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Les Fragments de la Nuit an interview with Michel Villar How and when did Les Fragments de la Nuit came together in the first place and how did you two initially met? Les Fragments de la Nuit appeared in 2005. At first we were just two members (Ombeline and I). At this time, as we were composing score music for films, we met some musicians during the studio-recordings and afterwards, we began to perform with them live for directors. The musicians were very enthusiast to take part of a quintet line-up. Actually, the band is Ombeline Chardes (violin I), Sandrine Mazzucco (violin II), Aurore Moutomé (violin II), Ian-Elfinn Rosiu (cello) and Michel Villar (piano). Your music combines the rigour and solemnness of classical music, with the atmosphere and occasional tone of film scores; how did that synergy surfaced among the two of you? Also, acquaint me with your musical backgrounds prior to this project. Ombeline and I did a complementary work. She came from classical music and I came from a Rock, Metal and Hard Core trip, in which I practiced drums (even today). As my first instrument was the piano, one day we decided to play our emotions (the both of us); it was like fragments we composed during the night and that's why we called the band Les Fragments de la Nuit. Your debut, Musique du Crépuscule, features an intriguing, mystic and enveloping melancholy of sorts (almost like the perfect sound to play after sundown); how did the creative process developed between both of you and, consequently, how was it to collaborate and record with your fellow musicians? Our musicians are now in hold of the spirit of Les Fragments de la Nuit; they know our intentions and they appreciate them. We're always working on the right interpretation to play the tracks. When we think that this mystic spirit is controlled by everybody, then we perform the songs live. For the concerts, we experiment the perceptions of the audience, then we have the good feedback to develop our new compositions and that's why it works when we record the new tracks. One noticeable aspect on the album, is that the vocals emerging from within the record's fragments usually sound like any other instrument, instead of having a prominence of their own; was this intentional or did it happen involuntarily? Will you ever experiment with lyrics and proper singing on future efforts? We wanted the vocals to sound like an instrument; actually, it's always our choice. We just want to deliver a musical message, so that's why there are no lyrics. Everybody is at the same level to form the harmony of Les Fragments de la Nuit. There seems to be a rather dreamlike, utopian feel throughout the record's length, as well as some sort of vague despondency; from where do you take inspiration (or influences) from and do you often recur to your mind's eye to create? Composing, for us, is like having a fantastic view and perception of the night. Some tracks are inspired from dreams, souvenirs and, for sure, we associate music to pictures when we compose. For the audience, we think it's better for it to have its own interpretation and let the imagination work just with the notes. We have a lot of influences from Music to Cinema and paintings or Literature, so we make a synthesis of that to create. We think that in each people the part of dreams and nightmares are dissimulated, so that's when we have to provoke it by the music. Speaking of which - and giving the fact that your sound is strongly cinematic - fill me in with your chosen film genres and movies, as well as other artistic sources of creativity you might dwell upon. Great question! We could talk about that during an entire afternoon, but I can tell you that our favourites are David Cronenberg and David Lynch - their universes are so intense and oniric! And they are independent, so nobody tells them what they have to do. Paul Thomas Anderson is also a great director, his sensibility explodes in all of his pictures. We also like Horror and Drama pictures. Our Russian master could be Tarkovski (Solaris is definitely a masterpiece). Musique du Crépuscule was released last summer by Portugal's Equilibrium Music; what prompted you to work with them and are you satisfied with the record's feedback? Also, have you ever visited Portugal? We worked with Equilibrium Music because the human feeling corresponded to our own feeling. Naturally, we accepted to work both for this album and the record's feedback has been very good. We're waiting to come to Portugal, although we're not sure when. Equilibrium Music has proposed it to us and we're waiting for coming. We would certainly be very excited to do the trip and we'd make a special concert to honour this moment. Are you (or have you been) involved in other side-projects? Last but not least, what are your plans in the short, medium-run and will you consider performing live with Les Fragments de la Nuit? We have other bands that you can check on MySpace at www.myspace.com/revok2 and at www.myspace.com/zetareticuli2 (this one a psychedelic project). As you will see, the styles are really different! For the future, we're preparing the second album and we'd like to release it this Autumn. In April we're going to Germany for a week to tour and in June, we'll play in the fantastic Castle of Chambord, in France. There are a lot of projects, but you can check all the news in our MySpace to keep yourself informed. Thanks for your interest and support. Music is everything in our desolated life. www.lesfragmentsdelanuit.com © 2009 The Lodge

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