R13: For the readers who don't know who Nightmare are, please explain who you are, where you are from and what kind of music you play.
YC: We formed back in the eighties and released our debut album in 1984 through the famous British label Ebony Records. Our second album, 'Power of the Universe' was released in 1985 and we did a big tour at that time especially with Tokyo Blade.
We then disbanded in 1988 and later reformed in 1999 to release a brand new double live album which is the springboard for a new contract and the release of 3 more studio albums called 'Cosmovision was released in 2001 and 'Silent Room' in 2003 through Napalm records and our current album 'The Dominion Gate' through Regain records.
We come from Grenoble in southern France, our musical style can often be described as modern Power metal with some Progressive touches and added dark atmosphere.
R13: What bands/artists are your main influences when writing?
YC: Well, we have all several, different influences but mainly we all like Nevermore, Masterplan, Iron Maiden of course and a few Scandinavian bands like Children of Bodom and In Flames.
R13: When you write in the studio, is it a group effort or do each of you add your own elements to the songs?
YC: Each of us bring in our own ideas. We rehearse the songs quite often and also arrange a lot of pre-production before going to the studio. For instance, the guitarists bring the riffs and we arrange them according to vocal lines and lyrics, we are making a lot of songs at the moment so that we can have a larger selection of songs for the album.
R13: What has been the highlight of your musical career?
YC: We have had many highlights – One of them was back in 1984 when we hit the charts in Japan but also when we supported Def Leppard, Also more recently we had a rather memorable show at the New Jersey Metal Meltdown Festival in the USA, another highlight was playing Wacken Open Air and our latest European tour with After Forever, Dark Moor and Amaran has been great too!
R13: Who is your musical hero?
YC: Personally I have loved and will always love a band from the 80s/90s who, sadly disbanded called Crimson Glory from Florida, their album 'Transcendence' is, in my opinion, one of the best metal albums ever!
R13: What is the biggest gig you have ever played?
YC: Wacken Open Air in 2001 was one of them, but also supporting Def Leppard in Grenoble on the 11th of March, 1983 during the Pyromania tour in front of 5000 people.
R13: Do you have any plans to tour soon or are you touring now? If so where do you plan to tour?
YC: We have a few concerts lined up for the rest of 2005 and we will soon embark on full European tour, starting on January 27th next year with our friends in After Forever.
R13: What band would you like to tour with most?
YC: Our dream is to tour with Iron Maiden but it will probably remain a dream for a while...
R13: Have you achieved your musical dream? If so, what was it? And if not, what is it?
YC: Our musical dream has been to keep doing this for so long and to still be here in 2005! There are not many bands born in 1980 still alive today and it has been a great achievement for us and naturally a dream to come true for me, of course we have had lot of line-up changes, only me and Jo, the vocalist, can feel this because we are the only two remaining members of the original line-up!
R13: What was the last album you bought?
YC: I don't buy albums, I actually work for a magazine but the last album I received was the new Arch Enemy album.
R13: Are you friends with any other bands? If so, who?
YC: Yes, we are friends with many bands! Ellipsis, After Forever, Dark Moor, Amaran, Lonewolf, The Big Balls (our crew members band), Inner Visions, Dyslesia, I could go on all day...
R13: When will your next album be out and will you tour with it?
YC: The album will be out on November 7th 2005 and the tour starts on January 27th 2006.
R13: What if your preferred genre of music?
YC: I like music that gathers emotions and melodies and has a nice musicality. I like bands like Nevermore for the latter reasons and also most bands which create wonderful melodies! That's the most important thing in music, if you ask me. So overall, Heavy and Melodic Power Metal or something Progressive or even extreme metal but with melodies, for example : Dimmu Borgir
R13: Last but not least, do you have any final words for the fans out there?
YC: Yes. Thanks for your loving support and we will see you soon! We will be playing our only UK show of the next tour on January 31st in London. We are back in the UK 20 years after, See you all there, and keep the metal flame alive!