Hypnagone an exclusive interview and release of their new album Qu'il Passe

1- Hello and welcome to Metal Music Midwest, first off, thanks for taking the time to do the interview, could you give our readers a brief description of the group? Where is the band from?

The band is a gathering of friends, formerly students of Nancy’s M.A.I, then joined by the bassist’s cousin, Adrien, now singer of the band. We were in the middle of our musical studies when we started working on the first songs of Hypnagone.

2- "Qu'il Passe" is the band's debut album, how long did it take to write?

Let’s say three of four years ; and besides, the recording of the album had taken quite a long time (we recorded the album twice, due to some technical problems), almost one full year, during which we continued to change some parts and other things in the songs. So, at the end of the day, let’s say 4 years.

3- What musical influence inspires the bands compositions?

I think, on top of classical stuff like Metallica, Periphery, Gojira, Fear Factory, Tool etc., the particular albums that inspired our first album were Ocean Machine of Devin Townsend, City of Strapping young lad, Endtroducing of DJ Shadow, the work of Vangelis on Blade Runner (probably quite obvious for those who listened to the album), and Triptykon’s Melana Chasmata.

4- Can you tells us how the band was born?

At the beginning it was Antoine, the bassist, that started to compose and to think about the band. Then, we met in 2017 and I quickly joined him. Jackou, the drummer, close friend since the M.A.I, was playing at that time with Dust in Mind and finally joined us in 2019. Adri, the singer, joined us the very moment we were ready to record, in 2020. He composed the singing parts in approximately 6 months. That’s why he was nicknamed “the chest”.

5- The upcoming album title is "Qu'il Passe", can you give us details about the contentand more in depth meaning to this title?

About the title, that’s a good question. First, the album is composed of 8 “normal” songs, with the full band playing, including some  “ballad”, atmospheres and some truly more “hard” moments. The three songs left are “ambient” stuff. I guess with this album we needed to express something ranging from “sad” feelings to “enraged” thoughts. It is not necessarily obvious even for us what this album is all about, because you’re generally more conditioned by your inspirations than your first intentions, if you see what I mean.

 Subsequent to which the name “Qu’il passe” is pretty enigmatic even for us, and has no particular link to the topics of the album (which are overall loneliness, sadness and their other half, anger, sometimes leading to madness). Antoine found the title, while we were together searching for the perfect name, and it just seemed obvious to us, even though we still don’t know why. Maybe one day someone will tell us what it means according to them, and we’ll have the answer we were searching for all along !

6- Each member of this project is part of another band, how do you maintain agood balance working together?

We insult each other, it makes things more relaxed. But more seriously, we are very close friends, so we have a good understanding of ourselves, working and hanging out together for so many years ;  thus the balance is pretty natural, and that’s why I don’t know how we maintain it. It just is, and we never have to worry about it.

7- Have you performed any shows in your area? if so, how receptive and supportive are the people to your music?

We haven’t for now. Shows will begin after the release of ‘’Qu’il Passe’’. Nevertheless, Jackou and I, when playing with Dust in Mind, did a lot of shows in our area, and Antoine still does with his band Death Whore, so we know the crowd here, and it will be interesting to see how they react to the first show : we already know them, so we’ll easily see if people like or hate our songs and performance ! In that perspective, it is all at once challenging and daunting. We are looking forward to the first shows !

8- Are there any upcoming shows or tours you can tell us about?

Everything will be revealed in due time, but good news can be expected.

9- Thanks for your participation, finally, what is the best way to get a hold of the band, in case someone wants to book or promote the band? Any final words?

No particular final words, just want to thank my friends of Hypnagone, all the people that worked with us, and especially those that will read this interview and listen to our music : now, our songs are yours !

Thank you for your questions.