After a particularly well-received debut album, ‘This Too Shall Pass’, which notably opened the doors to Hellfest in 2023, the trio returns with a second effort that is rawer and more metal than ever, continuing to open up new horizons for them...
What is the question you have been asked too often and are tired of answering?
Myriam El Moumni: How we met.
We have already looked into this, so we won't ask you (Editor's note: Eva was looking for members to form her band and they met on the Easyzik website).
Myriam: Thank you!
Your latest news is the release of your new album, Bruxism, which refers to the unconscious reflex of clenching your teeth. What does it evoke for you, beyond this physical image – inner tension, resistance, a way of holding on?
Eva Hägen: Exactly! It's totally a way of holding on, a way of coping, a way of enduring and holding out because you have no choice.
On this album, the three of us let ourselves go and expressed ourselves in a more raw way!
This track evokes a silent, almost physical tension. How did this idea translate into your way of creating together?
Myriam: That's a huge question!
Edith Séguier: Sure, it's good to have questions we're not used to hearing...
Myriam: I think it translated into a desire to make music that was much more brutal, in-your-face, straight to the point... And on this album, that really came across in Eva's vocals and her desire to growl and really let our emotions run wild, whereas on the first album we were more restrained, more perfectionist... I think that on this album, all three of us let ourselves go and expressed ourselves in a more raw way!
And how do you explain this letting go on the second album compared to the first?
Edith: There were circumstances surrounding the creation of the first album, as it was during Covid. It was a very lonely time, the three of us seeing each other a lot, with much less contact with the outside world: it was very introspective. And when we toured with this album, we realised that we wanted to connect physically with our audience.
It's paradoxical, really, because you'd think that this externalisation would have been more important for the first album because of the lockdown...
Eva: We were in a state of depression – like a lot of people – and when we came out of it, we realised that we could anticipate the stage, anticipate the audience's reactions and tell ourselves that we wanted to make explosive music so that we could have ten times more fun on stage.
I wanted to become a full-fledged metal singer!
As you suggest, the live experience influenced this second album...
Eva: It had a huge influence on the second album, especially Hellfest: we wanted to see people jumping around, doing circle pits with thousands of people...
Edith: Even though we love it when people are moved by our music and feel melancholy... we live in a violent world and we have to find a way to express ourselves.
Eva: I think that through touring, we realised – with the different people we toured with and our growing audience – that we really wanted to establish ourselves in the metal scene because that's where we feel comfortable too, hence the growling: I wanted to become a full-fledged metal singer! That's really what I want to do, that's really how I feel good, it's really with this style and this type of audience that I flourish on stage.
We'll come back to that. Compared to ‘This Too Shall Pass’, this album seems denser, more organic. How did you seek to make the sound more embodied, more visceral?
Myriam: I think it's in the way we record! On ‘This Too Shall Pass’, we were already working that way. The three of us compose together, we jam a lot. And on this album there are certain tracks like ‘Cold Sun Again’ and ‘Sufferer’ that came out quite quickly, in the end. And even though recording the album took a long time – it spread out over two years – I think that the moment the track came out was a moment we tried to crystallise and record fairly quickly, even though it was heavily edited afterwards. In any case, we tried to keep that raw feel of the first demos...
And we worked with Jesse Gander – a Canadian who recorded the band Brutus, among others, whom we're big fans of – and he has this way of recording bands where, to use his words, he takes a band and makes the best version of itself, without distorting it. That's why we called him, knowing that live, we have a certain sound, we have a certain energy, and we want to have that same energy on the album, but with better production. He didn't push us to perfection - even though all three of us are perfectionists - on the contrary, he told us that the most important thing is to choose the takes that feel right, that will best serve the song.
We're quite attached to demos that can have a feeling, a
vibe that we can't reproduce in the studio: so he gave us the freedom to use things we had recorded ourselves with our own equipment, even though we were in a mega studio at ICP (NdStruck: ICP Studios in Brussels), and ultimately to use the weird guitar effect I made at 3 a.m. at home because I couldn't reproduce it in the studio (smile)...
We always compose with nuance...
Tension is omnipresent in ‘Bruxism’, but it never veers into ostentation. How do you manage to maintain this balance between restraint and explosion?
Edith: That's the very definition of Grandma's Ashes (smiles)! It's really ingrained in us and it's hard to say where it comes from. I think we have a lot of respect for each other and when we compose together, we make a lot of compromises, which leads to this constant balance: we always compose with nuance...
But don't you ever feel like exploding from making too many compromises?
Eva: Some songs were born that way, especially the one with the Vocoder, which I introduced at 3 a.m. at my house and sent the demo thinking, I hope this works... And in the end, the girls thought it was really cool: we always listen to each other...
Edith: We still have a cerebral side that we've kept from ‘This Too Shall Pass’, which is to always calculate everything: we're three calculators, three psychorigids, and we never let our bodies express themselves 100%! We're moving towards total letting go, and this album is the first piece, the first stone of the final explosion that we may find on the third or fourth album...
Your music oscillates between power and fragility, anger and modesty, which can be found on a track like “Cold Sun Again”. How do you find this balance without calculating it?
Myriam: It's also because the three of us are hypersensitive and we compose our music based on how we feel. When we jam, we give ourselves themes, for example, when we deal with depression and the desire to accept and embrace it, we're inevitably going to want to write a sad riff that's powerful and also a little festive in a way...
These are already complex feelings – between modesty, fragility, violence... We define that well before we make music. We talk a lot about our emotions, using adjectives that are a little more complex than ‘sad’ and ‘happy,’ and inevitably, our music is more complex than “sad” or ‘happy’ (smile)...
The last track on this album, “Dormant”, is incredibly intense. It seems to condense all the emotional charge of the record. Is it the moment when everything finally relaxes, or on the contrary, when everything tightens up?
Eva: It's totally both! “Dormant” is the last song we wrote for the album. It was the moment when we crystallised what was going to happen on the album, when we decided which songs were going to stay – in the end, they all stayed (laughs) – but also what was going to happen next for Grandma's Ashes.
It's the song that defined how we were going to define the album. It's the song where we stopped compromising and said we were going to do whatever we wanted to do. We totally let go, it's a song where we used both clean vocals and distorted vocals. It's the song where I started doing distorted vocals, even though I'd only been taking lessons for six months. The girls knew I really wanted to put it on the album, but we really wondered whether it was for this album or the next one...
You mention this fairly recent distorted singing that you recorded on the album in the studio, but how will it work on stage? Aren't you apprehensive?
Eva: It's even better, actually! Live, it's even better because the adrenaline kicks in. Often with clean vocals, it's difficult because the adrenaline makes me bellow when I should be holding back. Whereas here, it's a cathartic moment. Both “Flesh Cage” and “Dormant”, the two tracks that feature growling, are at the end of our setlist. These are moments when I'm really boosted by the energy of the audience. It's the end and I feel charged with everything that's happened on stage with the girls and the rest of the audience. It's the moment when I've got a lot of air, when I've moved around a lot, when I'm starting to feel tired and sweaty, when it's finally the perfect moment to rip my T-shirt off (laughs) and let out what's left: it's the final word! It's great and extremely cathartic: I'm very happy that we were able to do that.
I'm a very modest singer!
How did you approach this exploration between control and letting go?
Eva: Generally speaking, I'm a very modest singer! There were a lot of things I was afraid to do on the previous album. It's exceptional that we were able to work with Jesse Gander on this album because he didn't show any ego about the way I sing, he didn't direct me too much: he just advised me to be raw and to really be myself, and he really gave me confidence, which was super important for the vocal side, even for the three of us singing backing vocals... There were no comments, no judgements: he gave me a lot of freedom to do what I wanted – even technically – by not guiding me... That allowed me to be myself, raw, to explore things, and I discovered things about myself during the recordings.
So it wasn't him – on a track like “Flesh Cage”, for example – who pushed you to make the backing vocals very B-52's-style and the saturated vocals very Alissa White-Gluz-style?
Myriam: (Laughs) No, that was us! Jesse recorded the album, but we did all the arrangements, production, composition...
In that respect, there's a real symbiosis between the three of you, a way of filling the space without ever becoming overwhelming. How does that chemistry develop when you're writing or rehearsing? You mentioned compromises, but how did you develop that chemistry without upsetting the balance?
Edith: I think we give ourselves a lot of freedom: we try everything and take our time, working over a very long period...
Myriam: I think there are 15 versions of “Dormant”...
But the right one is the one you recorded at 3am...
Myriam: (Laughs) That's the one that came out a month before the recording. Either we settle very quickly on a version of a song that we like from the start, or there are other songs that are left on the back burner, with several versions existing until one of us arrives at rehearsal and says she's found THE version.
Eva: But in the end, we're never really sure because it's happened that the day after we found THE version, one of us said she thought she'd messed up the verse and suggested something new that everyone agreed on...
“Saints Kiss” and “Dormant” [...] represent Grandma's Ashes' metamorphosis from stoner rock to something really very metal.
That's the challenge for a composer: knowing when to stop...
Eva: You can feel it in the themes we wanted to address. The range of the ten tracks on the album is quite interesting and encompasses all the themes of ‘Bruxism’.
Musically, too, there's this transition that took place over two years, where we went from stoner to this affirmation of being more and more metal. I think when Eva came up with the final version of “Dormant”, we thought we could close a chapter because we literally went from “Saints Kiss” to “Dormant” - which are respectively the first and last songs on the album - they kind of represent Grandma's Ashes' metamorphosis from stoner rock to something really very metal and very atmospheric...
Indeed, the album has elements of stoner and progressive rock, but also a kind of Garbage-esque sensuality on “Calix”...
Grandma's Ashes: Ahhhh, thank you!
...or Skunk Anansie-esque tension...
Eva: The best references!
All three of us are like sponges...
... How did these influences blend into your own sound DNA?
Edith: That's us, basically! We have such a wide range of references that we gave ourselves the freedom to be lyrical and romantic as well as violent and to do very saturated things. We had fun doing “Calix”, which is a “charo” song. ‘charo’.
Myriam: These are bands we listen to but don't necessarily try to copy: all three of us are like sponges... We digest things very quickly...
Eva: We readapt... We spend our time listening to things and wondering what others think of them... In general, we take from these influences more what they evoke in us, what they inspire in us - not necessarily musically - just the atmosphere that can be sexy, toxic, and that gives us “Calix”...
Edith: Then we got confused ourselves because once we'd finished the album, we thought it made no sense to release songs like “Calix” or “Dormant” with growls and vocoders... We wondered if that was really us? And in the end, everyone we played the album to told us that we've been doing this from the beginning, namely collages of all these feelings that resemble us... And that's our strength!
Eva: To conclude, I would say that what we discovered overall is that “Bruxism” is a very rebellious album, much less restrained... and ultimately what brought it all together was grunge, and grunge itself is so broad and so metal, sometimes so nu-metal, sometimes so sensual like Garbage... There's a Garbage “Only Happy When it Rains” vibe throughout the album: letting go, embracing femininity...
Your music seems to dialogue between vulnerability and power, as on the track “Flesh Cage”. Is this also a way of asserting your place in a still very masculine world, without necessarily making it a manifesto?
Eva: Absolutely!
Myriam: I think it's even unconscious. We've never written purely feminist lyrics, in a very literal sense, but the further we progress in our careers as musicians – we're young women making our way in the rock and metal scene – and the higher we climb, the less I feel I find other women... For example, at the Foudres ceremonies in two days' time, we're going to be the only women “performing”...
In a way, we're lucky to be making this music and to be so powerful on stage, but sometimes we also feel vulnerable, and it's precisely a strength to be able to express that and to be able to say that the three of us trust each other.
I don't know how much our sensitivity comes through in what we do, but our audience is very sensitive to it...
Your music seems to be made up of vibrations rather than sounds. When you compose, do you seek to touch the listener's body as much as their mind?
Eva: Absolutely! In fact, quite early on when we were on stage and when we started making music and sharing it on platforms, a lot of people told us that it touched them even though there were no lyrics, or that people didn't know what the song was about. There were a lot of comments like, ‘It made me feel good!’ especially about the album we composed during Covid, ‘This Too Shall Pass,’ which talks a lot about resilience, sadness, and grief. A lot of people who didn't read the lyrics perceived the fragility, sensitivity, sadness, and beauty of the feelings they experienced when listening to the album.
“Cold Sun Again” is a song about my experience with chronic depression. We talk a lot with the girls, and I know that when we bring up certain topics and come up with lyrics, there's a lot of understanding, no judgement, and that's kind of what happens magically with our audience too. There are certain songs that, when we write them, we hope they will be received in a certain way, and that's what happens every time, without us knowing how it's possible... I don't know how much our sensitivity comes through in what we do, but our audience is very sensitive to it, very receptive, and almost every time, we hit the mark... Sometimes they give us their interpretation, which can be totally different from ours, and yet it's the same theme and it has touched them in the same way it touched us, even if it's very different.
Ultimately, between rage, light and abandonment, ‘Bruxism’ exudes a kind of resilience. Did you also experience this liberation as a reconstruction, both individual and collective?
Eva: For me, individually, yes, very much so. I think this is really the album where I let go as a singer. I learned that I no longer needed to hold back on anything... I've always been afraid of making noise, but I've also always been afraid of appearing fragile, and on this album, I'm not afraid of anything anymore!
At the end of this album, I feel so much better than I did two years ago...
Are you finally accepting who you are?
Eva: It helped me on a personal level... At the end of this album, I feel so much better than I did two years ago...
Even if we feel better about ourselves, we remain observers of what is happening socially.
In my opinion, the best albums are composed in times of discomfort. You say you feel better and we are happy for you, but aren't you worried about the next album?
Eva: No, because we are closely monitored by psychologists (smile)...
Edith: It's a myth that doesn't necessarily do justice to artistic work, which doesn't do artists any good. Artists have the right to be well (smile) and art is also transformed by that.
Myriam: I think that even if we're feeling better ourselves, we're still observers of what's happening socially. Even if we're feeling better, the world isn't getting any better.
Eva: We're going to continue to suffer, we're just going to cope with it a little better.
Myriam: In any case, I think our role is to bear witness to this and help others feel better in this world that is burning.
Edith: I would also like to add that since we've known each other for eight years, we've come to trust each other more than before, and what allows us to let go is the group experience itself. I don't think it would be possible in a more individual setting... The three of us create a space that allows us to go further artistically: it's not so much a question of well-being, but more about creating spaces where we can allow ourselves to explore the darkest aspects of our personalities and our innermost selves. And even if we're doing better, we still ask ourselves questions.
Myriam: You were talking about vibrations earlier, and that's what being a good artist is all about: listening to the vibrations around us and what's going on around us, and not shutting ourselves off in something where we become like a stone......
Unlike the sponges that you are...
Myriam: Exactly (smile)!
Eva: And the better we feel, the more sensitive we are to these vibrations.
We've touched on the subject of ‘live’ performances. But what can those who didn't see you perform at Hellfest or those who will discover you at the Foudres ceremonies the day after tomorrow alongside Carpenter Brut, for example, or at your Elysée Montmartre show in March 2026 expect?
Eva: With stage experience, I'd say... We work more on the show as a whole rather than on the songs and experiences that will last three minutes during a particular song. There's a real common thread running through everything that happens to make people feel something at the same time as us and with us for an hour. There's a desire for more communion, more immersion too, and to really travel with us from start to the end of the show without losing focus, and to make them feel the things we feel, to go through sad moments and moments of beautiful communion.
Edith: For the first time, we now have stage design, which is quite a luxury... We have a big tour and all the themes we address in our songs will be visually transcribed.
We still can't believe it!
You are ultimately a very young band. How do you explain such success, particularly with Hellfest in 2023, being invited to play at the Foudres ceremony and then headlining at the Elysée Montmartre in March 2026?
Myriam: We still can't believe it! The album was recorded in February and we've only done two concerts. The album hasn't even been released yet, and for me at least, the songs are still things that the three of us did in our rehearsal studio. I still remember when we did “Saints Kiss” and now the track has been released, a week ago... Lots of people are sending us messages saying they love it. There's always that moment of realisation when you release a track or play it live for the first time and see people's reactions, and that's when you realise that the track now exists, it's no longer just something that belongs to us.
I think that, without really noticing, we changed labels – we signed with Verycords and it was a difficult process for us to leave the old label, it was something that really undermined the band for a few months. But clearly, it helps to have good support, to have people who put everything in place and, above all, who believe in us.
And in that regard, what are your expectations for this album?
Eva: That it does at least as well as the previous one. That it touches our audience in a new way, that it opens more doors for us. I was hoping that by introducing saturated vocals, it would open even more metal doors for us: that's what we really liked about the last tour. So we want to continue in that vein.
Edith: That it touches a lot of people and brings us new connections. Next week, we're going to play it in Seoul and I think we're going to meet lots of new people...
Eva: ... some really great new connections...
Edith: We make albums to meet people on the road, to encounter different destinies.
Finally, we started the interview with the question we've asked you too many times. What question would you like me to ask you, or what question would you dream of answering?
Grandma's Ashes: (Silence) Wow!
You seem stuck on that question. I suggest you think about it and the next time we meet, we'll start the interview with that question and your answer...
Eva: Great!
Myriam: We'll think about it! Your questions were great...
Eva: Your questions were brilliant!
Edith: Incredible!
Eva: Thank you for taking the time to dig deeper: it's great!
Thank you to Calgepo for his contribution...