Interview - Krystal System - France's Finest

  Krystal System- France's Finest

  Interviewer – Phill Bruce

  Interview Date – 17th September 2011

Krystal System - Bonnie and Seven

I have not heard of many bands from France recently, so when I came across Krystal System my ears perked up.  They are absolutely amazing. When Bonnie sings in French it adds a dimension to the music that I have never heard before and really like.  So, when Bonnie agreed to an interview it was one I did and enjoyed every minute of.  So here is how it went.

Phill - Can you tell us a little bit of a background about yourself and where in this beautiful world you are from?

Bonnie - I’m Bonnie, I live in Paris and I sing and play guitar in a band called Krystal System.  We play a crossover music, mostly electro and metal but also EBM, industrial rock...  No matter what genre it can be as long as it fits to what we have in mind.

Besides, I don’t think my personal background has any importance, we’re just passers-by here. As you said, we live in a beautiful world and all we can do is be grateful and try to do our best without taking our personal lives too seriously. Well, that’s what I think :)

Phill – Have you found any problems in getting your music to the masses and if so how have you overcome this?

Bonnie –  I think we were kind of lucky :) We signed with the label Alfa Matrix 1 year after we formed the band while we hadn't done any album and our 1^st CD Underground had great feedback from the press and the public, some tracks were broadcasted on FM radio... And it's the same for Nuclear (which Nuclear Winter video clip is to be broadcasted on TV). We were very surprised to see this underground music would please a wide range of the public.

Seven

Phill – Paris is known worldwide as being a city of romance, is there much romance in your music?

Bonnie – Romance ? Mmmm... Not too much, I'm afraid.  In fact, romance music and stories annoy me a lot.

Phill - At what point in your life did you decide to form your band and why?

Bonnie - I started to play piano when I was 8 and kept on for years, but I switched to guitar when I met Seven and when we decided to start a band.

Seven’s a very talented guy, he’s a very good bass player and he also plays keyboards, guitar and piano... And what triggered me to play in a band is definitely this meeting with Seven. We have a particular way of seeing life and we wanted to tell it through music and a visual and aesthetic aspect.  I thought big metal riffs would fit to the music and would be a good background for my vocals.  So, I bought me a guitar :)

Voilà :)

Bonnie

Phill – Where did you meet Seven?

Bonnie – We met down the street in Paris in a rainy evening (I know it sounds cliché but it's true).  I remember he was stoned.

Phill – Are there any specific stories or meanings that you like to portray in your music?

Bonnie – The lyrics are as important for us as the music itself. They are mostly about the conditioning that reduce our spirits and about the fight to wake up and refuse this burden,   and being aware of ourselves.

In our 2^nd album Nuclear, we also talked about the danger of using force we don't control as long as we can get a short term benefit, and it's also about this quest for an ultimate light that would raise us.

Phill - Who besides yourself is in the band and what background are they from?

Bonnie - Well, we’re a band of 2, and Seven is the 2^nd guy. I don’t know much about his personal background except he was born around 1483 in the north of Europe... But he doesn’t talk a lot about his life.

Phill – Do you think the air of mystery about Seven adds to your music?

Bonnie – Sure, this special type of Seven is an important aspect of Krystal System.

Phill – Who mainly writes the lyrics for your music or is it a joint effort?

Bonnie – Seven and I are on the same wavelength so no matter who writes what, weʹre heading the same direction.

Seven

Phill - What are your musical influences?

Bonnie - Fear Factory, Ministry, Slayer, Rage Against the Machine, Rammstein, The Prodigy, Maurice Chevalier.... (I’m kidding)

Phill – When you sing in French it adds things to the music that we don’t normally hear and I must admit I really like it.  Do you prefer to sing in French or English?

Bonnie – It's difficult to say. It's easier to sing English with the kind of music we do, but I have to focus on the accent.

When I sing french, I don't have this effort to make of course but on the other hand, it's more difficult to give good attack and dynamic with this language.

Finally, the effort is not the same but I'm not mad at nothing.

Phill – Your influences are all English speaking (Except for Maurice lol), so are there any French alternative artists that could be influences or any that you would like to mention?

Bonnie –  To be honest, I  donʹt feel particularly close to the French musical culture.  I like some French bands like Punish Yourself, Treponem Pal or Obszon Geschopf for example.

Phill - Where do you see your band in five years and what are your hopes for the future?

Bonnie - That’s a hard one !  It’s difficult for me to know what I’ll be doing tomorrow, so in 5 years ? Anyway, my hope for the future is that humanity stops killing itself and its environment... And I wish the best for Krystal System as well.

Phill - Is there any place or venue you would like to play at and why?

Bonnie - There are a lot of places we’d love to play at. UK, Germany, USA, Japan,... We had the chance to travel across Europe for concerts and we always met very cool people. 

Phill – I would love to see you live, any plans to tour the UK?

Bonnie – Nothingʹs planed yet, but we would love to play in the UK, so i think it will happen soon :) I love London ! I lived there a few months and I loved it so much that I was about to move to London and leave Paris.

Bonnie

Phill - Without giving too much away is there any instrument or program you wouldn’t be without and why?

Bonnie - Definitely my Dean guitar ! It’s a ML Knight model with 2 M85 and M81 EMG Humbucker pickups, I love her ! The only trouble is that she weighs 1,5 ton.

Watch on Youtube:

Phill – Music stirs emotion and can help relax you, is there any music that helps you relax?

Bonnie – Actually, I don't pretty much listen to music to relax, I only listen to music that raise me to a fighting spirit and that talk about fighting.

Phill – What is your favourite film?

Bonnie –  Fight Club

Phill – I have noticed a lot of new silly extreme sports, my favourite being extreme ironing.  If you could describe Krystal System as an extreme sport what would it be?

Bonnie – Kick boxing :))

Phill – What is the best live event you have ever been to and why was it so special?

Bonnie – Probably Fear Factory, just because I love that band.

Phill – Thank you so much for giving Grave Concerns this interview, is there anything you would like to add?

Bonnie –  Kiss and destroy !

Thanks so much Bonnie, good luck for the future

Thank you Phill, it was a pleasure :)  Good luck to you too !

Check out the Band on-line:

https://www.krystal-system.com/

https://www.myspace.com/krystalfoundation

https://www.facebook.com/krystal.system.official

https://www.alfa-matrix.com/bio-krystal-system.php

 Buy Krystal System-Underground: