Dans le cadre de ses nombreuses collaborations, Thorium Mag vous emmène en voyage aux 4 coins du monde, dans les langues de Shakespeare ou de Molière. Aujourd’hui retour sur la dernière prestation de Lifelover et regard sur le futur de Kall et Hypothermia.

It is interesting to find that sometimes people don’t realize they are witnessing an extraordinary performance while it is going on right in front of them. There is no time for thinking when you are mesmerized by what is going on the stage. For its fifth edition, Messe des Morts festival has offered its adepts to one of these extraordinary performances. I am talking about the last anniversary tour of Lifelover. Focusing on the end of such a great band would have been too harsh, therefore Sepulchral Productions has decided to show what has arisen from the ashes of Lifelover. It was obviously the best situation for Thorium to have a discussion with Kim (Lifelover, Hypothermia, Kall) and Fix (Lifelover, Kall) about all these fascinating projects.

Thorium – I had been speaking with Martin from Sepulchral Productions and he had informed me that a long time ago he had wanted to bring Lifelover to Canada.

Kim – We were on tour about 5 years ago or so. I did a tour with my other band Hypothermia and one of Martin’s signed bands on Sepulchral, Sombre Forêts. We did a gig with them in Germany and I met Martin there. We agreed on the 10 year anniversary, which was two years ago, that in two years from now we would come and do a show together. So now that finally happened and it was nice.

T – How did you feel about the show today?

Kim – We’re satisfied. I think it was a good ending to this year and the anniversary. Being able to do a celebration.

Krystal – How do you feel about having so many people coming from so far way to see the show?

Kim – We come from quite far away too, you know.

Fix – It is always like that when we play. There are always people coming from all around the world to see. We have only done a couple of shows.

Kim – Only four.

Fix – At the same time this is the last show and the anniversary. It felt very special because we never got the chance to come to America or South America, a thing that we had planned to do anyway.

Kim – It was nice to finish up on our old plans that we had in the past.

Fix – I don’t think everybody was aware this was our last show but I think everybody felt it was special.

Fix with Kall

T – Some of you are playing in a lot of bands at the same time. Was it difficult to go from one mood to another?

Kim – Not at all because we are being ourselves all the time. It’s not about something else.

Fix – No a misconception I think.

Kim – It’s like if we have a problem to first opening the door to your apartment and then the door to your kitchen or bathroom. Same place different doors.

Fix – We are only ourselves. We have a mindset that is our own. We don’t change from one band to another. We might dress different but it is still the same mindset. We don’t think in terms of genres.

Kim – It is within us. It is not a big difference. What we do is way beyond anything that has to do with music.

Fix – At the same time, some of the Lifelover and Hypothermia material is older and you develop as a person but it is still you. You’re not supposed to change; you’re always going to be yourself.

Kim – You don’t change, you evolve.

T – This question is more directed at Lifelover. Identity is a feeling that is very strong in Quebec. Some Black Metal bands lyrics are only in French. Livelover speaks in Swedish and English for some songs. Is it because you are able to express things more with one language over the other?

Kim – Regardless of what you do, you try to get the most out of it. If there is anything that creates a limit or a boundary on the goal you have, you get rid of it of course. Sometimes that can be a language. If we feel that English is the proper vehicle and tool for us to use, we use it and sometimes it’s Swedish. You wouldn’t try to cut down a tree with a hammer. If we were diverse in more languages, we would use them too. If we could have converted a whole set list to French to show some kind of solidarity, we would. We don’t speak every language so we use what comes natural to us.

Fix – We are probably going to have to make up our own language.

Kim – We are working on it.

Kim with Lifelover

Krystal – From the stage show performance you definitely have your own thing going on. It was an experience on another level.

Kim – That is one of the reasons we do what we do. It is far from a show, it’s a duty. It is something we have to do.

Fix – Also we feel it as a personal obligation to influence other people and talk to other people to get them to release their shackles a little bit. To be able to draw themselves out of the stereotype they feel the obligation to participate in. People dress the same as everybody else, they thing they are obliged to think like everybody else otherwise they will get shamed or punished for it in the long run. We want to influence people to think outside of that box.

T – In my opinion Lifelover is one of the few bands that succeed in creating a deeply depressive universe. What is your state of mind when you’re writing Livelover songs?

Kim – It is a kind of euphoric, ecstatic, strong experience like a catalyst.

Krystal – Is it a kind of astral projection of sorts?

Kim – No that is for my other bands. What comes to what used to be done is simple, I don’t touch an instrument if I don’t have a complete idea in my head. So, it can take a long time before I do something but when I am done with it, it is like a release.

T – You were talking about another type of feeling for your other bands so what is that?

Kim – That’s meditation.

T – With Hypothermia?

Kim – Yes, exactly. All that music is composed. I never touch an instrument until it is composed. When I am out walking in the woods, I get a transmission of sound. I hear melodies and I simply try to recreate them on various instruments and that becomes Hypothermia. We are channeling the essence of the woods, nature and things beyond it.

Kim with Hypothermia

T – Sadly this will be one of the last times we will speak to you as Lifelover.

Kim – We are not Lifelover, we are individuals.

T – Let me correct then, one of the last times we will speak about Lifelover. Will you keep the same spirit and go on with Kall as a new opportunity to start something anew?

Kim – Well that is one of many reasons why we chose a different name. None of us knew each other before we played in this band. Then we got to know each other to a point where we felt that we had an obligation to continue what we had started together and take it to another level. We wanted to remove any boundaries that we felt we had in the past bands and experiences we had. To just do whatever we could to import Kall into not just a job or a hobby but a life style.

Fix – That is the thing for people who don’t speak Swedish, Kall has two meanings. Most people translate it into “cold”, which is true but it is also a “calling”. It is the same word for both. Some people could say it is a continuation of Lifelover but I would say it’s not. It was more of a new start. We started from scratch basically. We went back all the way to the bottom again. That has been the most rewarding. Like Kim said it’s very much a calling. We have felt an obligation to do this and it has been a lot of years working up to this point.

Krystal – Do you find it was difficult to start over again or do you find it is more of a new beginning?

Kim – We are not starting over, it’s a continuation. When it comes to creativity and forming music, consider if Lifelover was the spark of that, Kall is the fucking fire.

Fix – It is every combined experience of our lives. Lifelover was one part of our lives, as much as Hypothermia has been a big part of Kim’s life. For me, Kall has been an accumulation of every experience and all the stuff we have created in the past. It’s going to be something new and it can never stagnate and stay the same, otherwise it could never be true at all. It is very important for us to stay real to ourselves, to be honest and to do what we feel like doing. We have no obligation to anybody but ourselves.

Kim – Except by doing what we do and being honest with ourselves, we are teaching other people, our supporters and devoted fans and so on to do that for themselves as well.

Fix with Lifelover

Texte: Traum, Krystal Koffin

Photographe: Thomas Mazerolles