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French progressive outfit KLONE have come a long way since their arrival on the scene back in the late nineties and that is all as a result of their determination to follow their own path. It is easy for bands to become distracted with what is popular and currently trending, especially in the days of social media, but authenticity usually triumphs in the long run. With nine full-length albums already in their repertoire, guitarist and founding member Guillaume Bernard and company have little intention of coasting by on their previous accomplishments, constantly looking to push their sound into new and exciting directions.
Their newest chapter entitled The Unseen is edging ever closer and could well be their most well-rounded body of work to date. “For existing fans of the band it still has the hallmarks of our previous releases, progressive rock and metal with atmospheric elements. We always strive to compose the best music we can and we feel like this release brings together the old style married with some new ideas. The Unseen represents the mysterious world out there which we cannot control but still plays an influence on our lives. We as humans have this impression that we have complete understanding and have everything figured out but we are limited by our senses. We have received a lot of positive feedback, particularly for the single Magnetic. It’s nice to see when people are enjoying your music but I don’t pay too much attention to it as the most important thing is that we are satisfied creatively.”
The Unseen is comprised of beautiful melodies, serene soundscapes, and mesmerizing vocal passages that are soothing for the soul with a sprinkling of heaviness scattered around, quite a shift in comparison to some of their earlier efforts which leaned more into the distorted, aggressive side of the spectrum. Guillaume can’t quite pinpoint where his ideas materialise from but whatever approach he happens to be using is working wonders.
“We focused a lot on having the best production possible to ensure the listener could experience all the details of the arrangements. We also wanted the production to be very organic and modern sounding as well as having a clean, acoustic sound with the drums. My inspiration comes in many forms. It can be the music I listened to when growing up but it can also be from things as simple as the silence when I go walking in the forest. Sometimes I will wake up with an idea in my mind and I will rush to my guitar to transcribe it. I feel like I’m a big receiver of frequency that I transform into music. Firstly, I work on the ideas and the structuring and then the finer details are worked on as a band. I find both parts of this process very exciting. KLONE, as with many other musicians have to work separately due to distance but we also try to meet and perform to feel how the music is experienced in a physical form.”
Looking back through the KLONE back catalogue, the artwork is very individual to the release rather than following any kind of pattern or theme to tie them together. Guillaume is always up for experimenting and weighing up his options as he progresses. “We spend a lot of time looking online at accounts from graphic designers for something that will be in harmony with our music. We wanted something mysterious with beautiful colours that really fit into the theme of the album and we are very pleased with the artwork.”
KLONE have experienced many different phases and transitions with regards to lineups throughout their extensive career with Guillaume being the last standing original member, closely followed by frontman Yann Ligner who has been with the band since 2004. Whilst the members may have shifted over the years, the drive and ambition have remained a constant.
“I’m already beginning to work on the new album!” Declares Guillaume. “It has been an amazing journey and we’ve all still got the motivation to continue to create something new. We enjoy spending time together out on the road and our fan base has been growing steadily throughout our career so its nice to be able to create special moments with them when playing live. We very much enjoyed playing the recent unplugged shows. It was something we started doing back in 2016 and the fans seem to enjoy it just as much as we do. I hope we will continue to do so. I think the acoustic style allows for the emotion to shine through and it helps forge a better connection with the fans. We’re planning to tour Europe next year and hopefully return to the USA and South America because we’ve had a lot of great experiences there in the past and want to make more memories.”
The Unseen is out now via Pelagic Records. View this interview, alongside dozens of other killer bands, in glorious print magazine fashion in DS115 here:
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