1. PROPERGOL is a rather new name for industrial scene, so I'd like to ask you about the person behind the project. Who is Mr. Jerome ?

Well Mr Jerome is a 27 year-old young guy, living in Lille (in the north of France near to Belgium), always experimenting from an artistic point of view... rather perfectionist as far as my music is concerned, nether satisfied and rather inconstant... Often in a state of agitation something like a chemical reaction... That's also why I chose that name. Indeed Propergol is the name of an explosive used to make rockets taking off. So there's a link with my own personality!

2. When did you start composing music ? What influenced that decision ?

Well about in 1994 I bought a small sampler and a mixing table and I begun trying experimenting sounds... Little by little I built up some sound structures... I then had the idea of creating Propergol in 1997. I can't really say what influenced this decision... I think it forced itself upon me like a need... It was for me a way of expressing my deepest feelings, my thoughts and fears etc... At that time I also met through a former common friend St�phane and Sylvie from Nuit et Brouillard, we then contracted the unholy alliance which led to the further developments of Propergol...

3. You have 3 albums released. As I already said I got only Renegade. As I was told it's the best album of PROPERGOL so far. Do you agree ?

No you're wrong, indeed I have four albums so far. I released the two first as CD-Rs on my own label
Herm�tique. First is "Un d�cha�nement de violence", second "Cleanshaven". The third "United states of..." was on Nuit et Brouillard and the fourth "Renegade" on Tesco Organisation. I wouldn't totally agree with your statement as "Renegade" being the best album so far. Indeed I like each one. Maybe the two first are more as the first works to be considered although they both include the germs of the forthcoming releases... (Both will be re released on Nuit et Brouillard in reworked and remastered versions in the wake of 2002). I also really like "United States of..." It differs in many ways from "Renegade". Both are quite different in mood and atmospheres. "United States" appeals more to imagination, is more cinematic and in a way maybe more "sensual" and pervasive than "Renegade" which is much more direct in its approach and in its content. So some persons prefer the first one, some others the second one... For me the one I prefer hasn't been composed yet...

4. Could you tell me about your CDR albums? What makes them different from Renegade ?

As I already said, I released my two first full length works on CD-R. I would say that compared to
"Renegade" both are more spontaneous... They are both a documentation about the birth of "Propergol" and reflect my state of mind at that time... Maybe "Renegade" corresponds to a certain extent to a state of musical maturity...

5. One of your albums is called "United States". Does this mean it is dedicated to the country with the same name ? Please tell me about the album.

Yes "United States..." is dedicated to the country of the same name. More exactly to what it evokes to me and feelings that could awake while thinking about it. It also should give free rains to one's imagination and also to the part of phantasms that could arouse.. . It's a soundtrack hanging between reality and phantasm... It deals with motels, secondary roads, serial killers, swat polices, etc, so the other side of that picture of the American way of life... A schizophrenic America, far away from wonderland... This album is an album of feelings, atmospheres and moods... It includes a form of destructive violence and a lot of implications from my personal life at that time.

6. When I look at and listen to Renegade I notice that the album creates impression of conceptual piece of Art. The artwork, songtitles and the music are one whole thing. Am I right ? Are there any conceptions behind your albums or you write music without any relation to general idea of an album ?

Yes you're right : artwork, songtitles and music are one whole thing. I build up my music like a movie
soundtrack so everything is linked. Its something conceptual each time related to the topics included in the album. For me images, artworks should square with the music and vice versa. Its maybe due to my former cinematographic training. But images and what may be behind them play for me an important role...

7. "Music is the weapon" I read on your web-site. Actually, your slogan "Music is the weapon" reminds me one of those obsolete Soviet principles of "true" art. Well, we need arms when we want to fight. So, what do you want to fight with your music ?

To be more exact its "Music as a weapon" which is slightly different from "Music is the weapon" because it implies that you may use the weapon or you may not... the gun can be loaded but you may not shot.. That's the difference. For me music is a way of expressing myself. I use arms for their multiple symbolic sides, for the fascination they can exert (first being of course the power and the feeling of power they give you) and maybe also for their erotic aspect. I intend to use them that way, so with a symbolic content. Weapons also reflect my music well because its violent and I hope powerful... I would like the listener to experience the fact to be aimed at while listening to my music. So for me it has not much to do with soviet realism and its conception of Art as an ideological instrument. I also intend fighting against myself... I suppose you are also referring to "Renegade"for this question. So I must maybe explain that this CD is dedicated to Jacques Mesrine. Enemy number one of the French state in the 70ies and killed by the same French state in 1975. His philosophy (he was openly at war with the French state and society) inspired me a lot when I composed the CD.

8. It seems you enjoy using images of Kalashnikov's assault rifle. Kalashnikov became a symbol of terrorist warfare and guerillas. I see nothing bad with that, but today after 9-11 events everything has changed. Mr. Bush declared that everybody who has symphony for terrorists will pay for that Are you aware that it's no longer funny to mess around with "extreme" topics and it's easy to become an enemy of contemporary "anti-terrorist witch-hunt". Have you experienced so far any problems with your politically incorrect image ? And what is your opinion about witch-hunt we doomed to witness ?

Yes, you're right, Kalashnikov became a symbol of terrorist warfare and guerrilla. As I already wrote I use arms for their symbolic impact so be it Kalashnikov or other guns. No for the moment, I haven't experienced any problems with what you call my "politically incorrect image". I'm aware that it maybe be judged as politically incorrect, but I think everything is relative. It may seem incorrect for and not for others... What is sure is that I don't like censorship and therefore I don't want to censure myself. It has to be considered as "Art" and has no real political intention. I designed the sleeve as closely connected to the musical content, be it politically incorrect or not... It was really not my concern at that time! Well about "which-hunt" you are referring to I would say that the which can be the hunter and the hunter the which depending which side you're looking at...

9. Please tell me about your label Hermetique. What kind of music you plan to release on this label ? Please tell me a bit about RADIORAMA, signed to Hermetique.

As I already wrote, I released my first 2 CDR on Herm�tique. On this label I plan to release either works of mine which for a reason or another I want to release myself or some projects I really like and may collaborate with. It's the case for instance for Radiodrama, a band from Seattle who sent me some material for a release. Some tracks were imposed a kind of shocktreatment and few are in collaboration with me... The CD is named "Autopsy N�9". For more info: http://www.hermetique.net/

10. I see that you will release a bunch of new PROPERGOL albums in future. Could you tell me a bit about them ?

Well, planned is as I already said the re release of my two first CDRs. Then the fifth album which name is "Projet Vengeance" is to be released very soon now on Malignant, then there will be "Redemption" on Force Majeure (a sublabel of Nuit et Brouillard). And before that my first vinyl release a 7"EP "Tormentor/I need you" should be out on Nuit et Brouillard!

11. A couple of words about your cooperation with SLOGUN - United States 2.

My cooperation with SLOGUN "United States 2" is as you might have understood it a kind of following of "United States of..." I can't say much more for the moment about it, because it isn't finished yet, but I'm sure it will be a real sonic bomb. I already liked Slogun'works and when I met him in Germany at the festival organised by "the white rabbit Club", I must say the individual behind Slogun didn't disappoint me... We discussed and little by little the idea of a collaboration materialized... and then there were also the events of September 11th you referred to in one of your last questions. I thought using samples from that for a usual "power-electronics"album would have been simply too cheap but in this case, I thought that chance and destiny simply crossed and THAT was I think something interesting!

...THE END...