If you’re skateboardin’, gun-totin’, and beer swillin’, then you can pretend like you don’t have real talent, but we see through you. Scum Shots is one to watch. (Featured on our #39 podcast, Long Neck.)

We thought that Secular Pains was a band, but it turns out that Secular Pains is a guy. His song “Cut My Hair” was featured on our #36 podcast, which is interesting in light of the thoughts he shares below on the subject of hair and mothers. He lives outside of Toronto, Canada, evidently not nearby any cities.

My favorite thing to wear onstage:

clothing

Why

I don’t like my parents seeing me naked.

Fully-clothed is the only way to be.

The last musical instrument or musical-performance-related item that I bought and loved was:

Not sure I love any of my instruments. Although I have a fond attachment to my first guitar. It’s an acoustic black Takamine. I love it because it has conditioned itself to me and vice versa. Only I can play it, tune it, manipulate it…with everyone else it simply doesn’t work. I inserted some lame metaphors here but removed them. It’s also been through hell: soaked in the rain, frozen by many winters, cracked in more places than the logic of a politician…and it weighs less than when I bought it…due to the shavings lost from every performance.

[Editor’s note: Many of our artists share their editing process on these interviews (‘I inserted some lame metaphors here but removed them’). Editing itself is art. Editing art is art. Art is art. Editing is. Is.]

The artist who has influenced me most is:

Elvis. I guess because he was my childhood “hero” if I can put a label on him.

still interesting, after all these years

Something I wish I’d known before joining/starting a band:

Post 1999 girls aren’t interested in rockers and guitar players any more…they want guys who ride dirtbikes.

I live in this city:

Never. Will never live in any city. I like clean air and I generally don’t like people. And why do I write music? To share what I’ve found love to be in its most intense form…ultimately to make people happier…because I love them…but I guess I don’t like them.

I collect:

Records – like any other musician does. I acquired a factory sealed copy of the Lost and Found album. I opened and listened to it. That was cool.

my favorite thing to watch on tv is:

Sanford and Son

why

Why. That’s a stupid question.

In my fridge you’ll always find:

a countless number of condiments. You can always eat more when your food is covered in something. Like maple syrup. Maple syrup is wonderful. I’m going to eat some right now.

how they do it in Canada

if you’re going to buy me a gift, say in the under-$50 range, I would like:

A Spanish horror film from the 70s on DVD.

The last music I downloaded was:

My friend sent me some demos…and Teenager in Love.

In my heart I wish I was:

like Joan of Arc

because

of her level of devotion.

Interrogation of Jeanne by Paul Delaroche

Beauty staple that I am never without:

I suppose my long hair is my one vanity. I cut off my hair twice in my life. Once in high school I took a razor and removed all 24 inches of my thick Portuguese beauty staple. The second time I was coerced…or rather bribed. Let’s just say my mother offered my money to cut it off. Now, not selling out for money is an easy pride…but I needed the money. I was torn. It’s never just hair. Why is there such an obsession? I mean…we’ve all seen Tom Jones, Chuck Norris…or Robin Williams shirtless…I mean these men represent something…something virtuous…symbolic. It’s that conflict of pride and morals…image but not for image-sake. Anyway, I was torn. I spoke with my friend about it. Of course I alluded to the words of Brewer & Shipley, David Crosby, and one of my favourite lines in a song ever: “Mary loved her son, why don’t my mother love me,” resulting in my final argument, “what would Jesus do?” My friend gave me her answer: “He would probably listen to his mother.”

What would Jesus do?

My personal analysis of the current state of the music industry is:

I don’t really care too much about it any more. I found it’s best for an artist to not waste much effort on the industry. It’s a musician’s job to make music.

when people come to visit me, particularly if those people are cooler than I am, I take them to:

the country and light a fire.

favorite seasonal beverage:

water is my favourite thing to consume.

Give me a super-brief summary of your current musical status, in a bio kind of way:

I’ve given up on focusing on things beyond my control. I’m here to create. That’s in my control. I’ve wasted too much time and effort on bullshit marketing and “getting heard.” And no…I’m not talking about the bullshit of making music just for me either. That’s all bullshit too. Sure, think of it like a message in a bottle. It’s part of the world now.

Lil’ Tone is a French British multi-instrumentalist who fuses elements of psychedelia, hauntology, lo-fi rock & sonic fiction. His song `Black Rose’ by Lil Tone and the Unknowns was featured on podcast #37. It nearly made Johnny P weep with joy on his birthday.

My favorite thing to wear onstage:

My Monte Paradiso T-shirt. Last summer I was living in Pula, Croatia and went to the 26th Monte Paradiso Punk & Hardcore Festival that takes place in the Rojc cultural center, formerly a military casern back in the days of Yugoslavia. The t-shirt’s became a kinda good luck charm, that reminds me of those awesome vibes. When I’m down, I think a lot about that special energy I felt and created over there.

the shirt 

the festival

The last musical instrument or musical-performance-related item that I bought and loved was:

Korg Electribe 2. It’s key to my solo shows & it fits in my backpack. Ideal for gigs abroad !

Described by one user as ‘Almost the perfect groovebox !’

The musical instrument or musical-performance-related item that I really really really want is:

A nice fucking studio. I’ve got a lot of instruments at home as it is, but I’d love to build/improvise someday a studio with a nice acoustics.

Something I wish I’d known before joining/starting a band:

Don’t think twice, just do it. Live fast, but don’t die young.

I live in Brussels, Belgium. I moved here 20 years ago with my family. It’s taking time for me to think so, but it’s a place I can really call home.

A city with street art is a good city.

The general vibe of Brussels is: a messy hell (and that’s how I like it)

The best place to play music here is:

Le Moerasque. It’s a park on the outskirts of Brussels that’s fairly close to my house and that few people in Brussels have ever heard of. I have my loner moments and nothing beats playing a guitar out in the open like that.

The best place to SEE music here is:

Barlok. Underground music only. It’s on its last legs and will apparently shut down soon, but I like that it’s been a home for so many people these last few years. Hopefully they’ll find a new venue !

Barlok. Groovy!

My favorite local band (aside from my own)

Bear Bones Lay Low. We’ve been friends since our teens. He makes great music and as a person he’s a friendly reminder to give no fucks, to enjoy yourself, and to never stop making music.

I collect cassettes.

It’s my way of supporting (local) bands and a way to briefly avoid computers.

In my fridge you’ll always find:

Beer

why

Belgium !

The last music I downloaded was:

Keel Her. She sent me a pre-release of her new album (and it’s awesome), shhhhhh !

In my heart I wish I was:

The stealthiest assassin there ever was. World leaders have been fucking up this world

My personal analysis of the current state of the music industry is:

I feed my passion, but my passion can’t feed me.

The best place to eat breakfast in my city is:

Turkish omelet at Emirdag Koftecisi.  It’s close by, cheap, reminds me of Istanbul where my brother lives

My favorite websites or apps are:

Currently I’m switching between NTS, 6Music, Radio Panik, Radio Maestral, TapeOp, The Guardian, Reddit Jokes

[editor’s note: definitely click on those first five links. They will make you wish there were a million hours in the day.]

When people come to visit me, particularly if those people are cooler than I am, I take them to:

No plans, but we will return victorious

why

Euuuuh people who come to visit me will be treated equally. Fuck being cool, just stay true to who you are (that’s why I like you!). [editor’s note: hey!]

Favorite seasonal beverage:

My new favorite drink (for any season) is a corretto, istrian style. It’s coffee with mistletoe rakija. A close second for the summer is a Ginlet, gin with cucumber

The Italian word corretto corresponds to the English word ‘correct’ in the sense of ‘corrected’.

The last meal that truly impressed me was:

Wild boar in Chimay bleue brown beer sauce, marinated over a whole afternoon. One of the best meals I’ve ever had, a fantastic night out in the Belgian countryside with good friends, we cooked the poor three legged bastard !

In the Ardenne countryside, Lil Tone stumbled upon this boar statue, which he felt had been placed to honor to the fallen one they had for dinner

Tell us about your past/present/future in music:

In 2016, I started making music as Lil’ Tone, recording and performing either as a solo synth act, with a folk rock band or in spontaneous acts. In the early months of 2018, I started digging through tape sessions from when I started writing songs, roughly ten years ago. And what I found was a whole trunk of dizzy memories, and a lot of fooling around with my family and friends. It’s not always great music, but it’s not bad either. To me, it feels larger than that. Hearing something from long ago that’s raw, wild, unpolished, feels really rejuvenating and I’m happy to now have these old rags by my side again.

2019 will be no different. I’ve got a lotta music ready to release but the big one this year will be a synthpunk album, that features songs I regularly plat in sets and that explores themes such as pulp horror, lost futures, the collective unconscious & other blurred oddities. I’m hoping to play as many gigs as possible, touring in as many cities in and outside of Belgium as I can, meeting familiar faces and greeting new ones on the way.

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