VOIVOD Drummer Michel "Away" Langevin - "It Took Us Three Years For Us To Realize That Piggy Was Dead"
June 12, 2008, 16 years ago
Dave Jaffer from the Hour.ca spoke to drummer Michel "Away" Langevin recently about a number of topics including their comeback" appearance at Montréal's Heavy MTL which will take place on Saturday June 21st and Sunday June 22nd at Parc Jean-Drapeau.
Here are a few excerpts from the chat:
Nothing defines Voivod like the life and death of (guitarist) Denis "Piggy" D'Amour. For all intents and most purposes, his passing cast a shroud of indefiniteness over the band, whose gears stopped turning when D'Amour was laid to rest.
"The last three years we were mourning Piggy," says original and current Voivod singer Denis "Snake" Bélanger. "It's weird. It took us three years for us to realize that Piggy was dead. I was kind of hoping that I was going to be on one corner, one day, and see him, but that didn't happen.""It's tearing me apart inside, because I wish he was here," agrees Langevin. "I'm trying to deal with the fact that we are rehearsing for the gig, the Heavy MTL show, and he is not in the room with us."
Still, out of darkness sometimes there comes great light. It was D'Amour's death that put the band on indefinite hiatus, and his music that's brought them back together - including original bassist Jean-Yves "Blacky" Thériault, back in the band after 17 years and replacing ex-METALLICA bassist Jason "Jasonic" Newsted for the live shows. Voivod's last studio album (2006's Katorz) revolved around guitar parts that were discovered on D'Amour's laptop, and both Langevin and Bélanger say that it's D'Amour's spirit that's driving the band's resurgence. (Dan Mongrain, of Martyr, will play in D'Amour's stead.)
"The fans over the years have been really loyal to Voivod," says Langevin. "We thought they deserved to hear what we had started.""It's going to be really exciting being on stage and playing Piggy's music," says Bélanger. "I think that's the only way we can honour what he did. To be out there and to play and to make people realize how much he was a great composer and [how] he was so unique. If you're sitting at home doing nothing, it's going to stay dead. But bringing it live and showing the people his talent, it's totally a tribute."
To read the entire interview head to this location.
