Hailing from greater London, trio Demontré write their music together and their lyrics individually, cultivating a sound that’s at once spatial, jagged, melodic and intrepid. Layered and textural, it’s an expression entirely bigger than the sum of
“We all come from the same place and school, but actually didn’t know each other that well until we had left school,” says Demontré's bassist Daniel S. Ayres. “Jonathan was a friend of a friend and Callum was a friend’s brother so we had links between us.” “We went through the wash a bit and came out as Demontré after quite a lot of deliberation,” deadpans singer and guitarist Jonathan Mead.
Hailing from greater London, the trio write their music together and their lyrics individually, cultivating a sound that’s at once spatial, jagged, melodic and intrepid. Layered and textural, it’s an expression entirely bigger than the sum of its parts – three boys in a room. Their interests are big too, ranging from French new-wave culture – Demontré means ‘demonstrate’ en Français – to 19th and 20th century literature (“although I've always found that hard to channel into the band,” says Jonathan).
Succeeding their first independent release Act III Scene V (Days of Yore) in 2009, the band dropped their hugely accomplished Masculin/Féminin seven track EP in 2010, following this past October with Reigning on Desire records, pressed on either green or red vinyl in just 150 copies of each. “[Masculin/Féminin] was recorded in Limehouse, south-east London, produced by the wonderful James Aparicio,” Daniel explains. He is a wizard behind the desk and we owe a lot to him, it's good we found a producer we really clicked with, he always gave us positive results without having to force it. It is something I will always be proud of. Something I achieved with my two friends.”
"We have a sort of good luck charm for anytime we record – we always need a massive poster of Kim Gordon somewhere in the studio. Don’t ask why, it just seems to work!"
“It took about three days to complete,” adds drummer Callum Brown. “We wanted the EP to be listened from start to finish so it was really important to us that it flowed and worked cohesively. We have a sort of good luck charm for anytime we record – we always need a massive poster of Kim Gordon somewhere in the studio. Don’t ask why, it just seems to work!” See the liner notes for evidence – Gordon is credited.
The first band to be featured as part of The Sound of Style, Demontré are a crucial reminder for the casual listener to switch off the radio and make an effort when it comes to the consumption of music. “Two shows stick out in my mind as being the best. One in Nuremburg, Germany in a punk club where we played our first encore and secondly a show in Paris we did where we had no idea we had a fanbase,” says Jonathan. “My favourite gig so far was Paris l’International, last year,” adds Daniel. “I remember it well. It was our first time there... We made some good friends over that trip and the show went perfectly.”
The band understand the significance of their statement beyond music. “It is important that the visual aspect to the band works cohesively,” states Callum. “Since day one a lot of thought as gone into it – all the artwork and logos have always been very clear in my mind. It gives people something more than just a sound,” comments Jonathan. “We are all control freaks in our own little way. It annoys me when a band just clearly hasn’t had enough input into something. We have always used people who are friends for producing videos and artwork, so they get what we want from our music and releases,” summarises Daniel.
Check the videos for Lorenheim and Reigning for nourishment.
