Critically acclaimed French dark synth, industrial act Carpenter Brut are set to release their third album entitled Leather Temple on February 27th. The master mind behind Carpenter Brut spoke with Metal Express Radio about the upcoming album, their upcoming North American tour with Health, challenges of playing with a variety of bands, and more. Check out the chat below!
Metal Express Radio: You’re set to release your fourth album entitled Leather Temple on February 27th, what can you tell fans about your upcoming release?
Carpenter Brut|: They’ll probably hate it, haha. It’s a short record, instrumental, straight to the point, and full of high-energy tracks. We’re in 2077 now: Midwich has turned into Midwichpolis, a massive city ruled by Iron Tusk. Lita Connor finds Bret Halford, who was cryogenically frozen at the end of Leather Terror, upgrades him, rewires him, and turns him into a walking weapon to take down Iron Tusk and his cursed tower. Bring on the movie.
MER: How was the writing and recording process, being your fourth album?
Carpenter Brut: It took a while to get going. I needed to find the right vibe, the right feeling, the right sounds, and the right melodies. Since I wanted it to be instrumental this time, I put the pressure on melody. That’s the hard part. It has to be simple enough to stick, but not cheesy, and most importantly it can’t sound like something that already exists, haha. In the end it took me over a year. I wrote a lot, or at least sketched a lot of ideas, and I kept the strongest ones for the album. It was mixed and mastered by Thibault Chaumont in France. Perfect.
MER: Leather Temple concludes the end of a three album trilogy, how did that concept come about?
Carpenter Brut: I just wanted a cool story to hang the music on. Back in 2017 I was listening to a lot of glam rock. It was fun, it was upbeat, it had that stupid joy. And the looks were insane. Too bad that era kind of died after Nirvana and now everyone’s depressed. But back then it felt like one long party, haha. So I started from a simple idea: a young student, kind of a geek, getting bullied at school, and knowing he’ll get revenge one day. That’s the Leather Trilogy.
MER: Would you recommend a fan to listen to each album in chronological order?
Carpenter Brut: They can do whatever they want, it’s music first. If it were a film, sure, I’d say watch it in order. Here it doesn’t really matter. And honestly, who still cares about what a musician is “saying” through these concepts? But if they’re into the story, then yeah, they should start from the beginning and do the whole trilogy. They’ll also hear how my sound changes over time, which can be interesting.
MER: You’ve released two songs from Leather Temple so far, do you feel like those two songs give fans an idea of what to expect from the full album?
Carpenter Brut: Not really. The album is pretty monolithic and up-tempo, but there are still a few turns here and there: bigger orchestration on some parts, and a few tracks that lean more techno. So it’s not the full picture, but it gives you the overall sound. I hate releasing singles. I write albums, not singles. The point is to keep everything together. But yeah, business…
MER: You’ll soon be touring North America with HEALTH, what are your expectations on the upcoming tour?
Carpenter Brut: Sold out every night would be nice. If it’s packed, the energy will be insane.
MER: Is there anyone you hope to tour with and why?
Carpenter Brut: When I was younger, yeah, I’d dream about touring with amazing bands. Now I know how support slots really work, so I don’t dream about that anymore. Money decides, and I probably don’t sell enough tickets, haha.
MER: Is there anywhere you hope to play live that you haven’t and why?
Carpenter Brut: Not really. I’ve toured a lot already. Apart from Australia, which I’ll do in 2027, there’s Latin America left, and we’re working on it to get a few dates there.
MER: Having such a unique sound and playing with bands of different genres, has there ever been an audience you had to work on winning over?
Carpenter Brut: You either get an open crowd or a closed one. Opening for Ghost, opening for Ministry, or playing Coachella, that’s three completely different situations, and you never really know what you’re walking into. I think a lot of people at those shows hated it, but there’s always a small percentage you manage to win over. It’s not fun playing to people who look pissed and are basically waiting for you to leave the stage. But if you can grab one percent of the room that night, that’s already something. And people are still polite, I’ve never been booed. So yeah, I’ll take that, haha.
MER: Out of your four albums, what is one you would recommend to a new fan and why?
Carpenter Brut: That’s a hard one. They’re all different, with their strengths and their flaws. But alright: start with Leather Temple, then go backwards all the way to EP 1.
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