NO TIME TO EXPLAIN - Act Fast ! (France - Melodic HardCore - Interview with Max & Fox).
- Hello ! 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?
Max (Vocals): Hi there!
Back when I was a kid, I was just listening to whatever my older brother was listening to. I started being interested in music when he was into Blink-182, Sum 41, The Offspring, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit.. Although I have a pretty clear recollection that the electric guitar on Michael Jackson's Black or White, from one of my father’s records (among AC/DC and Queen ones), tickled something in me! The Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 soundtrack definitely was a turning point in the building of my own musical culture, Rage Against The Machine being one of my all-time favorite bands since then.
I was inspired to learn guitar after seeing my father play at a family reunion on a cousin’s guitar. I thought “he looks so cool, and everyone is listening to him!”. So I started learning with RATM and Blink-182 songs. That time seemed to be kind of a golden age for french Punk bands, and I was attending Punk Rock shows of Guerilla Poubelle, Justin(e), Diego Pallavas, Charly Fiasco.. My first steps in the scene were through my drawing skills: I designed flyers, posters and made the very first (and only?) fanzine for Tcheck l’Assos, an association who brought many of these bands to my hometown Lille. I rediscovered NOFX around that time and it remains my favorite band to this day.
I'm more the type to listen to the same album a thousand times than the type to listen to a thousand albums once. But I’m still curious and discover new stuff (and sometimes old stuff after everyone else) all the time, even outside of Punk Rock. I've been leaning into Hardcore lately, since I fell in love with Rise Of The Northstar a few years ago.
Fox (Bass): Hey what’s up Rough Times viewers? Feeling good? (Definitely - YEAH ! Ed.)
I started playing guitar around 2008 as long as I remember, a few weeks after my older brother started. Then my uncle started playing drums, and we formed a band called Disorder Mind (Alt Rock) - you can find a nod in one of NTTE’s songs if you listen to the lyrics carefully hehe - with my cousin who’s been playing a bit of bass guitar for a few years.
For a few years, we almost didn't know how the fuck to use our instruments properly, and were doing more noise than music, but it was fun, and all of us are proud, 15 years later, that we learned this way! I started listening, and playing punk rock very late compared to my friends, I think around 2012, so I don't have their knowledge about Punk Rock music. But hey, I'm trying my best to listen to as many Punk Rock bands as I can. I have pretty much the same influence as Max about Punk Rock music. I also listened to mostly french Punk Rock bands when I discovered that scene, and some Midwest Emo bands like Tiny Moving Parts, Free Throw, The Hotelier, etc.. Then I started to listen to NOFX a lot, Lagwagon, Comeback Kid, etc. I’m also listening to LANDMVRKS a lot these days. Those guys from Marseille are playing an awesome Metalcore, absolutely love this band, their energy, power melodic riffs, and a crazy good singer! 
- Tell me about the band... How you met - the current line-up - past experiences - and above all - WHY the need to form THIS band?
Max: It was only fairly recently that I met Anthony (around 2020) via a classified ads site for musicians, after a couple failed attempts at making music outside of my bedroom. It was an instant match, and we soon formed a Folk Rock duo called A Murder Of Two. We’re actually finalizing a record as I’m typing this.
As of No Time To Explain, Anto wanted to form a Hardcore band at first I believe, so I didn’t want in, or simply wasn’t able to, because I just can’t scream! I’m fascinated by this technique and love listening to it, but I don’t have the patience to try and learn, knowing it’s fairly easy to hurt yourself by trying to do it on your own, and I also don’t feel built for this. I don’t have the required guitar skills either. Eventually, the project evolved into something more accessible to me vocally, and I let myself be convinced to give it a shot.
Today, with me on vocals, are Anto (rhythm guitar), Flo (lead guitar), Fox (bass) and Cyrille (drums). All four of them are way more experienced than I am. They’ve been playing in bands such as, respectively, The Groovin’ Jailers, The Other Side and Fake Off.
Fox: I also played guitar and lead vocals in The Other Side (Indie Punk) for about 3 years. We recorded a 3 tracks EP with Romtomcat, who is, for me, the best sound engineer in our region. We played a lot of very cool shows in 2018, especially the first Brat Cave gig in Lille, with Not Scientists.
I also played in Why T-Rex Why? (Pop Punk) for a few months, as lead guitarist.
In 2022, I was looking to get back in music, after the Covid break and all my projects over. Then we matched with Anto, from a website. We were both looking to set up a Punk Rock project. Then, we all met together. I already knew Anto from a few years, because we met with our old respective band projects in a festival called Zickhazshow in Hazebrouck. And I also already knew Flo even better. Both of us were playing guitar in The Other Side hehe.
So it was way easier to start the band, knowing half the people in the crew. So there we are, for almost 3 years, enjoying our music, and celebrating in gigs as much as we can!
- Describe your sound and explain why I should listen to YOUR band at all cost ?
Max: It is hard to get a sense of our own originality from an inside perspective, but I do think that none of our songs sound the same. We don’t have a writing recipe that we’d apply systematically, so each is unique and kind of unpredictable in a certain way. Some bands you can listen to a couple songs and know what the rest is gonna sound like (which is not necessarily a bad thing, don’t get me wrong), we’re not like that. We're carried along by our varied influences, and go in the direction we think is the most fun and satisfying - at least for us - at the moment.
- 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 ?
Max: As the singer, playing no instrument in the band, I do care about the lyrics! Of both things - singing and writing - the latter is the part I enjoy the most (as you can tell by the length of my answers). Sometimes I write a lot more than what ends up in the final version of a song. I like taking the time to put the right word at the right place, and it’s very satisfying when everything starts clicking together and sounds right. It's an activity that encourages introspection. In that sense, Fat Mike is my go to songwriting inspiration. He is very clever and fun in his writing. I always find his lyrics creative, and they often have that bittersweetness to it. My tendency to avoid repeating choruses comes from him.
He’s often criticized for making songs about himself, but that’s actually what I find appealing. I’m not comfortable tackling topics that are beyond my comprehension. I’m well aware that I’m not the smartest dude in the room, and I don’t feel legitimate to make big statements. I struggle a bit to see the point of preaching to already converted people.. Those who might disagree aren’t listening anyway. It’s just harder for me to find an interesting angle on those subjects. I need it to be personal, so I can come up with something that’s worth saying. Beyond the fact that I write mostly for myself, I just feel like, maybe, others can benefit more from the more relatable and intimate stuff I personally went through, whether it’s serious or silly. Anyway, let’s be honest, nobody ever tells me about my lyrics! I guess that’s the price to pay when you write in English in France. Though I know Anto appreciates them, I can only thank him for caring.
As for the singing part, I'm often told I have the timbre of Tim McIlrath's voice from Rise Against, so I guess I let myself be influenced by his work. I can only wish I were as good as he is!
- About your latest release ?
Max: Our latest release is an homage song for NOFX’ career. I wanted to write that as soon as I heard they were retiring. Like our first two demo songs, we’ve been recorded by our former drummer Bingo at his place. I made all the artworks. For a 100% DIY production, we're proud of the result! We recently released a demo CD featuring these three tracks with the help of Yann from his Convix Records label, but you can find them anywhere (Youtube, Spotify, Bandcamp..). And Flo worked very hard on a stunning lyric video for Falling In Hate we published lately, and it’s definitely worth watching!
- Future plans ?
Max: Just writing new songs. We have a fair amount of unused material just waiting to be refined in cool stuff, hopefully. We’re not even talking about making a record yet, but we’ll eventually get there, slowly but surely.
- Your most insane dream with the band would be ?
Max: I don’t know. It's already a dream of mine to be part of a band, so.. anything coming is just a bonus. Oh yeah, I’d like to see a mosh pit, or hear the crowd sing the damn lyrics someday haha!!
Fox: To be honest, most of the time, I prefer small gigs over big ones, proximity with people, before, during and after the show. I never did a really big gig, so I don’t really know how I would feel about it. But, hey, Hellfest!? Haha, I’m joking, well, I think, do I? 
- Your BEST & WORST concert - as a band - and why ?
Max: I have a very good memory of the show we made for the release party of Nothing For Free’s last record at Le Bon Vin in Maubeuge. Maybe not our best performance, at least not in a technical way - we could barely hear what we were doing - but the people there were just so excited and supporting even without knowing us, it was a lot of fun and galvanizing. And the owner of the bar is an incredibly enthusiastic and generous woman. Many thanks to her!
I don’t have a specific bad memory (we haven’t made that many shows), but sometimes I’m just having a hard time singing because I can’t hear myself, because of a lack of room for stage monitors or just a not quite good singing technique - I guess it’s a little bit of both - and I’m just not enjoying myself at all. But there’s room for improvement on that matter..
Fox: Best: Zemofest IV in Hazebrouck a few weeks ago, we only played 20 minutes, but 20 intense ones, with a great sound, many people, huge bands from different countries, really cool organization by our friend Yann Convix through the Bricks association, photographers, and a big video maker (Vincent Bergeron).
Worst: it was with one of my old bands, we were all drunk as fuck, and played like assholes. But I learnt from it, water > beer before playing gigs hehe.
- Next live-appearance(s) ?
Max: At the time I’m writing this, we share a date with Chaser in Lille at Le Bar Du Singe Savant on Saturday 28th. (June - sorry it took some times to publish the itw - Ed.) Then it will probably be a summer break. We don’t have anything planned after that, for now!
- Some words on your local scene - bands you're friends with and you'd like to name ?
Max: It’s always a nice and crazy time to play with Nothing For Free! Some of their members started a new band called Night Trap and it rocks. Yann Convix works hard to bring the Hazebrouck scene to life by bringing amazing bands, local and foreign, so huge thanks to him for that.
Fox: As Max said, definitely Nothing For Free. Yeah, those guys are so talented, so fun, and have very good vibes!
- Last word is yours..
Max: Enjoy the music while it’s there, things can change so quickly nowadays. In times of violence, fear and hate spreading all around us, being kind and compassionate is the punkest thing to do. And thanks to you Fabien for your interest. (You're very welcome guys ! Ed.)
Fox: I’d like to thank all the people supporting the local alternative scene, close or far, we love you! Keep coming for shows, bring your friends and family, come celebrate with us, and most important thing : take care of yourselves.
Credits :
Band photo : Sylvain Stricanne
Live photos (B & W) : Mess With Me Photography
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