Semantron: Sonic Travel Logs
Semantron is the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Dave French, known for his work as drummer of Yob and for playing guitar, bass, synth, and percussions in the live ensembles of Steve Von Till. A few weeks ago, he released his debut album “Secrets Of A Krummholz Heart” and we want to know more about it!
When did you first begin playing music, Dave? What was the first band that you were in?
Though I had been interested in music since I was very young, I started exploring music composition as a self-taught drummer when I was around 11 years old. I was in my first band at 12 years old. Everybody else in the band was a little older than me.. 15 or 16, and we played mostly covers. The songs I remember we played were Green Manalishi by Judas Priest, The Zoo, by Scorpions and Metallicas The Four Horsemen.
Any favorite music artists?
My music taste is quite eclectic, and I tend to dig deep into a band or a few bands for a period of time and then move on to something that’s fresh to my ear. It doesn’t mean I don’t still love what a particular artist is doing anymore, or that their next record won’t blow my mind, but after a certain amount of repetition, something (maybe something completely different) will catch my ear and I’ll be off on another listening tangent. For that reason, my favorite music artists are all over the place. For instance, one band that I would say heavily influenced the music on Secrets of a Krummholz Heart is Pink Floyd. I do love Pink Floyd, but I haven’t regularly listened to them for a couple of decades. Longtime favorites of mine range from Black Sabbath, Slayer, Rush, Fugazi and King Crimson to Dead Can Dance, Erik Satie, Claude Debussy and Fela Kuti. Recent favorites include Greet, Daisy Rickman, Deaf Kids, Alessandro Cortini and Crouch.
Do you like to experiment with different sounds in creating your music?
I do. Experimenting with different sounds is a big part of my musical process. The song At the Feet of Friendship features sounds like ice breaking, wind hissing through trees, the voice of a raven cut into short percussive sounds and stones colliding in a rockslide in the Cascade Mountains. Over the years I’ve used a clothesline, purring cats, drums passed through guitar pedals, glacial melt and radio interference from a field of wind turbines in Holland.
How did you become the drummer for YOB? What was it like playing in that band?
Before joining Yob, Mike and Aaron and I had been friends for years. In 2021 they asked if I’d be interested in playing as a hired drummer for a tour, to which I said something like “shit, yeah!”. Fortunately for me that eventually led to me joining the band as a permanent member.
It’s a ton of fun playing in a band with good friends who’s music I’ve always loved!
Tell us about your work as a producer with members of Soundgarden. Had you been a fan of Soundgarden’s music?
Growing up in the Seattle vicinity, and being in my late teens during the grunge explosion, I was, of course a Soundgarden fan. They were sort of our Black Sabbath. After I moved back to Seattle from France I met Ben Shepherd through a mutual friend. We became friends and played music together here and there. He was actually in my band The Anunnaki for a little while. I was running sound in a club in the south end of Seattle and also working in a recording studio in the back of the venue at the time. When Ben had a group of songs he wanted to record, he asked me to take it on. That record is called “In Deep Owl”. Deep Owl was what they used to call the neighborhood we were hanging around in at the time, nowcalled Georgetown. We had a lot of fun making that record and I learned a lot in the process.
Tell us about your latest release Semantron – Secrets of a Krummholz Heart. What were the recording sessions like for that record?
The songs of SoaKH were almost entirely written over years of traveling with bands like Soundgarden, Neurosis, Boris, Sleep and Brothers of the Sonic Cloth. As a result they are a bit like Sonic travel logs. The song Piha, for example came to me while on tour with Soundgarden. The first bit popped out of my guitar in Piha, a nature preserve in New Zealand. Another part of that song later came to me in Iceland between a Soundgarden/Black Sabbath tour in Europe and the US leg of that tour with Nine Inch Nails. The final piece of that song came while I was taking a break in the South of France. All of the songs on that record have a similar story except At the Feet of Friendship, which was written during the recording process in a log cabin in the mountains of Washington State.
The recording process took about a year in total. I knew I needed some alone-time to put the 15 songs I had into perspective, so during the winter of 2023, I rented an off-grid cabin at the foot of Mount Adams. I had to snowshoe in and out of there, and there was no electricity. I used a generator to charge a house-battery and ran my recording setup off of that. When the battery ran out, I’d have to take a break to charge it up again. That’s how the acoustic guitars and some electric guitars were recorded. The drums were recorded at Yobs rehearsal spot and the finishing touches, including the vocals were recorded at home in Portland. My dear friend Nathan Yaccino, who I met while mixing that Ben Shepherd record, actually, mixed it at his studio in Seattle and another dear friend Tad Doyle mixed it. Those two guys did such amazing work! I’m very grateful for the care they both put into making it sound so good.
Tell us about working with Tad Doyle in Brothers of the Sonic Cloth. How did you meet Tad?
I met Tad when my old band The Anunnaki and Brothers of the Sonic Cloth played the same stage at a festival in Seattle. At the end of the evening I told him how blown away I was by their set. He had some nice things to say about my set too and we became fast friends. When BotSC was looking for a new drummer, Tad called me and asked if I wanted to try out. It was an honor to play in what was my favorite Seattle band at the time, and Tad and Peggy have become family to me.
What was it like working with Steve Von Till?
I love working with Steve. He’s one of my best friends and I consider him a technical wizard and a musical genius. In his live band, I play several instruments at the same time (percussions, synths, bass, as well as samples). Things I’ve learned through his approach to presenting his solo material and Harvestman songs in a live setting has played a huge roll in helping me to find a way to play Semantron songs live as a solo act as well.
Any future plans and projects?
Yeah! In fact, I just opened up for Steve Von Till on a few select dates on his tour that ended last week. I’ll be touring solo again, using a sampler, live looped percussions and guitar while playing guitar, synth and singing in the UK and Europe in the not-so-distant future. I’ll also play a few solo dates on the west coast and maybe even a couple with the full band. I’ll announce shows and your dates as I can on Instagram and Bandcamp, so keep your eyes peeled!
Where did the name of the band Semantron come from?
A Semantron is an ancient monastic musical instrument made of the heart of a beech tree and it’s typically played using beech branches to strike the plank.
(And “Krummholz” is a German word meaning “crooked wood.” It refers to trees high up in the mountains, bent and misshapen due to harsh winds, ice, and snow. The ed.)
Text: John Wisniewski Photos: Semantron
