ELECTRIC PYRAMID (MARCH 10TH, 2025)

As the group begins to make a name for itself in France, we met a profoundly humble and kind artist who reflects the group's music, which conveys a positive message... A group to see or see again in Paris on 23 May at the Café de la Danse...





What is the question that you have been asked too many times and that you are fed up of answering?

Ol Beach : (Laughs) I don't know... There are no questions that come up too often...


In that case, we are going to ask you about the name of the band Electric Pyramid. Like the French rapper Gims, do you think that electricity already existed in Egyptian times?

(Laughs) I've heard about it, but no, he's not the one who inspired us (Smiles)...


Does the name Electric Pyramid correspond to the need to build on a rock heritage that can be represented as a monument and a pyramid by highlighting electric guitars in this case?

You could say that. In fact, I was listening to a podcast about a theory that the pyramids are tuning forks present to align the world. And one day, we were in the studio recording and we were still looking for a band name... and all of a sudden, my guitarist and I had a flash of inspiration that became obvious: Electric Pyramid (Laughs)!


We saw you opening for Queen Extravaganza and noticed that you spoke French extremely well. How did that come about?

My parents moved to Switzerland when I was ten. They told me it would take six months to learn French. They left us at a French school and it took my sister and me a year (Smile)...


Similarly, you were signed just before the release of this album by Vivienne Music Label. How do you explain this link with France?

I think the French love rock music, they appreciate this style of music. This collaboration with Vivienne and Gerard Drouot is a dream opportunity: we are very lucky!


Still on the subject of the Queen Extravaganza opening concert, what did you make of the audience reaction?

They were really receptive and we met some great people. Lots of people came to buy the album we were selling at the merchandising stand. We were very well received!


The aim is to do our best, give it our all and see if people follow or not!


Was it a surprise?

You're never sure about anything (Laughs). The aim is to do our best, give it our all and see if people follow or not!


Electric Pyramid's latest news is the release of ‘Lion’ this year, four years after the release of their first eponymous album. First question, why did you wait so long?

Firstly, there was Covid, which kind of clipped everyone's wings. But mainly, we had recorded the album, it had been mastered, I had the hard drives in my possession and I lost them! So we had to go back to the studio and re-record everything a second time. It really wasn't a good day...


We decided to work on it a little less and sometimes leave things that are not perfect but that convey energy


... A bad day that must have cost you dearly to monopolise John Cornfield (Muse, Oasis, Robert Plant) for a second time in production...

John is a super nice, adorable and talented person. He agreed to re-record the album but he had hidden the first drum and bass recordings we had made on another hard drive... So we only had to re-record the rest, but we did it much faster. In fact, we decided to work on it a little less and sometimes leave things that are not perfect but that convey energy.


Still on the subject of John Cornfield, how did you come to be offered the services of such a producer?

It was a chance encounter. We knew someone who knew him. So we had a connection and he's a really approachable, simple and honest guy. We got on really well, so much so that today he does our sound on our tours. I'd go as far as to say that he's part of the group now...


Speaking of the group Electric Pyramid, it would seem that this group is above all your project, as evidenced by the cover with your face on it, which was not the case for the first album......

(Laughs) It wasn't my idea!


Whose idea was it?

The label's!


We're a band first and foremost because we're stronger together!


They thought you were a good-looking guy...

(Laughs)... No, but we're a band first and foremost because we're stronger together!


The other peculiarity is that the album is called ‘Lion’ but it doesn't have a track of the same name, only a plural ‘Lions’. Why the distinction?

The track ‘Lions’ evokes this energy that we all have within us. It was the idea behind the song, knowing that I had just become a father and all of a sudden, seeing this energy that came from something so small.
We could have called the album ‘Lions’ but I think that a single ‘Lion’ is a stronger image...


And it corresponds to your head on the cover with your mane...

(Laughs)


‘Diorama’ gets the ball rolling, this track immediately takes us into your little world. It's not surprising that you chose this track to name the EP released before this album. Was it your aim to invite us on your journey with such a radiant track?

I think so. The song is optimistic. The first lines of the song evoke the common anxiety we all have at the moment, but the end is optimistic: it's going to be okay (Smile)...


Still, isn't it a bit naive to think things can get better?

You always have to find reasons to be optimistic...


We simply make the music we like


This album is a bit more pop than the previous one, in that it is aimed at a wider audience. Was that the aim?

It's not something we were consciously aiming for: we simply make the music we like, and if it has become more pop, it's because the ideas that came to us at that moment were those of the moment and represented us at that moment.


Did being a father have an influence, even an unconscious one?

(Smile) I don't know. I think we just wanted to create the most beautiful music possible. I don't know if we succeeded (Laughs) but when you're in a studio, you write down the ideas that come to you... I just hope that these ideas, this music bring people together: if that's the case, it would be a good thing...


While we went full throttle on ‘Diorama’, ‘Rio’ seduces us with the freshness of the piano arpeggios of this sunny ballad. Was the aim to destabilise the listener?

‘Rio’ is a cinematic track in which you create your own landscape with valleys etc.
The aim of the tracklisting was to start with something strong, and then go off on a story...
‘Rio’ is a track that I really like and putting it second was simple.


‘Land Of Ghosts’ is also a track calibrated for radio. Would this track be ideal for you to introduce your music to a neophyte?

‘Land Of Ghosts’ is the story of parties in London where everyone thinks they're going to be a star (Laughs) and the next day, they all come back to the reality of their lives.


And you, aren't you close to being a star today?

We do our best (Laughs)! And if people who want to listen to us like it, we'll keep going!


Our job as musicians is to do positive things!


We can still feel the weight of the guitars. In a way, there's an Electric Pyramid sound, particularly with the alternation between perhaps brighter guitars and the intervention of darker sounds, even if on this opus the sounds are brighter?

I believe that music is there to encourage us and it is the only thing that brings us together. When we go to a concert, we get closer to the people next to us and at the end of the concert, we feel closer to them than at the beginning. Our job as musicians is to do positive things! Some tell darker stories but we want to bring something positive and not take ourselves too seriously.


We recognise your taste for the exotic on ‘Mindful Eye’ with this introduction close to India (even if the rest is more rock), in the future do you want to experiment with more sounds that invite you to travel?

Yes! In this case, it was the drummer who had the idea, he brought in that sitar sound and from that came the concept of the third eye... Generally speaking, I think we have more within us than we think, but we have to try to search, to find: it's the eternal problem (Smile)!


Why did you choose to end the album with ‘Waiting On You’, a short, sunny piece that evolves in complete tranquillity?

Because the idea is to want to know that tomorrow, we'll all be there and that everything will be fine (smile)!
The final question of the album is to know if tomorrow we will still be there or if we will all go off to a Third World War. At some point, the nonsense has to stop! I need to believe for myself and our children that everything will be all right...


We live in a crazy world, but I want to believe that everything will be all right!


So you're suggesting that Donald Trump or Vladimir Putin listen to your album for a better world and future?

I should indeed send them a copy of the album (Laughs)! No, but we live in a crazy world, but I want to believe that everything will be all right!


As a group, you shouldn't hold yourself back and limit yourself to one style


This album has a bluesy side to it on ‘Lone Runner’, ‘Wild World’ is a little more disturbing, ‘Silver Screen’ is in a more positive spirit, ‘Moon Riding’ operates on harder ground, ‘Kihim Rising’ shows more exotic influences. There is something for everyone, how did you manage to synthesise these influences and make the album sound coherent despite everything?

I always take Queen as an example and I always appreciated the fact that they could change styles and it was always Queen! For me, I think that as a group, you shouldn't hold yourself back and limit yourself to one style. The open-mindedness and the goal is to play with ideas and get started...


You're absolutely right, but Queen...

... It's Queen !


... and this variety in the genres explored was not as well received at the time as they are now that they have become legendary...

We don't always succeed....


... because the audience of the time gave them time. Do you think that today's listeners with a different music consumption would allow that time?

As a musician, you have to do your best! If people listen to you and if you manage to touch them, you've done what you had to do.


At last week's concert, the singer's performance had a Kate Bush feel to it. Are you planning to develop your exchanges with female vocals along the lines of Fleetwood Mac?

If the music gives us the opportunity, we will! The musicians in the group are all super talented and it's a chance to have them. Sometimes, I like to take a back seat...


...Like on the album cover!

(Laughs) Exactly!
No, but I like to take a back seat by playing the piano to support her singing: it's perfect!


Does that mean that on the next album, we'll see his face?

Maybe, you never know (Laughs)!


You supported the Red Hot Chili Peppers for your first album, what are your goals for this one that the Red Hot are opening for you?

(Laughs) The aim is to do this tour, to try to make some great connections with people and then, if they like it, to come back...


...in particular on 23 May at the Café de la Danse...

Exactly!





We started the interview with the question that we have asked you too often. On the contrary, what is the one that you would like me to ask you or that you would dream of answering?

(Smile) Probably that you ask me how it was to be the headliner of the concert at Wembley (Laughter) because that is the goal as a musician: it would be a dream!


Thank you

Thank you very much


And thanks to Adrianstork for his contribution and Stephan Birlouez for the pictures...