How did your artistic project start and why did you choose a genre like Gothic?
Lis: It began on a cold night in October. When a spider and a bat started dancing together. We didn't choose gothic, we just saw beauty in the darkness.
Ivi: Danny Elfman's vibes resonated in my heart from all the Batman animated series when I was little. It made me fall in love with Gothic and Art Deco forever.
Dark and gothic music was very popular in the 80's, who are your favourite artists from the golden age of darkwave?
Lis : Siouxsie And The Banshees forever.
Ivi: Depeche Mode.
Do you think that Gothic and Darkwave are still appreciated by the younger generations? What do you think makes this cultural dimension modern today?
Lis: Yes, it is! There are baby bats out there and they love gothic genres. Maybe the world is in pain and the younger generations are suffering a lot from our mistakes. They can identify with dark music because it reflects their own crises.
Ivi: Sure! I think some of the things that can elevate this culture today are: talking openly about the pain we experience in life and the raw emotions we feel. Maybe this will cut through all the plastic AI factory music out there. Also, the theatrical and larger-than-life dimension is appealing in a world where even my neighbour's cat has its own Instagram profile.
Recently many gothic artists came from France, such as Soror Dolorosa, Minuit Machine, Je T'Aime, Saigon Blue Rain... What is your relationship with them?
Lis: We're on the same label as Je t'aime, Manic Depression Records. We love their music. I am a big fan of Minuit Machine but never had the chance to meet them. We met Soror Dolorosa and we are going to play the same venue in Montpellier in October, they are really nice. You have to check out Venin Carmin, Yuden, Unspkble and Gerard Jugno 106, they are our dark local friends and they're killing it!
Ivi: On a more electro side of goth, some friends and inspirations that need to be mentioned: Sierra, Mila Dietrich, La croix et la bannière, Kompromat!
Your live performances seem to be very important in your art: you show a lot of energy on stage. How do you organise your live performances? Will you be performing here in Italy?
Lis: Yes, it's very important for us to play live, it's a way to connect and share strong emotions. I do the booking with the help of our manager Thomas Hardy. We haven't played in Italy yet, but we'd love to!
Ivi: The stage is the place we always keep in our hearts and minds. After every show we are reminded why we do what we do! We spend a lot of time preparing for our live shows. We try different setlists with our tracks to find an order that really feels like telling a story. A beginning, a twist and a conclusion, like a good film. We usually do residencies with our sound technician Nicolas Cesar and our lighting technician, Pierre, to prepare before putting together a new set for our new album. We would really like to play in Italy! Io parlo un po' italiano, sarebbe un piacere incontrarvi!
Lis, your voice is undoubtedly a distinctive feature of your music. Who are the artists that inspired you and who is your favourite?
Lis: Thank you. I listen to a lot of dark synth music. I'm a big fan of Sierra. It's weird because I'm mostly inspired by instrumental music! There are practically no voices in the dark synth genre. My two favourite singers are Julia Lanoë (Rebeka Warrior) and Siouxsie Sioux.
Dark and gothic music is often associated with a stereotypical imagination, how do you try to overcome this risk?
Lis: I just embrace my witchy self and do strange rituals naked in the woods. I'm joking! Sometimes it's painful because promoters are afraid of our aesthetics. But we won't change who we are. We just call our music by a different name. When we really want to play at a gig that is afraid of dark music, we call it electro-pop 😉.
Ivi: It's a shame that dark music and the scene is often portrayed in the wrong light...We don't really try to break stereotypes, we just make the music we love. And since Lis and I originally come from completely different musical backgrounds, I think the mixture always results in something different from where we started.
Will you release another album after "Inferno"? If so, do you plan to change your style?
Lis: Yes! Our new album "Ritual" will be released on the 20th of October. There will be a lot of changes, Our style has evolved. It will be a mixture of synthwave, dark synth and pop.
Ivi: I would like to add that our heart is goth, but our music evolves and serves what we experience in life. We don't want to limit ourselves to any particular style or genre, if it feels right at the moment and serves to tell the story or the emotions we feel, we just go with it. "Ritual", our forthcoming album, is my favourite work we have ever done! I feel very connected to this album, my father passed away this year and this album is dedicated to him. We put all our love into making "Ritual". We took a lot of risks, some will like it, some will hate it, I love it to death and I hope you will too. Thanks for your questions, grazie!
