LOMM: Can you give a little biographical and historical info; who is involved in the band, and how did you guys meet up? – Adrien
The band gathers four alternative rock & pop-punk fans from Lyon, France, influenced by bands like Silverstein, A Day To Remember, Knuckle Puck, Taking Back Sunday, Story of The Year etc…
Jeremy and Adrien both play the guitar and sing. Victor plays the bass, and Louis is on the drums.
Hype Lights was formed in 2014. At first, Victor (Bass) – Louis (Drums) weren’t in the band because we didn’t know each other yet. We met up on social medias, as Jeremy and I were looking for band mates, then we started hanging out together and writing our first songs. Louis came during summer 2019 after our former drummer left the band to focus on other projects.
LOMM: You recently released a new single, where can we find it? – Adrien
On March 26th, we released our song ‘Fall Away’, which is the first single of our upcoming EP ‘Reckless’ which was produced by Bert and Bastien from the band Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!
Music video ‘Fall Away’:
Stream and purchase ‘Fall Away’ : https://hypelights.lnk.to/fall-away
Pre-save ‘Reckless’: https://hypelights.lnk.to/reckless
LOMM: Pandemic has taken an emotional toll on everyone, yet the arts have been hit especially hard. The musicians are vulnerable to financial upheaval. How have you guys have been holding up? – Adrien
You are right. I am glad lots of bands and artists have found new ways to connect with their fanbase. As for us, fortunately we all managed to keep our jobs and being on lockdown has allowed to save some extra money we wouldn’t usually have, that’s how we were able to invest in better music production, music video shootings, and digital marketing solutions etc.
LOMM: On the other hand, you seem to have had a productive time. Is that right? – Adrien
You are right once again. COVID has been a huge opportunity for us, as we are pretty busy with our jobs beside the band, it has allowed us not only to save extra money but also some extra time to do and plan things properly (music videos shootings, studio sessions, rehearsals, writing news songs for 2022 etc).
LOMM: Tell us about your genre, what does it means to you, why did you choose this genre? – Adrien
That one is funny, because sometimes we even ask ourselves that question. In fact, neither of us have the same musical taste. Some of us are more into modern metalcore and pop-punk, others in punk rock and melancholic kind of stuff, while others have some groovy influences. We define our music as ‘Alternative’ because we’re not able to stick to any other genre. Indeed, we mix multiple stuff. On our first record ‘Gone to Perdition’ we were mostly inspired by Green Day and My Chemical Romance. However, on our upcoming EP ‘Reckless’ we felt like we needed to have more contrast. I was personally growing into metalcore, so we kind of mixed pop-punk melodies with metalcore by adding mostly heavy guitars, screams, and breakdowns. Since 2020 we’ve been writing new songs and we’ve been adding more digital synths, samples etc and still managed to keep the dynamic you can find on ‘Reckless’ for example. We love trying new things and getting lost to find ourselves.
LOMM: Are you happy with your product? What aspects of it do you think you guys nailed, and what parts do you think you could improve upon? – Adrien & Jeremy
For this record we decided we wanted to take things to a whole new level. That’s why we collaborated with Alias Studio in Paris – with Bert and Bastien from the band Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! Being a huge fan of their music and their career as musicians, we knew they would be able to provide us with the perfect mix and master for this EP. We believe we nailed both instrumental and vocal parts, as ‘Reckless’ means what it means, we wanted something more powerful, aggressive, and heavier than our previous record. So, the screaming, heavy guitar, and breakdown parts make total sense. Alias Studio completely got it, and that’s what you get, an EP that makes you want to tear your f*****g hair out.
However, perfection doesn’t exist. We believe we could improve the screaming parts which somehow create too much contrast in the songs, but also the English accent which sometimes isn’t always that good.
LOMM: How has the overall reception been? – Adrien
It’s been amazing so far. Long before the release we had been leaking some songs to radio stations, bloggers etc, and they really appreciate what they hear, meaning the global atmosphere, the melodies, and this massive punch on each song. All of this gives us the strength to continue writing and giving it all.
LOMM: Have you ever been on a tour? Given live performances? Is it tough for you not to be able to do so now? – Victor
Back in 2016 for the release of ‘Gone to Perdition’ we played about 60 shows in France, including big and small venues from 500 to 3,000 people. We even played our first show in Geneva Switzerland in June 2020. We can’t wait to get back on stage as soon it is possible. Unfortunately, we’ve never had the chance to go on a tour yet.
LOMM: What is the next step for you? How is the future looking? – Adrien
Next step is single n° 2: ‘Something Wrong’, we’ll be announcing it in a couple of weeks. Then comes the release of our new EP ‘Reckless’ on July 16th, 2021. As we are getting more involved in our musical project, we want to tour Europe to promote ‘Reckless’. That has always been in our minds, so we’re going to do what is required.
LOMM: Could you tell us about the lyrics / themes /concepts you focus on or plan to focus on? How did the ideas come about, and how do they influence the writing process? Who is writing the lyrics? – Jeremy
Back to ‘Gone to Perdition’ we started writing the lyrics from a third-person point of view. We wanted to write a story linking all the songs together. There’s this character we made up called ‘Jimmy’, who’s the main character actually. The story traces the adventure of a young British man living in a messed-up family. He decides to leave home so he can live his own life. On his journey he discovers joy, love, fear, anger, and depression, leading himself to perdition. True story, we still have the PDF file from 2014 with the initial story linking all 14 songs, but the final record came out with only 9 songs. Then, on ‘Reckless’ I decided to take things personally and started writing more about myself, about how I was feeling about certain situations of both my personal and professional life. I think ‘Fall Away’ and ‘Reckless’ are the perfect examples. Indeed ‘Fall Away’ deals with an inner conflict within ourselves. I am talking about self-confidence and hope. The song reminds us of the importance of never giving up, even in the worst difficulties where everything seems against us sometimes. However, ‘Reckless’ deals with an inner conflict that has to do with both our professional and personal life. That very moment when everything is so dark in your personal life and starts spreading like a virus infecting your professional life, and you’re literally losing control.
LOMM: Who is composing the songs? – Adrien
It usually starts with Jeremy and / or me composing some guitar riffs and sharing them with the rest of the team during rehearsals. Then the drum and the bass come in. Then, we record the song, we give it a listen, and we make the arrangements it needs. And when everything is mostly there Jeremy starts writing the lyrics, and we start the same process once again, recording and making arrangements, until everything sounds how we expect it to.
LOMM: What bands do you draw your inspiration from? – Adrien
We have many, as every band member has completely different influences. For me I would say A Day To Remember, Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!, Bring Me The Horizon, Architects, Linkin Park. The others are more into Taking Back Sunday, Movements, Silverstein, Pierce The Veil, Knuckle Puck, Neck Deep etc.
LOMM: Which is more exciting? Being on the road or studio? – Adrien
I would say both! It is so exciting building up your own music in the studio, and seeing it live becoming a real song as all the parts are being pulled together. But it’s also awesome being on the road and playing your music, meeting and connecting with new people, fans, and other bands.
LOMM: What first got you into music? – Adrien
For most of us it’s always been part of our family. We’re taking care of the family business! Pickup up our first guitar or drum stick back in high school and starting jamming with our friends is what drove us here.
LOMM: What do you like the best about being a musician? – Adrien
Being able to write music, to share it with the world, play it live and go on the road. But also, all the behind the scenes such as shooting music videos, planning shows, preparing a release. Basically, I love everything that being a musician has to offer.
LOMM: If you weren’t musicians, what would you be doing? – Adrien
Probably dreaming of being a musician someday, somehow.
LOMM: If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be? – Adrien
In France I wish we gave the metal/rock scene more attention because we do have some amazing bands here in France.
LOMM: What is the most memorable gig that you have played to date? – Adrien
It was in 2016 I think, we were opening for a student gala in front of 3000 people. The last song we played was a punk-rock version of ‘Message In A Bottle” by The Police. I was playing the guitar parts by myself and Jeremy was doing the vocal parts only. We were so connected with the audience, they were enjoying every second of the song, and singing along. Here comes the final break down and Victor nails an amazing jump which was captured on camera. When we finished, I remember signing autographs from over the fence.
LOMM: Who would you like to go on a tour with? – Adrien
I would say Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! for starters, In Her Own Words, Movements, Taking Back Sunday, Knuckle Punk, Neck Deep. That would be such a huge experience as these are some of the bands that inspire us a lot.
LOMM: If you could play any festival in the world, which one would you choose? Tell us why – Adrien
Vans Warped Tour and Rock Am Ring of course! Back in high school I remember being so stocked watching Sum 41, Blink-182, Good Charlotte, Green Day, Paramore, and many other smashing these festivals, which I consider as the golden age of pop-punk. I love being nostalgic.
LOMM: Name some of your all-time favorite albums? Include controversial ones. – Adrien
Linkin Park (Hybrid Theory – Meteora), Green Day (American Idiot), My Chemical Romance (The Black Parade), Sum 41 (Chuck – Does This Look Infected – Underclass Hero – All Killer, No Filler), Avril Lavigne (Let Go – Under My Skin – The Best Damn Thing), Blink-182 (Blink-182 – Enema Of The State – Take Off Your Pants And Jacket), Paramore (Riot – Brand New Eyes), Fall Out boy (Infinity On High – From Under The Cork Tree), Thirty Seconds To Mars (A Beautiful Lie), Bullet For My Valentine (The Poison), A Day To Remember (Homesick), Asking Alexandria (Stand Up And Scream), Taking Back Sunday (Louder Now), Silverstein (Discovering The Waterfront – Beautiful Place To Drown), Movements (No Good Left To Give), Slipknot (Iowa – Slipknot – Vol.3 : The Subliminal Verses)…
Makes me feel young again…
LOMM: What Country/Region are you from and what is the Metal/Rock scene like there? – Adrien
We are from Lyon, in France. The metal/rock scene is pretty sick, we have some amazing bands such as Gojira (metal), Betraying The Martyr (Metal), Chunk! No, Captain Chunk (Easycore), Landmarks (Metal), Back Garden Light (Easycore), The Sunday Sadness (dark pop), Hey Life (Alternative Rock), Oakman (Alternative Rock), Whist (Alternative Rock), Hey Life (Alternative Rock) etc.
Musical style is my personal opinion, may not be how bands identify themselves.
LOMM: What is your worst memory in your music career? – Adrien
There’s this one time we were hired to sing for a concert in Paris, which was like 6 hours straight from our home at the time. When we got there the concert got canceled by the booking agency because the guys didn’t do a proper communication for the event. So, we had a few drinks and headed straight back home and never told anyone about it.
LOMM: If you had one message to your fans, what would it be? – Adrien
If you like croissants and pains au chocolat go check out our latest single ‘Fall Away’, which was produced by Bert and Bastien from the band Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!, and make sure to follow and subscribe because we have another single coming up before the release of our new EP ‘Reckless’.
LOMM: Thank you for taking the time.
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