1. How did the band initially come together? Can you share a bit about your journey as a group?
The Raging Project rises from Project Rage, born in 2007 in East of France formed by guitar player Lionel Fevre and myself, an electro-metal duet, joined by female vocalist Jeannick Valleur. In 2009, we had released a 5-track EP well welcomed in the European underground press and audience at that time. The project would have turned to a real band but after several gigs, this attempt failed and music had been at rest during all these years. In 2021, I decided to record all the songs with some talented guest musicians and singers.
2. What would you say sets your music apart from other rock bands in the industry?
I think people will be able to find great moments of emotions, vintage heavy prog sound melted with modern power metal, surrounded by lots of calm and melodic moods.
3. Could you describe the creative process within the band? How do you typically approach songwriting and arranging?
I compose all the music and I write all the lyrics, and after I let the musicians make their own feelings and ways of playing, if the songs sound better with their changes and additions, I’ll let them do it free.
4. Are there any specific themes or messages that you aim to convey through your music?
Most of the songs are talking about the way we are treating our planet and this will lead to the end of mankind. So, as a message, the whole album is about the main things we have to do to avoid the catastrophic future we will live, there are violent tracks, some are quieter, even atmospheric with immersive melodies to show the rage and in the same time the sweetness of the nature.
5. How do you feel your sound has evolved since the band’s formation? Have there been any significant changes in your approach or style?
Oh yes, let’s listen to the 5-track-EP on Bandcamp and compare to the same songs of the album, you will see that the production is more modern, more powerful and some choruses and melodies have been changed or added by some musicians, for the better of the entire songs. My voice has also changed along all these years, I shout a lot less and I sing better, more nuanced and deep.
6. What has been the biggest challenge the band has faced so far, and how did you overcome it?
The best challenge has been to rise the songs from the ashes of the passed years and rearrange them with actual sounds and moods. And the musicians who took part of all the songs have done an amazing work, they put their own feelings and emotions in my music and my lyrics, the result is beyond my biggest hope, I’m lucky to have all of them in this album.
7. Are there any particular artists or bands that have influenced your musical style or inspired you?
My musical tastes and inspiration are really open. I would say Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden, Twisted Sister, Helloween, Scorpions, King Diamond for the oldest influences. Kansas, Marillion, Magma, Dream Theater, Vanden Plas, Rhapsody, Symphony X for the 90’s and 2000’s, and Ayreon, Pain of Salvation, Within Temptation, Nightwish, Evergrey, Lacuna Coil, for the more recent ones.
8. Can you share a memorable or interesting experience from one of your live performances?
I remember when we played live for the first time with the first line-up in 2009, I tried to sing with my 2 keyboards around me instead of the front, I thought it would be easier to play and sing in the same time with this setup, but I realized it was a total mistake and I was uncomfortable all along the show, my neck and my arms were totally twisted and I tried to see what I was playing, I forgot some words in the songs, it was horrible at the moment. Now it’s very funny when I think about it…
9. How do you engage with your audience during your live shows? What kind of experience do you strive to create for them?
Unfortunately we don’t many enough shows to create something special with the audience, nothing special, just music and I try to communicate the most with people in front of me.
10. Are there any upcoming projects or releases that you’re excited about? Can you give us a sneak peek into what’s next for the band?
For The Raging Project especially, I hope making a second album in several months or next year with some of the same musicians and some new ones. About other projects, I would like to release a solo album, a sort of conversation with myself, with piano and voice, maybe some duets in it, but without any big guitars or any drums… Something pure, simple, quiet, to make people dream and meditate somehow.
11. What do you enjoy most about being part of a band? Is there a specific aspect of the music-making process that you find particularly fulfilling?
I love when notes and rhythms come out of my brain and become slowly music in my keyboard sequencer and my PC, and I love sharing emotions and music on stage with my musicians and people in front of us. Music is a deep part of me, from my birth until my death, I can’t do anything against, I was born to be a musician and I think I’m lucky to be this man, even if the things are sometimes really hard to live because of this state of being an artist.
12. How do you handle criticism or negative reviews of your work? Has it ever affected your creative process or confidence as a band?
If critics have conversation to explain me what they don’t like in my work, I’m sincerely open to discuss and try to understand their point of view, it would be a good thing for me to see what is working good or bad. But if it’s just to say “hey man, your music is really crap”, I don’t really care. I used to be very sad concerning bad things written about my music when I was young. Now I’m wiser (smile)
13. Are there any rituals or routines that you follow before going on stage or entering the recording studio?
Not really, I just try to have a good preparation for my voice, with vocal exercises and abdominal breath, that’s the most important.
14. Have you faced any notable obstacles or hurdles as a band, and how did you navigate through them?
In all the bands I’ve played and sung in, the two main problems have been the lack of money as a self-produced artist and the difficulty to find places to play my music. In France, if you are not in the moods of the styles spread by radios and TV, you are an outcast, underground artist not really understood or respected. But, since about 30 years, I hold on and I’m still here in the musical industry, at my own level.
15. What advice would you give to aspiring rock musicians who are just starting their journey?
I can’t give any advice because I still don’t know how to make the things right to manage or follow a career, it’s too difficult to lead a way in this business, and all countries and minds are different and don’t react the same.
16. Are there any specific goals or milestones that the band hopes to achieve in the future?
The main goals are to be well known in the entire world, enough to carry on the project and write another album with several same guests, and some different artists too.
17. How do you maintain a balance between your personal lives and the demands of being in a rock band?
I don’t have any kids at home and my wife is an artist (painter) and a singer too, so it’s easier to combine all activities in my life.
18. Is there a particular song from your discography (Disc-og-ra-fee) that holds a special meaning for the band or carries a significant story behind it?
I think Rage! is the most important song because all this fantastic project has really begun by composing and recording this very expressive song. I think if I hadn’t composed this song this way, nothing would have had the same color afterwards.
19. Can you share a fun or interesting fact about each band member that fans might not be aware of?
I definitely can’t because there are fifteen guests on the album and I don’t know most of them personally.
20. What is the ultimate dream or vision that you have for the band’s legacy?
To sell enough albums in order to continue this project in the future, and to continue my other projects, as Foreign Rock Opera, and why not make a living from my music.
21. What would you be doing if you weren’t a musician?
I think I would have been a writer – I already wrote four books – and a photographer (nature, portrait, landscapes, wild animals…).
22. What song do you wish you had written by another band?
Oh, interesting… I think I would have loved to compose “Don’t Stop Believing” from Journey, or some songs from Mickael Jackson as “Billie Jean”, or “Thriller”…
23. Is it possible to be on the road and not succumb to eating junk food?
I think it is really difficult, it depends on the time you have for eating moments in the day…
24. Are there any songs you have done you wish you hadn’t?
No, I don’t have any regret at all.
