6 Things W/CATHEDRALE
Photo Credit: Franck Alix
French band CATHEDRALE tackle the complexities of an ordinary life on their fifth album Poison. The four-piece is Jules Maison (vocals/guitar), Felix Wilson (bass), Robin Titube (guitar), and Maxime Costa (drums) Writing the album, the band was inspired by traffic jams (“South Life”), seeking isolation for preservation (“Where The Fire Is”) and Baudelaire (“The Setting Sun”). As the band explains, “When we wrote ‘The Setting Sun,’ we already sensed that the album’s theme would revolve around poison. Gradually, we became more comfortable with this overarching idea and theme for the album. Naturally, we couldn’t miss the chance to adapt Baudelaire’s poem and make it our own.” Sonically, Poison pushes their style further into the post-punk depths, yet keeps the garage and power pop elements that the band is known for.
We connected with frontman Jules Maison to talk influences, habits, sharing music and his stance on pedals.
1/INFLUENCES
Obviously, Baudelaire, who inspired us for the track “Setting Sun” in terms of the book. Lately, we’ve been really inspired by bands like Protomartyr and Parquet Courts. Lesser-known but equally great bands like Negative Gear and Poison Ruïn have also been big influences. And in general, the Static Shock Records catalog is always a safe bet!
2/PEDALBOARD
Some chorus, distortion, Tube Screamer, Space Echo, octave, fuzz… I think it changes quite a bit; the pedal setup is always evolving. I recently got the legendary Ibanez Tube Screamer. The Space Echo is currently being repaired. Pedals come and go, I’d say. Maxime, our drummer, is the only one who never changes his setup, haha. Basically anything that works.
3/HABITS
Felix and I usually start working on songs together at his place. We generally try to decide on the kind of song we want to write, but by the end of the day, what we’ve made has nothing to do with what we initially planned, haha. And that’s what makes it great.
4/GATEKEEPING
If you mean keeping an artist discovery to yourself—like being the first to know about Fontaines D.C. before everyone else, haha—I think it’s important to seek out new artists and share them. But I guess it comes in phases. Sometimes you just get stuck listening to Neil Young for two weeks before you start discovering new stuff again. Sharing an artist with someone and realizing they fall in love with their music is really meaningful because it gives them a chance to experience something new and exciting.
5/PERFECTIONISM
We always try to push our ideas, recordings, performances, and arrangements as far as possible. But at some point, you have to let go. To do things perfectly, we’d probably need two months of recording, haha. But is that really necessary? There’s something really cool about leaving in some imperfections. Who cares if you do a false note at second barre of verse 2?
6/COLLABORATION
Felix (our bassist) and I start by making demos together, and then we learn the songs as a group. Everyone adapts and adjusts the tracks by adding or removing elements. Then, we record everything live together. For this album, we did it all in seven days in Brussels, as a band.
On their fifth album Poison, French band CATHEDRALE dive into the nuances of ordinary life, drawing influence from traffic jams, solitude, and the poetry of Baudelaire. The record deepens their post-punk sound while holding onto the garage and power pop energy they are known for. We spoke with frontman Jules Maison about the band’s creative influences, writing habits, music sharing, and his take on guitar pedals.