Hello, I'm Eden from Earama Media, and today we're joined by Psykup! How are you?

Julian - I'm fine.

Julian - I'm fine, and you?

I'm great. We're here to talk about your new album, The Joke of Tomorrow, which comes out on 11 April. To begin with, do you have one word to describe the album?

Julian - Natural.

Julian - I'd say sincere.

There are a lot of different sounds on this album, which is quite common with Psykup. A female voice on Bigger Than Life, a more oriental atmosphere on another. How and where do these desires and inspirations come from?

Julien - It's really the inspiration, the desire of the moment. That's why we call it natural and sincere. When I write, I try to let my thoughts go where I think it's going to be interesting. So I open the gates. I listen to a lot of very different kinds of music when I'm writing, I don't listen to metal at all. It's more a question of other things influencing me. It might be a film I've seen, or I listen to classical music. I've got a general vibe that's going to come out in a certain way. And I like exploring new things. It's been a long time since we've had a female lead vocal on a track. I've been wanting to use strings for a long time too and we haven't until now. That's why the violins came in, why there's an oriental feel to it. And then, as someone who adores jazz, I thought, well, I'd like there to be a little jazzy bit on Same Player, etc. And what's cool about Psykup is that it's an open bar, you can go anywhere, people will follow you. My bandmates already follow me in my own delirium, and then people follow us and that's great. So it's the desire, I think, to explore new lands, to mix very different things and have something coherent at the end that holds together well on the basis of a concept album like this.

And how is your creative process going? Have you made any changes along the way?

Julien - We have a formula that works well.

Julian - Ju arrives with 90% of the material and we programme and pre-prod it at home. And then, once we've got that base, we tell Brice, the drummer, to put his stamp on it.

Julien - And they do the sound design too, they produce the track.

Julian - We did a bit more sound design on this album. And that's cool because everyone puts a bit of themselves into it and it really becomes something. I think that over the years it's remained coherent and we've perhaps strengthened things a bit more on this album because we've really managed to make each track, I think, a track with its own identity. When I think of I Will Let You Down, I think of a nightclub with some electro sounds, Same Player... We're releasing the video today, so I'm not going to give too much away, but there you go. There's a track that reminds me of Dune, a lot of things like that. So I think it's very successful because mentally, the projection of the tracks is already very clear. So I think that as we've gone along we've managed to get a bit more of that.

You're a band with a tendency towards self-production, but you still worked with people for the mastering and mixing, notably Fred Duquesne and Thibaut Chaumont on the last album. Have you kept the same line-up? Have you changed?

Julian - No, we kept the same line-up. In fact, Hello Karma, the previous album, was the first album Fred worked on and it worked so well, we found each other without having to argue or battle over a sound... As soon as he suggested something, we were like ‘that's really crazy, that's really angry’! And then there was the covid, which complicated things a bit because we couldn't work too much in each other's studios or whatever. So we decided to do it again. And this time, Fred Duquesne was able to work from home, so it was even better. He put in his little paws, his little touches. We still have Thibault Chaumont on mastering, he's very conscientious, very attentive. He really does a great job. So we wanted to use the same team as on Hello Karma, but with better conditions, a bit more time and no constraints due to Covid or whatever.

Your songs may sometimes seem rather negative, like Death In The Afternoon or Fear Is The Key, but Psykup often has a very positive message in their lyrics. What message did you want to get across through the album?

Julien - It's a bit of a counterpoint. You see, I Will Let You Down means ‘I'm going to disappoint you’. Death In The Afternoon is really death in the afternoon, because it's a song about death. It's a song about the aftermath, about the fear of the aftermath and not being able to cope with it. Fear Is The Key is about the importance of being afraid. It can motivate a lot of good decisions. Because we're always being told ‘you've got to be strong’, ‘you've got to be fearless’, ‘you've got to be perfect’. Society does that and I think it's a mistake. On the contrary, I think we need to tell people that they have the right to fail, that it's not a big deal, that they can learn from it too. It's important. That you can disappoint people and be disappointed by people, that it's part of life, that it's not a big deal either. So there you have it, desacralising death and anguish, embracing it all in a way. You can accept all that, and still do something positive. I'm living proof of that, I'm someone who can have very dark tendencies at times and very positive ones most of the time. And the more things go on, the calmer I feel as I get older and wiser, dealing with certain things better, desacralising other things, approaching things in a more serene way in general. It's resilience, it's experience, it's empiricism, it's a lot of things. It's what allows us to move forward in life. But I think it's a good thing to communicate that because we're told a lot of very dark things in everyday life. I think we're under a lot of pressure. We're told a lot about everything that's wrong and so on. Some people watch the news all day long. It's horrible. So it's good to be able to say that there are positive things and that it's OK to make a mistake and move on. That was the message of the album.

I agree. And what does the album title mean?

Julien - It's a quote, a reference to H.G. Wells, who's a writer I like a lot - and you seem to know about him - who wrote The Invisible Man, War of the Worlds, The Exploring Machine, and so on. He once said “The Crisis of Today is the Joke of Tomorrow". It’s someone who was a visionary in his day, and it has helped me a lot in difficult times. I think it's a very good maxim for desacralising things and saying to yourself, it'll pass, everything will be fine, no problem, you can laugh about a lot of very complicated things that you won't be able to laugh about today but you will later. And that's a message that I think is important in today's society, as I was saying. I find that there's a lot of self-pity, a lot of people who wallow in complaint. I think it's good to tell ourselves that everything's going to be fine, that it's going to be alright, that there are people who have much more serious problems than us and who still manage to laugh and move on, so it's a good message.

As I was saying, Psykup often has a positive message.

Julien - Yes, absolutely. It's good that you point that out because it's true that in metal, it's not a very common thing to have a very positive message. Metal tends to be negative or dark. And we're into something a bit brighter, as you were saying earlier.

Julian - Yes, brighter, like the last track which is called The Joke of Tomorrow. It's really the track that soothes the whole album, it comes last. And that's why we're really here, at the end we want to give each other hugs and tell each other that everything's going to be fine, it's soothing.

Julien - And metalheads are often like care bears. It's a bit like that when you get to know them. Given that everything is in the music we make or listen to, everything comes out.

Julian - You can let off so much steam with music that, basically, you're cute.

Yes, it's an outlet.

Julien - Yes, exactly. And that's good because it's not some violence you're going to use elsewhere. Sometimes when I listen to it again, when we play it live, I think ‘wow, that's really violent’. I don't really realise how violent it is when I'm writing it. I can't really measure the violence of the thing.

Julian - When we were working on it, we found it hard to admit it to ourselves... And it's true that when our friends and family gave us feedback, they were like ‘You were pretty pissed off on this album’. But everything went so smoothly. We really injected a healthy energy into it. For me, the violent side is a bit like martial arts. It's violent but zen at the same time. It's controlled.

You were talking about the live show. Have you started work on the live adaptation? Are there any surprises in store or any particular set design?

Julien - In fact, we tried to respect the atmosphere of the album cover. I think we're going to ask people to come dressed as clowns or boxers. [laughs] We tried to respect the general atmosphere, in what's both bright and dark, it's really the two facets of the band. Always the yin and the yang. And the new songs, we tested them live, in a studio, because the first dates are 5 and 6 April. We tried to see what they sounded like, and we realised that the songs are made for live performance! It's the first time we've included so many songs from a new album in the setlist for the start of a tour. We put 7 in here. And usually we put less, like 4.

Julian - On the previous album, we included 4 tracks.

Julien - And this time, we felt like it. We would have put in even more. It proves that we like the album too, and that we want to defend it.

Is there a track you're particularly looking forward to playing live?

Julian - Drinks on Me.

Julian - Drinks on Me, which is the hardest-hitting track on the album. [Laughs]

Julian - I think it's going to be a good mess.

Julien - Personally, I can't wait to see how people will react to a track like Bigger Than Life. I'm really waiting to see how people take it. Especially the big metalheads, when you do an intro with an R'n'B voice, in a groovy tone. I'm really looking forward to seeing the reaction of the people down below, in the pogo. It's going to be fun.

I had a question of my own, but I didn't see much mention of the ostrich on this album. I was wondering if there was a future for the ostrich ?

Julien - You'll see sooner than expected that the ostrich has a bright future. It's there. If you look carefully at the cover, it's in the background, in the frame, on the wall. And in the artwork, it's very present and you'll see that, in the very near future, we'll be talking about it. She'll be in the spotlight.

If the album were to be the soundtrack to a movie, what kind of film would it be?

Julien - It could be the soundtrack to a horror film, but a bit strange. Like, you know, Smile 2. I really liked Smile 2. Because, well, the easy thing to do would be to say Terrifier, because there's a clown. But no, the album is so varied. On a Tarantino film, it could be pretty good, given the shaker, the mix.

Julian - Yeah, definitely!

Julien - Tarantino's good because it's already a shaker full of influences, so it suits us. After that, yes, as someone who loves fantasy films, and of course horror films, I'd say a Smile 3. Because it's smiling for something dark, it suits us.

This album celebrates 30 years of Psykup. In 30 years, there's always been a musical evolution. But as a band, how do you feel about your own personal evolution?

Julian - I've been here for 10 years now, and I think that, as a gband, the more we've progressed, the better we feel. We've rebalanced a lot of things and made a lot of progress. We've also done a lot of work on the technical side, adapting to new technologies. We've evolved on stage too, there's a lot of new gear. So it's great because this is a band that's still as crazy as ever, that's still going off in all directions, but that's always putting new constraints on itself and always trying to do better. So it's not a band that's stagnating and that's really cool, I think.

Julien - Yeah, it's like a shark; a shark that stops moving forward is a dead shark. I love sharks, they're an animal that fascinates me. It's a beautiful animal. But yes, I agree with him. We really tried to optimize everything, to have the best version of ourselves. And at the same time, we remained very sincere, which is what I like so much. I was using the word “sincere” earlier, because it really comes from the gut, it's very spontaneous, there's no calculation, we don't wonder if people will like it or not. I think people like it above all when they feel it's true. Even if they don't like it, they can at least respect the fact that it's well done because it's sincere and well thought out.

Authenticity always pays off.

Julien - I think, yeah. And unfortunately that's being lost in music and in the world in general. Authenticity, with the networks and everything... There are so many fake things and fake lives being sold to us that aren't reality. I think it's great that there are quite a few people now who are desacralising that. What's more, on the networks, there are influencers and so on, who are showing a bit of the other side of the story and saying ‘well, no, not everything is as perfect as you think’. And that's important. It ties in with my idea of the concept for the album, explaining to people that not everything is perfect, and that it doesn't matter.

Julian - And you can see that in the time it took to write the songs and everything. We wrote 8 tracks, recorded the album, mixed it, mastered it... And all that in 4 months. So really, when it came out, it was very fluid... It was a rush, but it was really very natural. We didn't spend 36 hours battling over an arrangement. It just came out. So that's a sign that at a given moment, when the planets align between us, the rest will follow.

Julien - And they say that love means looking in the same direction, so... [laughs].

The name Psykup means elevation of the spirit, how has this philosophy guided you in your career over the years?

Julien - It's a mantra, I think it's always been there, right from the start of the band.

You quickly come up against a lot of things when you get into this business. You're quickly disappointed, you're often slapped in the face, you have huge emotional lifts. So you have to keep this idea that things will get better, that things will be fine. That's something that has guided us. I know that I can't live without a sense of humour, there always has to be a bit of distance and a bit of humour, otherwise I find life really unbearable if you don't laugh. And the fact that we have a good laugh with each other is really important too. And that's part of the positive and good vibes we can send out to each other. We've really removed all the toxic people around us and we try to surround ourselves only with very positive people who send out good vibes.

Julian - Basically, he has to be in the same frame of mind. We all have a bit of the same state of mind and sometimes, as the years go by, it's hard to keep it. Sometimes you lose yourself. Sometimes you question yourself. I think we're doing well here.

And for you, what's the best way to celebrate your 30th birthday?

Julien - With a great album like this one, I think it's pretty ideal. A great tour, sharing with people. And to see that there are people who have followed us for a very long time and who haven't given up on us, who are still there and who respect the evolution of the band, whether they like everything or not. And I really like that. Some people have found it hard to accept the band's stage of evolution. It's a shame, because they've stuck to an image that was ideal for them, but without respecting, I think, the fact that artists evolve, change and people change. And I think it's really good to see that there are people who follow the movement, who are there and who support us.

Julian - There are quite a few fans like that who support us, who are really loyal and who have made it possible every time we've had to relaunch or whatever. They've really been there, supporting us. You feel supported and carried right away, so afterwards you're reenergised and everything happens naturally.

Julien - Oh yes, because if you're preaching in the desert... There still has to be people. You know, the theory is that if no one is there to hear a tree falling in a forest, it's as if it hadn't fallen at all. It's a bit like that. People have to be there to support us and they are there, so that's a pleasure.

Do you have a message for your fans and the people who support you?

Julien - Thank you, sincerely, from the bottom of my heart. It's true that, yes, I'm amazed to see the extent to which... There are artists myself, I've given up on... Sometimes I say to myself, wait a minute, I loved that artist. He's released albums I'm not aware of. We're inundated with information all the time, there's so much going on and we don't necessarily have the time to see it all. There are some people who are really up to speed, they know everything, they're up to date. That's good, because it means we're going all the way. So we'd like to thank all these people, and you too, all the people who do an interview, who come and see us, who ask for things to talk about the band too. It's really important.
Julian - Yes, that's clear. In any case, I think the metal scene is great. You can say what you will, that sometimes it's becoming too bling bling, or that it's becoming too democratic, but it's all passionate people who give their all, and most of the time on a voluntary basis. That's why it's so important. It's the only music where you can mix anything you want, so you can really have fun in this environment, and that's what's so great about it.

I've come to the end of my questions. So I'd like to thank you for giving me a bit of your time today.
Julian - Thank you.
Julien - My pleasure, thank you.