Live music and touring have been on lockdown and fans as well as artists are going through withdrawals. We wanted to come up with something fun to help bridge that distance between fans and artists right now. What we came up with is something called The Lockdown Lowdown and it’s a Q&A session with fun questions for artists to answer. They’re not your typical interview questions, so it gives you a peek inside of the artists themselves. We’re big music nerds here at I’m Music Magazine and we love learning things like this about the artists that we love. We’re pretty sure that you’ll get a kick out of these, so we hope you’ll take the time to read them. In this installment, we sat down for a fun Q&A session with Olivier Boitel, lead guitarist for Eternal Closure.
1. How have you been doing during the pandemic and how are you spending your time?
Olivier Boitel/Eternal Closure: I have been spending most of my time either writing new material or playing video games. For me it really hasn’t been THAT bad. There have been changes in the band’s lineup, but those have been nothing but positive so far.
2. Have you been working on new music?
We have a lot of songs ready and are excited for what’s coming up next for us. The material is a bit different due to the recent changes in the band and it’s interesting stuff!
3. 5 albums that changed your life
Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory
Dream Theater – Train of Thought
Protest The Hero – Fortress
David Maxim Micic – Bilo 3.0
Periphery – Periphery
All albums that made me discover new sounds and that I’ve listened to on repeat and still do today.
4. 5 artists that influenced you as a musician.
Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Lamb of God, Gojira and August Burns Red. The riffs these bands write were what helped me figure out my writing style, especially early on.
5. Your 5 favorite live albums
Not a lot of favorite live albums. I’d rather either listen to a studio album or go see the band live. I’d say that Exit…Stage Left by Rush is a classic.
6. Life on the road; 5 of the craziest/funniest/scariest tour stories
We have yet to really tour. A fun thing I can tell you is that I’m always the one sleeping in the car. I could have all our gear on top of me and still be fine with it. When we create great new stories to tell I’ll report them for sure haha.
7. 5 favorite movies
The Empire Strikes Back
The Lion King
The Matrix
Avengers Infinity War/Endgame
The Dark Knight
I kinda hate that these picks are so obvious, but they really are the movies that have had the most impact on me. They may not even be the movies I consider to be the “best” but I got to be honest with myself. The original Lord of the Rings trilogy is quite the accomplishment and would be my next picks.
8. Best and worst advice you ever heard.
”“You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take” – Wayne Gretzky” – Michael Scott
9. Strangest thing you ever autographed
Haven’t really had many of those yet. It’s all been CDs and T-Shirts haha. I’d like to sign a cat pic, that would be great.
10. If music was over today and you had to go into professional wrestling, what would your wrestling name be?
The Loser. Me winning anything physical would be too unlikely.
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