At the end of 2023, Larsovitch burst onto the scene with a debut EP blending EBM, post-punk, dark wave and techno influences. The sound is minimalist, almost anachronistic at times, and straightforward. Despite the blatant influences, the Montpellier-based artist also asserted a strong identity and a strong character. Since then, Larsovitch has played a string of concerts, re-released his EP with a bonus track... and now returns with Normal'No, a new EP (that you can stream on bandcamp). You can watch Xenormorfos video below, and take our word for it: it's enough to make you sweat with rage.
The artist also shows his character when it comes to answering a few questions by e-mail about this new EP. He gives us a few keys to his universe, with a bite and a refusal to embellish that are as destabilizing as they are salvific in their honesty.
You've been really busy since the release of ΣΥΝΘ: EP reissue, music videos, concerts... And now this new EP. Is that how you feel about it? Does staying in this energy help you be productive??
I sometimes feel a bit overwhelmed, if that's what you mean by your question, which, in a way, is the wrong way round. It's more the need to perpetuate a creative state that drives me to be productive and allows me to “load the mule” from one EP to the next. As far as concerts are concerned, they're the lifeblood of the business, because they're the only tangible way of earning a living, getting your music out there, meeting the people who listen to you... So the more I do, the better I feel.
Did the creation of this second EP lead you to ask yourself questions about your music, to look for things to improve?
The main question I asked myself was what tracks to put on it. With Yuls, Larsovitch's co-producer and technical referent, we wanted to bring the vocals more to the fore and work more on the production, while maintaining a minimal, radical aesthetic. To give you a more detailed answer, it was on the vocals that I pushed the cursors, because that's where I had, and still have, the greatest room for improvement. So, on this particular aspect, yes, I've tried to do better. As for the rest, if I manage to do things differently and as well, that's not bad.
The EP is entitled Normal'No. What is normality?
I have no idea, but I think it's great that the title of the EP suggests that we should ask ourselves this question.
The EP is billed as “an ode to people on the margins, to desperate resistance, to inner confrontations.” Does talking about these outsiders force you to strike a tone that's at once raging and a touch melancholy, almost revolutionary?
I'm not talking about the outsiders, at least not especially. The title Légions perdues evokes memories that fade with time, and Bonne nuit can be seen as much as a metaphor for everyday life as for the absolute drama of enduring war. Obossrannyi gueroï, whose translation is Shitty Hero, is a cover version by the Russian band Свидетельство о смерти (Death Certificate). This song, written in the late 90s, denounces the absurdity of war, political manipulation and the blindness of individuals to the destruction around them. Kryos aeras metaphorically expresses the desire to give capitalism a body of flesh and blood in order to destroy it. Normal'No also evokes propaganda, but it's also a popular Russian expression that translates as “everything will be all right”; needless to say, it's an ironic statement. Finally, Xenomorfos curses our hatred of foreigners and our powerlessness in the face of rising fascism. That said, given the non-didactic form of the texts and the use of several languages, I understand that people can misunderstand the meaning, or even have their own interpretation.
I found it more aggressive than the previous one. Was this intentional? What state of mind were you in?
In my previous answer, you'll have seen that the themes addressed can arouse dismay and anger. Besides, I've had a difficult year, so it's likely that Normal'No was a cathartic outlet.
Larsovitch is surprisingly polyglot, whether it's the languages you sing in or the alphabet chosen on your first EP. What draws you to this?
Originally, I couldn't sing in French. So I drew inspiration from the artists I listen to most, and the vast majority come from Greece and the former Soviet bloc. Greek is full of accents, sounds wonderful and allows you to explore your own voice in terms of timbre and placement. Russian, on the other hand, is ideal for illustrating resignation and despair, as are the guitar melodies often heard in soviet wave.
When I composed Bonne nuit, I wanted to make a ballad a bit like the title Спокойная ночь (Good Night) by Kino. Well, I didn't succeed, but I kept the title anyway. I then turned to Sudno, a contemporary Ukrainian artist, to try and find that essentiality in the guitar's composition and the fragility of the sound
There's also this coldness and minimalism that you'll find in a lot of recent cold wave/dark wave bands. What's so seductive about this minimalism?
I guess it's about getting down to basics and giving importance to minute variations... I think minimal wave has something in common with punk: you don't have to be a good musician to perform live.
Your music has a certain retro feel, without being passé. Are you nostalgic?
I'm very nostalgic, but in terms of my personal history, not in terms of a bygone era that I may or may not have known. It's true that post-punk and its sub-genres are often identified with the '80s, but it's not a music that stopped on December 31, 1989. The scene has been evolving and enriching ever since.
There's also this desire to shake up these rather nostalgic codes... Would you say that an artist has to be cheeky to create?
Artists do what they want. I think the most important thing is to love what you do and take responsibility for it.
Between the languages you use, your straddling of eras and genres, your defense of the marginalized... Do you see yourself as an “stranger” in the broadest sense, someone “strange” compared to others?
As I said earlier, I don't see myself as a defender or standard-bearer of supposed outsiders. I don't feel like an stranger either, at least not yet... That will surely change if the main concerns of my fellow citizens are to go to the gym, accumulate as much money as possible and massively vote for xenophobic morons. Maybe it's just a matter of time.
