A colossal project surfaces from the restless creative mind of Gabriel Bergman Lahovary. Known for his earlier engagement with HEART ON MY SLEEVE, Gabriel has orchestrated EPHEMERA, a mammoth compilation distinguished by its intricate collaborative essence and sweeping musical expanses. This exciting sequel to an already monumental project, titled EPHEMERA Part II, celebrates its launch today with the premiere of its first song, “Quattro Stagioni,” each track to be accompanied by a special multi-arist interview with its contributing members. Please be sure to check it out further down below.
This year’s EPHEMERA compilation is a symphony of diversity, encompassing a total of 56 members from around the globe, contributing to a series of songs that push the boundaries of screamo and post-hardcore.
The first track, “Quattro Stagioni,” is a melting pot of artistic expression, featuring Antoine Mansion of CHALK HANDS on guitar, Gabriel himself from HEART ON MY SLEEVE/Okänt on guitar, Azael Gonzaléz of JOLIETTE on drums, Tomas Brisman and Arvid Ringborg from VI SOM ÄLSKADE VARANDRA SÅ MYCKET on bass and vocals respectively, Alexandre Foulon of LORET IPSUM on violin, Logan Rivera of GILLIAN CARTER on vocals, Alexis Johk of GROS ENFANT MORT, and Luca Zamagna of MARCOVALDO also lending their voices.
Reflecting on the expansive journey of EPHEMERA, Gabriel shares, “This has been a journey in so many ways. As for the songs, I came up with different ideas all the time. The first song has four different languages and a violin. The second one has two drummers, a violin and a trumpet. The third song is the only song where I play guitar myself but it has two bass players and digital drums. The fourth song is almost 11 minutes and has three guitarists. The fifth song only has female screamers/singers. The last song included 16 singers! As you can understand, the conversations and the number of threads on Facebook that I am part of are endless. I could write a book about this project but I will try to keep it short for now.”
The germination of EPHEMERA dates back to a flash of inspiration in 2015. For those eager to delve deeper into the origins and inspirations behind this unique compilation, continue scrolling beyond the interview.
Below, both in the interview and further below, you will find an eloquent recount from Gabriel himself, detailing the rich history that shaped this project.
“Quattro Stagioni” lyrics:
Den tid som går, den läker sår
Från sommar till höst, från vinter till vår
Var vi än vänder och var vi än går
Ju mer vi lär oss, desto mer vi förstår
Allt som är sagt, lämnar ett spår
Över vänner som lämnat, jag fäller en tår
Kroppen börjar huttra.
Andning och puls ökar.
Jag blir alltmer apatisk.
Förlorar hjärtslag och min röst.
Det jag misstog för din värme.
Det jag misstog för din kärlek.
Det sista som jag kände.
Innan kylan svalde mig.
Mitt omdöme blir grumligt.
Jag blir mer och mer förvirrad.
Jag kan inte längre andas.
Mitt hjärta slutar slå.
Et le soleil reste immobile.
Det jag misstog för en vänskap.
Ord jag misstog som en sanning.
Det sista som jag hörde.
Innan du förminska mig.
Awakening Chaos in this Springtime Haze
The Blossoms Mock my Failures, Their Beauty intact.
Life’s vibrant mask, a mockery of truth
Days turn into Ashes, Hope Wilting with Disdain
Salsedine, brucia più il sole del sale? Che stare soli? Uno gira attorno alla terra, il resto
immobile..
Et le soleil reste immobile.
Kylan och mörkret förstör dig,
snälla ge inte upp.
Under snön, bortom vintern, finns något annat,
jag väntar där på dig.
On regarde passer les jours,
Les derniers déserteurs du ciel,
Le fil de nos vies mornes,
Toutes les promesses de renouveau
Rattrapées par le vent.
On regarde ternir les heures,
La terre céder à la couleur du feu,
De la mort tranquille.
L’estate il nostro inverno a maniche corte, tagliate o strappate? Precise o imperfette? Come noi
siamo. Lontani dalla riva, e da chi ci derideva. Noi siamo.
In This Desolate Time
On regarde sombrer le ciel, la désolation.
Kroppen börjar huttra.
Andning och pulsen ökar.
Jag blir alltmer apatisk.
Förlorar hjärtslag och min röst.
Mitt omdöme blir grumligt.
Jag blir mer och mer förvirrad.
Jag kan inte längre andas.
Mitt hjärta slutar slå.
The “Quattro Stagioni” interview:
How did the concept of “Quattro Stagioni” come to life, and what inspired its unique blend of languages and themes?
Arvid: I was the first vocalist to do my part and since there were four singers I thought it would be a good idea to have a concept that allowed four different stories, but with a unifying theme.
Quattro Stagioni means Four Seasons and we decided that each vocalist got to dissect one in any way they wanted, it is also a pizza (at least in Sweden) so that’s fun. I quickly picked winter and my part is about freezing to death as a metaphor for losing a connection to someone. My daughter is way into Frozen, so maybe that oddly inspired me. Then all the other seasons were up for grabs.
People could choose whatever language and I think everyone chose their native tongue.
Logan: I believe it was Gabriel’s idea. I came in late. Alexis of Gros Enfant Mort got me on board. He asked me if I’d like to be apart of the project while our bands were on tour together last summer.
Azael: Around a year ago I got a message from Gabriel inviting me to a really interesting project: a super group where none of the musicians know each other and kilometers away from each other. I believe when I started recording the song (I’m playing drums) we were still discovering the identity of the song. I feel that the different contexts in which all of us grew up and live helped develop and build the song as it is now
Can you delve into the emotional and narrative journey of “Quattro Stagioni”? How do the seasons symbolize the transitions and emotions in the song?
Arvid: Since I was the first one to go I kind of just did my thing and let everyone else do their thing. I think different seasons come with different emotions, especially in Sweden where winter is eternal darknes and in summer the day never dies.
Alexis Johk: The season I chose was the fall. Through the metaphore of migrating birds I try to evoque all the people forced to leave their home due to wars or climate change, without knowing what their future will look like. The concept of the song was perfect to talk about important subjects without sounding too first degree.
Logan: The song is about the 4 seasons & I was given spring to write about so I wrote about what it would feel like to die on the most beautiful day of spring.
Azael: As I mentioned in the last question. The song when it was in the first steps was just an idea. As all of us started working around the song, I believe the identity of the song bloomed and it was clearer for Gabriel to justify this whole magic created between all of the musicians involved and named it “Quattro Stagioni”.
It’s the mix of all the different perspectives all of the involved have.
With such a diverse group of artists in this great opener, how did this collaboration come about? Was it a spontaneous gathering or a meticulously planned project?
Arvid: I think I am one of the few except for Gabriel that came back to this ephemeral project. In a way maybe I even kickstarted it. Me and Gabriel met when Envy played in Stockholm and I suggested we would do it again and then he wrote the songs and orchestrated all the collaborations.
Then I was just a passenger and he was in the drivers seat. I know he struggled to put it together, but from struggle comes beauty. I am really happy with everyone who got on board and added their flair to the project.
A lot of people we either shared the stage with or label, so it’s cool to be a part of the international community. Hopefully this project can help people discover new bands and fall in love with their work.
Gabriel: Like Arvid said, we met at an Envy concert in Sweden in winter 2022 and he asked me if I wanted to do this Ephemera thing again. I thought, okay but I’ll just do one song. So I wrote this song thinking it’d be the only one I’d release.
At first, it was about 10 minutes long, but after sending it to Arvid, he said “I think you should do more than one”. I then changed my mind and ended up taking my favorite parts and cut it down to half the length. In the end, I think it was the best thing to do for the song.
After writing this song, I felt like I wanted to make this Ephemera release 10 times bigger than the last. From 12 members, this new release now has 56 members on just 6 songs. This time, Arvid was the person who pushed me to do it again and I myself was the ”doer”. One of the first things I did was ask Antoine (who is one of my favorite guitarists in the screamo genre). We’ve known each other for years because my old band Okänt released a split with Chalk Hands.
Then Arvid told me about an insane drummer called Azael (from Joliette). And wow, what a drummer! He recorded the whole song in one take with all the tempo changes and also recorded a video clip of that take and sent it to me.
This project has been so fun and a lesson in so many ways. It was as fun as it was a struggle at times.
In the end, I don’t know how many people I ended up getting in touch with, or how many people I talked to and to be honest, sometimes I felt like I didn’t have the energy to finish this but at the same time, I knew that I just had to persevere because I knew how unique and cool it could be.
I found so many new great bands and made new friends and I’m so happy how this song ended up sounding. I can talk about all the wonderful members and my feelings forever, but I’ll keep that long book for myself.
Antonie: Gabriel was the mastermind behind it all! I’ve known him for years because our respective bands released a split together in 2018 and we’ve been good friends ever since (even though we’ve never met in real life, hopefully one day). I was super happy when he asked to be part of this!
We talked a lot about how we thought the song should be constructed and I’m so happy with the final result! One of the beautiful things about the DIY punk/screamo scene is that it’s a very small one and one of the things that happened since I recorded this song is that last year in London, when my band Chalk Hands ended up playing with Joliette, I met their drummer Azael (who plays on this song with me) and his first words to me were “we’ve never met but we’re in the same band” (talking about Ephemera) and it was such a lovely way to become friends.
So it’s not only great that so many amazing artists get to collaborate, it’s obviously a crazy and beautiful thing, but also on a personal level, it’s been really super nice. So thanks Gabriel!
Alexis Johk: At first Gabriel contacted me for tracking another song of the album on drums, so that’s what I did and the process was very interesting. Last summer he asked me if I wanted to do some vocals too on Quattro Stagioni and we were on tour with Gillian Carter at that time, so we thought adding Logan to the singers was a great idea.
Logan: I believe it was meticulously planned. Once again I came in very late to the project.
Tomas: I got the drum parts and guitar parts on file. I tried to listen in where the drummer emphathized the melodi to create a joint base+drum dynamics. I also tried to build the “song” as much as possible while also adding to creativity here and there to make it feel more alive. This is totally Gabriels vision and I´ve just been fortunate to join and tried to help out creating something exciting
The song features four vocalists. How did you manage the creative process and responsibilities among yourselves? Did each artist contribute to the lyrics?
Arvid: We were never in the same room and some of us don’t really know each other, so Gabriel put together a group where we talked about the song. I think a collaboration works best when there is a common direction, but a lot of individual freedom.
Gabriel: Just like last time, I created a Facebook group chat so all the singers could communicate and exchange ideas. I gave everyone some guidelines on how the files needed to be exported and sent some technical details.
I also suggested that it might be a good idea to talk about a common theme for the song first, before starting with the lyrics. Arvid was faster than the wind and got the idea of “four seasons”. I picked these singers because I love the bands they’re in and thought that it could be cool to have 4 different languages singing about the same theme.
And yeah, I think it ended up being really fucking amazing, what do you say Karol?
Oh man, you have no idea! I’m blessed to be a part of this project, too!
Logan: We each contributed to the lyrics & were given different sections to sing on. When it came time for my part I wrote down my lyrics & recorded the vocals in my house & sent them off. It’s awesome hearing everyone’s parts together. It’s super rad that you have different languages on one song.
The violin in “Quattro Stagioni” sets a distinct tone for the album. Alexandre, how did you approach integrating your violin into this mix of sounds and emotions?
Alexandre: Well, I was inspired by the music that I make with my group “Lorem Ipsum” because basically, I come from classical music. I listened to the tracks several times to get in the mood for the title, I improvised and finally decided to follow the melody played by the guitar.
I wanted a discreet intervention that supports the whole rather than an overly present melodic line that takes up too much space. I think that wasn’t the original idea, at least that’s how I felt.
Looking ahead, what plans do you have for your primary projects this year? Are there any upcoming tours, albums, or collaborations that fans should be excited about?
Arvid: Vi som älskade varandra så mycket is a slow moving beast. This year marks the ten year anniversary of our first LP and five years since our last effort, so it would be natural for our third.
We have started writing, but it is very unlikely a full record would see the light of day 2024.
We have a few shows lined up, the soonest with our Danish friends in Vægtløs. We hope to start recording this year, but we will see. I have done some guest vocals on records that should come out this year, the first one being Our future is an absolute shadow, who recently released their new record.
Expect new things from us, but have patience.
Gabriel: This project took a lot of time. Besides that, I released some indie pop singles with my cousin in a band called ”We Ahr”. I also make some indie rock music with a friend but we haven’t released anything yet. And I’m planning to release a solo post-rock EP.
Antonie: Chalk Hands is busy writing a second album at the moment, it will take a while but I promise we’re working on it!
Also we’ve just announced we’re going on tour with Frail Body in the UK! Whooo!
View this post on Instagram
Alexis Johnk: With Gros Enfant Mort the writing process of a new album just started so I hope I will be ready to record by the end of 2024!
We also have a few tours in France and Europe coming up!
Logan: As of right now Gillian Carter is writing a new record. We’re planning on recording late this year.
We have a couple of unannounced tours this year. So, keep an eye out.
View this post on Instagram
Azael: Thanks to this project I started writing my own music. It really got me into! I’m writing all of the music and I’m having different vocalists.
With joliette we’re writing a new full length album aside from having a tour in South America.
A new track from Joliette and Chances, called “Druidas”, is out today!
We’re visiting Peru, Colombia and Chile in May. We’re also playing New Friends Fest in Toronto and finally we’re working on a European tour for this autumn.
A lot of things are going on!
Additional commentary, by Behzad Mehrnoosh (of Nionde Plågan):
“Gabriel got in touch with me in December 2022 and asked if I wanted to mix a few songs for a new Ephemera release. At first it was supposed to be three songs in total but that quickly changed to six songs and a full length album instead. Gabriel kept me updated on the process and sent me some snippets of some demos to get me excited haha.
Almost one year later Gabriel started to send me the raw files one song at a time as the recordings were finished. I did not receive any clear instructions on a specific sound for the mixes, Gabriel simply trusted that I would do the material justice and lent me great creative freedom. I thought this was fitting given the nature of the project. To me, it felt like I was contributing in the same way as each contributing person in the project was.
Given the scope of the project and the amount of musicians contributing, I was sent A LOT of audio files to sort through. And, as you would expect, the recordings were all very varied in different ways.
Some of the drums had been recorded in professional studios with a multitude of microphones in all sorts of arrays. Others had been recorded in a bedroom with very limited setups. Some vocals sounded close to finished when I received them, others needed significant cleanup and processing in all sorts of ways before they could fit in the context of the rest of the songs. Bass and guitars had all been recorded direct and sent to me completely dry, which ment I had to use amp and cab simulators in plug in format, which was actually a completely new experience to me.
It was obvious that Gabriel and each contributing member had put a lot of time and soul into this project and I didn’t want to disappoint anyone. Having full creative control over the guitars in particular was at first a bit overwhelming and almost frightening.
However, the feedback I received from Gabriel after I sent him a draft of the first song took a lot of the pressure off. Gabriel was super excited and very happy with the results, which inspired a lot of confidence in me. After that I felt like I could push on not having to worry about ending up in a completely different place than what he had envisioned.
All in all the creative process was very straight forward and uncomplicated, albeit very time consuming haha.”
Additional commentary by Mathias Almqvist,the cover designer:
“Gabriel presented the idea of the collaboration for “Part II” when he visited one of my exhibitions in 2023. It was intriguing to hear about the idea and the challenge to bring so many artists together to create this animal of its own.
“When I got the recordings I searched for the essence of this creation, and started to try different ideas towards the music. I feel that the finished work represent the emotional core of the album, like the dried salt crystals on the photographic film I have used that can be equated with tears which leave similar crystals when they dry on our cheeks.
Or the multiple fragmental exposures that combined creates something whole, just like each and every artist on the record comes together.
It has been an honour to be trusted to create the cover for this monument.”
The Story of EPHEMERA
As we peel back the layers of this collaborative project, Gabriel Bergman Lahovary offers a personal and detailed exploration of the project’s roots and the artistic visions that fueled its creation. Join us as we traverse the compelling backstory that brought EPHEMERA to life, directly from the mind of its architect.
Words by Gabriel:
Ephemera started 9 years ago, in 2015. The idea came up because I had 2 songs written for Heart On My Sleeve, the band I earlier played with. We decided to not use them but I felt that I wanted to do something special with these songs.
Since I am a huge fan of Envy, I remembered the great song from the split together with Yaphett Kotto and This Machine Kills. The last song was called ”A collaboration song”.
In that song they had members for all 3 bands playing together. So when I listened to that one I was thinking, let’s connect all people I had known and met up through tours and other situations to do something like that.
My thought was to make a folded figure or like we say in Sweden; “vika gubbe”. It’s a game where one person paints one part of a figure and turns it to the next person who will continue on the figure and then it goes back and forth until it’s finished. With this in mind I started to contact people (mostly Swedes for the first release). During this process I wrote a third song. Essentially, the process was that each member would write their parts without meeting or talking to each other. However, the singers needed to talk to come up with a theme for the lyrics and which part they would sing on alone/together and so on. This turned out to be Ephemera on a 3 song Ep. I was so happy with the result that I actually made a tattoo inspired by this, to never let this thing go.
Read about the first release HERE.
7 years later, I met Arvid from Vi som älskade varandra så mycket at a show with Envy and he asked if I had thought about doing Ephemera again.
I felt like I didn’t know if I should or if I had the energy for another project like this one. To contact people, ask them how to record and export and all of that was quite easy the first time. In a way, I was doing the work of a project manager.
I thought about it and ended up going home andI tried to write a song. It turned out to be 10 minutes long and I thought, okay I’m just going to release that one song for fun. However, when I told Arvid, he told me to write more than just one song. I thought about it for some days and then I tried again and I ended up with writing 6 songs.
Oh my God what a project this has been. I don’t know how many bands I have spoken to or written to. Some couldn’t be a part of it or bailed, others recorded really fast. I have not been in the screamo scene for many years after quitting my band Okänt. When I thought of participants, I reached out to old bands and new bands. I found so many great new bands that I had never listened to before. I’m so glad that members from some of my all time favorite bands are involved in this project.
Members from Sed non Satiata, Kaospilot, Daïtro and many more. This has been a journey in so many ways. As for the songs, I came up with different ideas all the time. The first song has 4 different languages and a violin. The second one has 2 drummers, a violin and a trumpet. The third song is the only song where I play guitar myself but it has 2 bass players and digital drums. The Fourth song is almost 11 minutes and has 3 guitarists. The fifth song only has female screamers/singers. The last song included 16 singers! As you can understand, the conversations and the number of threads on Facebook that I am part of are endless. I could write a book about this project but I will try to keep it short for now. The first release included 12 people and this one has 56 members from all around the world who have created these songs together. Crazy hell! A really lovely crazy hell!
On the second song I got an idea that the great people and friends of mine from Suffercate for fuck sake could write and ambience as the first thing. Good idea, but it was not so easy to write guitars over that, hahahaha. That song turned out to be really good though. I tried to challenge myself not to write the foundation of the song. The first song I wrote ended up being half as long when it was done. I wrote another song that turned out to be almost 11 minutes long, like an EP itself.
This process started in November 2022 and I was finished with the recordings early 2024. Then the mix from the wonderful Behzad who plays in the great Nionde Plågan.
I love how good the sound turned out to be. Imagine having to mix a song with 2 drummers or 16 singers! As for the cover design for the singles and LP I asked a friend of mine who takes really cool photos and does experiments with a special type of salt or chemicals.
I really admire his art and I’m so grateful he wanted to be a part of this. I dream of hosting a huge Ephemera festival where all bands that were involved in creating these 9 songs would play.
I am excited that this project is finally finished and I’m so proud of how it turned out. This is and is going to be the biggest music project I have ever done in my life.
From the deepest bottom of my heart, thanks to all of you who are a part of this. The songs will always be very special to me and now I think I should apply for work as a project manager hahahaha. I also bought a new guitar for myself as a present for making this happened.
Thank you Ephemera!
Gabriel has inked their dedication to the project in a unique way. He had each letter of this title tattooed, but here’s the twist: each letter was chosen by a different member of the project. It mirrors how they build their songs—collectively, with each person bringing a piece to the whole. So, just like their collaborative tracks, the tattoo represents a shared creation, pieced together by 13 members, each contributing a single letter to form the name of this work.
What’s next
As we unveiled “Quattro Stagioni,” EPHEMERA promises not only a groundbreaking series of collaborations, very interesting compositions, but also a significant testament to the unifying power of screamo and DIY art in general.
The journey continues with the upcoming premiere of the second track and another in-depth interview, packed with fascinating insights into this extraordinary project.
Stay tuned for more revelations and unique stories from the world of EPHEMERA!
Wait! Keep in the loop!
🔔 Join our Messenger and WhatsApp
📜 Get daily news via Instagram Stories
🗞️ Subscribe on Substack
Your support keeps us alive!
IDIOTEQ is a one-man DIY operation, tirelessly spotlighting the local cultural scenes and independent bands that often go unreported elsewhere. Born in the early 00s, this platform has been committed to giving hard-working artists the high-quality coverage they truly deserve.
No ads, no distractions—just pure inspiration and a genuine focus on independent artists and their stories.
Please consider helping keep IDIOTEQ ad-free and in tune with the indie scene by donating today.
DONATE via PayPal 𝗈𝗋 SUPPORT via Patreon
100% of the funds collected go toward maintaining and improving this magazine. Every contribution, however big or small, is super valuable.
Your support ensures that we continue to be a place where you can discover, learn, and get inspired, without any advertising noise. Thank you for being a part of this musical journey.
