EMQ’s With Past and Secrets

EMQ’s With Past and Secrets

Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with French Instrumental solo project, Past and Secrets. Huge thanks to Yohan Delasalle for taking part. 

What is your name, what do you play, and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?

Hello everyone, I’m Yohan Delasalle. I’m delighted to be able to do this interview for EMQ. I’ve been playing guitar for over 20 years, but I really started at the age of instrument at the age of 18. Like a lot of us, I started off with the little tunes that I loved as a teenager, and then went on to discover different worlds such as classical, metal,blues, jazz and rock. I’m a big fan of 7-string guitars.

After one of my previous projects came to a halt, I decided to create my own instrumental One Man Band Project called Past and Secrets.

This instrumental project offers a musical journey through compositions that are both melancholic and ethereal. The tracks, adorned with heavy and catchy riffs, are enriched with impressive solos featuring international guest artists

How did you come up with your band name?

I decided to give it this title in order to relate my emotions through my past, present and future events. I wanted to talk about my secrets over the years. That’s why the name was so easy to come up with.

What Country/Region are you from and what is the Metal/Rock scene like there?

I’m French and I live in Lille. The metal scene is slowly coming back into its own in our region, but it’s still just as difficult to get to grips with. But it’s slowly coming back and the city has some very interesting concerts.

What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)

My second EP titled “Another Day, Another Time” (2024) is about to see the light. Each track of this opus is a true invitation to introspection, offering complete freedom to be overwhelmed by the emotions it evokes.

Who have been your greatest influences?

I’m a big fan of Pink Floyd and all those 70s when we saw such varied and inspiring things appear. I’m also a big fan of Djent Music, being inspired by bands like Periphery and Meshuggah.

I also had my share of youth listening to bands like Limp Bizkit and even Korn.

I was also rocked by guitar heroes like Steve Vai, who was one of my great sources of inspiration. Sometimes I also listen to classical music and 90s pop-rock, or even jazz. The influences are very varied and I’m very happy about that.

What first got you into music?

The first time I saw Kurt Cobain play guitar, I wanted to do the same thing. Then my love for the instrument grew When I started playing all the songs I’d dreamt of as a teenager.

If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?

My dream is to be able to collaborate with great international artists on solos. I don’t have any specific names, but it would be great to be able to work with one of them one day. Come on, if I have to mention a name, why not Steve Vai or David Gilmour?

If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?

The Euroblast festival in Germany is the meeting place for the entire Progressive Djent Rock Metal scene. And if I could have played at a legendary festival, it would definitely have been Woodstock.

What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?

After one of my concerts, a little boy was standing in front of me with his hands behind his back. He was afraid to come and see me. When I got to him, he started crying and asked me to take some photos with him and sign him an autograph. He then followed me over to the little merchandising table I’d made and I signed a CD and a poster for him and took a few photos with him. It was one of the most magical moments in my life as a musician.

If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?

All the people who follow my project are very important to me because they give me the strength to carry on. As I’ve already explained, I write music for myself as well as to take people on a journey.

The fact that I get more or less negative feedback gives me the strength to carry on and the desire to make music. They are a very important part of the project and I can’t thank them enough.

If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?

For me, it would be John Lennon. I’ve listened to a lot of Beatles records and he’s the only member who’s always captured my attention with the purity of his lyrics and the magic of his compositions.

And another one, Eddy Van Halen.

What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?

Being a musician represents escapism, passion and the love of an instrument or of music in general. That’s why I love being a musician. What I don’t like is having to manage all the administrative side of a project when you’re on your own and you want to succeed.

If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?

I’ll be honest and say that it’s very complicated to answer this type of question. I think that music, like a lot of things, evolves over time and you have to live with the times. We’d always like to change one thing or another to go back to the past, but you have to know how to evolve. It’s true that access to music is given perhaps too easily

These days it’s very easy to write music and correct a lot of things with today’s technology. It’s very easy to correct a voice or an instrument. I think that fewer and fewer musicians have the talent of our elders who, when they had to record a song, had almost no right to make a mistake, whereas it’s very easy for us to erase and start again.

Name one of your all-time favourite albums?

Without hesitation, Nirvana’s “In Utero” album because it was the first rock album I ever bought. I think the composition is just magnificent and the sound was quite revolutionary for the time. Now I can think of other albums that have made an impression on me, such as :

Van Halen’s very first album,  “Hotel California” by Eagles, “Dark Side of the Moon” by Pink Floyd, 

“Follow the Leader” by Korn, “Significant Other” by Limp Bizkit, “Frogstamp” by Silverchair, and

“Through the Ashes of Empire” by Machine Head.

What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?

I’m still a big fan of CDs. It’s a product that came out and that I knew in my time and it’s true that it’s very difficult to part with it.

What’s the best gig that you have played to date?

With one of my old projects, I was lucky enough to open for some very famous French bands like Dagoba and others. But my best memory remains a concert I played with this one when we were on tour in Spain. I admit that we weren’t very motivated to play that night because of the conditions, but we had to get the job done. When we got up on stage, we all looked at each other with a disconcerting rage and motivation. When the first notes of the samples went off, we sent out a set like we’d never done before and the room went wild. I’ll never forget that moment.

If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?

As far as I’m concerned, I’m not a professional musician. I’m also a pastry chef. I’ve been baking since I was a child, because I was born into a family of pastry bakers. I made it my profession and my passion for music came much later.

Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?

Steve Vai

Brian”Head”Welsch from KORN David Gilmour

Sam Carter From Architects Misha Mansoor From Periphery

What’s next for the band?

A new single will be released on 9 October. 

It’s called ‘The End’.

But it won’t herald the end of the project, as many people have asked me (laughs).

I’m currently starting work on the successor to my album ‘Another Day ,Another Time’ but I don’t know yet whether I’m going to produce track by track or whether I’m going to release a complete album. Time will tell. As far as possible concerts are concerned, I’m working for brands and I’ll be present at trade fairs both in France and internationally, notably NAMM in Los Angeles. It’s a real pleasure to be able to play your music on these stages and to be recognised because they trust in you.

What Social Media/Website links do you use to get your music out to people?

Past and Secret’s first and second albums are available on all distribution platforms, including Spotify, Deezer, iTunes Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music and many others.

You can also find the project on Bandcamp and on the YouTube channel of the same name. I’m also available on Facebook and Instagram and on Big Cartel if you’d like a physical CD.

You can find all this information at the following link: https://linktr.ee/pastandsecrets

Jaffa Cakes? Are they a cake or a biscuit?

I don’t know anything about it! And yet I’m a pastry chef (laughs). 

I’m going to go ahead and say it’s a biscuit.

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