Festivalphoto: So far you have released 2 Soror Dolorosa videoclips, both by American director Toshadeva Palani. You are a photographer in your "day job". How does that influence the imagery you try to construct with your music and the visual elements of your music videos?
Andy Julia: Toshadeva contacted the band when Severance came out, the first release, in 2009. I checked his photography work and it was quite interesting, the light, the black and white, everything… And I thought that he was really young, he was 18, but full of potential, full of ideas. So I began to discuss with him, and for about 6 months we exchanged some ideas, but I gave him full freedom regarding what he wanted to say and to express. He told me his interpretation of the lyrics of the song and I was surprised, because it was a completely different perspective, with an American view. I wanted to do something with an 80's look, but he had in mind something quite different and I found his idea absolutely perfect, because I don't want to get stuck in that 80's vibe. I just want to play music and create new images. Toshadeva released a perfect work for us because he madeit within his own ideas, his own culture… and he comes from Providence, the city of H.P. Lovecraft, that's why his work is always embedded with something mystical, strange and disturbing. But in his dark ideas there is something hidden in every picture, and that's what Soror Dolorosa wanted to express, because that dark side of the band is not the whole part. It's a kind of ambitious project, speaking about life, so I can say that Toshadeva perfectly understood… and we just exchanged e-mails, without saying anything concrete… it was just a feeling… and the feeling came.
Festivalphoto: You come from Paris, a place where we can find a number of great bands, some of them your personal friends, like Alcest or Les Discrets. Can we expect any collaboration with fellow artists in the future?
Andy Julia: Yes, definitely. We were speaking with Neige so he would come to make some guitars in the next album of Soror Dolorosa. We are all close friends, like brothers in fact… we have known each other for 15 years or so… maybe we have never done it so far because I have been very busy with my photography job. Soror Dolorosa became very important to me and takes a lot of my time, but I think we have finally reached a level of maturity, so we can collaborate. I think the best thing we can do is to speak and spend a lot of time together, to create an exchange and evolution in the music. And tour together!
Festivalphoto: If you could collaborate with any artist [dear or alive] who would it be?
Andy Julia: The first idea I had was Nico, from Velvet Underground, I like her voice, I feel out of time when I hear her.
Festivalphoto: You have already played in the castle last year, as percussionist for Dernière Volonté. How does it feel to come back now with your own band? What do you think of the place, the organization…?
Andy Julia: I love this place. I met the organization when I came here with Dernière Volonté, because Geoffroy booked the show and I didn't knew the guys from here… we had a quick talk and today we are here to play. I think there is an interest between making music and making a festival here. I think the place is fitting because the artists have to feel good coming to a place like this… it's not a place like the others… it's something special, with centuries, so making art in a place like this is perfect. I like to play in clubs, but in castles is completely different, you cannot forget it.
Festivalphoto: Imagine yourself walking through a strange town when suddenly you hear your own music being played. You decide to follow the sound. Where do you think it would lead you?
Andy Julia: It's a very hard question, because when you make music I think your state of mind is different every day and that's why music makes life better… or maybe worse… right now I think it's better. But the perfect place for Soror Dolorosa would be an old place, for sure… A place that saw human life come by through the years and things happening [or not], because music is like a mark in time and, for me, playing in old places allows you to have a connection with this line of time. I don't like that much the places of nowadays… maybe because I'm coming from another time or somewhere else…
Festivalphoto: What song would you want played at your funeral?
Andy Julia: There should be many, but I think the first song should be "Song to the Siren" by This Mortal Coil, because it's a song that blows me away completely… I can listen to it for days and days… I just put it somewhere in the room and I let it play. For me it's the perfect expression for the human soul to depart.
Festivalphoto: Good choice. Thank you so much for your time, Andy and have a good concert later!
