Interviews

Heart Attack Interview

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Hi, I am delighted that this interview came to be, because in my opinion a lot of people should get to know you. You’ve been around for many-many years, but you only started gained popularity in the recent times. So let’s start at the beginning. When was the band founded and what were in your heads at the time?

The band started back in 2011, when the lead guitarist, Chris Cesari started the band, with the other Chris, our drummer. Before that Kevin used to play with Ice Cool Budies, and they were playing covers of various songs and they began to write original songs. So then the first album came out in 2013, called „Stop Pretending”. They did a few gigs and with the next album „The Resilience” they started playing festivals like HellFest and Resurrection Fest, and so the next album is what we put out now. I entered the band to replace the former bassist Tony, back 3 years ago. That’s it.

You are from France. How advantageous do you think it is when you are making a metal band? Who was the first person to help you like organizing concerts?

Well, playing metal in France is a bit difficult, because this is not a genre of music which is represented in the media that much. So the band had to struggle the first time to get known. It really started with the first album when they started to do some serious gigs and they met some people that helped a lot. Like I think of Stéphane Buriez from Loudblast. So we encountered many people by the time and sponsors like ESP. We were able to play many important gigs, like opening for Megadeath.

Your music is really interesting, since it is very aggressive and thrashy, but because of the melodies it sometimes takes sort of a pop route. How do you see it? How can you describe your own music?

Some people label as thrash groove metal, but I think we are much wider ranged than this. Because we have many various influences in music that goes from older tunes of rock’n’roll, like Queen, Dire Straits… Genesis. Our lead guitarist is a very big fan of Genesis. And for thrashy music that is mashy like Metallica, we do more aggressive stuffs and more extreme. Like Lamb of God, Beyond Creation… stuff like that.

Heart Attack is a quality band. A lot would say that you are like Gojira and Machine Head, but I would suggest to forget about them and say that you are Heart Attack. How unique do you think your music is?

It’s true that we have many influences that colour our music, but the truth is that we play what is true to our minds, what situation are we in in terms of ideas. We like to play what we love. We have no limitations or anything like that. I think it’s because our music sounds so particular.

You released albums in 2013 and in 2017, and then in 2019 you made the third album. Of course at that time everything changed because of covid. You wrote Negative Sun under this negative period. Was this an up or a downside in your writing process?

It was kind of an upside, because it was a very particular situation like you said. We couldn’t make our music like we wanted it to. It was a very difficult period, but instead of letting it bring ourselves down, we used this anger and anguish to fuel our music and it gave us powerful ideas and it permitted us to make more aggressive and dark music.

In the summer of 2020 you record with Sebastien Camhi, with whom you did The Resilience with as well. Can you tell us why did you chose to work with him again?

Because he is like the 5th band member. He understands our music and our writing process and he has an interesting sight for music. So the choice was evident, to have our new album recorded with him again.

After that quite some time has passed, because in June you released “Negative Sun”! What problems did occur that it take you this long to make? Do you like to wait for the perfect moment, or you just felt that this album needed some extra care?

This particular period of covid delayed the process of getting out the music for a very long time, because we were in search of a label for a very long time, and when Atomic Fire contacted us we could release our album much quicker, because they support us really well and they allow us to do anything we need to get our album out. We would’ve done it much earlier, but we couldn’t because of that covid period.

What is there to know about the lyrics in the third album?

What is to know is that we have a global theme in the whole album. It goes from the lyrics to the visuals and even to the music as well. The lyrics are about the bad side of humanity and the evil side that we all have in our personalities, and the music points out these very points and the music powers it to make it even darker.

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Your album cover is phenomenal. The black and white theme makes it even more memorable. What did you tell to the maker? What was your first reaction when you saw the final product?

We were very pleased because the maker did a really great job and he understood our vision really well of the cover. We wanted to do something mystical, because the character on the cover is the center piece of all the recordings. So when the maker did the cover we were very pleased because this was exactly what we saw from the album.

It’s been a long time since your debut, and I think now really everything is given for your big break. Can we say that this is what you’ve always been dreaming about? Are you happy with your achievements?

Yes! We are very happy, because things are starting to move very quickly and we worked for this and I can say I am very pleased and I can say that I am speaking in the names of the other members as well, because this is something really wonderful that is happening right now.

What is the general reaction about your newest album? Why do people like your songs?

The most common reaction our fans have, is that our music is more mature, more aggressive and more dark, and it pleases them more than the past, when we had brighter music with more positive subjects to sing about. So they are happy about the change, because it makes our music more evolved.

At the end of the album there is a really well done Genesis cover. How hard was it to make it fit in your storming metal style that you normally play?

Well, it’s a funny thing, because we did this cover in a particular moment with Sebastian. It was not supposed to be on the album at first. It was just a recording for us to let loose of the pressure, and then someone from Atomic Fire listened to it, and he loved that tune so much, that he told us to put it on the album.

With the new release you 2 previous albums got re-released as well. You label must like you right now. How did this idea come? Why is this version different from the previous ones?

I think it’s because when we were at the older label we did only a few amount of copies from the 2 albums, and I think it’s because it worked well with the gigs. It’s natural that thanks to the label we have now are able to re-release more copies of the previous albums.

Hellfest is just over. What would you say how it went? Are you happy with the people’s reactions?

Yes! It was like a dream. People were really excited to be on the festival. We lived it like a dream really. Even at the end of our show some music tech came to us to say things like: it has been 6 years since I saw a mosh pit as big as this at 10 am from the beginning of the festival. So it was really a blast.

When you started to make music together the music industry was in a different state. Do you think, that these more modern ways of thinking made music to go to a better or a worse direction?

No, I think it’s a good thing, because now we can have instant reaction. Back in the day people had to buy the record and listen to it to have an opinion. It’s been a really good evolution to be able to have such review as fast as now. It is instant reaction and I think that it’s good.

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How can you imagine the future of the band? What is your next step?

Well, the next step we want to do is to grow even bigger. If that’s possible. Play our music and enjoy as much as we can, do as many gigs as we can, festival, and to tour a lot! To do what we like the most.

To close this off, I would like to ask what delicious french food would you advise for the hungarian fans of yours? What should we cook for you when we meet up with you?

That’s a good question! There are so many good dishes that are good in France. If I had to chose one I would say boeuf bourguignon. This dish is from a special place in France. It’s like a stew with beef.

Thank you for your answers. It’s been great to talk to you. I hope to hear from you again and I hope that all your dreams will come true!

Thank you so much! I hope I didn’t talk too bad so you could make a good interview out of this. Bye!


https://www.facebook.com/heartattackmetal 
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The interview was taken with William Ribeiro on 04.07.2022.

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