BURNING THE BONES FOR THE GODS

First question in order to catch immediately the thematic: 3 songs of the upcoming debut album are so extremely involving and addictive.  in one word, so cool!  and i' m referring to “Pandora”, “All Flesh  and Smoke”  and “Ego”, the pearls among  good songs (maybe  with the exception of one, but this is actually  disputable ....)

3 songs? I thought the eleven songs were perfect (laughs). Thanks for your compliments. ‘All Flesh…’ is definitely the best song we wrote. We did a video out of it, as we though this song was perfect to promote the album… ‘Pandora’ is a song that is rather different than what we did with the rest of the album. Darker, more atmosphere-oriented. Ludo, from France’s Supuration is singing the chorus and he did a wonderful job! As for ‘Ego’, I would not have chosen it as one of the best songs of the album. For us, The Eye and Chemical are even more crushing and effective song. But everyone will make his own opinion.

And now let's go on in a more classic way :D! salut Dave! comment vas-tu? as vocalist frontman and lyrics- writer of the  Swiss combo Xicon (www.xicon.info    www.myspace.com/xiconmusic) you are the best person to introduce our readers to your band. recently Xicon have added a new guitarist to the line up, right?

We started about ten years ago under the moniker NIGHTSHADE; the band was founded by Tom (programming plus guitars; but now our drummer), Al (Bass) and me (vox). A few years later, Vince joined us. As our music style as well as our line-up evolved (Tom our ex-guitarist took back the drums), we decided to dissolve NIGHTSHADE and start again with another project. Thus XICON was born. We recorded the album, ‘Theogony’, and then we auditioned several guitarists as we wanted to have two live guitars, for a maximum musical and visual impact and with the arrival of Fab, in this role, you have our present line-up.

Dave, you have written all lyrics for “Theogony”, while music was composed by Tom and Vince. in which  measure Tom, in which one Vince? How works the  creative cooperation among  you three? in your opinion, are 2 (or 3) composers better than one, or, on the contrary, more composers open up too many styles for a band?

Tom as a founder member is logically the guy who composes the most. I guess we could say that Tom is responsible for 2/3 of the music and Vince of the rest. This time we tried to work differently than almost every band does… I came with basics for the concept of the album (which is a kind of modern rewriting of the promethean myth), describing what feeling of atmosphere I wanted for each song, then Tom and Vince composed the music accordingly to this plan, and then I wrote the lyrics to fit on their music. I think at least 2 composers is a really good way to work. It helps a lot to have an external eye to what your are composing. Fab, the new guy, will definitely be part of the writing process next time. The more ideas you get, the easier is the album to compose.

Oh by the way...why this moniker "Xicon"? does it refer to the capacitors only ? or does it hide a second meaning too:  if X is the unknown god , could it mean icon of god? or does it mean psicon ?

Ahah! Interesting propositions. I’ll keep them in mind for further interviews. Hehehe. But we didn’t look so far as that. We liked the sound of the word ‘Icon’ but we felt it incomplete so we added an ‘X’. And there it is… We like this name because it doesn’t carry a particular meaning in term of music genre. When you read the name Verbal Evisceration (hope it doesn’t exist) you know this will be grind-death or something like that. It’s not the case with ‘Xicon’ which is kinda open-minded name…

Only few days remaining till the debut album release (on this October 13 in Switzerland) . what are your expectations concerning "Theogony" and how are you experiencing these last hours before the event?

It’s a great rush for us because we have currently lots of work. Tom is finishing the new website, we try to book a maximum of live events before the end of 2006, we’re trying actively to find a booking agency... We also work actively for the promotion, doing of inties, trying to get coverage in the press. We are also levelling the field for an international release, which will hopefully occur beginning of 2007. We are really impatient to receive people’s reactions about ‘Theogony’… As you see, no time for us to get bored!

Will there be a release concert party? what have you organized? i see a quite tight list of concerts for October/December 2006…!

We have a release party in Lausanne on October the 12^th. No live but a listening party and huge beer session for everybody. We also have a release show on the Friday 13^th (hehe evil, no?) in St-Maurice, my hometown. This is a small venue but it’ll be lots of fun playing in front of our friends and families… Next week (October 21st) we’re also doing a nice festival in France, in Loisin, not far from Geneva. Go and have a look at our myspace page (www.myspace.com/xiconmusic )

How would you define Xicon's musical genre? i personally dare to say a melodic death mixed with just very discrete electro/industrial and a small trace of hardcore...

I kinda agree with the part on indus. But not at all with the death metal part. I don’t think my voice sounds like death metal. But on the other hand we have been compared to In Flames several times. So maybe you are right. I don’t know. I don’t take it as an insult… Anyway, we don’t really care about labelling the music we play. Listen to it and just make yourself your own opinion.

Is Theogony a concept album?

Yeah exactly. As I said, this is a kind of re-writing of the Promethean myth. Every song is a chapter of the myth (‘Protoplaston’ is about the creation of man, ‘All Flesh and Smoke’ about Prometheus’ first sacrifice to Zeus, ‘Spit’ about Zeus vengeance on men, depriving them of fire, etc.). But each song is also the occasion to ask questions about very up-to-date topics: such as genetically manipulating human beings (Protoplaston), or death penalty (Wastelands). Some other songs (Spit, Pandora, Ego) are based on personal experiences and talk about several fuckers I met… The topics are varied but they’re all somewhat linked by the will to replace a three thousand years old myth in our everyday environment.

Back to “All Flesh and Smoke”, the second track of the album. it has been remixed by Ayrton Felkhor. this remix, as track number 11, closes the album and enhances the song itself, making it darker and impressive. in this case a  more extended use of electronic- layers has added  force and pressure challenging  common opinions and clichés. although the original version has the fascination of row rocking metal…how did this beautiful remix came to mind and life?

Ayrton was working for us as a live sound engineer. And he’s also a big fan of the band. He came to see us in rehearsal to hear the new songs and immediately pointed out ‘All Flesh’ saying he wanted to remix it. We agreed, of course, as we wanted a bonus track for the album. And their it is. A great job he did, I think.

“Protoplaston” is the opener of this noticeable album , it is the only song i have perplexities with, the atmospheric, melodic,  a bit synthetic key intro is delicious and unleashes  the pounding row song in which guitars explode in a capturing verse, ok, but the thing i miss is an adequate refrain....

Funny, we think the refrain is actually cool. (laughs). This is absolutely a song to hear live. Anyway we tried to do a very varied album. So if you don’t like one song, you’ll enjoy the following… This was one of the first song we wrote so perhaps it doesn’t represent the experience we acquired during the rest of the writing process…

It follows then the  original version of “All Flesh  and Smoke”  that  could be envied by giant bands. but apart from that,  i think  your lyrics are very interesting. is it a representative of “the word of god” speaking in first person,   that defines itself also  "flesh  and smoke"???

In the concept, the song tells the story of the very first sacrifice, offered by Prometheus to Zeus. Prometheus hid the good parts (flesh) under the guts and the bones under a very nice-looking layer of grease (which proves the Greek are really strange people if they want to eat that). And Zeus chose the nice looking part but found only the bones in it… This explains why the Ancient Greek people sacrificed to gods, keeping the FLESH to themselves and burning the bones (SMOKE) for the Gods. Now, when writing the lyrics, I asked myself, what is the actual sacrifice offered by the church nowadays and I thought of religious wars. The flesh sacrificed today are the soldiers that die for a religious idea and the smoke are the priests and imams, the ones you never catch, the part of Gods, the smoke…

Lyrics of certain branches of metal are extremely deep and cultured, you almost need 3 or 4 uni degrees ( :D!!)  in order to appreciate them all ( without telling understanding!!) . seriously! from  what comes out all this cultural treasure in Metal and what is its target? In your opinion are all fans truly aware of what vocalists sing? and what  about those who don’t know Metal at all and superficially label it as just demoniac noise?

I guess that as in all music genres, all people are not interested in the lyrics. Most like to listen to the music, that’s all. Even in XICON, all members are not interested in the lyrics to a same degree (Tom seems to think my lyrics are too complicated for example, ;-D). But I think a lot of metalheads want to be totally involved in the music they love; there is a kind of loyalty in this very scene. And being involved implies reading the lyrics, understanding them and reading stuff related, etc. That’s what I have been doing for the past 15 years I’ve been a metal fan, anyway. And for the poor little fuckers who think metal is, as you say demonic noise, well fuck off and go listen to some stupid crap such as Britney Spears, with inventive lyrics, such as ‘Move your body’! Hehehe. And by the way I have 3 uni degrees. Perhaps this is why I cannot write lyrics as simple and straightforward as ‘Move your body’. (laughs)

The track “Spit” has groovy  mighty guitar riffs and  beautiful  harmonic lead passages set a bit in background  if compared with ryhtmics and with  the almost blasting drums. Spit is a killer , banging  and moshing ambassador. will Xicon propose it live?

We’ll see, depending on the audience. We’ll have to judge the audience reaction to it during the first shows. But I guess we will continue to play it live, though it is not the easiest song to play and sing live…

Related to this,  which songs will be surely  included in Xicon’s setlist of the next concerts? how will Xicon  propose the electronic part?

Unfortunately for you Protoplaston will… (laughs). Almost all the songs of the album will be played, but once again if the audience in the first venues seem to dislike a song, we’ll stop playing it. We’ll do one or two covers as well and some songs from the Nightshade’s era. As for the electro part, Tom will be piloting a hard drive on which all the programmed parts are recorded.

Xicon is a band coming from Geneva, from the French  zone of Switzerland,  right? i am  slowly coming to the conclusion that bands coming “French” -speaking zones  are able to play extremely well  and to put on the table a powerful metal with some refined qualities. So why “French” metal has  still to compete so hard?

German part has a lot of structures to support bands… And it’s not necessarily the case with the French part of Switz. But be sure we’ll try to change that soon.

Please,  the honour to describe  further the song “Ego” is all yours. I just begin telling that, in my opinion, is  a killer mid tempo with groovy melodic death appeal, intense and powerful riffs alternated with an immediate attractive  melodic  composition.

This is a good example of what we wanted to do with this album: experiment and not to do too a compact album, with the same sound from the first note to the last. With ‘Ego’, we tried to make a rocking tune, something lighter than the rest of the disc. Although the lyrics are, in my opinion the darker ones off the album (being based on rather sad personal experiences), the song is not depressing at all, it’s a kind of calm before the storm.

”Pandora” now. what i have said for Ego, could be valid for Pandora too. arpeggios and melody alternate and/or balance blasting drumming kicks, but what has captured my attention is that I noticed how these  near words  at the end of a strophe and a the very begin of the following one, bound together in the song

 “(one by one they creep and) crawl

see the flies (dripping on her skin)” can sound, at a superficial listening,  as "crucify".....

Hahaha! Great! I didn’t intend to do that… Guess it’s a kind of subliminal verse by Ludo from Supuration, who’s singing the chorus… Hope American people wont’ try to crucify themselves, listening to the song, (laughs)

Hypothetically, if you were gifted with the Pandora box, would you ever open it? maybe it's not so dangerous....is it?

I would like to say I won’t but actually I would do it. Everybody has experienced that before. Things like falling in love, acting dangerously just for fun, acting out of revenge or jealousy… Knowing that doing a thing will cause you grief and pain but doing it anyway is the only way for man to grow and become more mature.

Which is your true nightmare, the Pandora box you actually fear?

It’s a kind of anti-love song, you know, beginning as a stupid poem written by a teenager and then you discover the reality behind the thing or person you yearned for and you see that it’s not beautiful at all, as it is covered with insects and everything. The topic is rather dark and once again it was inspired by personal experiences but I think that this is finally a rather funny song, I’m making fun of myself in this one and I’m blowing up a lot of love clichés in it... I like those lyrics a lot.

"fear , anger, plague and death

and hope is forever trapped in the box"

how would you call a place without fear, anger, plague and death?...Eden?

Depends on your religious beliefs… But I guess such a place would be rather boring: no metal as their would be nothing to inspire the lyrics. This would kinda look like hell actually (laughs)

Studio!  recording, mixing, mastering: all those things, which are very important if not  totally vital in order to make the difference . Xicon  has worked with Mr. Patrick Aeby (Krokus drummer Rock the Block/Fire & Gasoline era) who  produced  (together with Dominique Favez), recorded  (with Dom Favez and Alex Aellen) and  mixed (with Dom Favez) Theogony at Soundlake Studios in Lausanne. Theogony was then mastered by Christoph Stickel  in München at MSM Studio.  how was this experience and technically?

Hard but great. Hard because these guys are great musicians and we are not. We learned so much from them. You know, you come to the studio with what you think is a killer song and Pat tells you that it’s absolute crap and that you have to change it… It helps keeping your ego not too high. It helped improve the songs. And recording close to home allowed us to work for a longer period than if we had done this in a foreign country. It was also great because Pat believed in XICON right from the start and wanted to work with us. It showed us we hadn’t been completely wrong for the previous years.

Which where the bright sides  concerning this whole production? on the other hand, are there  any details you would enhance in future?

For the bright sides, this was our first experience in such a studio. We have learnt a lot from it; we’ve improved as musicians. We discovered our limits to be able to push them back a little further. We also had a lot of fun with Pat who has a strange kind of humour that I actually like a lot. The enhancement will be in majority involving the arrangements and we also had to work a lot after the studio to improve as musicians to be able to play our songs live. And we still work harder than ever.

Endorsement. which instruments do your band mates play?

We don’t have any endorsement right now but we’ll see in the future if we can get any…

And concerning you, Dave, how do you practice your voice, that  although  singing in (semi) clear  sounds so rasping  and deep.

I’ve been singing in metal bands for almost a decade, so my voice evolved a lot. I don’t have any particular recipe; just rehearse as often as possible. Tom as also some influence on it as he’s often reminding me that we are not a black or death metal band, so I’m forced to try other thing than just screams…

Influences - in Xicon's songs there are clearly echoes of precise influences. nonetheless everything is personally interpreted. as listener, you have no sooner  found a similitude than  you  have already lost it, and actually who cares with such  cool songs?

Thanks :-) We tried to move away as far as we could from our influences, trying to create something personal. Have we achieved it? I’ll let the listener just of it. But be sure that we will come up with something even more personal next time, as now, we think we have found the way we want to go… But to name some influences, I guess that Clawfinger and Rammstein fans will find their fill with ‘Theogony’

Will Xicon play in the German part of Switzerland and abroad soon? would Xicon like to be known in America?

For the German part of Switz, we’re definitely trying to play their! You have such great venues their. And your audience are absolutely better than that of the French part. So if someone reads this in your region and wants to book us, don’t hesitate and contact us!

As for the America, why not? This is a huge market but such a versatile one. You can be star one day and the next you’re the total loser. And few are the European bands that can gain a certain notoriety there…

Which recommendations would you give to young guys who decide to found a band?

You have to dream… Somewhat be sure that you can attain your goals because if you don’t you will never leave your rehearsal room. And work, work, work! Don’t be afraid to give a lot of time, energy and money for your passion.

And now please, feel free to  get your space ;) for a message to metalheads.

First, thanks to you Dalia, for this interview, which is by far the most interesting I ever did. Many thanks for spending time reading my lyrics! To the metalheads: you rule: come and see us live and if you do, come and talk to us, and above all, offer us a beer (or many beers!). See you soon on the road!

Here we are arrived! last GM question is the  Game. in particular the Game of the bloody Tower, reserved to the bands we interview for the first time. 3 bands are waiting  for you  on the edge of the high cursed Tower. you have to kick 2 of them down from the Tower,  saving only one...

the three bands for you, Dave, are  IN FLAMES, KATATONIA, GOJIRA …

I answer for myself but I know some of my bandmates would chose differently. For me it’s definitely KATATONIA! Great, great band! It seems they are not able to do something that sucks!!

Thanks so much Dave for your time! And be(a)st wishes for all your upcoming projects. i hope to see  Xicon live soon!