Music Review and Interview with Icoste
In this review, I tackle a new tune by Icoste, the moniker of Stéphane Jeannin, an independent musician and producer living in France. For over a decade now, Jeannin has been drawn to ‘hardcore techno’ as an outlet for his creativity. He’s released several projects under the persona, but for the purposes of this review, we’ll delve into ‘Infantry Maneuver,’ a tune he dropped a few years back.
From the moment I turned on ‘Infantry Maneuver,’ I thought I was listening to a new generation’s ‘Metal Machine Music.’ Very much in the vein of Lou Reed’s noise rock classic, this song is harsh, industrial, and gritty. With that said, the comparison isn’t fully apt, because unlike ‘Metal Machine Music,’ ‘Infantry Maneuver’ actually has a level of musical sensibility that creates organized beats and riffs.
To be blunt, I’m not sure what the audience for this kind of music is. I know there is a dedicated niche for it, but I’m not sure where or when this music is applicable. Perhaps during an intense workout session or at a rave in an industrial complex? I say that because the music is inherently abrasive. It’s thick, intensified, and the dark, gritty beats grate on your ears. That’s the point, though, and I can absolutely acknowledge that Icoste’s creation is utterly fascinating in that sense. Behind its chaotic mask, there’s a rather complex composition at play, I’d argue. You have to listen closely to all the tiny things happening and ignore the main beat. It’ll throw you off and it may be all you hear if that happens.
My main critique of ‘Infantry Maneuver’ would be its runtime. While I found myself enamored with its oddities for the first three or four minutes, the latter half of the track was a real drag that didn’t introduce anything new or interesting. Icoste should recut the track and phase it out around the 3:30 mark. That may defeat the point of it, though, since niche music doesn’t comply to any typical standards, whether that be the way in which the music is created or how long it lasts for. (Again, ‘Metal Machine Music.’)
It’s hard to define what Icoste is. His experimentation is absolutely worth your time if you’re into techno or experimental electronic music. In the grand scheme of the modern indie avant garde, this is some of the more enjoyable content. It may just take you awhile to ease into it, if you manage to at all.
By Brett Stewart
I’m a professional writer and editor, a journalism major, and I have extensive experience in musical review. I worked for two years as the Editor & Chief of an arts magazine, Strike Magazine, where I worked closely with writers and musicians. Through this, I was able to interact with dozens of acts including Heart, Holly Williams, Robert Cray, John Hiatt, and more. The magazine printed thousands of issues and was even recognized by Rolling Stone’s founder, Jann Wenner.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW:
Exposed Vocals: How did you hear about Exposed Vocals? What made you decide to sign up?
Icoste: I heard about Exposed Vocals on Twitter. Since I really enjoy sharing my music, I decided to use this platform to be heard and share my music.
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
Icoste: I was born in the US, in Miami, but I grew up most of my life in southern France. Then I traveled around different places, for my studies, for my jobs, taking me to Boston, to central France. I really love traveling and discovering new cultures, they’re really great sources for inspiration.
I never decided to be an artist, per say. I grew up in an artistic environment: my parents used to be musicians and choir singers, my sisters Sofi Jeannin and Lisa Jeannin are two great artists I really respect for their successes and arts. When it came to find a way to express my feeling to the world, I had very little choice: I came with music.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
Icoste: “Icoste” is a double French play-on-words, explaining this and the context behind it would take a lot of time! But I kept it because it doesn’t reveal a nationality, an origin, or whatever. I really like it because I can use it as, I usually put it, a musical adjective for composing stuff. It doesn’t restrict me to a single genre, it’s really free from any constraint I could have while composing things.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
Icoste: I clearly think it is compulsory. Leonard Bernstein said “One doesn’t sell music, one shares it”, I really used these wise words literally, giving away almost all my music for free on the web. I keep my future project out of reach, but apart from that, I share more than 175 tracks on my SoundCloud for free because… well, I think that way: I want people to hear my screams for free if they enjoy them.
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
Icoste: Share, share and share more. There are plenty of net-labels ready to share music for free and give artists ways to express themselves. Furthermore, there are plenty of Facebook groups you can subscribe to in order to share your music and find peers ready to help you and promote your music. For instance, I helped LoubiTek finding a net-label. He’s a good friend of mine, he really deserved to be heard, so I helped him building an album to express himself. I’m glad this gave him a little more visibility!
Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?
Icoste: I follow my dad’s experience as a jazz player: mistakes and improvisations are two aspects of the same process. During my live performances, I improvise a lot, and I use this as a way to create more effects or samples for future productions. I experiment a lot, so mistakes can sometimes conclude to a new sound I like.
Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?
Icoste: I don’t tour… yet. I think need more experience as a live performer to be able to do live performances in public, though I have several friends who can give me advice on how to produce high-quality lives. The crew I’m in now,Bourinage Mental, has artists who tour on a regular basis though, and I will follow them around France for gaining experience.
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
Icoste: My inspirations are very diverse, but I try to stick to feelings I have, emotions and feelings I want to share. Sometimes, it is a concept I try to put in music, like storytelling or a universe description.
I have two different processes for writing tracks: the first one is to find a concept and then to adapt and experiment to find atmospheres and sounds that match this concept, to finally produce a complete track or live. The other one is to experiment and, during the process, find a concept to match this experiment and finally I continue in the concept to produce my final track or live.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
Icoste: Since I’m also a web programmer, I’m currently building the bourinage-mental.com website for our crew. Else, I mainly use SoundCloud for sharing my music.
Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?
Icoste: I’d say videogames soundtracks, like Pokémon, Smash Bros., MDK and stuff like that. One is a geek, or one isn’t, right?
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
Icoste: I’d make a budget. What do I need to have the way of life I want, etc.? Then, I’d give it to my family to help them of the financial plan, then the rest would go to charity. I don’t need that much amount of money… But other people do.
Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?
Icoste: I mainly work with software, mainly Ableton Live and Renoise, so experimental software l could use would be Supercollider, PureData… I also intend to master Sylenth1, to go more into audio synthesis.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
Icoste: Mainly Facebook groups, where I can give newcomers some pointers and ask advice and critics to elders. It works quite well, I must say.
Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?
Icoste: I have such a high range of artists I respect for their art that it’s hard to make a choice. Let’s choose four of them randomly: Autechre, Venetian Snares, Pierre Henry, Black Lung. As long as the public likes my experiments, I’m ready to go anywhere, as far as my budget allows it, of course!
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
Icoste: I’m preparing something for early 2016: my first real concept album! I have been in contact with other artists they would be ready to collaborate with me on this album. I won’t give any names or titles, though one may find a simple demo of what has already been done on my SoundCloud. It’s a long term project, so the demo will evolve along with the tracks.
Another project is coming very soon: a compilation for the Bourinage Mental crew, it’s a double CD that we’re polishing and finishing. It should come out before 2016 if everything goes right!
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
Icoste: That’s a very difficult question! I couldn’t imagine a life without making music as of now. I think I would be banging my head inside a mental hospital shouting what I feel and what I want to create. Else, I would be noting my universes, projects and creations in notebooks so someone could put it to good use.
Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?
Icoste: Wow! That goes back to when I was like 10 or so… Maybe it was a tape from 666, this old makina band… I was listening to some of their songs on the TV and I went like “That’s something new!” and I spent my Francs on this tape, that I listened to again and again to have a change considering I was to the songs my parents would listen to with me when I was a child.
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
Icoste: That is also a difficult question. My problem is my lack of patience when it comes to creativity, so frustration can come at work when I find an idea or concept I want to put in music. But I must say, sometimes, I can compulsively compose songs at a very high rate, like in 2013/2014: I had periods when I was makings three songs a week, to unwind and relax from the stress I was having while working in Boston. In other words, my responsibilities often gave me creativity, but sometimes they were forbidding me from using it right away.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
Icoste: I don’t have precise plans, but I have projects. I really expect 2016 to be a very creative year. I can’t say more… Not because I don’t want to but because I can’t, though I will try to manage 2016 as a real artist who has responsibilities, not as an isolated composer who has constraints. So stay in tune, I might change my plans for 2016 very soon!
