The peaceful revolt of T.A.N.K

interview t.a.n.k. france metal band


It's in 2006 in the Parisian suburb that the future founders of the metal band T.A.N.K (Think of A New Kind) meet each other. Called Dark Signs at this time and their main influence oscillates between Children Of Bodom and In Flames. After several line up changes T.A.N.K plays all over France and Belgium, where its enthusiasm and aggressiveness on stage are welcomed by the public but also the bands it opens for. After the debut in 2011 their new album "Spasms Of Upheaval" is released here in 2012. After the review I wanted to know more about T.A.N.K and here are the answers from Olivier the sexiest bass player.


Hey guys.. how is everyone today? Let me first apologize for screwing up the track order on my review of "Spasms Of Upheaval." How embarrassing! But please introduce yourself.
There is no big deal don’t worry! But I think that the album is way better when you listen to it in the right order because we had a big fight about it (laughs). Anyway thank you for the review and for this interview. We are T.A.N.K (for Think of A New Kind) and we are a modern melodic death metal band. My name is Olivier d’Aries and I am T.A.N.K bass player and sex symbol (laughs)!


What is the meaning behind “think of a new kind?” A new kind of what?
A new kind of mentality, a new kind of reflexion, a new kind of world, a new kind of Burger King’s whopper with 4 steaks and 5 slices of bacon (laughs)… you know “Think of A New Kind” only calls to a peaceful revolt against closed-minded people, the lack of culture… You know, the way things are is really scary.


What experiences did you use to record the new album? Which traps did you avoid?
We tried to compose an album with no boundaries. We wanted various atmospheres and tempos. You know the first album was very “live oriented”. We still wanted catchy songs but also to take pleasure as musicians and listeners! We took the time to develop themes.


What is the most enjoyable aspect of recording?
Honestly? When the producer says “ok we are done for today” (laugh). Recording is very stressful and requires a high concentration. We only had 30 days to record and mix everything so we had to be very efficient.


What is currently your favorite kind of music?
Well, as far as I am concerned I am really into modern heavy metal like Symphony X, Kamelot or Evergrey, but like the other members I am a big fan of Soilwork, In Flames, Textures, Sybreed… We all love powerful and melodic bands!


Who are some of your influences? And did you meet them in person already?
Soilwork, In Flames, Textures, Machine Head, Meshuggah and Pantera are some of our main influences. We managed to meet Machine Head members when we played at Wacken Open Air, Phil Anselmo when we played with Down at Metal Camp, and Meshuggah during some gigs and parties. Great memories!


What are you up to when you’re not playing music? Certain hobbies?
Symheris and Clement Rouxel are giving guitar/drums lessons. Besides our jobs we work on T.A.N.K’s communication. Live everybody we like theme parks, video games, movies… I also like to swim! It’s excellent to relieve stress!


Did you like school as a kid? How do you look back at it now?
No, not really (laugh)! I mean… I liked the playtime and I was interested in history. I was a very good student until middle school where I terribly felt ill at ease… I didn’t like myself and didn’t like the others much. The passion of music helped me to feel better. But I am keeping great memories of my childhood. It was not so easy but others are more to be pitied! At least I had a Nintendo 64, he he!


My favorite tracks on Spasms Of Upheaval are “The Raven’s Cry” and “Through the Disgrace.” Is there a story behind each song?
That’s interesting because The Raven’s Cry was our first song composed and Through The Disgrace was the last one. One has got clean vocals and not the other. I composed a full version of The Raven’s Cry but didn’t have any chorus so I composed one 2 minutes before going to the rehearsal. The others told me the chorus was good but the rest of the song sucked (laugh)! In fact we kept the outro with the bass and drums solo, one bridge and the chorus. It was completely reworked by the band. The lyrics deal with death. Through The Disgrace was directly composed in rehearsal by the five of us. This song is about metal heads, everything we can do if we stick together!


How important are the lyrics for the band? Where do you get inspiration from?
They are very important for Raf Pener our singer. He writes about his everyday life, his feelings. As far as I am concerned, I wrote the lyrics for A Life Astray because I wanted to speak about 2 lung surgeries I had to suffer. Horrible feelings pervaded me and I really had to confess.


I was on your webpage, and saw you released “Burden Of Will” in 2010. I really love that title. What does the burden of will mean to you?
It symbolizes all the difficulties of running a metal band, especially in France where Metal and Rock aren’t popular. You know sometimes we ask ourselves:”Why?” We invest all our money and our free time for what result? Being in a metal band is a every-day war. But the pleasure of sharing music on stage with people, visiting other countries is the true answer: living a different life!


And why don't you use the english language on Facebook? Limiting your audience!
But we do! We always post in French and English. But sometimes some French informations have no interest to be translated in English. The more foreign medias like you speak about us, the more foreign people will follow us and maybe one day we’ll be able to communicate only in English who knows?


What is the ultimate goal for 2013? And how do you see yourself in 5 years? And which sacrifices will you make to reach them?
We would like to continue to play in big festivals like the Hellfest in France and to go on tour as support band for famous artists, without paying indecent tour supports. We are ready to make sacrifices but not to be tricked!


What is the combined total of tattoos on the band members?
Only three of us are tattooed, Raf, Symheris and Nils. They all have something on their right arm and it’s personal for them. Symheris has got a maori tattoo, Raf is found of biomechanical tattoos and Nils has got a treble clef.


What band would you most enjoy to play with or open for (or have open for you!)?
In Flames would be awesome because they have a big audience that could like our music. Gojira because we have played with every French famous band except the biggest one! Metallica would be the ultimate dream for sure!


What is your favorite venue to play? Why and do you have a funny backstage story?
We really liked the Metal Camp! But we dream of the French Hellfest. We would like to play more in Germany because the audience there is crazy and really knows what metal is! We had great time in Belgium too! People are really nice. We have so much backstage stories…difficult to explain it but our night at Wacken Open Air with our friends of Ferium was completely crazy! You can check the video on PitCam. Oh my god, we were completely drunk!


Thanks so much for taking the time to answer these questions… I am really looking forward to more T.A.N.K. in the future.
T.A.N.K you for according us this interview and for supporting us! Keep up the good work and we hope to meet you for a gig!