So, who are Mineral? Well, imagine an indietronica outfit who hail from Paris and Dublin and cite as their influences Talking Heads, Pixies, Syd Barrett, Kraftwerk, Gainsbourg, The Beach Boys and Béla Bartók. That’s the vision behind the band members Craig Walker, Thierry Fournié, Sophie Armelle and Damien Li. Walker made his name in Irish indie rockers Power Of Dreams, and then trip-hop act Archive, who were huge in France. With Mineral, Craig teamed up in 2012 with three of the finest musicians in Paris to create a widescreen musical canvas in keeping with the best in French music (Air, Daft Punk) while hinting at soundscapes from around the globe. They’ve even recorded a telling cover of My Bloody Valentine’s ‘When You Sleep’.
01 How did you first get started in music?
Kids I was totally zero in football. So I’ve tried to play guitar.
02 Who were your major influences and inspirations?
Velvet Underground, New order ,middle age music, after punk and psyché pop. The letter B is generally good in music: Bowie , Barrett, Beatles, Beach Boys. We should call us Bineral.
03 What shapes your song craft and sound?
We love a lot of different stuff, different periods in music. We chose to be an electro band because it allows us to amalgamate all these influences, because it looks like our time. Electronic music is using the most modern expression to describe this strange period.We love Pop, rock, soundtrack but we just have a bass and 3 keyboards in a little studio.
04 What types of themes and subjects do you deal with?
Love and Violence.
05 How has your music evolved since you first began playing?
Listening a lot of music always evolves your own perception of things.We need to be curious! A lot of musician plays the same shit all their life, they found something quite interesting at the beginning, and after dig it. Some people call that “style” but in fact it’s just mannerism. Bowie never did the same, he’s an example to follow.
06 What has been your biggest challenge so far? Were you able to overcome this? If so, how?
My biggest challenge so far is to learn how to live, my second one will be to learn how to die.
07 Do you ever play covers? If you could pick any song, which would you like to cover most and why?
We’ve already done “When you sleep” by M.B.V. We did a stupid video for it, it was quite funny to do. The danger with covers is if the songs you choose is really excellent, it’s going to be impossible to do better. The challenge is at least to do something as good as the original, otherwise there is no interest. Next cover will be a Rihanna song!
08 How did you get connected with Alan McGee (ex Creation Records) and with the new record label project 359 Music?
It had a lot to do with time, numerology , destiny and 2 Albums by Kevin Shields.
09 Alan has a reputation as someone who makes things happen in a very vital way, did this draw you in to the bigger plan?
Alan gets the best albums out of the artists he works with, the evidence is clear.
10 Will there be a Tour or live dates to help promote your album and single releases?
Yes,we must pay to eat…
11 What can someone who has never seen you live before expect from your live shows?
Very loud electronic rock n roll.
12 Who would you most like to record with?
Kraftwerk.
13 What should we be expecting from you in the near future?
We have finished writing our second and third albums.
14 Can you tell us a half-decent joke please?
The 1975 band is a very funny joke.
Web Links:
facebook.com/mineralofficial
twitter.com/mineralofficial
soundcloud.com/mineralmusic
359music.co.uk/mineral
Photo Credit: Nicol Despis
Plastic Exphrastic: Mineral (359 Music, cat #359CD3) – Released 28th October 2013
The long established genre of electronica has thrown up some frustratingly difficult to appreciate music over its life span, as well as some highly accessible ditties, and Mineral are on the blue end of the scale, never straying into the red zone of the totally unlistenable.
‘Serial Monkey’s loose, bleeping rhythm and its cast of vocalists, ranging from displeased infant, growling, monkey-obsessed male and stentorian disco minx, all seemingly pursuing their own path, is an attention grabbing opener, but does not bear up to too many repeated listens.
‘Atoms’ has a more languid feel, a pleasing marimba, real or generated, doing sterling service, but the male voice is too monotonous to hold the interest in this sprawling track, that tails off into a Beach Boys inspired workout, regrettably not one that resolves as only the BB can.
‘Bleeding the Beast’ is much more to my taste, soft piano chords coming on like Roxy Music, a sugary- sweet female vocal and an atmosphere that shows the band, unlike many of their brothers in synth, can be a little reflective.
‘Cynical’ is back in the icy-cold waters of electronic pop, but the male vocal has a little grit to contrast with the sweetness of his female comrade in voice, and the melody is not lacking in interest.
‘Love divine’ is another grass hopping synth riff with a worried keyboard figure doing nothing to enliven this maudlin ‘You, Me’ song. The offer to ‘Love you forever’ does not tempt this reviewer, and even the band gets bored with the whole shebang, ba-da-da –da-da-ing into the distance. What’s with the foghorn, by the way?
‘Mi-Clos’ has some tingling, ghostly vocals and hard, echoing guitars that set up a pleasingly tense atmosphere that could have been the basis of a chilling break-up story. Regrettably, the song fails to capitalise on it, and it ends sounding like a particularly freaky Japanese car commercial.
‘Stone’ presents us with more Lego music, bubbling keyboards, muffled drumbeats and loud-hailer vocals, the only respite a pleasing acoustic guitar figure. Aiming, I think, for the kind of absolutist shtick peddled in the 90’s, but all we appear to have here is an interesting beat going nowhere.
‘1989’ recreates the kind of twee-pop I thought had been outlawed long ago, but it seems some can’t get enough of it. You’re welcome.
‘Brainwashed’s compressed drums, bright keyboards and light touch guitar is pleasant enough, but it isn’t too long before the twee vocals start up again, and we’re stuck in a lift with Frazier Chorus.
By the time the final track ‘Plastic Exphrastic’ spun around (please, no secret tracks) I was ready for a change, and was duly presented with a sub-Kinks, Sgt Pepper lead-out groove dervish, that quickly turns into a robotic organ ditty of a late 1970’s stamp, complete with whiny vocals and whistling.
‘Where are we going with our digital souls?’ Indeed, where? BUY HERE!
