Igorrr: Achieving Singularity
Whilst a lot of bands are becoming more daring and are pushing the boundaries of their sound there is the odd occasion where we are blessed with a true pathless visionary that challenges every conceivable boundary of music. We are fortunate to be alive in the same era as the incomparable Gautier Serre, otherwise known as IGORRR.
Despite his debut release being back in 2010, his most recent release Savage Sinusoid proved to be his crowning moment, bringing him flocks of new fans all across the globe. One burning question in particular usually follows such a release, how on earth do you follow that? Not one to rest on his accomplishments, Gautier is poised to release the hotly anticipated follow up entitled Spirituality And Distortion. A release date which Gautier is patiently awaiting.
“It feels like an eternity since November 2019 when I finished the album. There is only one thing I want now, to release this album and make it available to the ears. In Spirituality and Distortion you will find the result of deep musical research expressing a state of mind I’ve been through in those years. This album is very personal, I feel deeply connected with it. This album was vital for me, an expression of something essential for me as IGORRR. Beside the composition and the emotional message of the music you will hear a whole host of amazing guests musicians including our new guitar player Martyn Clément. I believe that every musician says the same thing when they release a new album, but I really do feel it right now that this is my strongest release and the album I feel the most connected with.”
IGORRR has become synonymous for his fearless approach to song construction, throwing a wild blend of breakcore, baroque and death metal amongst other crazy combinations into his mixing pot. Rather than follow a particular structure or form he just runs with it and sees how his creation unfolds. “Basically I’m just following my instinct, doing what makes sense to me and making what music I really want to make and what I really want to hear, I’ve no idea where it leads or whether the music is going to be good or not,” admits Gautier. “If anything has changed with this release it is the predominant presence of the Middle Eastern colour of sounds that you don’t find on the other albums and the fact that the experience of Savage Sinusoid helped prepare me to face this mountain and push it much further than what I was able to do before. IGORRR is a completely non-compromising and non-bordered project. It feels normal and natural for me to travel from one genre to another. Without it I would feel that the music is incomplete. In life you are never happy all the time, or sad all the time, or angry all the time. Life is a mixed experience and for me music is an expression of life, so music should be a complete expression of all of this.”
Gautier is always researching new and innovative ways to incorporate exciting elements into his compositions and it is this level of unpredictability which makes IGORRR one of the most exciting musical projects on the scene. “I would say I’m somebody curious by nature and easily bored. I need to discover new things, I need to see new colours of sound. My ears need to be entertained. I guess that’s something which pushes me to go ahead all the time,” Gautier says. “There are so many bands that are repeating themselves, so many bands cheating on each other having the same riffs, the same sound and the same visual identity. I feel it’s necessary to have a singularity in your creation. I don’t mean that you should make something new just for the sake of making something new if you don’t feel it, but hearing so many people speaking about originality in music and seeing those same people doing the same music that everybody is already doing, I feel like there is something wrong, like a lack of courage or being singular in music. I don’t know if those things really inspire me to continue my experimentation on sound, but I see there is so much to do and so little being made, it somehow keeps pushing me as well in my daily curiosity and endless research of cool musical ideas. Music should reflect who you are and the way you perceive life.”
It has always been an intriguing prospect how Gautier and company manage to recreate their sonic assault in a live setting and the restrictions they may encounter considering that all the featuring musicians will not be available for every performance. This is a task that Gautier refuses to let this become an obstacle. “Setlists are always a big challenge as we need to play the tracks that firstly are actually playable as well as the tracks that we really want to play. We also need tracks which fit with each other from any of the albums and we need them to be in the right order,” he says. “I’ve acquired some great souvenirs from some cities and places that I can’t wait to visit again. We are always surprised by the welcoming of people anywhere on earth, some small shows in small clubs can sometimes be more memorable than a huge show in a big venue and we have had some deep and memorable moments. It doesn’t matter how far you travel or how culturally different you are to the people you meet or play for. Sometimes the music just unites everyone and it just gives you this kind of unreal feeling.”
Spirituality And Distortion is out now via Metal Blade Records.
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