Doomed Confessionary: Basile, Theo Giotti & Théo Guiter (Homecoming)
Homecoming is a progressive stoner/sludge/grunge/post-metal band from Paris, France. The band just dropped their second album »Those We Knew« on April 19th, 2024 via Copper Feast Records.
»Those We Knew« reveals the band’s well-honed personality, fusing grunge, 90s rock and progressive metal. »Those We Knew« showcases remarkable vocal work that guides the listener through various musical tableaux. The vocals adapt to the moods and unite the tracks, tying together the influences. Discovering »Those We Knew«, we can easily imagine Alice In Chains featuring Tool or Cult Of Luna. The gloomy, heavy, sometimes hushed 90s tones collide with endless imagination, peppered by ethereal atmospheres, enticing introspection.
Homecoming are Théo Alves Guiter (vocals, guitar), Renaud Fumey-Seguy (guitar, backing vocals), Basile Chevalier (bass) and Theo Giotti “Atc De Giotto” (drums).
Can you say a few words about your band?
We are Homecoming, a “post-whatever” 4-piece from Paris. We’ve been around since 2017 and our newest album, »Those We Knew«, is out on April 19th!
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
Trying to recreate the emotions and intensity of our stage performances into our recordings. We experience our musical universe best live, so giving the recording the same intensity is quite a challenge.
What can you be most proud of so far?
That would have to be playing Desertfest London 2023. It was the first time we crossed the channel to play in the UK and the whole experience felt surreal. There was so much energy in the crowd and we are very much honored to have our name on a bill with many of the bands that inspired our sound (Crowbar, Stake, Year Of No Light, Weedeater and so many more).
Guiter: I grew up in London, so it was particularly weird for me going back and seeing my old mates at a pub in Camden, one of our favorite haunts back when we were just old enough to drink a pint at gigs! Being able to just walk around and check out bands at all of the venues we used to struggle putting together enough cash to get into was unreal, and the quality of the lineup was ridiculous!
What was your biggest regret?
Basile & Theo: Right after the release of »LP01« we were invited to play Post in Paris 2020, with Bossk headlining. But Covid got it the way. The festival cancellation, not sharing the stage with a band that we very much love such as Bossk, was our biggest regret at the time.
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
Still Desertfest for the concert, and our first European tour was a wild ride. We went through all kinds of emotional stages during this two-week window, met a lot of awesome people along the way, went to places we never thought we would travel to, and played in incredible venues. In Slovakia we played inside a medieval castle in one of Europe’s most well-preserved “gothic” cities, Bardejov.
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
Basile: I guess it’s the exchanges we get with music industry professionals, event organizers, bookers etc. We feel incredibly grateful anytime someone asks us to play for them, or is willing to help the project move forward.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Basile & Theo: I’m stuck with the new Dvne that came out the same day as our new album. It’s an amazing record ! And in recent releases too, the new Sorcerer album, a french hardcore band, is pretty great too. Theo (drums) is frequently listening to the latest Acacia Strain record.
Guiter: Just got back into EyeHateGod and Weedeater (again), as well as an old favorite of mine, Maeth! I’ve also been listening to The Dillinger Escape Plan, Nazoranai and a whole bunch of other stuff. I try to listen to a couple of new bands every day, and if I really dig what I run into, I’ll work my way through the entire discog.
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
Basile: OK, these may seem cheesy but, two simple sentences that were really helpful in the way I conceive my career as a musician: “Success is not a goal, but a consequence” – I guess that’s why we are not focused into writing hit songs but rather 12-minutes proggy journeys.
The other one is when I found out that you always say that you come to see a concert, not hear it. It reveals the importance of having a stage attitude, some cool lights, etc. to ensure a great experience for the audience.
Guiter: “Good things take time” it’s true. Also if it grooves and you’re having a good time, you’re probably doing it right.
What are your guilty pleasures?
Basile : Since we’re supposed to talk about heavy music and all, I guess my guilty pleasure of the moment is listening to REM, ahah.
Guiter: I’m not really guilty about anything I listen to, to be fair. But I tend to listen to a pretty mixed bag of bands and artists, some of which are pretty much the equivalent of a b-movie horror flick with shite production, which never fail to make me chuckle. Viper the rapper, Lapsuceur, Matos de Merde, etc.
Can you say something more about the music scene in Paris / France?
We feel really grateful to be part of such a teeming musical scene as ours, there are so many talented French post-metal bands. The scene is constantly evolving with a whole bunch of brilliant people sharing influences and getting real weird with it! We would love to see a bit more solidarity in the scene, as it seems that the sheer amount of bands is making it a bit of a rat race, where certain people won’t work well with others and opportunities are probably going to get missed because of a warped risk-reward way of seeing things. It would be cool to see more split EPs, collectives and just straight up selflessness.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
We will hit the road next October for an European tour, to play »Those We Knew« live! Before that we will go back to the United Kingdom, Belgium, and some dates in France of course. We will announce all these very soon on all socials.
What are your plans for the future as a band?
Basile & Theo: Right now we are writing our third album, I would say it’s 50% done. With that in mind we’ll hopefully start the recording process next year. Stay tuned!
Guiter: Keep on keeping on, to be fair. We’re definitely going to write and perform as much as possible, without trying to give ourselves too many deadlines or forcing ourselves to be “productive”, hopefully!
How can people best support your band?
Come see us live, buy our CDs, vinyls and merch stuff! We get 100% of what you pay at our merch stand, so coming to our concerts and buying stuff there has to be the best way to support the band!
Do you have any message for your listeners?
Thank you very much for supporting us through our first release. We really hope that you will like our second one. In any case we are planning to do as many shows as we can and put out music more frequently!
Guiter: Stay cool, don’t be too hard on yourselves and stay curious. You guys fucking rock, and hanging out with you all is always a pleasure!
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well