Interview: Goodbye Meteor (Written)

Released earlier this year, ‘We Could Have Been Radiant’ is latest album from French post-rock band, Goodbye Meteor. We spoke to Laurent, the drummer of the band.

1. Hello! Thank you for taking the time to chat to us. First things first, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started.

Hello, I’m Laurent, drummer in french band Goodbye Meteor. We come from Abbeville, in the north of France. The band was formed in 2019, when Cédric (guitar) and Julien (bass), who were playing together in a band, looked for musicians to complete it. That’s how they met Maxime (guitar) and me. There was also a keyboardist, Thomas, who recorded on the 1st demo, Northtape. The covid period arrived, but it didn’t stop the band from developing. The 1st concerts followed, then just after Thomas’ departure, we recorded our 1st EP, Metanoia, released in 2022, which gave us greater media exposure. We continued to develop the band, recording our 1st album, We Could Have Been Radiant, released in February 2024 by one of the world’s finest post-rock labels, Dunk!Records.

2. Someone comes to you and asks you to sum up what kind of music you play – what do you tell them?

We play post-rock!

3. What’s currently going on in your camp? New releases? Tours? Etc.

Our album came out at the beginning of the year, so we’re in the promotion phase, we’ve got some concerts coming up, and at the same time we’re composing new songs for our next album. We’ve got a few concerts in France before the summer, and especially the dunk!festival in May in Belgium, which is going to be a special moment.

4. What has been the most positive experience of making music to date for you?

It’s a bit difficult to single out just one positive experience, because there are so many! The 1st concerts, the 1st radio appearances, the 1st reviews… but the most memorable was probably signing to Dunk!Records, and becoming part of this adorable family of enthusiasts.

5. Likewise, what has been some of the more challenging aspects and how have you overcome them?

What’s sometimes difficult is spending a lot of time sending emails to different people (programmers, bookers, media) and not getting any feedback from them, despite the reminders. I know they get a lot of requests, but it’s still discouraging at times.

In that case, you have to tell yourself that, thanks to the Internet, there may be someone, in whatever part of the world, listening to our music and that it makes them feel good.

6. How do you handle the modern expectations of being in a band? Always online, having to put out content constantly, your success measured in likes and follows?

Of course a strong presence on the networks does take up a lot of time – it’s practically a full-time job ! Despite this, we don’t post all the time and we don’t try to create a buzz with just anything, we just relay news and information about the band. Personally, I like it ; there’s something quite amusing, flattering and surprising about getting reactions from the other side of the world, even if it’s just a ‘like’!

7. What’s something that really ‘grinds your gears’ about the industry/business these days and what would you propose is done to combat it?

In France, instrumental music doesn’t really have a place, either on the radio or at festivals. As a result, we know in advance that it will be difficult to carve out a place for ourselves in the French musical landscape. Fortunately, foreign countries such as Germany, Belgium and the UK are more open to these styles.

8. Speaking directly to listeners – what would you ask they do to help support your music?

The best way to support us is, of course, to buy our albums and our merchandising, to go and see us live, and also to share our music with others.

9. Outside of the music, what’s do you do to relax?

I love walking in the forest, looking at the landscape and the stars.

10. Where can people find you?

We have Facebook (facebook.com/goodbyemeteor), Instagram (www.instagram.com/goodbyemeteor_band). You can listen to us on all the usual streaming platforms, and buy our stuff on our bandcamp page: https://goodbyemeteor.bandcamp.com