Interview with Pierre St-Jean from Heaven`s Cry

I guess we first of all should go back in time quite a bit... I heard that you were originally called WILDSIDE...
"Yeah, long time ago. Actually it was WIDESIDE..."
Did you also play a different kind of musical style then?
"Well, it's always been a little bit progressive, but I guess at the time it was a bit catchier.... We started the band about eight years ago, so we just changed the name, really. Exactly because of the same reason, that some people thought we were called WHITESIDE or WILDSIDE, so there was a lot of confusion around it.Our guitarplayer at the time died of cancer and at the same time we changed our name."
Who else was in the band at the time? Was it already  the same line-up as nowadays?
"No, there was me and Sylvain, the bass player...  We started the band, we started writing together and had a lot of changes in the line-up. We were trying to find people that really care for a band and really wanna work. And especially when it's eight years of working hard and nothing happens, sometimes people just don't believe in it anymore or whatever, you know. So, we had really had to change the musicians and we chose among the people that we knew and stuff..."
When did you actually start out as a musician? Have there been any musical activities previously to forming WIDESIDE?
"Ehh... yes, we were playing clubs all the time, me and Sylvain. He had his own band and I had my own band, you know. And Luc, the drummer, had his own band, too. He was playing in LANKHMAR and Sebastian, the guitarplayer was playing in RAGING FURY... We were all doing bands, playing clubs... playing half covers and half originals most of the time, you know, so that we could get gigs. So, me and Sylvain, we started to play clubs when we were sixteen years old or something, so it's been a while(laughs)!"
How did you get together then?
"Well... as I said, I already knew Sylvain when he was younger... And one time, when I was probably like seventeen and he was probably like fourteen, he auditioned for my band to sing, you know. So, I knew him and we saw eachother at the rehearsal places and stuff. We've been good friends before we've started the band and I also knew Luc and Sebastian before, because we were all playing the same clubs, you know. Musicians, you know?! You know everybody after a while (laughs)!"
What kind of material did you jam in the beginning? There was talk that you played a couple of cover tunes also...
"HEAVEN'S CRY was playing mostly classic Rock. We were playing some KANSAS and some ZEPPELIN... you know, stuff like that. We even played some GENESIS. It really depends... After the Grunge thing happened, we even played some SOUNDGARDEN and ALICE IN CHAINS, but always mixed with a lot of originals. As I said, we were playing covers to get gigs and get paid. That was the whole point."
How long did it take you as a band until you were  able to come up with enough own material for a demo recording?
"Oooff...man, the first year! We've always been doing a lot of originals... I have tons of songs in my desk and most of them are okay. The only problem is, they are dated! They sound like the 80's, and not like the 90's and that's a problem, you know (what's wrong in  playing 80's music?! - Ed.). So, we did a couple of demos, we went to a couple of studios,but we  are not really satisfied with them... We're used to play live and it's just not  the same feeling as when you  do live shows. We came closer to that feeling of the live shows when we did the album but then again, we know  that we sound a lot better live!"
Did you spread the tapes around to magazines and  radio stations or were they just meant for record labels?
"With most of them we didn't do anything (laughs)! We were just not satisfied enough with them.The last one we did, was a sampler that had "Gaia's Judgement" on it. It was called "Last Judgement" at the time, and it also had "Cruel Disguise" and "The Alchemist" on it. We sold a bit of them, but it was like a secret demo, you know (laughs) and we mostly gave it to record companies to get signed. We didn't wanna sell something that didn't sound right, you know..."
How did you end up being signed by Hypnotic Records?
"Well, there was some interest in Japan and Europe for the kind of music we're doing... Overhere in Canada it's kinda hard to sell Prog music or Prog Metal. I always hear about bands like ANGRA and SHADOW GALLERY and stuff like that, but here you don't hear about them at all! The only progressive band we hear about a little bit is DREAM THEATER and probably QUEENSRYCHE. It's not the kind of music that really works in Canada, even if RUSH is pretty big..."
What kind of label is Hypnotic by the way? I never really heard of them previously... Have they done any other releases in the Metal genre before you have been signed?
"Well, they have VOIVOD right now... There's not a whole lot of Metal bands that's been signed with them. It's a small label  from Canada, distributed by MCA, but there's no promotion done by MCA. They put out some stuff before, but it was weird... always special stuff let's say.There's an album from the States, that was called "Let's GoSmoke Some Pot", which gives you a little advice about what the label is all about (laughs)!"
How did you get to know the guys in Voivod and  when did you get the offer to help them out as a bass player?
"They saw me play for a couple of years, because we were always playing in Montreal and I think they thought that we have some talent or something and that's it. One day I  was sitting in a club called "The Backstreet" in Montreal and I saw Snake and Piggy coming in. They paid me some Whiskey (laughs) and asked me: "Would you like to join the band?" and I said "What????!" (laughs) And they said, "Yeah, we need a bassplayer..." and I said, "Well, I'm not a bassplayer..." and they said  "Well, you play guitar, so you can play bass!"
Why haven't they asked Sylvain instead of you?
"That's weird, eh?! (laughs) Well, I don't know. WIDESIDE started without Sylvain, when I was sixteen years old, so that's it I guess. A lot of people knew us already in Montreal. We were alwaysplaying and we had a good crowd and I guess I was probably the figure of the band that they saw so much and stuff and that everybody knew, so... I guess that's why. You would have to ask them (laughs)! But I didn't leave HEAVEN'S CRY at all, I stayed with my own band all the time. I couldn't really give up my dreams."
Have they ever approached you to stay in the band as a permanent member?
"Yeah! But as I said, it was pretty hard, you know, as I'm a singer and songwriter too. And in VOIVOD I was always  the last one (laughs).  It was a hard choice, because with VOIVOD I was at least able to make a little bit of money and had  a little fame (laughs), I was in some magazines... That was pretty cool,  I was happy with that, but I'm a singer and that's what I like best in my life, you know. So, I just thought, well, I believe in my own thing and I won't give up! That's why I came back after I did the tour with them in the States."
As far as I've heard you even helped them out in the vocal department, didn't you?
"Not really... I didn't sing for them. When they took me, that's what they wanted me to do. They wantedto have a second singer in the band, so they would have more backing vocals.  They came to a where they tried to do something  different, so that's why I was the perfect guy to do that, you know. I was good in melodies and stuff. But I guess that was not their identity... When we did the album together, which was "The Outer Limits", it was just not working (laughs). They were  better in going  back to their roots and that's exactly what they are doing right now."
Talking of vocals, I noticed that on your album is mentioned, that you and Sylvain are both doing vocals. So, do you share lead vocals or is he just singing backing vocals?
"Oh no no no, we share lead vocals! I know we have a pretty similar voice sometimes (laughs), but my voice is a bit more aggressive than his, so... But in most of the songs we do it 50 / 50, it depends. Like, let's say in "Your God's Crime" I am the lead vocalist, it just depends. We just use the voice that suits the part, you know."
Tell us a little bit more about the album in general... How long have you been able to stay in the studio to record the material?
"Too long (laughs)! No, not kidding! The studio we were in, which is the Hypnotic studio, it belongs to the record company... We were not working twelve hours a day, like working hard let's say... There was so much time off and stuff. Usually we had this kind of a habit of going into a studio and rush, but this time it was not like that at all..."
How did you hook up with the producers? I never heard of them before...
"Well, that's the company...We're not really happy with the sound of the whole thing, though. We know it doesn't sound thaaat good, you know (laughs)! It could've been better, the drums are kind of not there, but it's a first album, so..." In my opinion they did a fantastic job! "Perfect! Well, I'm always a bit hard on what we're doing anyways..." Yeah, probably! "Ohhh yeah!"
Have they been working on any other records previously?
"Well, they did the VOIVOD album "Negatron" too. The company is hiring them. I think they did a good job with all the shit we had to deal with, when we were there. There were a lot of business happenings with the record company... We wanted to do exactly what we wanted to do (laughs), you know. So, I think the guys saved our asses a couple of times (laughs)!"
What is the reason that Olaf was not shown on any of your promotional pictures? Is he not a permanent member of HEAVEN'S CRY?
"Ehh, right now he is, yeah! Well, what happened is, he came in the band just before we started to write for the album, because we didn't wanna use too much of the old songs as I was saying. I was pretty afraid of hearing that the album would've been good if it would've come out ten years ago, especially because we like  new music too, you know. We're not just into 70's Prog Rock or whatever. So, the guy worked on the songs with us and since he's a finger  picking guitarist, he was not really used to play with rock bands...We played a couple of  shows with him and then we thought,well, this guy is gonna be able to do the job and he's a good songwriter, too... He had good ideas, let's say. And when we came to the conclusion that he should be in the band,the company told us it was too late, that the whole album was done already. He was originally mentioned as an additional musician and I told them to change that, so they said, we will put him in as a musician and write "not shown" on the cover. I think it's pretty stupid! Personally, I would've liked him being credited as a member of the band, but we couldn't do anything at that point, so..."
So, are you working with three guitars now!?
"Yeah! But there's a lot of effects on guitars and we have a guitar synth too, you know. So, there's a couple of things on the album that's been played with a guitar synth too."
And what about Eric, the guy who played the keyboards on the album?!
"He's a friend of mine, who helped us out in the studio. We used a lot of keyboards in our band in the past and we just decided to cut off the keyboard... It's not because we don't like keyboards or anything like that. It's just that if you don't get the right keyboard and a good programmer and stuff, it sounds dated already. Whenever you will put some keyboards, it will sound like the 80's, you know.So, we used, what we did. We used a lot of the old keyboards,  which are more like natural sounding. But we will always have a little bit  of keyboards in our band, that's for sure! If it's played by a guitar synth, it will! Or else, one of us will play it."
How would you actually categorize the music of HEAVEN'S CRY? Do you see yourself as a progressive Metal act?
"Well, we'd like to perceive the band as an attempt to do something different. We know it's not easy, we're still a young band, even if we're old (laughs), it's been eight years of working and writing... The thing is, it's kinda tough to put a label on the kinda stuff we're doing, because there's influences from everywhere in the rockscene. We've been listening to a lot of stuff and everybody has been  listening to other , stuff too you know. So, I guess Prog Metal is probably the closest thing to what we wanna do, yeah!"
Don't you think, you would be able to reach a lot more people, by writing a little bit more straight forward maybe?
"Well, it's for sure, that we won't do the same thing again. We don't wanna put out albums that are always the same! was a pretty hard time actually... I think for the next album we will be using even more extreme stuff, but there's some songs that will be easier, that maybe could be played on the radio, even if it's not commercial music, you know. We're not trying to write like you order something... "Yes, I'd like to have a song that will sound like that!" (laughs) It just depends on how we feel and what happens in our lives, you know."
Where do you draw your main musical inspirations from as a band and as a vocalist in particular?
"Oooff... Let's say that 70's Prog Rock is very important, that's for sure! But for me and Sylvain more than anybody else in the band. like that. Even LED ZEPPELIN is one of them, the BEATLES (laughs), why not?! As far as Metal goes... The first METALLICA albums "Ride The Lightning", "Master Of Puppets"... stuff like that! And, I don't know, MEEEEGADETH (laughs) and PANTERA, whatever, you know?! I've been listening to a lot of stuff! As a vocalist... Well, as an artist, PETER GABRIEL to me is one of the greatest! Well, that's my opinion, you have to ask the other guys of the band for theirs. But I don't think that I sing like him at all, that's not the point... I don't know, there's a lot of people that I respect. I mean, there's FREDDY MERCURY from QUEEN which is totally amazing and even ROBERT PLANT for the feel of it, you know. All those guys that's been singing so well (laughs)! There's too many people I could talk about. Oh, I think I forgot one... I love MARILLION with Fish!"
Oh really?
"Yeah, "Fugazi" and "Misplaced Childhood"... stuff like that!"
Have you ever heard of the New York band HITTMAN?
"No..."
They released two excellent albums and their vocalist Dirk Kennedy has a very similar voice to... I don't know if it's your voice or Sylvain's...
"Is that the clean voice?"
Yeah, especially in your song "Gaia's Judgement", the high pitched voice sounds exactly like the guy in HITTMAN...
"Oh, that's me (laughs)!"
Oh really?
"Yeah, well do you mean at the end of the song or during the song?" The chorus... especially... "Ok...well, that's it... that's me! Yeah."
Yeah, and this guy sounds exactly like you!
"Oh really?! Shit... (laughs) Ohh, I have a double somewhere (laughs)!" But it seems that they don't exist anymore, so you don't  have to worry! "Well, I'm okay then (laughs)!"
It seems to me that you are really concerned about what's happening on our planet, as your lyrics very much deal with socially aware type stuff and you even printed the address of "Amnesty International" in the booklet of your CD... So, what annoys you the most these days?
"Hmm... You wanna make me talk now, huh  (laughs)?! Well, there's tons of stuff... I told myself that I should not talk too much about that because sometimes I get really... (laughs) PISSED OFF (laughs)!! Well, to me, one of the things that really keeps us from evolving and  changing and maybe growing as a big society orsomething is... the religions! Religions are always connected to wars anyways, you know. I think we should accept differences, not try to simulate other people, that's what I mean by that. I'm not talking about  spirituality at all. Spirituality is something else... totally! Religion just don't belongs  to our time anymore,you know,withall  the technology and stuff  we're in and all the science that's been found. Even if  I'm more like a spiritual person...So, that's one thing. Or something else our accidental society fucks the  whole thing up  and  all the people in Malaysia and a lot of other places.. they are slaves, you know?! Working  for 25 cents a week...Well, I'm very much into human rights, I think it's pretty annoying that we use them like that, you know.   And the thing why we put the "Amnesty International" address in our  CD was to prove  our  point. We're supporting them, but I'm not saying  that everybody  should... If you don't have any money, don't do it!"  

HEAVEN'S CRY 
c/o Pierre St-Jean 
6244 Louis Hemon 
Montreal, Quebec 
CANADA, H2G 2K7
www.heavenscry.com

News update (November 26, 2001): 
HEAVEN'S CRY are still alive and well and will release a second album in May 2002! So, watch out for that!!!

Frank Stöver                        

Back