Voïvodfan Spotlight : Black Cloud Round-up

Is Black Cloud a one trick pony? Warcorpse gets some anwers. Giddyup.

It appears that the Black Cloud show was a big success, are you happy with the overall performance? and was it fun?

Blacky: Man that was so fun, almost too much, perhaps I will start a new band! (laughs) It was very cool to play old thrash songs, and most of all playing with musicians that are very talented but haven't got huge egos. At first I had some difficulty because of the excitement I suppose, I started a little too hard, after a few songs I finally realized that I could slow down a little and just let the groove take over.

Dan: I think we had a great time together, I'm very happy with the turn out. It was all about having a good time. Playing with those guys was an amazing experience. For the time we had for the rehearsals, I'm very happy with the performance. It was not perfect but it had the perfect vibe! It was one magic moment.

Blacky, how did it feel to get behind the blower bass in front of a thrash crowd after all these years?

Blacky: I'm not sure if it made a difference to not have played metal for 11 years because everybody in the BC was really into doing something that was out of the ordinary, so we had lots of fun not only during the show but also during the 6 weeks it took us to put this thing together. Playing the blower bass is basically all I know how to play so I just took the whole thing the same way that I was doing it during those years in Voivod, play the best that I can, and blast the whole place. It's like riding a bike, once you learn it you never forget.

Where did you guys practice?

Blacky: We rehearsed at Cryptopsy's rehearsal space since Flo's drums are set up there. It also happens to be the same place where Voivod rehearsed for about 3 years.

Which song was the most difficult to learn?

Dan: No doubt, The Exorcist (Possessed). The original sounds terrible. We could barely hear the drums and the guitars. We had to make an arrangement for this one. Of course the Voivod songs were hard (Piggy with his crazy dissonant chords!!).

Blacky: I'm not really sure, almost every song had it's own difficulty, depending on the instrument. For me I think it was perhaps Kreator and Voivod for their technical difficulty, maybe Slayer and Metallica for being so boring to memorize.

Dan, what was it like to play with Blacky?

Playing with Blacky was like unreal to me because I was playing with the bass player of Voivod which is the band that influenced me the most in my music. His sound is so unique and powerful! And he is such a nice guy. It was such a thrill to play Tribal Convictions and Nuclear War with him. I grew up listening to that music. He was like a kid going back to metal again. And I was like a kid playing with an idol!

What kind of relationships did you have with the other members of Black Cloud previously? Or did you all meet through Maurice Richard?

Blacky: We all joined together through Maurice. I didn't know any of the other members personally before this, except Marc from BARF, I recorded his band l2 year ago. I saw Cryptopsy earlier this year and know about the other bands that everybody else plays in, as well as Pierre's ex-band Obliveon which was around in the late 80's but I never met him.

Dan: I knew everybody except Blacky and Mark. But when we all first met together we could feel a good vibe between all of us. The rehearsals were lots of fun and hard work. I think everybody in the band was respectful of each other and that's what comes first when you want to play music as a band. Everybody was feeding each other with energy. You could feel it onstage!

Is there a lot of positive feedback from metal fans and local media? Has the phone been ringing for interviews?

Blacky: Not really, this was not a huge deal, especially not in Montreal, there is so much happening here. Not many people remember 80's thrash, most of the interviews were actually done prior to the event.

You spent a lot of time rehearsing for this show, building up endurance and polishing skills, will you be getting back into the metal scene again? at least part-time?

Blacky: There are certainly a few projects that I'm interested in, but as far as the metal scene, I prefer to let the new and younger musicians take it over. I'll stick with what I know best, knowing when to stop.

Flo is a well respected drummer (especially in death metal circles) did he ever complain that the music was too slow?

Blacky: Not exactly because of the slowness of them, but more because they were simple to play - I'm talking about Metallica's song, which is probably why they ended up being so successful in reaching a wider audience. Flo didn't like the Venom song much, but he ended up remaking it to his taste, adding some high speed drumming elements to it which was good. After all, what we wanted to do was re-interpret those bands with a fresher style, if you know what I mean.

Dan: Flo is a pro and gives to the song what the song asks. He is versatile, he can play any style and put his own personality in it. On some of the songs we decided to increase the tempo but it was a matter of doing our own version.

Were you able to jam immediately with Pierre and Dan, or did it take time to get accustomed to their playing styles?

Blacky: It's not really about style when you do other people's songs, what you spend most of your time doing is trying to figure out how to play the song as best as possible and the whole thing gradually evolves. Dan learns about 600 songs a year in every style, so he is very versatile. Pierre is an accomplished musician and producer and together we are basically just the right match.

You played the 5 string blower bass at the show, do you still have your 4 string?

Blacky: Yes and no, one I still have. The Killing Technology bass (1986) became later a fretless bass, with a few extra cuts to the original body shape. It was the first that Mauro Liberatore made for me and the third body design that I did. It was way too big. I had another one that Mauro made about a year after that (1987) which I used for Dimension Hatross, but I sold in '91 to a kid in Montreal, not sure what happened to it after that. My latest one, the five string, was done in (1989) and it was and still is the perfect one for me.

Did you use the classic Marshall SuperLead amp configuration for the show, or did you try something new?

Blacky: The superlead combo, two superlead or jcm800 with modified preamp bypass for effects and two four 15inch cabinet was abandoned in 1988 and replaced with a more potent arsenal - the infamous Marshall preamp series 9000 and a cron 400 power amp and the same two four 15inch cabinet, it's a killer. For BC I used the same Marshall preamp and an old Acoustic 270 guitar amp with graphic eq and two one15inch cabinet that I made myself after I left Voivod in 91. I exchanged one Marshall for the Acoustic and some other digital gear then. During one of the rehearsals I blew the Acoustic but was able to make the repair for the show. I just love old equipment, you can always fix it yourself because it's just a few tubes, resistor and transistor and that's it. Now there is no way with all those electronics that I could do the same thing. Trust me it had plenty of power and an even better blower sound than what I had previously. Today if I had to record with that setup it would be a killer.

I understand the show was filmed, will there be videos of the show for sale?

Blacky: Pretty soon, we're just trying to get all the footage together now. We're hoping to make it available through Galy Records.

Blacky, you were seen talking to Eric Forrest of E-Force at the Thrashback show, was there any discussion of doing a Black Cloud/E-Force gig? Is that the first time you've ever met Eric?

Blacky: No it's the second time, I met him in the 90's in Vancouver, during a Voivod show but we only talked briefly. After the BC show he came backstage and re-introduced himself, then we chatted for a while about Voivod and his departure. He mentioned something about playing with BC if the opportunity ever came up. But nothing is set in stone. I wouldn't mind it at all. Actually it could even be funny, the two ex-Voivod bass players at a single event. I should call Vincent and have Groovy Aarvark play too.

Would you want to do any more Black Cloud shows in the future?

Blacky: Tabarnak! (laughs) For sure, why not?

Dan: It would be nice! If the guys are all ok with it. And if it does not happen, so be it. It was great the for the time being.

Thanks for your time! Good luck and I hope we hear more from Black Cloud in the future!

Layout/Editing: NIA