Interview to SYCOMORE (France)
1) “Chat-Loup” is the first single and video off your upcoming fifth album, Dégradé. How does this track set the tone for what listeners can expect from the rest of the record?
Tim: It’s quite a departure from what we’ve done before. There’s more nuance to the heavy guitars, with lighter passages, especially in the verses with the clean vocals.
2) The title “Chat-Loup” carries a very nostalgic yet slightly sinister childhood game vibe. What does the title mean to you in the context of the song’s themes?
Tim: I hadn’t thought about the childhood or nostalgic side of it, but why not? The song is about witnessing a situation slowly unravel. Like a bond breaking and becoming increasingly distant. As for the title itself, “Chat-Loup” is a play on the French word chaloupé, which describes the swaying feel of the music. And ultimately, the animal imagery fits the atmosphere of the lyrics quite well: the fearful cat, the dangerous wolf…
3) You chose to sing in French for “Chat-Loup” and the new album. How does expressing yourselves in your native language change the weight, intimacy, or aggression of SYCOMORE’s sound?
Tim: Writing and singing in your everyday language instead of English forces you to look for something more personal. It can help you avoid stock phrases. But above all, French brings a different sound and a different way of playing with words. It was an opportunity to rethink my approach, and I’m glad I took that step.
4) The press release describes the track as moving through “fear, flight, disappearing faces and hostile eyes”. Where did the initial inspiration or narrative for these lyrics come from?
Tim: The lyrics were inspired by a situation that affects me directly. My private life is obviously a source of inspiration, but other ideas also find their way into it. It’s interesting to give listeners a few clues, of course, but ultimately, I like the idea that everyone can come up with their own little scenario.
5) The official music video for “Chat-Loup” (directed by Nathan Le Bras) brings a very claustrophobic and tense visual aesthetic. How involved was the band in shaping the visual concept and storyboard?
Tim: We shot two videos with Nathan over the same weekend. I think we contributed more ideas to the other one, which will be out soon, so for “Chat-Loup” we let Nathan guide us. The idea was to create a dark atmosphere that would fit the more emotional side of the song.
6) In the video, there’s a strong sense of being watched or pursued, where “every wall seems permeable and every gaze becomes a threat”. How did you translate that paranoia into the physical pacing and editing of the clip?
Tim: I couldn’t give you a precise answer, but I’d say it’s probably the framing, the use of light and the editing—particularly the slow-motion effects—that create that impression.
7) Visually and sonically, the video feels very direct and raw rather than overly polished. Why was it important for you to keep the imagery gritty and grounded?
Tim: I think that fits our philosophy as a band. Raw and real. Exactly!
8) SYCOMORE has evolved over a decade of rage and spleen. How would you describe the shift toward “shorter, more immediate compositions” on Dégradé compared to your previous releases?
Tim: We’ve always worked in reaction to what we’ve done before. Our previous album, Antisweet, featured long, extended passages, so returning to shorter formats felt fairly logical.
We also went through a bit of a “crisis” while making Dégradé. From the outset, we wanted to change the way we wrote, particularly by making the process more collective. But Desta, our former bassist, left the band along the way, so Guillaume and I found ourselves carrying on with the album as a duo. Romain joined later, when the demos were already quite far along. Throughout all that, we stayed true to the original idea of making something catchier and more direct.
9) You worked with Etienne Sarthou for mixing and Brad Boatright for mastering. How did their input help shape the crushing weight and viscous sludge-noise-rock hybrid of “Chat-Loup”?
Tim: Working with Etienne helped us achieve a much more defined sound and fully embrace the catchy side of the songs. We’d been interested in his production work for a while, and we’d already shared a stage with one of his bands, Freitot, back in 2019. We’d always done things ourselves, but this time we needed to trust an outside pair of ears.
As for Brad, he has an enormous amount of experience mastering heavy music, so his work really brought out the punch in Etienne’s mix.
10) The instrumentation balances massive low-end weight with post-hardcore abrasion. As a trio, how do you challenge yourselves to fill that much sonic space live and in the studio?
Tim: As a trio, the challenge really is to fill that sonic space with relatively few elements. Obviously, the guitar is double-tracked in the studio, but otherwise we take a fairly old-school, live approach: a hyperactive drummer and a couple of half-deaf string players, haha!
We tune really low, to drop G. Romain plays a five-string bass, and I use a baritone guitar. That helps us get those really low sounds.
11) You formed in Amiens back in 2015 and have weathered lineup shifts and a decade of heavy music. How does Dégradé represent a “new incarnation” for the band?
Tim: After ten years, we did want to surprise ourselves. Even though we haven’t radically changed our style, much less our setup, we looked for simplicity and a way to create a clearer contrast between the heavy passages and the more melodic moments.
Singing in French is another new element. I think it might even throw some people off, because it changes the way you perceive the music quite significantly.
12) Having shared stages with heavyweights like Amenra, Coilguns, and Hangman’s Chair, how has your live energy directly influenced how you wrote a track like “Chat-Loup”?
Tim: Playing live is definitely a source of inspiration. The more you play, the better you get at closing the gap between what you imagine and how well you can actually perform it. Personally, I’m not a particularly technical guitarist, and sometimes it’s better to leave a few notes out than to play something overly complicated that ends up sounding bad.
13) The lyrics touch upon the pressure to “remain, conform, and conceal one’s true self” in a damaged present. Do you see Dégradé as a form of catharsis or social commentary?
Tim: As I mentioned earlier, these lyrics draw on situations in my personal life and feelings I’ve experienced at particular moments. The idea isn’t necessarily to explain the situation, but more to convey a state of mind: the fear of being yourself, of feeling trapped by what you imagine other people think of you. And above all, the helplessness of being unable to help someone who feels that way. What I can say is that it has to do with mental health.
14) With the full album Dégradé dropping on November 6, and your release party scheduled at La Lune des Pirates in Amiens on November 27, what can fans expect from your upcoming live renditions of “Chat-Loup”?
Tim: We’re currently preparing to play every track on the album. Hopefully, we’ll bring the energy—and hit the right notes!
15) If the listener takes away only one single feeling or image after watching the “Chat-Loup” video and spinning the new track, what do you hope it is?
Tim: Overcoming your fears and being yourself. Or at least trying to move towards that.
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