With his new album ¨RESISTANCE¨, the darksynth/cyberpunk producer Shredder 1984 gives us a view of the world today. Not a very cheerful story, but life is not a fairy tale. On this first day of the new year I present you my interview with Shredder 1984.
Shredder 1984, can you give us an introduction of yourself?
I’m a French-American music producer born in 1984. I've been a full time musician for about 15 years in metal bands, before starting Shredder 1984 in 2016. I used to be called Shredder at school as my real name sounds kind of like that. I try to put all my childhood references into my music such as retro gaming and 80s/90s movies and animes.
Congratulations with your new album ¨RESISTANCE¨. How was it to work on this album?
Thank you! I had the ideas for this album when I was on tour last year, precisely after the political events around the world, so it was made on the road actually. The recording and producing process of this album was quite different compared to the other ones, probably more influenced by electronic music than metal and video games. Also the artwork was quite challenging for my designer, I wanted to put a lot of different elements but in the end she managed to put on paper all my ideas.
On a creativity level, did you do things in a different way for ¨RESISTANCE¨ compared to your previous releases?
I wanted this album to sound kind of oppressive and unsafe as a soundtrack of our time, relating 2019 events... I tried to match a dystopian future theme with the present reality of 2019, as long as matching it with past events (such as the French revolution of 1789). So there's the past, the present and the future in the same piece of art.
Are there plans to tour and promote the new album?
I'm currently upgrading my recording studio and moving it to a new place, so as soon as I’m done with this I'm planning to go back in Europe and in the US for a tour.
When I listen to your music, I can imagine the emotion fear very well on a musical level. What does fear means to you?
That's great haha, it's the kind of emotion I wanted to share as I said just before. The idea was to create anthems to rebellion. I wanted it to sound as chill as a nuclear emergency alarm haha! On a fun note you can probably say that it's the perfect opposite of chillin’, sunset and palm trees...
The cover of the album is confronting, but there also seems to be a message of hope. What can you tell about this?
That’s not really the way I see it, as she's the last one standing even if she’s injured. The message is more like “rather die on your feet than live on your knees”. Looks like it's gonna be a hard fight but he who doesn't fight, has already lost.
Talking about retro video games, what is your favorite video game from the 80/90s and why?
It's really hard to pick up one but I would say probably Final Fantasy 7. The part of storyline with the evil corporation destroying the Earth for profit and enslaving the poor is more relevant now than ever.
And finally any last words to the (Dutch) synthwave community?
Thank you all for your support! I’m looking forward to playing in The Netherlands. And the last words would be the intro of the album: “If you’re listening to this, you are the resistance”.
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