A Void
Words by Yuki Shevi Photographs by Willow Shields
On a lovely sunny Tuesday in East London, I was walking down to a rehearsal room on an industrial estate in Bow, to meet up with A void. A three piece London based Sonic Grunge band consisting of Camille Parisian guitarist and lead vocalist, Marie drummer and backing vocalist, also from Paris, and Erin, bassist from Luton. I got lost as the rehearsal room is pretty hidden, but then I spotted them from afar, standing alone with their instruments and figured I was on the right track. Follow the yellow brick road meets follow the musicians with the grungy outfits. We sat in the garden outside the rehearsal rooms smoking and making small talk, them dotted around me, Erin behind me on a stool, Marie next to me on the bench cross legged and Camille pacing around the small space trying out everyone’s lighters. The Birth of A Void
So tell me about A void, how was it formed? How did you all meet?
Camille: I started the band in high school with two other band mates and then Marie joined the band and I told her ‘let’s move to London!’ and she was like ‘wait I just joined the band!’ but we ended up moving together the same year she started playing in the band! And then we found Erin on a bench.
Where was the bench?
In Elephant and Castle
Why did you start talking to him?
Camille: Because we were looking for pot and Erin was like ‘I don’t have pot, but I’m a bassist!’
Marie: We didn’t find pot but we found a flower. Laughter fills the small paved garden space.
And Erin, how did you react when they came up to you?
Erin: When we met that night, they were playing a gig and one of their mates let us in cause we were broke (I paid him back don’t worry). From then on I started going to all their gigs and eventually we started to rehearse together.
Marie: I didn’t want him to be in the band because I thought he was too old..
Camille: Yeah, he was approaching his 30’s but then we realized he wasn’t actually
older metally wise.
What was it like moving to London when you didn’t know each other that well and Marie just joined the band? Must’ve been a crazy experience!
Camille: We basically got to know each other in the process.
Marie: We shared a bed for the first couple months because we were living at Camille’s friends house. It was funny sharing a bed when we only knew each other for a few months.
Camille: And also we didn’t know a lot of people in London, so it was just the two of us, in the middle of London, a new adventure.
So Erin, why did you move to london?
Erin: What from Luton? because Lutons a shithole. No... I moved here to study music.
Camille: We all moved here for music 109
Influences and style
A void have a very unique energy in their music, going from soft melodic riffs and chord progressions into hardcore breakdowns with a heavy, distorted and passionate sound. A void are a melting pot of lots of influences and genres. Grunge with hints of Prog and Metal with poppy melodies reminding me of pure 90’s rock sound. That is one of the reasons they have such an unforgettable and distinctive sound.
What are your influences ?
Camille: We all have pretty different influences. I’m more into grungy, 90’s and early 2000’s rock, some indie.
Marie: Neo metal from the early 2000’s i used to be - well i’m still a massive emo so obviously emo music, older and newer.
Erin: I love everything to be honest, anything that kicks. I have a huge collection of music and just listen to what fits my mood.
Gigs, growth & London
A Void have been a band for 7 years and had to claim their space, especially as the majority of the band are from France.
What was it like blending into the London music scene coming from Paris? I can imagine there being differences from the people in the scene, music thats being made.
Camille: I feel like it evolved a lot, in the beginning we were more in the Camden punk scene where the audience and bands were older. Basically we used to play mostly to middle aged men. It would be like - first row only bald british guys filming us on their phones.
Marie: Also the scene we were involved in had a lot of female grunge bands which i think is the reason why all these men kept coming to shows. It was a great experience evolving there and to be involved in such a welcoming and amazing scene but I think at some point we were quite keen to have a more diverse audience and search for other scenes and opportunities.
Erin: I think in a female perspective it must feel pervy. I love female bands and voices and have always been attracted to that kind of music, from Kylie Minoge to Jack off Jill. But I guess as a band you want people to let loose and dance around having fun, rather than having older men film you and being looked at as an object.
Camille: But lately we’ve been having a younger crowd, we’ve been playing at the Brixton Windmill a lot as well as the George Tavern, Jaguar Shoes. Venues that lots of great bands play at. This scene is nice because bands see other bands and we are getting more mosh pits and people coming to our shows for the music.
Marie: We definitely do feel less objectified ever since joining this scene, also we enjoy the diversity of the crowd and feel like they come to shows purely for the music, which feels more inspiring.
Camille: There are more women in the crowd as well which is so nice.
Marie, Camille - What is it like being women in a rock band?
Camille: I feel like when we were in France I felt the objectification way more than in the UK, the UK is way more open minded, especially London, we had a few bad experiences but not as much as in France. For example, a few years ago we participated in a music competition and out of 300 bands we were the only band with women in it, as well as the heaviest band on the bill and they put us to play first! We didn’t win at the end which was alright, we still had a good time. But at the end, one of the judges came up to us and told us ‘if it was a competition of who was the most good looking band you guys would have won’. Made us feel awful, as if we were only there to look pretty.
Marie: We weren’t very active in Paris, the majority of the time I was in the band we were in England but in the Paris scene you are constantly reminded that you are a woman in a male field. Such as assuming you need help with your instruments or you don’t know how technical things work. To sum up, I think in London we almost never feel like we’re being looked at differently because we are women and I hope that things become better in the Paris scene.
Erin: We’re all humans and we are here to play music. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter what you are. I don’t think there’s anything to do with gender in terms of music. Music is a language, and a way of expression. It doesn’t need to be divided by category of gender or anything like that.
What’s the craziest thing that has happened to you whilst performing?
Camille: Wow. There is a lot of crazy things that happened.
Erin: You almost broke your back.
Camille: Oh yeah! I fell from the ceiling once
How did you get to the ceiling?
Camille: We were playing The Victoria in Dalston a few years back and I was climbing on the PA speaker thinking it was stable enough but then I fell right down! Also electrocution is sort of like a regular thing. But I feel sometimes the more that things go wrong, I personally compensate by putting on more of a per- formance.
Marie: We had our worst show ever, basically everything went wrong. The stands were falling apart, not the best set up.
Camille: I lent my guitar to the band that played before us and they tuned the whole guitar a step down! I assumed it would be normal and had only realized this as we started playing! Which meant when I was playing with the bass it just sounded wrong.
Erin: It was pretty grunge at the end of the day.
Marie: We were all pissed off that nothing was working out so we started fighting on stage, everyone start-
ed shouting at each other, which is really funny now but it was definitely the worst show ever.
So what was your best show?
Camille: There are a lot of best shows, the best shows for me recently was in Rough Trade just because the sound was amazing and people were so nice and another one was the last show we played at the Windmill, people were going mad in the crowd. I think it was the wildest crowd we’ve had.
What do you think differentiates you from other current rock bands in London?
Marie: There are many things, I think first of all musically we combine many different genres that each band member is inspired from and it creates an interesting mix of styles. I don’t know what other current bands I could compare us to in terms of sound and genre.
Camille: I think also with the vocals, there are a lot of bands who shout in their singing. We also do that but we always try and have a melodic feel to it, and also we love wrecking things and going wild while performing, I think it’s important to prioritize giving a show so people come and don’t just see us playing a record, but also bringing this other dimension you could only experience live.
Marie: Also the fact that we don’t take ourselves seriously, our whole social media we love to take the piss, just be silly children. I feel like sometimes that’s what’s needed a bit more, of course you’re serious about your music but also taking things lightly and not caring so much how you present yourself and have the most fun you can.
Erin: When I’m on stage with these guys, if I’m feeling good and we sound good I feel exactly the same way I felt when I first saw them live which is ‘this is amazing, I wanna go crazy’. The music is not conventional. There are so many challenges in each song, everything is difficult to play, but when it all locks in its abso- lute magic.
What advice would you give to people who want to start a band?
Camille: Don’t take yourself seriously. Like Marie said before, don’t listen to what other people say about what you should and shouldn’t do. Watch your gig videos back. Don’t judge yourself too hard.
Erin: It’s the Bart Simpson quote innit “if it feels good do it, if it don’t, don’t”. If you don’t enjoy it, don’t waste your time. Cause it’s gonna show on stage as well, if you don’t believe in the band you’re playing in. The band might be good but you might not be the good fit for the band and when things just click, that’s it. When you are in the right band for you, it all comes effortlessly. Be a part of things you believe in. That goes for everything.
Camille: Also very important, protect your ears.
Marie: I regret not protecting my ears and it’s alright cause everyone loves loud music but just to kiss your future self on the nose, wear earplugs.
I wanna kiss my future self on the nose!
Marie: Well, do that by protecting your ears.
Camille: It’s like condoms, it’s less good but you gotta protect yourself.