nadège: … but maybe one day!

But how much of the recording actually ends up being “in the box” for practical reasons?

Nadège: In the studio it’s mostly drums, like 808 and 909 plug-ins. And we record our own samples by hitting objects to use as drums, noises etc and sample them.

Martin: We also sampled analogue drum sounds from the Casiotone and the Lowrey organ and edit them “in the box”. But 99% of our synths used in recordings are hardware.

From the ‘Emergency EP, ‘1. 2. Free’ plays with the repeat function and the steeped octave dial on the Korg Micro-Preset, was that in blippy homage to OMD’s ‘Messages’ and OUR DAUGHTER’S WEDDING’s ‘Lawnchairs’?

Nadège: By chance, we recorded one night on psychedelics and it just happened. It’s a really good technique.

Martin: I was aware of OMD doing that and I even told Nadège that night but how it came about I can’t remember. Funny enough, we even played this together.

WE ARE REPLICA abbreviated is WAR, do you feel you are fighting sometimes?

Nadège: Yes and we are in a war like time. It’s good to not forget that.

As Europeans living in London, how do you feel about how the city has changed while you have been here, for better or for worse?

Nadège: I feel thankful for where I am. The only thing I can change though is my direct environment. We couldn’t vote in the referendum or in general elections. But… changes are everywhere in the world and there’s more to come.

Martin: London’s changed a bit. But not as badly as the rest of England. We feel welcome here to be honest. Of course rents go up, people get poorer etc. but there’s a stronger sense of community than in many other cities.

On the new singles ‘Angel’ and ‘Parallele Universen’, they respectively feature lyrics in French and German, what inspired you to use your voices in your native tongues?

Martin: They represent where we come from and are a homage to French New Wave and Neue Deutsche Welle. Also we want to introduce more of that in our music in the future. But it’s nothing new as also ‘Non’ on our first EP is in French.

Nadège: I always found that voice is just another instrument. Listen to a song in a different language you don’t understand. It becomes an instrument. I would like to share this experience in my UK project.

Martin: British people are not that used to this. Growing up in Germany, I listened to English, French, Italian and Spanish songs that were in the charts, and I couldn’t understand most of it.

The previous single ‘Africa’ was interesting as it is has emerged as possibly one of your most accessible songs yet?

Martin: It actually sounded like two different songs at the start, I even sung the verses on the demos but Nadège’s vocals and the production magically glued it all together.

‘Create’ was a stand-out song from your earlier live set, how did this track come together?

Nadège: It’s about freedom of expression.

Martin: Nadège’s chorus adds this freedom to my personal journey in the verses. A great tune! Fun to play live.

You chose the song ‘B Baby’ from their your second EP ‘Emergency’ to make a video for, why did you decide on that one?

Martin: We asked Lefteris and Martine who filmed it which one they wanted and they chose that.

The video featured an interesting desolate backdrop, how was the filming and production?

Nadège: Thanks to a friend of ours, we could use an old factory before it was converted. We had a very short time slot to do it, before the builders came.

Martin: And the shots on Thames beach were on the hottest day of the year. I was melting in vinyl trousers!

Are there any more videos or visual presentations planned for the new material?

Nadège: Yes. We’ve got three film makers interested in doing them.

Martin: We need to get stuff sorted with them first and get it going. Finding the right time is always a bit hard. We’re planning videos for all three new singles.

Nadège, during the lockdown, you actually did a remote modelling session, how was that?

Nadège: I had to move the computer around a lot so the photographer on the other end could get different angles and lighting. It’s Pauline by the way, the same person that took the pictures for our current artworks.

Both of you have solo projects in parallel to WE ARE REPLICA, how are these developing?

Martin: MAHADURGA ENSEMBLE was my lockdown project that I posted as a work-in-progress on Soundcloud. I still have to properly release it. It gave me chance to try new things I never did before, sounds, playing techniques, new ways of sequencing etc… I will do more solo work in the future but the next one will again be completely different.

Nadège: My solo projects are using different platforms. Music is part of it as much as still and moving images. I always make sure I keep that going.

So what’s next for WE ARE REPLICA?

Martin: The three singles are part of an album that we’re due to release, along with remixes and the videos we mentioned.

Nadège: Even if it’s a bad time for that, we are looking forward to playing more gigs.

Martin: … especially abroad.

Nadège: We would also like to do more collaborations with artists and musicians as intended on our immersive e-Dada event which we cancelled just before lockdown.

Martin: Indeed. We try not to get sucked into album / tour routines too much but take things project by project.


ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to WE ARE REPLICA

The ‘Parallel Angels’ EP is available as a download direct from https://wearereplica.bandcamp.com/album/parallel-angels

https://wearereplica.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/wearereplica/

https://www.instagram.com/we_are_replica/

https://soundcloud.com/wearereplica/


Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Lefteris Parasyris and Pauline Mongarny
31st July 2020

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