“Lying Figures” Interview by David Malone
Hello thanks for taking the time to talk with us here at Metalheads Forever Magazine, it’s a pleasure to speak with you. So, how are things going? Hope all is well. Can we start by telling our readers about the band and how you all came together? What stabilizing factors does the current members of the band bring to the table?
Hi David, the things are pretty good!
Lying Figures is born in 2008 as you said.We have released a first demo in 2013 called ‘From Nowhere to nothing’, then the EP ‘A world of my own ‘, one year later. The stable lineup with Matt & Mehdi to guitars, Thibault on vocals, Charles on drums & Ludo on bass (later replaced by Fred) allowed to play some gigs. We just goes out of studio for the recording of our first full-length album, and no one died. Unexpected, yet pleasant. We just make a deal with Rain Without End Records, so we are exciting about all this.
Sometimes brutal and heavy with an oppressive dynamic but Melodic, is that a fair assessment of your sound?
Quite fair yes. We share common taste for bands like Katatonia or Saturnus , and each one of us brings other musical influences, in metal or other genres, from Testament to Cult of Luna, and taking detour to unusual places like Supertramp or Health.
I read you are inspired by horror movies and thrillers from directors John Carpenter to David Lynch and a beray of others, is this the case? How do you incorporate the horror movies and horror Genre into your music and live show and make it your own?
Yes, horror movies are a strong influence for the aesthetic of Lying Figures. We really like the atmosphere from this kind of movies and the psychological effects on characters. On top of that, this kind of movies have so many references to other genres and medias. It’s very rich and inspirational.
With each songs we make, we aim to create an unique atmosphere. There is no fillers in the upcoming album. If you can imagine a movie while listening to our music, we achieved something.
You are also a fan of Edgar allen Poe, to segway a little here but I would love to know your favorite material written by him?
The fall of house usher is a personal favorite of Mehdi, discovered with Alan Parson.
As for our other literature material, you could find references to Philip k. Dick , Alan Moore, and French philosopher Cioran. Oh, and Dan Simmons.
I understand you love the Silent Hill movie(s)and Video Game, Really out of pure curiousity can you please tell us some other horror films you enjoyed as well ?
As much as we liked Christopher Gans movie, we clearly preferred the video games. It’s like a walk in Lynch’s dreams. We believed that Silent Hill is one of the rare video game that deserved to be called a work of art. We loved Jacob’s Ladder. You might to check french movie Martyr.
Movies like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre by Tobe Hooper also. This movie pours insanity by its visuals and soundtrack, it’s awesome for that. Movies like “In the mouth of madness by Carpenter, very close from the Silent Hill universe, with this distortion of reality through the eyes of someone who can’t deal with guilt.
It’s been said that your sound and live show is described as being a Universe in which Madness and Melancholy are dancing together, can you tell us more about this description?
We don’t go on stage just to play our music. There’s a Spanish word that design the unique atmosphere created by good flamenco players: Duende. It’s note kind of atmosphere we develop on stage, but if, at the end of our gigs, the crowd doubt of the sanity of our singer, we know we created something.
You started touring extensively in 2013, how was this experience for the growth and development of the band? How were you received by the fans on this tour? Were you a opening act or did you headline some gigs as well? Who were some of the bands you played with?
We can’t tell that is a “real tour”, just some gigs here and there since the release of the EP. But we start to cross the France borders and play with very nice bands! Sometime we play as headliner, sometime as a opening, it doesn’t really matter for us. It’s an honor to share stages with great bands like Marche Funebre from Belgium, Goatess from Sweden, Ohhms from UK and more. We learn a lot from this kind of bands.
You are building a nice fan following through hard work and dedication and positive feedback and reception from the fans, Is this important for you as a band to have the support of the fans as you progress? Or is it more about the artistic growth of the band as you move forward? And the growth and maturity of the band?
A mix of all that I suppose. We’re proud to say we never followed any trends, in our approaches to music, aesthetic or communication. Thus, at first, we were having a hard time booking gigs and live show.so yeah, it’s a pleasure to hear praises after shows, to speak with people who weren’t here to see us especially, but tells they were moved by one of our songs. I recall in Belgium, there was this old man who told us that for him , we were playing a mix of my dying bride and arena. That’s fantastic. Or in Switzerland, there was a guy who came at us very seriously, telling us he didn’t like anything we’ve played, except the last one. He bought us a cd just because of one song. Moments like that clearly motivate us to strive, to aim higher.
In 2014 you released your first EP a six track called “A World Of My OWN” Can you walk our readers through the process of writing this album and mixing and mastering and getting it out there to the fans? I hear from a lot of bands this is the least favorite part of creating an album. How do you guys feel about it? How do you feel about inserting new material into a live show ? how does the fans react to your new songs live for the first time?
Actually it was great. Difficult but great. It clearly showed us the unity the band had come to, and our limitations, as individuals and has a band. It was the equivalent of landing on the moon for us. Now, we returned to the studio and we believed the upcoming album is in every aspect the proud successor of ‘A word of my own’. We’ve had the opportunity to play some of the new songs, and we’re pretty glad with the feedbacks we had.
I understand Lying Figures and ludo decided to part ways because of personal issues, can you tell us a little about this? You replaced him with new band mate and bass player Fred from the band Marthyr. How has the hiring of Fred impacted the band moving forward?
Ludo had other priorities at the time,and Lying Figures was moving forward. No hard feelings. Before Marthyr, Fred was the singer of Drowning (death metal) and Inborn Suffering (doom/death), we have already worked together when we bring him to sing on ‘words here are nothing’ (track from the demo). As musicians, we were flattered he envisaged playing with us. He clearly had a distinctive approach of his instrument, that strengthen our individuality as a band. Committed as he is , he clearly is a vital part of Lying Figures.
In closing , What can we look forward to in 2017 and where can we find a Lying Figure show in the coming new year? I would like to thank you once more for taking the time to chat with us, do you have any closing words for your fans and for the readers of our publication? Thanks and all the best in your future endeavors. www.mhf-mag.com
Well, we just recorded our first album recorded by Pierre Schaffner (Phazm, Pillars, Wheelfall, …) The album is signed with Rain Without End Records and is expected to be released in May. We already have some announced gigs to promote this new album in France, Belgium and for the first time in the Netherlands (with Count Raven, Doomed, Officium Triste, …) Hoping to play more often. Thanks for your support!
This is Lying Figures – “The Abstract Escape” Digital Album, and debut album coming in May 2017…
Includes digital pre-order of The abstract escape. You get 1 track now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released. Pre-order only €9.50 EUR! –> https://lyingfigures.bandcamp.com/album/the-abstract-escape
The Abstract Escape, debut album 2017
1 – Hospital of 1000 deaths
2 – Tormented souls
3 – Monologue of a sick brain
4 – The mirror
5 – There was a hole here, it’s gone now
6 – My special place
7 – Remove the black
8 – Zero
David Malone / MHF
