Q: How did you guys meet?
ZeN: Long story… Inoks and I first met in 1988 during summer holidays in Greece. Later in 1991, in the same Greek island we bumped in each other and between 88 & 91, both us got involved in music. I just created the Waiting For Words project at that time but was on my own. He was playing keyboards and here we are!
El Lute: in 1995 the band posted an add as they were looking for a drummer. I was just back from a major tour with Mano Negra and wanted to go “back to the roots” (unsigned bands, small clubs…). I came in, performed… and here am I.

Q: Who thought of the idea to start a band?
ZeN: Apart from Inoks who only plaid with the band or did some solo works, and myself who spent the all time leading WFW, El Lute had multiple band experiences before. We’re not the output of a common decision to start a band… it just happened that we all met at a certain stage. But if you ask about the idea of starting the band WFW… I did;

Q: Where did you get your band's name from?
ZeN: a bad joke LOL. One of the friends I formed the band with stated “Let’s named the band like “Words”, waiting for a better one” and I kidded him “or “Worse”… Waiting For Worse… Waiting For Words :)

Q: How long have you guys been together?
El Lute: Every one of us came and left and came back. I joined in September 95,
Inoks: As said before, I joined in 91

Q: What CD is currently in your CD player?
ZeN: Pet Shop Boys - Fundamental (start of the interview) Camouflage – Relocated (end of the interview)
El Lute: Stone Roses – Waterfall
Inoks: Nothing at the moment

Q: If you had to use one of your songs to describe yourselves, which one would it be and why?
ZeN: Travelling Man or Cause I Do Believe. Travelling Man because it’s what I do most of my time with my day job or the band… and Cause I Do Believe because it’s probably my favourite song of the band.
El Lute: High. A very sensual song. I love to perform it live.
Inoks: Cause I Do Believe. Reminds me the early days of the band and the party we had with ZeN while composing this one!

Q: What has been your most embarrassing moment on stage?
ZeN: Forgetting the lyrics of “Enjoy the Silence” in front of 800 fans of Depeche Mode
El Lute: Doing the countdown 3-4 before starting a track and being the only one to start as the others were thinking about something else LOL
Inoks: At the end of a gig London, last song of the set, everyone was ending their part one after the other… and they also left the stage one by one. I was the only one left alone to achieve the song

Q: Who do you look up to in the music world/ who are you influences (individually)?
ZeN: It’s always the hardest question as we are music fans and are not restricted to one artist or style. Obviously all the 80’s stuff had a major impact on us: punk, new wave, electronic, alternative… Depeche Mode is certainly the most obvious influence, not only because of their music, but the way they manage their career, the live performances, the look, the integrity… But I also love Prince, Sting, U2, Cure, Duran Duran as well as more recent stuffs such as Massive Attack, Radiohead, Garbage…
El Lute: I’m from a punk/alternative background. Police, Clash..; I’m also a huge fan of Prince, Stone Roses..
Inoks: almost the same kind of influences as ZeN, In addition I love a lot of instrumental or soundtrack like Vangelis, Ennio Morricone and some French stuffs like Serge Gainsbourg


Q: What are the bands collective influences?
ZeN: the common influence is a bit the same as individuals. There’s not a lot of artists one like and not the others. We love to make ourselves discover some stuffs. I’ve initiated the other guys to bands such as Camouflage or De Vision for example

Q: Who/what inspired you to go into music?
ZeN: Once again… Depeche Mode. I first saw them live for the Black Celebration tour back in may 86. It was a complete shock and I knew I wanted to do what they were doing: performing dark & experimental pop music in a Live Rock Performance style… kicking asses!
El Lute: I guess it was seeing Stewart Copeland, The Police’s drummer.
Inoks: probably a mix between all the instrumental music I used to listen and the all new wave music.

Q: Do any of you do something that drives someone else on the road crazy?
El Lute: As far as I recall I don’t see things driving me crazy while touring. You know, we’re a bunch of 35+ year old guys. Therefore we ain’t going to spend time with guys driving us crazy LOL …

Q: Have any of you found any interesting talents while on the road?
ZeN: I don’t think we have ever been really impressed by other bands we performed with. Of course, with my web radio activities I come to discover a lot of talents and sometimes it pushes us to take them as support acts on the road (Foretaste toured with us, Caleb has done a gig with us). I think the only indie band who really impressed me on stage was the UK act “The Lovegods”. They are just awesome.

Q: If you could be any cartoon character, which would you be?
ZeN: I’m not really a cartoon fan since I’m a dad and kids are watching those loud and it tends to annoy me more than anything else! But ok, let’s give it a try… Homer Simpson
El Lute: Speedy Gonzales
Inoks: Captain Hook

Q: Why?
ZeN: I don’t know LOL… I like him… he drinks and is lazy… all that I wish being able to do at least for one day LOL
El Lute: ari aribaaa. A speed guy :)
Inoks: guess why :)


Q: What is your favourite song off the new album (s)?
ZeN: knowing it’s a double remix with additional remixes on Eps; imagine how hard it is to pick one! I’d say Mycrotonik’s remix of Here Comes the Shame, Foretaste’s remix of Travelling Man… and Beyond’s remix of Cause I Do Believe. They are really well done, very melodic.
But really, there’s much more than one on this project and the work done by remixers such as Commuter, M.Agterhuis, Island or People Theatre to name a few is awesome.
El Lute: Here Comes The Shame by Mycrotonik and Travelling Man by Foretaste (Getting Crazy Remix). And also our remix of Cause I Do Believe as it gives a pretty good view of the sound we are developing now.
Inoks: Same as the folks. I’ll probably add both remixes of “A Walk through the Night Theme”, for there movie soundtrack atmosphere.

Q: Are there any interesting stories behind the new album?
ZeN: The only interesting facts are, first there was no remix album planned and it turned into a double album & two 5 tracks Ep LOL. The original idea was to have a couple of remixes to offer on our website, but every time I came across a talented remixer, I proposed and suddenly we had this all 11 remixers project with almost 30 remixes.
And the 2nd is that there was no particular promotion planned and this is the most intense promo we’re doing with a distribution in stores (in France, FNAC), show cases, tour…

Q: How could you sum up all of your CDs thus far?
ZeN: God you know how to ask tough questions! And to be honest, we only consider the latest albums (A Walk Through the Night & this remix album) as the most representative of where we wanna go. The first 3 albums were more us trying to find our way, our sound, even thought we are very proud of them and there are some great songs in each of them.
Inoks: So, let’s sum up “A Walk through the Night” a “A MIX Through The Night”… let’s say the original album is a real trip, with a consistent sound that takes you through a great ride…. And a Mix is more experimental or dancey. And the sum of both is just … us.

Q: How would you sell your music to people who have never heard it before?
ZeN: Melodic, emotive and honest.
El Lute: True, Passionate and honest.
Inoks: All of that!

Q: Anything else you’d like to add?
ZeN: this album is far from being another dance remix album. It’s a real re working of the studio album. It can be listen to all in a row like a real album and this is probably why we are actually promoting it so hard and perform it on stage