It doesn’t happen very often that we invite foreign bands to the Dark Entries Nights, but when we have the opportunity to offer a stage to a group like the Spanish dark electro formation Larva, we don’t think twice. Those who like hard pounding electro beats would do well to come to the Ghent Kinky Star on Saturday 8 March. To prepare for the performance, we have subjected singer InQuesT to a brief interrogation.

You just released ‘Prescindibles’. In an interview with Russian Dark Community, you described the release as ‘an album dedicated to the people around us who are completely ignored’. Can you tell us more about the concept of ‘Prescindibles’?

‘Prescindibles’ is about the loneliness that surrounds us, the loneliness that lot of people around us are feeling. A lot of people are feeling completely ‘prescindible’, disposable, unimportant, like nobody cares about them. Even we can feel it, from time to time.

We see begging children on the cover of ‘Prescindibles’. Are they Palestinian children? Can you tell us more about this picture? Why did you choose this particular photograph?

No, they are not Palestinian. In fact, they are Spanish kids. I guess they must be dead now. That picture was taken in the beginning of the 20th century. Spain was, and to a certain extent still is, a really poor country. In this case, the photograph was taken in the most rural part of the country, where the forgotten lived. That fits the concept of the album completely. It is a forgotten part of the country, populated by extremely poor people, that nobody care about, not even our government.

Just like on earlier albums, you use both English and Spanish lyrics on ‘Prescindibles’. Nowadays, more bands mix English, as the lingua franca of rock music, with their own native tongue. How do you look at the issue of languages in music?

For me, language is a tool that I use to express myself, and to communicate with people around me. In ‘Prescindibles’, for the first time, we are using the Catalonian language, too.

How we decide which language apllies to every song?

It depends from a lot of factors. Usually, when I write lyrics, I use the language that comes up in me. But when I adapt the lyrics to a song, the language can be switched. Aspects like musicality are important too.

Let’s move back to the early days. You started Larva back in 2003, which means that the band has been around for 22 years now. Can you tell me more about how you formed the band? What did you want to achieve back then?

The first album was released that year, but you know, we started fooling around with music a few years before. We were a bunch of good friends, always interested in music, in particular the ‘new wave’, dark and synth scene of those ages. The idea was to have fun. We wanted to experiment with sounds, textures, and with ‘artistic behavior’. We were really into ‘noise extremism’. (laughs)

Ah, the youth! Back then, we bought our first piece of equipment. It was an Akai sampler, if I remember well. It was really expensive, and really limited. But we squeezed that machine until the limit! (laughs)

We had tons of fun. Then we bought a synth or two, and everything started to get shape. It was the time when the first virtual synths started to become available.

You started Larva on your own, but during the years, several people have contributed to the band. How do you see the collaboration with and the contribution of the other band members?

We are what we are because of that. This is a never-ending process of learning. Everybody that contributed to the band, has enriched us in some way, maybe not strictly in a musical way, but in a lot of different ways.

For example, we used to have two drummers on stage, an acoustic drum and an electro drum. That fed our liveshow with lots of energy, raw power, and more rock’n’roll feeling. But then, of course, the soundchecks were way longer. But nowadays we are talking about people with ages of 30 or 40 years, with families, kids et cetera. This makes it difficult for us to go on tour as a full lineup.

The best period for me, in terms of freedom, is right now. I have my wife on stage on the keyboards; and she is also helping me in the studio. She completes me in lot of ways, and we feel really comfortable working that way.

You have played in Latin America regularly. I want to ask you about your experience there, as it seems they have a vibrant and young gothic scene, whereas, to be honest, the Belgian public is a bit older and attends concerts less. What are you impressions on the Latin American goth scene?

We have played Mexico almost every year in the last years, but we have also been in Perú, Colombia, Bolivia and other countries. The scene there is awesome! It is full of new and young people, full of interesting things, energy et cetera. They are creating fanzines, magazines, radio and television broadcasts … The effervescence of the scene is amazing.

As a crowd, they are awesome too! They are full of energy and good vibes. It suits us well, of course, that when we sing in Spanish, they can understand the lyrics. I guess that’s the main reason why we have some kind of special connection between us. We really feel loved by them.

Your lyrics deal with a whole range of social and political subjects. I have noticed that there is sometimes a thin line between extreme idealism and misanthropy, between an optimistic vision about the future of humanity and a pessimistic vision about the nature of humankind. Do you have the feeling that this also applies to you? I would like to hear your thoughts on that.

I agree completely! Larva is part of me, as a human being. The songs are like a way of undressing me in front of the listeners. And as a human being, sometimes I feel low, and sometimes high. But I'm always myself, with my pros and cons.

Of course, during all these years, there has been an evolution too. I guess – and I hope – that I do not sound the same as in our first stages. And of course, I always hope I can explain something in a different way through our lyrics.

What does the future hold for Larva? If I understood it well, you already finished your next record, while ‘Prescindibles’ is still new for us. How do you manage to be so productive?

We will continue to do what we love to do, and be true to ourselves. And yep, you are right about that new album. Usually, when an album is released, that means it was done two or three years ago. We live in a very small village in the middle of the forest. So, our social life consists more or less in walking with our two crazy Chihuahuas through the forest. Our studio and rehearsal room is our home. As you can imagine, we have lots of time to be immersed in our musical world.

Larva: website / bandcamp / facebook

Larva plays on Saturday March 8 on a Dark Entries Night, with the Belgian dark electro band Mirexxx, 20h, Kinky Star, Vlasmarkt 9 in Gent, free entrance.

Larva plays on Friday March 7 in the Garage in Liège, with Deleritas, Rue Marengo 27, 4000 Liège.

Picture: Luc 'Who Cares' Luyten