Check out our interview with LOST IN KIEV, a French instrumental post rock band, hailing from the beautiful city of Paris. The interview was conducted on September 20th, 2012. We talked about their new album “Motions”, touring, why do the French hate the British and more ;)
Press play and check out what the guys have to say.
Hey! How are you, guys? How’s the first month after the “Motions” premiere going? [smiles] Are you happy with the feedback you get?
Hi ! We’re fine, thanks for asking =) This first month was quite awesome. We received a lot of nice feedback about “Motions”. We were seriously thrilled to get such a great reception. Mostly people like the album’s tight production, the voice samples and the new songs like A mere shift of Origin or The Day I Ruined My Life. So far, we feel very lucky for a first LP.
Great! So tell us, what’s the main idea behind the outing?
Motions is a collection of different stories about traveling. Each song feature a character who (has) experience(d) the need to move to another place in order to give a bright new turn to his life, to escape from his past or fight for its right. This topic came out because we all has been dealing with departure, long distance relationship so it was kind of obvious. This topic fits also with the shape of our songs which goes from an atmosphere to another, like a person on a trip.
How long did it take you to finish those 8 tracks? Was it a struggle?
Because of some line-up changes along the 5 years of the band existence, we mostly struggle to keep forward on the songwriting. We can say that there is two chapters in LOST IN KIEV’s life : the first, with the two previous guitar players, that result with « I’m Stuck », « Underclose Surveillance » and « They’re Coming ». With the actual guitar players and the keyboard player, we write « A Mere Shift Of Origin », « Hope, Fights & Disillusions » and « The Day I Ruined My Life ». Some differences between this two « eras » can be heard but we try to keep our trademark : a mix of post-rock melancholic moments and post-hardcore heaviness.
What is the origin story of your name? Tell us your back story.
We chose LOST IN KIEV for 2 reasons : first, because one of our previous guitarist
dated an Ukrainian girl. On a winter holiday trip, he was forced to remain in Kiev because of a snowstorm. We didn’t get any news from him during some days, so we assumed that he was « lost in Kiev ». For the record, the Ukrainian girl became his wife and that actually her who speak some Russian words on the introduction song of Motions : « > ». Then we considered that this name fits very well to our music : cold, obscure and cinematographic, like a movie title.
What French bands do you have best friends in?
We’re pretty close to guys from ZERO ABSOLU, DONKEY PUNCH, JEAN JEAN…
You’ve booked some shows with ABRAHAM, AREA and more bands for this October. Any chances for a bigger European trek sometime soon?
Yeah, for sure, we’d love to go for a full European tour. With “Motions”’ release, we really hope to get knew by more Europeans « good music » lovers. We plan to do an east-European tour in 2013’s spring with ZERO ABSOLU. We hope to have the chance to play in Kiev at this occasion. Circle completed !
Have you had your dream live appearance yet? Supporting your beloved band, for instance?
We’ve already played for a lot of great bands we really love like MAYBESHEWILL, LISTENER or ROSETTA. We also recently had the pleasure to open for very good French bands: TANG and MICROFILM. About a « dream live appearance », let’s say ENVY, CULT OF LUNA, NEUROSIS, RED SPAROWES, SIGUR ROS, RADIOHEAD us on the same bill…
[laughs] A killer line-up [smiles]
What other music projects, besides LOST IN KIEV, do you have in the works?
We all make some music besides LOST IN KIEV but nothing accomplished right now. Work in progress…
OK, no names, I understand [smiles]. Please recommend some cool local artists for us.
Ok, give a try to VALVE, JEAN JEAN, ZERO ABSOLU, KWOON, BOKANOVSKY, KID NORTH, DAWNSHAPE, SELENITES, ARMS OF RA, ROBOT ORCHESTRA, BLACK DEAD FISH.
Are you familiar with a band called TIDES FROM NEBULA? Just out of curiosity. As they are my acquaintances, plus one of the most interesting European post rock bands at the moment, I just need to ask you about them [smiles].
We were supposed to play with them in Bordeaux few months ago but it finally didn’t happen. We hope we can do this in the future because we really like their music, especially the album Aura. Moreover, one of our guitarist knows Poland very well, so we apparently have a lot in common.
Cool.
Are you a fan of heavier music? Do you go to hardcore shows from time to time?
Yes, a little circle-pit from time to time, it’s always a pleasure ^^. When it comes to louder sound we put DOPPLER, GOJIRA, DEAFHEAVEN, CELESTE, MESHUGGAH, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, AUCAN, DEVIL SOLD HIS SOUL, COMEBACK KID…
Paris was one of the stops during my honeymoon last August [smiles]. 4 magic days at Montmartre and I have to say that I love the place [smiles]. What are your favorite spots in the city? What should I visit next time I’m in Paris?
I actually live near Montmartre and I confirm: it’s a nice and great place to live (and go out, of course). Next time, you should give a try to some other cool spots : Bastille, la Butte aux Cailles, rue Oberkampf, Quais de Seine (near to Bibliothèque de France)… Next time you’re here, give us a call, we’ll show you some cheap and nice bars [laughs].
Why do French hate English so much? [laughs]
Because they created rock’n’roll, you are better dressed and everyone speaks English.
[laughs] Fair enough.
Thanks so much! Now’s the time to add anything you’d like to be discussed ad I forgot about it [smiles].
Nothing to add except thanks a lot for supporting us. We hope to come to Poland one day to make you discover “Motions” in live. Take care!
Live photo by HanaOfAngel.com
