My guest on Episode 4 is Camille Giraudeau, a French-born, Dublin-based multi-instrumentalist who has been a key player in the international avant-garde metal landscape for the past two decades.
Camille’s projects as bandleader (or co-leader) include Dreams of the Drowned, Stagnant Waters (alongside previous FS guest Svein Egil Hatlevik), and Smohalla, though he has also lent his talents to a range of other bands including the UK-based Void (on their 2023 album Jadjow), the current touring lineup of Dødheimsgard, and DHG spinoff Doedsmaghird (see last year’s excellent Omniverse Consciousness). On top of all that, he’s also a tireless enthusiast of not just extreme and avant-garde metal, but also post-punk, goth, and hardcore, all of which have influenced his own music in one way or another.
In this interview, we delve into the concept of “grey metal,” to borrow a term that appears in one of Dreams of the Drowned’s promotional blurbs. We also talk about his initiation into underground metal—from Disco Volante to Jester Records, Ved Buens Ende to Dodheimsgard—and then from there into metal-adjacent acts such as Killing Joke and Blind Idiot God. Toward the end, we hear a little bit about the MySpace era and the (virtual) community of bands/projects that grew out of it, along with some discussion of the pros and cons of working as a one-man band à la Dreams of the Drowned.
Show motes, links, and music credits:
Show notes for Ep. 4 (Camille Giraudeau)
My guest on Episode 4 is Camille Giraudeau, a French-born, Dublin-based multi-instrumentalist who has been a key player in the international avant-garde metal landscape for the past two decades.
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