interview with Hegemon
How was the band formed? All members were involved in other musical projects, and wanted to explore a darker and more violent aspect of their personalities that they weren’t able to express in their respective bands. So they decided to gather and form Hegemon.
Can you tell about your band? As we were involved in other bands and didn’t want to be affiliated to these other bands, we decided to hide our identities, so listeners will focus only on Hegemon’s music and not on other subjects… Since the beginning, the line up has evolved (line up changes), but the "Hegemon" entity is still the same.
Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band? We are from France. It’s a classical formation: Drums / vocals / bass / guitars. With additional acoustic guitars and bagpipes.
What was the ambitions of the band when you started? To make the music we felt, in a different way from the music we made in our other projects.
Could you explain your music to someone that haven't heard you? Hegemon plays a kind of Black Metal, in the vein of bands like Emperor, Mayhem or Satyricon at their beginnings, but with a will to not stay confined. We have also some modern influences, and take care of sound and production (not like early raw Black Metal…)
Where was your first gig? Montpellier (France)
Where was the latest gig? Laudun-L’Ardoise (France)
Who writes your songs?/ who writes the music who writes lyrics? Music is written by 2 members: Bass player and guitar player. Lyrics are written by the singer.
Who has the best since of humor in the band? It depends of what kind of humor we talk about…
What's good/bad with the band? It’s good to play live… It’s bad to not play live enough…
What are your songs about? Our songs are about war. Ways that mankind has to eradicate itself are an endless inspiration.
Do you write your own material or mainly covers? We play our own music. But we occasionally played a few covers during live shows: Enslaved "Fenris" / Immortal "Unsilent storms in the north abyss" / Mayhem "Funeral Fog".
Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they? We have recorded 3 albums: "Chaos Supreme" (2000), "By This I Conquer" (2002) and "Contemptus Mundi" (2008). We are currently recording our fourth album for a release in 2015.
How old are you?/What got you started in music? We are between 30 and 40 years old. Passion has got us into music.
At what age did you start playing? We started playing music when we were about 10 / 15 years old.
How old were you guys when you first stood on stage? between 18 / 20 years old…
What year was the band started? 1996
Best/worst gig you've played? Best gig was the Black Metal Is Rising Fest, in 2009 (Paris) / Worst gig was the Black Knight Day Fest (Avignon), in 2004: We were supposed to play at 01:00 am, but due to a poor organization, we played at… 06:00 am. And of course almost everyone in the public had gone home…
Witch band is the best you´ve seen? Hard to pick only one… Recently, we saw Carcass and Behemoth, and both bands were great! But, there are many other good bands…
Is it always the same songs live? Some of our songs are inescapable for us. But we always have to adapt our setlist to new albums or to a set duration.
What are the plans for the rest of the year? To finish our next album and release it…
Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? Mixing old and modern influences allows us to expand and enrich our style.
What's the first step when making a new song? Composing riffs
and melodies with an electric or acoustic guitar…
How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? Do you mean legal or illegal downloading? As far as I am concerned, I rather have a physical support (like CD or vinyl) than a digital file… But I think it’s a good thing that you can find some free music (illegally or not): that helps to discover new bands and even if you never buy an album, maybe you will go to the live show or buy a shirt… There are a lot of ways to support a band!
What would be your dreams for the band? For the moment, we hope to release our next album, and going on tour to support it. Of course, we have some more ambitious dreams, but more difficult to achieve…
Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? Too vast to make a list… Mainly extreme metal, but also other form of metal, progressive rock, movie soundtracks, and many more…
What would be your greatest fears for the future? We fear nothing… Itenou Pedjet !
Have you been in any other bands? Yes, but today Hegemon is our main project.
What would you do if there was no music? Killing people, probably…
How important are your fans? They are important, of course, they send back the reason why we work hard on our music…
What's the funniest/most memorable thing a fan has done for you? Travelled a very long road to see us performing live, and was sick during the show because he has drunk too much… Maybe he heard us a bit from the toilets…
How often do you rehearse? Not at the moment. But we will, as soon as our new album will be released.
Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment? "By This I Conquer" (from the eponymous album) - "Hatred From The Core" (from our next album)
What drives a band that isn't all that famous and renowned to try to make a living on their music and to keep playing? Passion, once more…
Do you have any webpages? Yes, we have: www.hegemon666.net is our official website, but you can also find us on Facebook, Soundcloud, Reverbnation…
Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there? Not really… We let them find their own way…
Describe your show, visually and musically Come to see us to make your own idea…
What are the biggest obstacles for a band? Lack of money…
How would you describe your sound in one sentence Organic
Do you have anything to add? Thanksfor this interview, and for spreading the black flame with us…