Infected Brain

Present yourself to the readers

Hello Bernard, we are FURIES from Paris France composed by 2 women and 2 men : Zaza Bathory at the drums, Billy Lazer and Sam Flash at guitars and myself Lynda Basstarde as singer and bass player. We have had this line up since 2016, and released a demo 2 songs “Unleash The Furies” and then our first album “Fortune’s Gate”. We play a sort of Heavy Metal mixed with some Thrash, speed or hard rock elements.

What’s the story for FORTUNE ‘ S GATE ?

FORTUNE’S GATE is our first album, and we are very proud of it because we worked a lot for this release. Since our meeting to the time passed to get to know each other humanly and musically, and all our gigs! We are very happy to work together and that a special connexion has been created. There’s really a special and magic alchemy within us. It’s destiny.

Who composes ?...How does it work in the band ?

We are multi-compositers in the band, however, usually the guitarists propose some riff and then we build a song on it. Sometimes, one of us can arrive with a whole skeleton of a song and we all arrange the song, it really depends. But i’m writing all the lyrics and their melodies.

Who writes the texts ?..What are they talking about ?..How does inspiration come ?

I write all the lyrics and I usually the lyrics are narrative texts that represent a concept. I really like that people can interpret, appropriate, and identify themself to the lyrics. Several readings are possible. For example, the song “Antidote” shows that everyone can find its own antidote, it can be a project, a dream, a person, a thought… “Voodoo Chains” deals with addiction and expecial with toxic relationship. “Never Say Die” represents a battle against old age but this one is also an ally. “Delusions of Daylight” represents a form of Freedom from a situation or drugs.. I also write lyrcis about the band. “You & I” describes the Genesis of our band, “Unleash the Furies” describes that we are in a sort of cavern, ready to got out, “the Fortune’s Gate” is then what happens next, we’re out ! But through our story, there are positive messages ;)

Why the name FURIES ?

At the origin, FURIES was an all-female band lead by Zaza Bathory and she found that name because it represents goddesses of Revenge in the mythology and also comes from the moovie “The Warriors” where there’s a gang called “The Furies”. In addition to that, I think that word in meaningful, it can represent a certain strength, angry, something near flames. One word, but a powerful one.

What are your personal musical tastes and your influences ?

We all really love Heavy Metal but also we each have our own affinities with other styles, for example Billy Laze loves Yngwie Malmsteen and Symphony-X or Angra, Sam Flash is more into Thrash Metal like Exodus or Overkill, Zaza Bathory likes bands such as Death or Sepultura, and I really like hard rock like Black Sabbath or even a bit of black metal. We mix all that influences and it gives what we’re playing.

In studio, what was the atmosphere for your first album ?...etc.…

We recorded the voices, the bass, the drums and the choirs at the Labomatic Studio in Paris. It’s a very well-known studio but for variety. We met Igor Moreno, a very cool sound engineer, that had the same vision as us for how the sound would be like. Again, it’s a magic connexion. And the guitars were recorded at Sam Flash’s home studio. The whole was mixed and mastered by Simone Mularoni (DGM) from the Domination studio in Italy, and he did a very great job ! We worked a lot to have a good sound shots so it was a studious atmosphere but also a serene one because we were happy to engrave our songs for eternity.

How does it work for the design of the CD ? and why this title ?

The cover of “Fortune’s Gate” represents us, it’s like an invitation for people to follow us on our adventures. We chose the Eiffel Tower because it’s a powerful and famous symbol, and then it belongs to where we live! So we climb this Eiffel Tower to go through a sort of vortex that can be like a gate to new things!
The cover was created by Slo Sombrebizarre, we like its comics style. The idea came from the song “The Fortune’s Gate” where I explain all this ;)

How was the shooting of the clip YOU & I ? and why this choice ?

We had rented all the video material and also a studio in an audiovisual school but just the day before, the government announced the lockdown! So we ended up with almost nothing, no more place to shoot it… But We find another place and shot the video but it wasn’t really what was planned before! But we succeeded to build something with all the team, so it was stressful but also a good moment!

With Management and booking, how do you work ? And with whom ?

We received some deals with labels but we didn’t find the right one for us, so we decided to be self-produced and work with Season of Mist for the distribution. We surrounded us with professionals that trusted us and we’re very happy with that. In France, we also work with a PR “Agence Singularités” and for Germany with Franck from Nauntown Music.

What are your projects ?

Hum well, with this pandemic situation, we have postponed several gigs abroad like the Muscle Rock In Sweden and gigs in Denmark and Germany.. So now, we take this time for composing new songs and of course continuing the work all around the release of that album :)

What do you expect from the future ?

We hope that the world of entertainment comes back to normal, with gigs, and work for artists, technicians, companies in the music industries..
For us, we hope to stay strong and we will, and go on composing new songs and to tour!

What's your motto ?

“All together, union forever”

Website to remember

http://furiesband.bandcamp.com of course ;)

What would you like to say to the readers ?

To all the readers, keep the faith in Metal, in Music! We can’t wait to share our music with you, and that you may appreciate it ! We stay in touch!