interview with Ordoxe
Have any of you played in other bands? I mainly played in Slaotvean-Strigampire, Steve in Strigampire-Hopeless Nation-Outlying-Messe Noire, J-D Bergeron in Slaotvean-Evil Wrath-Haeres-Messe Noire and Samuel in Horfixion-Strigampire.
How is it that you started playing music? As most of the musicians, we started playing music during high school and we all had small bands.
What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you?
Actual line-up is:
Steve De Cotret - Vocals
JF Jalbert - Lead Guitars, Vocals
Samuel Landry - Guitars
J-D Bergeron - Bass
Christian Savoie - Drums
We’re aged between 28 and 38.
Have you had other previous members? Yannick Laplante played drums on “May Death Is My Shepherd” album.
Where are you from? We’re from what we call the center of Quebec’s province, eastern part of Canada.
What year did the band form? ORDOXE is born in 1989 as one of my first bands. After several line up changes, I decided to switch the band’s name to Slaotvean. Later in 2006, as a studio side project, I recorded “Sorrick Ked Tho” and I used back the ORDOXE name again.
What's your style of genre? In the beginning we were playing raw black metal but things have changed a bit. We have several thrash and melodic influences, which mixed together gives the sound we have.
What inspires you? When I used to write the lyrics, I was mainly writing about history, astronomy, evolution, religious things...Since Steve took the microphone for the “May Death Be My Shepherd” album, he and Samuel wrote the lyrics base on the same subjet with a more personal and introspective point of view.
How often and where do you reherse? Most of the time, it’s once a week but during summer we put the band on hold. We use to reherse a lot during Autumn, record during Winter and tour in Springs.
How have you developed since you started with the music? ORDOXE really came a band in 2012. I hired J-D, Steve and Samuel to recorded “NIHIL”. Quickly we started promo then we toured Quebec, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay in 2013. The “BEYOND MAKIND” just came after in 2014. Right after the recording, we released videos for “À travers ses yeux” and “Comes forth the night”. We played a lot around in Canada but we did not tour outside the country. In March 2015 came “MAY DEATH BE MY SHEPHERD”. Again we decided to produce a video, “God doesn’t care”. Again we are playing around as headliners to promote our latest album, as support for touring bands and in some festival.
Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? We are doing the booking. If an interesting offer comes form an Booking Agency, maybe we could be interested.
Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? Actually we’re on GALY RECORDS and I guess it will be so for at least the next year. Previously, we were on HYMNES D’ANTAN.
Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? I do write the music, record demos, write parts then share with the band. Steve and Samuel are now writing the lyrics.
Do you start with the music or the lyrics? Music. We get inspired by the vibe of the song to write the lyrics.
What language do you sing in? English and French. We also use Spanish in the past as a “cheers” to our south american fans.
Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? Usually we have one playlist for all our show but we always have to adapt it by adding or removing songs to fit with the playtime allowed. We use to play newest songs with at least one of each previous albums.
What was your first gig like? Was great! We use to know a lot of people around here due to the fact that we all played in other bands previously.
What was your latest gig? We opened for SETH from France in Quebec city. Now we’re preparing ouselves for the Grind Your Mind Open Air 7 this week-end and to open for Insomnuim and Omnium Gatherum later in September in Quebec City.
Have you had to cancel a gig? Never, we always played all our gigs. Last tour, Yannick choked the band the day before a gig. Since, Steve took his place on the drum set for us to finish the tour. Steve was previously playing drums for our other albums so we’ve been lucky to have this safety option. We now have a new drummer, but this news is still not official! It always have been is something really clear in the band: if someone cannot play, we play anyway. The band is the main priority of everyone and we’re serious enough to be always available to play.
Where have you played live this year? Montreal, Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Toronto, Rimouski, Matane, Notre-Dame, Jonquière.
Where do you plan to gig the comming year? No gig are scheduled after Septembre but we have dates on stand by. We’ll focus on recording new songs and to prepare a live recording, maybe to shoot another video.
When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? We have merch since the band exist. Cds, tape, shirts, beenies,caps, pins, posters, patch, girlie and even girl panties!
What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? I think we can’t fight against it so we have to use it as promotion. When we have a new album out, we stream it for free for a while. We think that if people have interest in our stuff, they will support and come see us play. If they like they will buy merch to help us though our journey.
How do you think the music industry have changed because of this? I believe that as musicians, we have to do what the fuck we want to do because we enjoy it, not for the business. Business will come if someone have plans for you. I don’t really have hopes towards the music industry.
What do you think of my work? I think it’s cool of you to search underground bands and share their stuff with your followers. I was already following your page and read some of your interviews in the past.
How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? We’re always ready to talk and share with peoples who are interested in our work. I don’t really think that this could help us in the music industry but maybe some peoples will discover us, which I hope.
Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? I don’t really get inspired by music but if so, it’s not by new stuff. I prefer to simply follow my ideas and compose what I feel at the moment.
How do you get psyched for a gig? Beers and cocaine! Hahahaha! Nah, we try to have a place to warm up together, to be cranked and ready to play when the time comes.
What are your web sites? We are on Facebook, bandcamp, bigcartel and we have a Youtube channel.
How can people reach you? [email protected] is the best way to reach us for serious matter. However, you can send us a message on Facebook. You should have feedback few minutes later!
What are your plans for the future? Apart the recording of new songs, we don’t really have plans for the future at this time. Of coarse we will like to tour overseas again.
Do you have something to add? Well, thank you for this interview and for the interest in ORDOXE. We hope to be able to tour Europe and Scandinavia one day! Cheers from Canada \m/
