September, 12 o' clock. I've got a meeting with Jean-Luc Demeyer,lead singer of Front 242, in the "Fallstaff", a small restaurant near the Brussels' stock exchange market where loads of tourists usually go. The last Front 242 album "Re:Boot", a live one, is just out on Zoth Ommog, a small German label so it's more than time to have a chat. Have they come back for good, or do they just want to have some fun?

Jean-Luc Demeyer: It has been four years since we last toured. So we decided to do ten gigs. You know, when we first took off for this tour there really wasn't much interest, especially in the US, to do some gigs. We had about three or four US concerts in mind, but that was all. San Fransisco, Los Angeles and perhaps Chicago. But finally we did ask an agent to look out for some gigs and he did a pretty good job. He arranged 27 venues and we could have done 25 more if we'd liked! The public was also quite young. And here's a nice story about it: in the US kids younger than 21 are not allowed to drink alcohol. But in some venues the bar was at the end of the hall so they divided the place into two. This way we could easily see who was where and to our surprise there were as many youngsters as there were older people!

FM: Knowing that you were the model for a lot of groups, it doesn't seem strange to me that the public was quite young.
JL: Yes, you're quite right. Besides that, our career wasn't built upon hits and artificial gimmicks. No, we worked hard and long creating music that now is quite popular.

FM: It has been almost 4 years since we heard anything new from Front 242. Didn't that absence have any consequences?
JL: Yes, but we all continued working. I've made several albums and I've toured a lot with Cobalt 60 and C-Tec. We played about 40 concerts in the US with C-Tec in small venues in front of 200 to 700 people.

FM: Do you feel more at ease in your projects (editor's note: C-Tec and Cobalt 60)?
JL: Definitely, I can now do whatever I want to. It's not working out pretty well on the financial side though. Edel is reorganising and they told me, there's no way I can rely on some financial support for the upcoming Cobalt 60 tour. They will no longer finance alternative acts. So what, I'll just have to find me another label!

FM: This is something that would never have happened with Front 242?
JL: Well, you know, we exaggerated a bit. We saw all those groups behaving like that so when we were asked to perform we asked a large hotel room and maximum comfort conditions for each one of us. It was a bit too exaggerated I must admit! Now it's all a lot more easy, it's less pretentious. But at that time it was a normal reaction. We had to struggle for survival because everyone was against us, even our own label! So if you have to struggle each time like that, it's pretty normal you're kinda proud of what you have accomplished. We now realised what kind of liberty we have, being able to do whatever we want. And that's more important, success isn't at stake right now!

FM: What did you want to prove with Re: Boot?
JL: We were sick of hearing "Yeah, Front 242 are an old group of the eighties." All right, we are a group that found its roots in the eighties, but we always sensed that our music could as well be played in the seventies as in the nineties! Nowadays, music is a lot more superficial and less pretentious. There's a lot more fun in it! You know, back in the eighties, music could be ever so serious! (laughs)

FM: What was the reason behind the split of Front 242 in 1993?
JL: One of the reasons for the split, well actually there never was a split, was the fact we had been working together for twelve years and it just didn't work any longer. Each recording session took so much work. We never used the same material and studio when we started on a new album, so everything had to be moved out. And also when we signed with Sony, a major, they rang us for about everything! They even wanted us playing in shopping malls! We also made an error when we named the second album "Off" and more important, to name this record a Front 242 product because it wasn't Front 242, it was just half of it! But these are just old mistakes so let's not make a big fuzz out of it! (laughs)

FM: Will it only be "Re:Boot" and the remixes of the single that will be released on Zoth Ommog?
JL: We don't even know if we will make music in the future. A studio album of Front 242? Well, at this moment, nothing has been planned. On the contrary, we are all too much preoccupied with our other groups.I'll be leaving quite soon for an intensive tour with Cobalt 60 from 15 October to 15 November. Patrick and Daniel are working on a Hugo Boss catwalk and Richard is finishing his Tchack album. But if we make another album, we'll either start next year or else we'll finally stop Front 242.

FM: In the beginning Front 242 had a lot of problems with the press.
JL: We still have! Especially with the Flemish press.

FM: With HUMO I presume?
JL: Yes, especially with HUMO! The last trick we had to cope with was when they sent a journalist to our opening concert in London. It was sold out for two thousand people.That chap was in our lounge acting really strange, saying how brilliant we were and so on. But during the concert he was completely drunk. He camped the whole gig at the bar! Afterwards his review was full of shit about the gig. HUMO has always something to say about what we are doing! They even once wrote that we were wearing "SS" signs! It was "242", so they can't even read in a decent way! I don't know if that was Serge Simonaert, but anyway he had splendid initials for it: SS! (laughs)

FM: Doesn't it annoy you that the press still considers you all as being neo-nazis?
JL: In fact, and honestly I don't know any neo-nazi that knows how to handle instruments like we do! They are just too stupid for that! (laughs) But I do find it rather strange they keep on publishing such a crap. We haven't worn any army cloths since the late eighties! I think it's just their way of rejecting each kind of music they don't know shit about!

FM: Are there any renovating groups in your opinion?
JL: I like The Prodigy...

FM: Isn't it quite "in" to mention The Prodigy?
JL: No, because there were a lot of people who really adored The Prodigy before they became famous but who don't like what The Prodigy are doing right now. But I've started listening a lot more to calm stuff or also to classical trained rock artists like Lush. The female lead singer sings really well and she's ever so cute! Electronic music? No, that doesn't interest me. A lot of people told me to have a good listen to what Aphex Twin are doing. Well, I listened to it and to be honest, it all sounds too damn boring. In the current techno music you have both the best and the worst, unfortunately most of it does really suck. They all try to imitate each other and that's not a healthy situation at all! One day, an economic earthquake will alter everything! And it already starts! Music is just one part of life just like economy and politics. And when those two are infected, music will change as well! The prophet has spoken! (laughs)

FM: Any other prophecies?
JL: In fact, I've got an idea of doing an album with a good friend who works with gongs from Tibet. (editor's note: JL imitates the sound of it because I can hardly believe what he's telling me) Yes, I want to make sacred chants.

FM: Ugh, who will distribute that?
JL: There are enough people specialised in this kind of trick. But it's really something I consider doing, it's something really special and most original. The copyrights? Well they will be the inspiration's! (laughs)

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