MERE MORTALS - Full Speed Ahead ! (France - HardCore - Interview with... the WHOLE band!).
- Hello Guys ! Can you introduce yourself and tell us how it all began for you - your encounter with this musical universe, what appealed to you, what fascinated you and what made you want to get into music?
Guillaume (Bass) : Hello! I started to listen to rock music with Ziggy Stardust from David Bowie because my dad had the tape, I was around twelve years old, then I started to listen to The Offspring, Nirvana… Later around sixteen I started to listen to heavier bands like Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, Slayer, Death and also discovered bands like DRI, Minor Threat… I felt strong emotions with this heavy and fast music, I started playing guitar in order to someday make a band.
Romain (Drums): I wasn’t really into music when I was a kid but as a young adult, I discovered metal bands like Slayer, Pantera or Sepultura. Then I logically discovered hardcore music.
Rod (Vocals) : It all started with a dubbed DEEP PURPLE tape that landed at my childhood home a long time ago! Then IRON MAIDEN, METALLICA, then VOÏVOD, one of my favorite bands ever. (I have many haha!) Then D.R.I. to BLACK FLAG to DISCHORD bands, SONIC YOUTH to EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN, Noise scene to PAN SONIC to SUNNO)), lots of ambient, then SLOUGH FEG, MEDIEVAL STEEL and Hardcore, Punk and Crust again. Music has always been there and still is for any kind of and the many feelings I go through.
Julien (Guitars) : I started to listen to band like Led Zeppelin or ACDC when I was around 10, sneaking around my father’s CD. Got the chance to have an acoustic guitar home and started practicing. Then I got more into distorted guitar and discovered Ride The Lightning while going to the media library. From there happened the big shock … Couldn’t get enough from Metallica and started to get more and more into Thrash and Heavy : Slayer, Maiden, all that stuff. Later on as I was playing guitar and doing my first bands, I fell into Death metal and Grindcore, since then the madness never stopped. I must admit, I got into HC kinda later on, through powerviolence and grind, the circle came round and getting back to oldschool HC (bad brains, circle jerks etc). Anyways I’ve always been fond of a lot of gender and varieties of music, still trying to be open-minded and reaching to anything strong, uncommercial, experimental, and original stuffs.
- Tell me about the band... How you met - the current line-up - past experiences - and above all - WHY the need to form THIS band?
Guillaume : We’re Mere Mortals ! We’re a four piece fastcore band. Rodolphe’s at the vocals, Romain on the drums, Julien plays guitar and I (Guillaume) the bass.I met Romain at a few parties and we always talked about Hardcore bands, one time we were a bit drunk in a bar and decided to create our own HC band. I rapidly talked about it to Julien with who I play in another band and he was in to try. We did around two rehearsals without vocalist. I talked about the project to Rodolphe and he asked to make a try at vocals even if he never had a band before. That’s the beginning of the story !
Romain : Guillaume was drunk but I wasn’t !
Rod: I became friend with Guillaume after attending a few SKELETHAL shows, the Death Metal band he and Julien play in and we spend a lot of time talking about and listening to music since then. One day during a meal at home he told me about this Punk/Hardcore band he had started with Romain and Ju, and told they were not sure who they could have as a singer in the band. I just told him that I could try and so it started for me, first experience being in a band.
Julien : I had a couple of grind bands as said before, since I was only playing deathmetal for sometimes, the need to play something more punky was strong. Gui told me about this new project and I immediately stepped in.
- Describe your sound and explain why I should listen to YOUR band at all cost ?
Guillaume : Short songs, in your face earworms ! Nothing new but we make it out of sincerity and passion.
Rod: Fast Punk/Hardcore with a slightly « crossoverish » sound. Energic and honest that helps letting off steam, which can be relieving at times! Also there aren’t hundreds of bands with that kind of sound around here these days I guess? So give it a try. Hail solos!!
Julien : You don’t need to listen to us, but if you’re a fan of OS HC vibe with a tiny pinch of metal and late 80’s sound, then I think you should enjoy what we’ve done.
- Lyrical and musical inspirations/influences ? How important are the lyrics for you ? Are there any specific messages or thoughts you try to develop and share through your lyrics ?
Guillaume : My personal influences are 80’s hardcore/punk and fastcore bands like Minor Threat, MDC, Life Sentence, Final Conflict, the Accused, Siege, DRI…
Romain : I would add CoC and old school powerviolence like Infest, Spazz or Crossed Out
Rod: Yes obviously an 80s, especially U.S., hardcore punk bands influence, D.R.I., ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, CRUCIFIX, the SST sound… In a different scene, David Yow’s voice with SCRATCH ACID and later JESUS LIZARD always killed me! Yes lyrics are important to us, their style changes from song to song though, concrete to abstract, as we are several to write them in the band when ideas pop up. About ecology, evolution, social and economical injustice, tolerance… nothing new sadly!
Julien : Nothing really much to add, as a “traditional” punk band we stand to sing against society, capitalism and all the bad things human have crafted over centuries.
- About your latest release ?
Rod: Our latest record “Defeat” is actually an EP, like the first one “Condemned To Live”. It in fact was also supposed to come out as a 7’’, but we discovered it was more expensive to press a double sided 7 inch than a single sided 12’’ nowadays. So we opted for the second option. It came out on La Gueule Du Ciel Records (a very “slow” label I created a few years ago) to avoid red tape and for practical reasons, but it was actually financed by the four of us in equal parts. Nearly complete DIY (a Dead Air mastering) it was recorded at our rehearsal space in Lomme by Julien, February 24th 2024. 9 songs in 11mns. Guillaume designed the cover using pictures of one of our set in Paris, shot by the great Valérie “Thrash” Roger.
There is also a tape version of it, co-edited by the really cool, Lille tape label Dirty Slap Records and Offside Records, who supported us for the first tape as well.
You can get it by contacting us directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., on Bandcamp, or through La Gueule Du Ciel’s Big Cartel. Tape version, offsiderecords.fr & dirtyslaprecords.bandcamp.com.
- Future plans ?
Guillaume : We are currently working on new songs for another Ep. We hope to record it this year.
- Your most insane dream with the band would be ?
Guillaume : Touring in Japan.
Romain : And in South America !
Rod: In Africa then as well!
Julien : Just touring would be already a big thing to us.
- Your BEST & WORST concert - as a band - and why ?
Guillaume : I haven’t a best one in mind, the worst for me was in Lille at le CCL in february cause my bass sound was really bad.
Romain : The sound in Paris in March was bad for everyone in the place, so it’s the worst for me. Almost all the others were great.
Rod: No best, no worst. A special one I will remember was last January in a cool Bar/Restaurant called La Moulinette here in Lille, we were invited to play there only a few days before the event and the place was packed, great atmosphere shared with another homies band WIRED. Followed a nice snowball battle and a wild memorable after party!
Julien: Once we played at a BMX contest, in a big hall, with no lights, poor sound, in front of the drunk riders, it was not that bad but for sure it was the concert I enjoyed the less. Apart from this, I have only good memories with the band, and still that shows was kinda fine in the end. On the other hand, playing in a skatepark with ACID DROP was so cool as we could ride during the day and play in the night, with bbq and beers surrounding, kind of a golden day in the life !!!
- Next live-appearance(s) ?
Guillaume: Unfortunately we don’t have plans for gigs right now.
Rod: There might be a next one at the mighty CCL here in Lille, mid-June.
- Some words on your local scene - bands you're friends with and you'd like to name ?
Guillaume: Lille is a very good city for punk. We have a lot of good bands and great people, we recommend this bands:
Khlore, Gutter, Short Days, Utopie, Jodie Faster, Camellia Sinensis.
Rod: Yes there’s quite a lot of good stuff around here in NP2C, Courtrai, Tournai etc. Maybe you should go and check comrade Adrien’s Youtube channel if you’d like to discover many bands of this prosperous and active local scene.
Julien : A number of people and bands are emerging here, finally we have a nice scene IMO after a decade of emptiness. I can feel we’re starting back to mix the people of different scenes and everybody talk to each other, meeting new people and sharing the same places with friendship. The only thing we still miss here are decent places to play, it’s all the 2 or 3 same places every time, still happy to get them but not ideal sometimes …
- Last words are yours...
Guillaume : Thanks a lot Fab, we were very glad to answer the itw. Hello to everybody who support Rough Times! Cheers!
Credits :
Live photos (1 & 2) : Valérie ROGER.
Live photos (3, 4 & 5) : Mess With Me Photography
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