Hangman’s Chair are regarded as France’s foremost name in
the world of stoner / doom, releasing a steady flow of singles, EPs, albums and
split releases (including a 2017 split EP with longstanding Japanese stoner /
doom outfit Green Machine), yet their music is in no
way bound by style, as their latest album ‘Banlieue
Triste’ clearly shows; these 10 featured tracks represent the
band’s most complete, realised statement to date, successfully merging a
variety of different elements into a body of work driven from the conscience
and the heart, with subtle touches and crushing power standing side by side.
Recently signed to Spinefarm Records, it seems the band are
finally receiving the recognition they deserve and having been a fan of the
band since the release of their fantastic “Hope
Dope Rope” from 2012 , after long 6
years I am finally able to feature the band on THE SLUDGELORD,
so please welcome guitarist Julien Chanut as he chooses his “Records of their
Years”
SL: Favourite album from the year you were born?
Julien:
Renaud, “Marche A
l’Ombre” (1980)
Well,
I could have chose some obscure goth band from the early 80’s or a NWOBHM band of
that era but the only album I know for sure that popped out in 1980 is “Marche à l’ombre” of Renaud. He’s an old French singer, he‘s still alive and
started his career back in the ‘70s, he’s really famous in France.
He
sings about the “banlieue” the ghetto youngsters, Paris, love, politics,
everyday life… sometimes in a humoristic way but most of the time in a
sensitive way. At that time he was considered as a rebel, he was against all
repression, Police, Army, government. As
I am not really into politics, I prefer when he talks about everyday life, his
stories about being young in France in the 70’s/80’s.
That’s
the kind of music we like to play at parties or in the van, we all know the
lyrics by heart and it’s great for late night karaoke. Moreover, with the artwork of “Banlieue Triste” we somehow pay tribute
to all his early album covers, we took a nostalgic look back at those covers.
SL: First album you bought with your own money?
Julien:
Michael Jackson, “Bad”
(1987)
I
was 7 at that time, the album had just come out and it was a huge worldwide
release. With my money pocket, I remember buying it in a market street in
Thailand, those kinds of illegal shops where they used to sell hundreds of
cassette tape bootlegs for dirt cheap. Mine was a recordable tape with a color
photocopied cover, no lyrics.
My
favourites songs were “Liberian Girl” and
“Smooth Criminal”, I was playing
them all day long in my room, trying to sing in fake English, so “any ayou
wocki” (Annie are you ok)
A
few years later, when I was a little more confident in my music taste, I got
introduced to Hip Hop by a cousin and bought the tape of ICE T, “Iceberg” in a “real” shop, knowing
exactly what I was looking for. That was the first time I get a tape that I
wanted for a long time. After that, when
my sister get our first CD player, as a young teenager discovering punk
hardcore, the CD I bought was Bad Brains, “Rock The Light” and my first vinyl was Judge, “Bringin’ It
Down”. Before that, we were trading and borrowing 90min recordable tapes of
multiple bands.
SL: Favourite non metal / rock album?
Julien:
Mobb Deep, “Hell On
Earth” (1996).
I
listen to a lot of Hip Hop, US and French but the first time I heard Mobb Deep, it was like I was rediscovering rap music. This
album in particular was my introduction to their work and to all the
Queensbridge sound, it sounds rough, cold and dark and that’s what I was
looking for a long time without even knowing it.
Everything
is great on “Hell On Earth”, from the
title itself to the lyrics to the instrumentals of Havoc, the atmosphere is so
grimy. Prodigy is probably my MC number one, alongside with Shyne, they are a
real inspiration for our lyrics, even if we don’t deal with the same subjects.
Now,
I ‘m more into old Memphis rap bands like Three 6 Mafia, Tommy Wright III and some Screwed & Chopped like SpaceGhostPuurp.
SL: Favourite album of all
time?
Julien:
Tough one… usually people asks for your Top 5 of all times… I cannot chose one
album in particular, it depends on my mood, one day I can tell you it’s “Nine ways to say I love you” by Section 8 and another day “Dirt” by Alice In Chains etc…
What I can tell you is the song for my funeral: “The Last Rebel” by Lynyrd Skynyrd
SL: Favourite album of 2018?
Julien: YOB, “Our Raw Heart”
Not
very original on this one but so far, this is my fav album of 2018. Everybody
was expecting for a great album after what Mike Scheidt has been through and
that’s exactly what they did. Just like all their albums, I need several
playings to really get into it, I explain myself : first I prefer the
sound of “Clearing The Path To Ascend” which
is at the first listening more powerful and secondly “Our Raw Heart” is much longer than all the
previous ones, maybe too longer, too much informations.
So
you keep on listening it and then, all of a sudden, it becomes clear. It takes
time to appreciate good things. The sound is lighter but that’s OK, it fits the
songs, now my ears are getting used to it and I finally understand the
tracklisting. “Beauty In Falling Leaves”
and “Our Raw Hearts” are soulful
songs. There’s something unique about this band.
SL: And finally The last album you bought?
Julien:
RITUALZ, “DOOM” (2018)
For
me, it sounds like a slow low fi version of PRAYERS,
a good mix of cholo goth, dark wave, industrial and post punk. His first albums
are more in the vein of the Witch House bands, great stuff though.
The End
Hangman’s
Chair’s new album “Banlieue Trist” will
be available on 27th September 2018 via Spinefarm Records and
the track “04/09/16” can be stream below
