Interview withTrisomie 21
TRISOMIE 21 is the project of the two French brothers Philippe and Hervév Lomprez. and was founded in 1980. To the occasion of their 25th anniversary they will release a special anniversary album at the end of November and a new studio album is also in the pipeline. We took the opportunity to talk to Philippe Lomprez about the anniversary release, the new album and the value of music.
Philippe Lomprez (T21): TRISOMIE 21 is the meeting of 2 brothers Philippe and Hervév Lomprez. Since the very beginning, our intention was to sound like nothing else and without this I think nothing would ever have happened. Refusing any influence and only focussing on the addition of our respective talents, not on the members themselves. And our intention was to become a public band.
RoD: TRISOMIE 21 exists since 1980. If someone would have told you back then that you still would be out there and make music in 2007, what is it you would have said to this person?
T21: It’s something we don’t care about. The essential is what we do. How long we do it is not of artistic relevance. Talent is not counted in the number of years…
RoD: What happened during the hiatus of 7 years between 1996 and 2003? Were you still making music during that time or did you just need a break to recharge the batteries or to concentrate on other projects?
T21: We were forced to enter a «stand by» modus due to contractual conflicts with our former label. We then reactivated the band on the audience’s pressing demand. We never stopped our activities; we just worked in different shapes…
RoD: People seem to need genre drawers to categorise music, but is it really necessary to do so, but I think it sometimes doesn't do justice to the music to put it into a certain category. There's this phenomenon, that people suddenly won't hear your music anymore, because you're breaking out of the scheme, they put you in. Do you think that a categorization is necessary or would it be better without them???
T21: What people say or do never prevented us from progressing, on the contrary. Sticking labels on bands is an easy way to try and describe a band’s music, their attitude. It’s also not easy describing a colour. Well it’s the same with music. It’s up o the audience to find the truth between the lines and make their own opinion without being manipulated by others’ words. TRISOMIE 21 never really cared about which drawer we were put into. With every album, we try something different. Categorising is something easy to do, but like anything easy, it’s not always too intelligent… But at the end of the day, what must passionate a band is the creating process, not knowing how the others perceive them.
RoD: You're in the music business for quite a long time now and you surely know the problem of dropping sales and people rather downloading the songs from the internet than buying the CDs. Do you think that music has lost so much value for the people, that they aren't willing to buy the CDs anymore or is the problem another one???
T21: I think that the system played the people for the fools at a certain moment and people simply reacted. And if a music CD has become another ordinary consumption product, then music lost all its sacred part, its artistic substance… Then pirates can start copying it because they lost all respect towards the artist and the people living from art. The real question is: what is the value of a society which does no longer respect its artists? If music has only become something about which we can say «I like it» or «I don’t like it» and nothing else, then it’s time to worry about the human race.
RoD: Are you able to make a living out of your music or is it impossible due to the before mentioned sales droppings?
T21: Living from our music has always been difficult, and today more than ever, for sure. We never had illusions about it neither though. And that does not prevent us from creating.
RoD: You will release a special anniversary album via Alfa Matrix at the end of November. What will it include and is it just a special item fans or also for people who might not heard of you before?
T21: It’s above all an encounter with our audience, ‘cos it’s with them that we celebrated our 25th anniversary during the tour. It’s a live recording which goes through our whole discography. Plus a special live moment in Lille, a town close to where T21 was initiated; and then a collection of demo’s and vintage rarities; all this offered as a present to those who love us… I hope that this release can also serve as a good introduction to T21 for those who don’t know us yet.
RoD: I also read that you are already busy completing the new album: Could you give us some hints of what to expect from it. Is it maybe even a concept album?
T21: It’s true. We are currently working a lot on the new album. It’s in the work; it shall be a very electric album. I hope it to be a very personal album too. Guitars will play a key role in this album, and the mixing of it all too. We focus all our energy on this album at the moment and it’s really a passionate work.
RoD: And the last question. Is there anything you would like to tell our readers?
T21: We did not come to rock music though «heroes»; rock music is there to make people think, otherwise it has no reason to be. It’s not a hobby for us… I want to thank all the people who have been faithful to our work though the years and all those who joined us lately and who all know that TRISOMIE 21 has always been struggling against the human trend to take the easiest way…
Thanks for your interest in TRISOMIE 21. Merci!
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