Interview with Grégoire from Thot
10 Years "Obscured By The Wind"
If you're into post-rock, I'm pretty sure you are listening to Thot. For the 10th anniversary of their debut album "Obscured By The Wind", the band from Belgium has planned some huge highlights for us. Time for an interview.
To be honest, it was completely the other way round. I don't believe it myself yet, but I actually woke up one morning and had a message from Thot in my inbox! One thing is pretty clear: if a band like Thot contacts you and tells you that your blog is great and if an interview is possible, your answer will always be yes. I mean, how great is that, right? Man, of course, I have time for an interview. I have my questions ready to go in my cupboard. Hold on, let me get them out, and we can get started.
Anne: First of all: Thank you very much for getting in touch! I feel flattered to interview you! How are you doing these days? How is the mood in Belgium so far?
"Veganism and post-rock are my topics"
Grégoire: Hi Anne, thank you to you, too. I'm personally going well, despite the fucked-up situation in Belgium, which I think is quite the same as in many countries around Europe and beyond. People become really tired, and the frustration is rising, especially in the cultural fields. Theatres just started being occupied.
Anne: I have to admit that I am far beyond curious. How did you find my page? Also: It's about post-rock and veganism (mostly) – Are you interested in both topics?
Grégoire: The magic of Instagram. You did an interview with our friends in Lost in Kiev. Besides that, yeah, veganism and post-rock are obviously topics that interest me!
Anne: Enough about me. Let's talk about Thot! You have some exciting news! You are celebrating the 10th anniversary of your earth-shaking debut album "Obscured By The Wind". There will be a vinyl re-release with strictly limited colour editions (I already ordered one, of course) and some more amazing stuff. Do you want to tell me a bit more about what you are planning? You told me that you are about to release some new interpretations of "Obscured by The Wind" songs that you filmed during the first full moon of spring on the 28th of March? Thanks for the great pictures, by the way! They turned out pretty great. I wish I could have been there.
"Obscured by The Wind" was a big milestone for Thot
Grégoire: Yes, we want to celebrate this milestone in a proper way. Back in the days, this record was only a cd (and digital) release, so its 10th anniversary is an excellent time for a vinyl release, with some of the design we didn't use yet. Besides that, there is this anniversary live performance of some of the songs in an intimate version. On this unique occasion, the lineup consists of myself on piano, guitar and lead vocal, brand new band member Lucie Lefauconnier on guitar and vocal, and longtime collaborator and friend Catherine Graindorge on violin and soundscape. We just shot the performance during spring's first full moon last Sunday. Here are some pictures. The concert will be online very soon, and people who wanna attend it can buy a ticket on our Bandcamp page.
Anne: What has changed since 2011? For you as a band and for the whole post-rock scene?
Grégoire: The lineup has constantly been changing since. In a way, if I wanted the project to last, I had no other choice than to let it evolve, according to life choices, changing musical desires, or, unfortunately, human conflicts. I am happy to have not given up and to see that the project remains very alive today, thanks to the energy that the current musicians bring me. I miss some of the former members, either humanly or musically. In 2011, a month after the album release, we played at DUNK!festival, which was helpful to step into the post-rock scene, which has been growing quite big since, as a whole community of music lovers and friends.
Anne: Which one of your records do you like best and why?
Grégoire: So far, our latest one, Fleuve from 2017, as it's the most organic we did to date.
"Thot was one of my childhood heroes"
Anne: How did you come up with the idea of naming you after the god of wisdom, writing, hieroglyphs, science, magic, art, judgment, and dead from Egyptian mythology? Sorry for this question, but I needed to ask it.
Grégoire: It originally comes after the name of a character from an old french cartoon that I used to watch on TV as a kid. It was called "Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea" ("Les Mondes Engloutis" in french), and episode number four features a creature called THOT. I have always remembered him since then. Obviously, I'm feeling close to the Egyptian god too.
Anne: How are you dealing with this f⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆ COVID crisis? Are you distracting yourselves by writing new songs?
Grégoire: I took the opportunity to re-think what I wanted for the project in the coming years while writing a new album. Simultaneously, I seriously started learning piano again, wrote lyrics in French and bought/sold lots of effects pedals. Besides starting a new job as well.
"I pushed my boundaries of songwriting"
Anne: How did it affect your work? I mean, besides not being able to play any gigs in front of an audience?
Grégoire: Rather than affecting my musical work, it helped to push the boundaries of my songwriting, which resulted in writing lyrics in my mother tongue, french. And I'm pretty happy with the result so far.
Anne: Do you think there will be concerts or festivals later this year?
Grégoire: There maybe will be a few, with stringent COVID-safe rules. But as for the post-rock scene and overall rock scene, I'm afraid not.
Anne: Let's keep the sad stuff behind and talk about music again. Your style seems to be very versatile. Your adding elements from post-metal to industrial to your songs – which I like a lot. What would you say: Which bands had the biggest impact on you?
Vegetal Noise
Grégoire: Is that obvious if I mention Nine Inch Nails? Besides that, I never meant to try to mix any genres or aim to any particular style. It's more about the sound, the esthetic itself. This is how I feel the music I want to do.
Anne: Your claim on your Facebook band profile is "post-rock/industrial gang – fuzz, rivers, thistles, vegetal noise music". There is also a section on your homepage where people are telling their vegetal noise story. Do you want to tell me what you mean by vegetal noise?
Grégoire: This actually came in the years where I was writing "Obscured by the Wind" and putting some demo tracks online. As I took thistle as a blazon, I've decided I put that name on the music instead of choosing between any other genres people are used to. It's more a matter of personal feelings than a brand or label.
Anne: I've visited DUNK!festival several times, and I think it's the best festival in the world. Everyone is so lovely and kind, and everybody knows what good music feels like. It's like finally meeting the family that you've chosen for yourself. I'm sure you know what I mean. Your gig there in 2019 was one of the greatest. How would you describe the post-rock scene in Belgium overall? Is it like DUNK?
"Belgium has a vivid post-rock scene"
Grégoire: Thank you, glad you like the gig. As I mentioned before, the post-rock community is fantastic, and DUNK!festival is an excellent example of how vivid the scene is in Belgium.
Anne: Should more people listen to post-rock?
Grégoire: Maybe people who drive to work every day and listen to commercial pop&shit radio stations should listen to post-rock. This would make their day more relaxed, I guess.
Anne: If there was one thing on earth you could change: What would it be?
Grégoire: Patriarchy
Anne: What's up next for Thot? Some more good news?
"We are working on new songs"
Grégoire: We are working on a new album dubbed "Delta", which takes time to be achieved. However, being unable to go on tour and playing shows somehow forces us to take more time, which I appreciate for once in my life.
Here is some more good news for you:
My blog readers get a 25 % refund on their pre-orders for the vinyl re-release version of "Obscured By The Wind". Just use the code thotbday when placing your order on Bandcamp, and you are good to go!
Thot's Bandcamp page can be found here. You can also place your orders for your full moon session tickets there.
Find all details about Thot's 10th debut anniversary on their webpage.
Everyone who would like to get a deep insight into the new Thot record "Delta", please check out their Patreon Page.