REMANT was formed by vocalist Marie and guitarist Takmi in June of 2009 based on the concepts of “horror”, “melancholy” and “dark fantasy” to deliver their views of the world to their audience through their music.
In 2012 the third member of the group, Rober__tj joined as the noise and synthesizer player and the band performed their very first overseas performance.
Today’s interview is only with Marie and Takmi, since Rober__tj unfortunately wasn’t able to join them during their overseas tour this time. But what is REMNANT exactly? Since even though you can find their music online, there isn’t that much information available about them. Let’s see if we can change that today, shall we?
Let’s start!
Today is actually the very first time you’re in The Netherlands, isn’t it? So everything is new for the two of you, but also for us. Can you please introduce yourselves to the readers so everyone knows who you are?
Marie: I’m the vocalist, Marie.
Takmi: And I’m the guitarist, Takmi.
Let’s talk a little about your project first. According to the dictionary the definition of the word “remnant” is “a part or quantity that is left after the greater part has been used, removed or destroyed”, but what is the meaning of the band’s name to you?
Marie: I personally like the way how the word “remnant” is pronounced, but to us the remnant is “the remains of a soul”, a ghost that remains in this world rather than crossing over to the next. When I sing, I translate the words of these ghosts into our music.
For your project you combine “horror”, “melancholy” and “dark fantasy”, but how did you get to the combination of these three elements? Were you already interested in these topics, or did something happen in your life that sparked the interest?
Marie: I’ve been to France about ten years ago, and while I was there I was introduced to the French music and movies there. This trip has left a big impression on me, and that’s why I decided to combine everything I liked into this band, including the horror element.
Actually, one of my musical influences is The Cure.
Takmi: For me it are bands like Bauhaus and Dance Society, but for the both of us there is a lot of music that influences us and our works.
Creating the world of REMNANT
There’s of course a different between making music in a studio and making music on a stage. Can you tell me a little bit about your live shows, since they do show a different side of REMNANT than just the studio version on a CD…
Takmi: The visual aspect of REMNANT is expressed through the tools we use. On stage you will of course see us wearing our costumes and makeup, but we also use stage props to create an environment that really fits with our world and music. I set up the stage myself, so doing that before a live show is kind of my ritual before a show too.
Marie: We always make a CD version of our songs before we play them live, so the CD version and the live version will always be slightly different from one another. A change we have made is that we’ve used a PC before in our works, but we’ve stopped using it because of many different reasons. My personal ritual before a show is praying to my ancestors.
There’s only two of you tonight, but there actually is a third member. Isn’t it strange to be playing with an incomplete band?
Marie: Well, first the band was only Takmi and myself. Rober__tj joined a few years later as a synthesizer and noise maker. So it doesn’t feel that strange to not have him here with us now, since we originally started as just the two of us. Rober__tj is currently in New York for a business trip, so unfortunately he couldn’t join us for this tour.
At one point we also had two other girls who were members of the band, but we grew apart and we all ended up going our separate ways.
Speaking of other members on stage, one of your performances that’s available online right now features a dancer. She really added an extra spooky element to your work with her performance. I’m curious, how did this collaboration happen?
Marie: I’ve met this dancer before, and I really like her work. She looks so sexy when she’s dancing, don’t you think? I simply asked her if she wanted to join our performance as a dancer that one time, and she agreed!
Unfortunately we only have time for one more question, so let’s use the most predictable one shall we? Do you have a message for everyone who’s reading today’s interview?
Marie: I hope you will enjoy our music, as well as our view of darkness and the messages we bring you through our performance!
Takmi: If you happened to be at the show we’re performing tonight, I really hope you’ve enjoyed our performance!
Extra information
REMNANT definitely are a band in a niche genre, but their works are available on different corners of the internet, like YouTube and SoundCloud. Their concept is very unique, and you can definitely hear the French influence Marie mentioned in the interview on their latest CD “MisanthroPia”.
It might be a little difficult to find their music as a physical release, but perhaps they will be returning to Europe in the future. When they do, I would absolutely recommend you to visit their live show, since their stage performance really adds to their music, and it’s definitely an experience you should see for yourself!
We also took photos of their performance at 330live (The Hague, The Netherlands). You can find these photos on our photography portfolio, Arlequin Photography, by clicking the image below!
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雪 (Yuki) is the owner and driving force behind Arlequin.
She originally started the project in 2009 as a photographer under the name of Arlequin Photography, but developed an interest in journalism and translation ever since. Because of these interests interviews and reviews were added to the project, until it eventually hit the limits as a "photographer" in 2021, and Arlequin Magazine was added to the mix.
雪 (Yuki) is a native Dutch speaker with a graphic design degree, which means she is also the main person behind Arlequin Creations.
After all these years she is still the main person who does interviews the interviews and live photos that you see on Arlequin, but also a large chunk of the reviews and behind-the-scenes work and communication goes through her.
She speaks Dutch and English on a native level, but also understands Japanese and German.