tempobet yeni adresi
like this interview
23/01/2025 : THE CEMETARY GIRLZ - “Walking at night. Looking at the sky. The moon is my light. And the woods are my soul.” 23/01/2025 : THE CEMETARY GIRLZ - “Walking at night. Looking at the sky. The moon is my light. And the woods are my soul.” 23/01/2025 : THE CEMETARY GIRLZ - “Walking at night. Looking at the sky. The moon is my light. And the woods are my soul.” 23/01/2025 : THE CEMETARY GIRLZ - “Walking at night. Looking at the sky. The moon is my light. And the woods are my soul.” 23/01/2025 : THE CEMETARY GIRLZ - “Walking at night. Looking at the sky. The moon is my light. And the woods are my soul.”

THE CEMETARY GIRLZ

“Walking at night. Looking at the sky. The moon is my light. And the woods are my soul.”

23/01/2025, Hayley CLX
photos: © Luc Luyten & BlackS.Photography


"Walking at night. Looking at the sky. The moon is my light. And the woords are my soul."

Blood coursing through your veins, the moonlight provides a silver foggy shade. On a path where the dead lie your only company is the stillness. And in the shadows behind the tombs that surround you eyes glance at you, eyes of those who are long lost …

It is on this peaceful ground we’re about to meet with a Night Creature. One who will guide us through haunted villages, territories where Vampires dwell, and the music of a Goth/Deathrock act that has been around since 2006.

Good evening Alien S. Pagan aka ‘Ravn’, let me first of all give you on behalf of Peek-A-Boo a big thank you for doing this interview! You are one of the founding members of The Cemetary Girlz, a French underground band that has without doubt become a established name within the Goth & Deathrock scene. What were the early days like for you? How did it all started?

Good evening. At the beginning it started in Lyon with friends. We made a demo of the song ‘Death Has Tasted Blood’ one afternoon for fun, it was very spontaneous, but there was no intention of forming a band.

I moved to Paris, and created a page with the song, with one of my designs for the cover. The song was really appreciated on MySpace. 30,000 plays in a few days and messages from a lot of countries, so I decided to start a band, and met Manu Zorch in an underground bar in Paris. He said he loved the atmosphere of the song, the voice, the name of the band, and would love to be a part of it, so we started the band.

With as result the in 2008 released demo ‘The Cemetary Girlz’, which had great success in the underground scene, followed the next year, in 2009, by the first album ‘Smoke My Brain’.

I'm quite nostalgic about the Demo, it was really the beginning, the first tracks we created. It was recorded DIY style in Manu Zorch’s apartment. I remember it was the day after a Goth night in Paris, I was exhausted and not in a very good mood, but the result was surprising!

It was pure, raw, and well, I loved the Demo. It sounded as bad as early Black Metal tapes, but it had a crazy side that I adored, and it's because of that, that we took off on MySpace back in the day.

The album was very different, we had matured our sound and our desires, "Little Spigaou" joined us on clean guitar, and we had a lot of demos (we abandoned quite a few). I recorded at Diva Re's studio, he mixed and mastered the album, he did a great job!

‘Smoke My Brain’ is our first album, I'm happy with it, but today I think there are tracks that we can't play live.

I had made an album cover, the same spirit as the demo, but our label wasn't very happy with it. They made the actual one, and at last, it's good!

I really love the tracks ‘I Was Born To Be Cold’, ‘Death Has Tasted Blood’, ‘Broken Teeth’, and ‘Reflection’, and I still enjoy playing them so much!.

Every lyric was written in my daily routine visiting ‘Père Lachaise Cemetery’. Except ‘Broken Teeth’, wrote it after a Gothic Party. I was a bit drunk with absinthe and when I woke up the next day I read it and said “what the fuck, that great”.

Do you remember your first live performances with The Cemetary Girlz? Are there any live performances you will never forget?

The first show was one of the most stressful moments of my life. I was 20 years old, and I remember stepping onto the stage, placing my hands on the mic, and starting the show without moving. I kept my eyes closed for the entire set and just sang. When I finally opened my eyes at the end, the place was packed with people. I still remember their faces—they enjoyed the show as much as we did!

Every show was unforgettable. We met people from all over the world and collected anecdotes from every gig we played. All I can say is that we had so much fun touring together. We laughed constantly and cherished every second, even when we were exhausted.

Touring together you also shared the stage with a lot of other bands. Thinking for example of Theatre Of Hate, The Damned, The Danse Society, Cinema Strange & The Chameleons. Are there bands with whom you haven’t toured yet but would really like to tour with should the opportunity present itself?

Touring with this bands was really an amazing experience. A dream sometimes because I'm a big fan of them, it’s these bands that made me want to make music. I think we played with my favorites bands already (Corpus Delicti, Chameleons, Skeletal Family, Killing Joke and more). Zac Campbell from Kentucky Vampires and The Waning Moon played with us at WGT on 2 songs, that was really fun! We are not in the same 'kind' of music but I would love to make a tour with Ministry, Skinny Puppy or Misfits (w/ Danzig).

Ready for a ‘this or that’ question?

Yes, let’s go.

Imagine; you get the offer to perform with The Cemeterary Girlz at the famous ‘La Tetilla del Diablo’, also known as ‘The Titty Twister’, where you get to be on stage together with Santánico Pandemonium from dusk till dawn. Or, do a tour with a family of nomadic Vampires and perform every evening near dark. Which offer will you choose?

It's a very funny question because I really love ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’ (‘Dracula is Cannibal’ and ‘Los Vampiros Bandidos’ are inspired by this movie). I will choose both but at different time, ‘Titty Twister’ in summer or spring, and the tour with nomadic Vampires in autumn or winter. I really hate summer, feel really depressed when it's hot and sunny. I love cold foggy weather. I can tell you a secret, we are Nomadic Vampires.

Now that you mentioned songs as ‘Dracula is Cannibal’ and ‘Los Vampiros Bandidos’, let’s move on to the next album. It is 2013 and ‘Opus Vitae’ is released. What can you tell us about that?

This album was a kind of transition, I think, in my life and for Cemetary. I recorded it (vocals and guitars) in ‘La Cantada’ (an underground absynth rock bar in Paris RIP). Had tons of lyrics, and it's the first album where I played guitars. Little Spigaou left the band because of his job, and I didn't have the heart to replace him, so I buy a guitar, and start learning and play. The first song I 'wrote' as a guitarist was ‘Dracula Is Cannibal’, and don't know why, but my Metal influences came back when I started creating songs. And I thought the mix between all the music genres I appreciate can really define what Cemetary Girlz really is, people with different lifes and tastes, making music together, to create a unique experience. There's some songs I really love more than others, my favorite is ‘Funebra’, wrote it in a Cemetery and it's exactly how I want it to be, Melancholic, sad, beautiful and powerfull.

What do you enjoy most, singing or playing the guitar? Or both?

Well, I like both, it's two different instruments for me, and it's not easy to do both sometimes, they both give me different emotions.

Looking at the album covers of your 3 released albums so far (the demo not counted) I notice the 'Z' at the end in the band name is capitalized. On the, by ‘Manic Depression’ record label, in 2008 released compilation album ‘Poisoned Dead Frogs’ the name is even written as ‘The Cemetary Girl Z’. Does the ‘Z’ at the end has a special meaning?

The name The Cemetary Girlz, has a special meaning for me. When I was young, my uncle died, and we went to the Cemetery. It was in the south of France near Marseille, everyone was really sad, and I saw this Gothic girl, lying on a grave. She was reading a book, and at that moment it was one of the most peacefull and beautiful women I have ever seen. A girl in a cemetary really means 'Goth' to me, and when I thought of the name, and searched for it on internet in 2006 I stumbled upon porn pictures when I typed 'The Cemetery Girl'. That’s why I put The Z at the end, and wrote it Cemetary in honor of Stephen King (Pet Semetary).

Do you have a favorite Cemetery?

My favorite so far is Père Lachaise Cemetary, Highgates in London is amazing, Scotland and Ireland Cemeteries are great too, I visited around 1200 different cemeteries (from all around the world ). I cannot wait to visit US ones, one of my personal projects (maybe in 2026) is to publish a book of pictures I take in cemeteries.

That’s for sure a project to look forward to! To stay on the subject of books, and also returning to Stephen King for a moment; where would you like to spend the night? The Overlook Hotel or Rose Red?

Rose Red. Definitely!

2023 is the year the most recent album ‘L'Envol Du Corbeau’ was released. Fans certainly had to wait a while, 10 years since ‘Opus Vitae’, but it was well worth the wait. How did ‘L'Envol Du Corbeau’ come about?

Our last show in 2015 with Modern English in Paris was good, but Elvira left the band later. I had my child to raise, to work, and had some health troubles, it was a bad period. I saw hipsters everywhere and I wasn't in phase with everything. Divarre was in Berlin then he move to Scotland. I had to take a break, did some projects (Black Metal band and '80s project 'Les fantomes du soir'). But we always said with Divarre, when we're ready we will do it again.

I talked with a friend, Sioux Side, and asked him if he would like to play bass in the band, he was happy with it, so I rise up demos (the ‘L'envol Du Corbeau’ song was recorded in 2014), and we started to work on the album during Covid, but it's difficult when you're in Edinburgh, Paris and Toulouse at the same time. We did find a way to do it well. People asked us to come back, a Mexican tour was in discussion, and here we go!

It took a long time to release because we wanted it to be perfect. We work so much on the songs, and we're so proud of this record.

I’m already working on demos for the next album, I have to put vocals on the songs, and we have to work on it together but 8 songs are already made. This one will be more punchy and 80s Goth.

Very promising news! May we expect the new album this year?

Yes, I can’t give a release date now, but maybe on october 31.

A final question. You shared with us the secret that you are actually Nomadic Vampires, but suppose this was not. Which famous Vampire would you want to turn you into a 'eternal creature of the night'?

David from ‘The Lost Boys’ or Béla Lugosi (Count Dracula) … hard to choose one!

Ravn, this has been a pleasure! What may we at Peek-A-Boo wish you and The Cemetary Girlz for the future? Let me raise the glass that it may be Bat-tastic!

My pleasure, had a great time! Well, we have many new people coming into the Cemetary «world» and hope in the future more to share our art.

See you on stage soon!

The Cemetary Girlz | Bandcamp
The Cemetary Girlz | Instagram
The Cemetary Girlz | YouTube

Hayley CLX
23/01/2025


Music reviews

17
02
FRONTLINE ASSEMBLY
Mechviruses
16
02
MEPHISTO WALTZ
The First Release
15
02
MORBID POETRY
Stand Your Ground
14
02
RUINED CONFLICT
Six Feet Under
14
02
THE ULTIMATE DREAMERS
Paradoxical Sleep
13
02
ANY SECOND
Nicht Allein

NEWSLETTER

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

NEWS

18
02
On this day, 22 ago Ministry released 'Animositisomina'
18
02
Today, exactly 22 years ago, American Industrial Metal band Ministry released Animositisomina!
17
02
On this day, 11 years ago, DEVO guitarist Bob Casale (61) died.
15
02
This month, it's 38 years ago Kraftwerk released 'The Telephone Call / Der Telefon-Anruf'.
14
02
Today, exactly 46 years ago, John Peel broadcast the first Peel Sessions, performed by Joy Division
13
02
In The Light | Happy Birthday Peter Hook!

Concert reviews

28
11
BELGIAN ELECTROWAVE IS NOT DEAD 3
Belgian ElectroWave Is Not Dead 3
15
04
FAD GADGET
***FLASHBACK REVIEW***The Return of FAD GADGET (15.04.2001)***FLASHBACK REVIEW***

GET A COPY OF OUR MAGAZINE
SEND TO YOUR HOME

INTERVIEWS

15
02
PRIMITIVE CALL
Agressive and cheeky
25
01
GAVIN FRIDAY
It made me who I am … Have nothing but love and respect for the Virgin Prunes era … but that was then this is now!
23
01
THE CEMETARY GIRLZ
“Walking at night. Looking at the sky. The moon is my light. And the woods are my soul.”
21
01
PORTION CONTROL
'Living in England every decade has been a mixture of depression, detritus, dark humour and grey, it’s hard to be honest and not reflect this. '
13
01
KREGEL
‘Few words, few chords, but all on target’, that’s what kregel means.

PHOTOS

13
02
MOTOR!K
Wol'n Bak 7 - Woluwe
13
02
VOSH
Wol'n Bak 7 - Woluwe
13
02
TROUBLE FAIT'
Wol'n Bak 7 - Woluwe
13
02
KORINTHIANS
Wol'n Bak 7 - Woluwe
10
02
CHAMELEONS
Coesfeld Fabrik
06
01
FRONT 242
VIERNULVIER Gent
06
01
NEON ELECTRONICS
VIERNULVIER Gent

ADVERTISE
IN PEEK-A-BOO

VIDEO CLIPS

18
02
WANT/ED
(You) Won't Regret
17
02
THE SISTERS OF MERCY
Dr Jeep (Extended Version)
16
02
PORTION CONTROL
Scramble (John Peel Session 1984)
15
02
3TEETH
Atrophy
14
02
THE SISTERS OF MERCY
More (Extended version)
13
02
DIE KRUPPS
Vision 2020 Vision (official video)
12
02
NIGHT IN ATHENS
Words Unspoken (Official Video)