Already seen at Hellfest, this heavy metal group from Caen celebrates its 20th anniversary with an album and a concert

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From college William of Normandy in Caen (Calvados) at Hellfestfrom rehearsals in a garage in Soliers to the very latest clip made with artificial intelligence, the group heavy metal Headcharger passed by all states of independent music. Keeping Caen as home port.

The 8th album of the group Headcharger has “something more naughty”

This fall, the survivor of the local rock scene is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Not by publishing a best of at the end of the contract – really not the type of the house. The combo shakes up the bins and playlists of digital platforms (Amazon Music, Apple Music, Deezer, Spotify) with son 8e album Sway.

A record “which really resembles the group as it is today”, judges Romain Neveu, one of its three founders. “We prepared it over two years, and, for the first time, composed it with five musicians. » Including the last two to arrive in 2011, Antoine Cadot on drums and David Vallée, guitarist. “We had time to try lots of fitting drafts. Let’s do something more naughtywith a lot of shouting and shouting singing. »

A style that suits the bassist, eternal inhabitant of the right bank in Caen. If he found and imposed the definitive name of the group (“Headcharger, today it refers to a cell phone charger, but for us, in 2004, it meant that we make music that sends people”), Romain Neveu is perhaps the one who made the most concessions. By leaving the guitar to others.

His thing is hardcore – an extreme and political version of American punk. But “it’s funny at Headcharger, the five members listen to very different things”. And you can still hear it Sway. “This album is the synthesis. » A piece can start calmly and break out into a “cataclysm of sound” or combine metal riffs, a “more soaring bridge” and borderline rap rhythm on the drums.

From the Soliers garage to big metal festivals

At the origin of the group, in its very prehistory, there is a quartet brought together by Nirvana and grunge. “We were a little group of friends, the tough guys from college,” rewinds Romain Neveu. “We haven’t stopped since the end of 3rd grade [au collège Guillaume-de-Normandie, entre Guérinière et Grâce-de-Dieu]. »

Everything comes together quite quickly: rehearsals in the garage of the drummer’s house in Soliers, with the mutating voice of singer Sébastien Pierre; “the Saturday meeting” around the VHS of the show Best Of Trash on M6; the first concert in the former Big Band Café (BBC) under the nickname Fresh Apple; the first K7 in 1997, “cool music with a shitty name: Doggystyle”, which earned a lawsuit threat from a punk band from Los Angeles, via a message on Myspace.

“We are too complicated to sell”

At the dawn of the 2000s, the line-up changed. A first album was recorded at the Swan Sound studio in Souleuvre-en-Bocage. Under the guidance of Swiss producer Serge Morattel, the content is “a little more concrete, more musically interesting”, believes Romain Neveu. “Composition is not always easy. We try to fit everything in. » At the end of 2004, the blase Headcharger was adopted during a concert at the BBC.

A prosperous decade followed, with five albums released every two to three years, from Watch The Sun has Hexagramand as many turns more or less well negotiated on the road connecting heavy metal and more 90s indie rock. “With the 5th album, Black Diamond Snake (2015), we wanted to go deep into the stoner [un sous-genre venu du désert californien, avec basse lourde, rythmique répétitive, presque psychédélique] », recalls Romain Neveu. “Today, we can no longer listen to him. »

It’s also the time of big festivals. Including the itinerant Sonisphere, during its stopover in Madrid, alongside Rammstein, Alice in Chains, Slayer and Iron Maiden. So many names engraved in marker on the kits of the “college hardos”.

“It’s the first time we’ve played in front of 4 to 5,000 people,” assures Romain Neveu. “France says to itself, this group is becoming interesting. Magazines spot us. We do more concerts, we get paid a little more. But then we had to change turners for each album. »

As we are too rock for ‘metalheads’, and too metal for rockers, we are too complicated to sell. We are used to doing everything on our own.

Hellfest almost went wrong

Until finding another label, when the boss of the previous one leaves with the cash register. “And then Covid-19 arrives,” complains Romain Neveu. Musicians leave the ship at the dock. Those who remained on board “dial each other at home on their computer”: “We sent each other files every day. Everyone was responsive, from riffs to drum parts. We had plenty to work on at home. » This gives the penultimate album Rise From The Ashes“the most rock”. But “difficult to promote”: “The programmers were cautious, people were afraid to return to theaters. »

It still opens the doors to the great mass of heavy metal, the Hellfest festival, at the end of June 2022, in Clisson (Loire-Atlantique). At the boot. “Ben Barbaud [son créateur] calls us three weeks in advance to replace a group. »

And for a 45-minute set, on the big stage, before Metallica, which Romain Neveu almost had a bad time. “I couldn’t play the fifth piece. While inserting the jack, something explodes inside the bass. » A technician saves the day.

The whole history of the Headcharger group revisited at the BBC

The experience, in front of 25,000 spectators, was “very cool”, but the Hellfest did not have the expected repercussions. “We were thinking of doing more dates for the end of the tour Rise From The Ashes.«

Headcharger returns to battle with the At(h)Ome label and you can hear it on Sway. “We have come a long way, we can be proud of our progress. This is what this album, its cover, expresses: it falters, a group, it’s not easy,” says Romain Neveu. “We managed to go through the stages without tearing ourselves apart. We work as technicians on the side [lui, entre autres, au Zénith de Caen ou sur le festival Beauregard]we see each other outside. »

A great journey for college students who are fans of Kurt Cobain, who they will revisit in concert at the BBC on October 31. “In 1h10, we scan all the albums. »

In 2025, Headcharger intends to get back on the road. “Our goal? 45 dates by the end of summer. » With Hellfest in their sights and, this time, the name of the Caen group on the poster.

Practical. Concert, with Cemented Minds in the first part, Thursday October 31, 2024, at 8 p.m., at the Big Band Café, on the Fonderie site, 1, avenue du Haut Crépon, in Hérouville Saint-Clair (Calvados). Prices: from €8 to €13. Contact: 02 31 47 96 13. Reservation on the BBC website.

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