Fresh off his recent US tour with his chaotic post-hardcore band BIRDS IN ROW and 2 weeks before their European run, French artist Quentin Sauvé has announced the release of his solo album “Whatever It Takes”, to be released on February 1st 2019 on Ideal Crash Records, I Corrupt Records, Skeletal Lightning, and Ugly & Proud Records. Recorded & mixed by his brother Amaury Sauvé in Laval, France, Quentin’s debut full-length is being introduced through a hearty opener called “Dead End” and beautiful, cinematic music video that you can watch above.
“Dead End” prolongs Quentin’s grandparents’ echo with a universal picture, filled with a hearty, yet powerful aura that is both heartbreaking and hopeful. We have once again teamed up with Quentin, to give you an extensive tour inside “Dead End”, its recording process and the creative process behind this amazing video.
Lyrics and meaning explanation:
“I’m a recluse, don’t wanna go out
I’m on the edge and it freaks me out
Surrounded by water, I’ll surrender
I wallow in loneliness, I swallow my distress
How can I ever go the distance?
With no peace, no sleep, no silence?
It’s a dead end, I can’t go out
It’s a dead end and if freaks me out”
“Dead End” is a song about enjoying too much being alone at home, not seeing anyone, not going out. I started acting like this when I got “tinnitus” (ringing in the ears), it was my way of dealing with them at first, when I was scared of being in noisy places, scared that it would get worse. It’s something hard to explain to other people cause it’s not real, it’s my brain imagining it. Another song on this album, “Ghosts”, also talks about them. I wrote this song when I noticed that my behavior was the opposite of healthy, and wasn’t a solution.
“Will someone find me, or will they give up?
Is there anybody to perk me up?
How can I stay sane, locked in cage, wide awake?
I used to hold myself together, I used to do whatever it takes
How can I ever go the distance?
when freedom doesn’t make any sense
It’s a dead end, I can’t go out
It’s a dead end and if freaks me out”
It’s a call for help. I felt trapped back then and even if I was aware of it, I couldn’t get out of this myself cause I didn’t know how, and I didn’t know if I wanted to. So I started giving up.
I took the album title “Whatever it Takes” from that song, to give me hope and the strength to keep going. Sometimes I tend to forget why I’m doing all this, I mean composing, recording, playing shows, touring and all the rest of it, but I know deep down that I can’t live without it cause this is where I express and put all my sadness, as an exorcism. I just need it.
Recording of the song:
I recorded the album at my brother’s studio “The Apiary” in Laval, France, our hometown. I can’t count the number of sessions I did with him with all the different projects… and I couldn’t do this one with someone else. The last song of the album, “Disappear”, is about him, Amaury Sauvé.
At first we tried to think and stick to 2 or 3 keywords by songs, as a lead for the mood and the sounds of each one.
Those for Dead End were : « CAGE / FREEDOM »
We chose to leave it simple and true. For exemple, we can even hear it when I step on pedals. So it’s basically vocals and acoustic guitar, but plugged through effects and amps. It starts quiet and intimate, as in a “cage”.
At the end I’m looping the guitar riff to add another part, and we also added cymbals and some electronic kick drums. It’s very low in the mix but it make the song take off. There is “freedom”.
Since I’ve composed it I knew it was gonna be the opening track of the album. It’s kind of the introduction, short and straight to the point. I find it funny because of the “End” inside the title. It’s a pessimistic picture at first, before giving way to hope later. Like the brick wall on the single’s cover, which we’re gonna break brick by brick along the album, to see what’s behind.
And like I said before, the album title is in it!
About the video:
For the video I wanted something different, something about this one song but also about the whole album.
This is actually the first of 3 videos made by the fantastic duo of Ananda Safo (Director/Editor) and Sofian Hamadaïne-Guestwith (camera operator).
Sofian is a dear friend of mine who already made videos for my former project Throw Me Off The Bridge. He was there during the album recording, filming a short film / documentary… we’re still working on that!
And I met Ananda a few months ago when I was thinking of a video. She listened to the whole album, I told her my ideas, and we came to the same conclusion about the scenario and the choice of characters.
I’m really glad those two met and worked together!
So it features my own grand-parents, playing there own characters. There’s actually a song literally about them on this album, it’s “People To Take Care Of”, but it would have been to easy to put them on that one, so we tried to think of a story that would fit both the lyrics of Dead End, and the whole album concept.
On one side there’s her, staying home, alone with her thoughts, feeling that the end is gonna be soon, sadly thinking that she is good-for-nothing now, but also remembering happy souvenirs. This refers to the “me” giving up, the “me” who wanna stop.
For the souvenirs we used real family archives from my grandfather and oncle, it was a lot of work and research and I’m glad I had my mom to help with that!
On the other side there’s him, trying shop after shop to find the right flower for her, the same one from their wedding, but after three fails he’s finally building it himself out of paper. This refers to me trying to do “whatever it takes”, and never give up, even after several failures.
At the end, we break those two different sides of me and link them together, for my grandmother to feel alive and free again.
We kept the bouquet hidden from my grandmother until we shot that last part, so she would get the surprise. It was my mom’s idea and it worked perfectly. We didn’t even try a 2nd take cause this first one was too emotional and true to be played again. Everyone ended up crying after my grandmother did!
I know it was a lot to ask of them, but they were great and very patient. I feel very lucky to have experienced that with this whole team. And now my family and I will have this memory of my grand-parents forever.
“Not thirty candles on his birthday cake and yet Quentin seems like he’s lived multiple musical lives. After discovering punk and metal in his schoolboy days and officiating in a band before he even reached the teens, he followed suit with passionate activism and endless touring around the globe as part of several angry acts, firmly anchored in the DIY philosophy (As we Draw, The Brutal Deceiver, Birds in Row…).
It’s 2011 when he decides to branch away towards his blend of post hardcore infused acoustic folk under the various forms of the Throw me off the Bridge moniker. At first an intimate solo adventure, he is soon joined by band mates and the increasingly rich and colorful arrangements they brought with them. After more than 300 (house)shows and festival appearances, “Quentin Sauvé” is back to his solitaire roots through a pared-down voice and guitar dyad, carefully balancing elegiac chords and untethered, impassioned vocals. In pure folk fashion, Quentin’s songwriting will continue to divulge its melodic treasures with every play.” Yoan Le Blévec
