- What is the meaning and the concept behind the name of your music project?
Mig Inc is short for Migraine Inc, which was the name I started under in 2007, before shortening it in 2013. I am a big migraine sufferer. Especially at that time, I had extremely painful and frequent attacks. Making industrial noise was the way I found to express those very intense body sensations when I lacked words. It was partly intentional, but also unconscious. Looking back, listening to old recordings, I find the expression of very specific body states, evolving over time. This is still the case today, even if my ability to manage pain has evolved, Mig Inc remains a bodily and sensory project. I express states of the body in the broad sense, not just pain and illness. I put a lot of joy, pleasure and love in my music.
- What equipment do you use for create music?
Well I started over 17 years ago (fucking shit!) so I have had a lot of different setups. I use synths, acoustic instruments, vocals, extremely various recordings I take everywhere I can. But the central nervous system of this migraine machine is my laptop. This is where I regroup and arrange all these sounds, where I manipulate them and create beats, when there are beats. I often play live with just my computer + knobs midi controler.
- Tell us a little biography about your project, when you started to make music?
Regarding Mig Inc I have already answered this question, so I can go back a little to tell you about my beginnings in music, which was an accident. I didn't want to make music. I had a glimpse of music theory and it seemed really boring and not fun. I was more interested in writing and visual arts. I must have been 13 or 14 when some friends who were starting a punk rock band asked me to write them some lyrics, which I happily did. One day, the bass player was not here and I was asked to replace him by playing bass on a keyboard. Then when the bass player came back, I stayed behind the keyboard. I didn't know how to play, it was really crap, but discovering that music wasn't just a place where you have to work and follow rules, but was something emancipating and joyful, did me a lot of good. It was exactly what I needed at that time. Today I still write but I've abandoned the visual arts. At least in appearance, because I think I make music more like a visual artist than like a musician. But I am self-taught in all these areas. School has never been an exciting place for me.
- Who are your main music and artistic influences?
I can name some artists and bands that literally changed my life. like Bérurier Noir, John Zorn, John Cage, Throbbing Gristle, The Residents... I think their music doesn't sound like mine because their influence was indirect. Listening to them changed my body, then my body changed my music. I’m really not good at imitating.
- What underground artists from the netlabel scene do you like?
So many ! If I stick to the industrial / noise / dark ambient scene, I listen a lot to Morbid Beauty these times. I also love the noise walls from This is what I hear when you talk. Also Rojinski and Sonnov (this last one is not dark, but minimalist and delighful ambient).
I like vaporwave, lofi and subgenres as well. I’m fascinated by b e g o t t e n 自杀 or Voyage Futur, for example.
- Do you have some influence from your country in your music?
Every experience I have influences my music, so yes, inevitably, I have influences from my country, especially since I don't travel very much. Talking about music with other artists, getting sick, getting over it, having a memorable party, having a new girlfriend or boyfriend, breaking up with them, taking drugs, stopping this or that drug, a police check in the street, a racist speech from a minister, a friend who tells me that she is being sexually harassed at work... all of this influences my music, and in my case, it happens in France.
https://miginc.bandcamp.com/album/b12
- What is your favorite album/ep composed by you? And why?
Hehe, it depends on the day. I’m pretty satisfied with my last album « B12 ». It’s pretty hard to say why in a short answer, it’s such a non-verbal sensory experience. When I listen to an average recording of mine, I say « ok, that’s what I just played ». But when I listen to a good recording of mine, I’m more like « is that really me who just played that dope sound ?! ». B12 belongs to this second category.
- What are your preferred music platforms/websites? Why?
Definitely Bandcamp, even if there is much to criticize, starting with the fact that they were bought by the multinational Epic, which is not a detail. I like it because there’s no advertising and it is possible to make your music accessible to everyone, with the possibility for listeners to make donations. Also the streaming quality is better than some other platforms, like YouTube for example. The ideal platform would be entirely run by the artists themselves and funded by the public, without capitalist parasites to take money from us and decide how it works for us. All businesses should work like that, if you ask me.
- Any funny anecdote in the composition of a track or an album?
In spring 2023, I recorded a live improvised session using samples taken from protests and riots which were taking place at that time in France, while Macron’s government was passing its reform to raise the retirement age. It was one of the biggest social movements of the last fifty years, and between the ferocious police violence and the popular determination, it was a very intense period, and I needed to express myself on it.
Listening back to it, I found this recording really ugly and confusing. I wanted to delete it at first, but then I thought that all this ugliness and confusion reflected my feelings about what was going on. So I made an ugly cover and released it on my Bandcamp page, as a short-lived release to cover the news, with the idea of deleting it after a few weeks. But it seems that listeners perceived it differently, since it is to date one of my most downloaded releases. So I didn’t delete it. The album is called "Bordélisation" which can be roughly translated as « disorderization ».
Ok, it’s not that funny, but it’s an anecdote. The thing is I’m alone working as Mig Inc, I think funny anecdotes happen more often with bands.
- Do you play live? How was the experience?
Yes ! Well, the experience is each time a new one, so it depends. My last gigs were awesome moments shared with great artists and a lovely audience. In recent years I have played little live to focus on other things, like writing (short stories, novels, poetry). But this year I got back into it and it feels so good !
- Any news for 2025?
Hopefully more gigs ! I’ll be still releasing new recorded stuff, but there should be more splits and collab projects. I don't have a very specific schedule, but between my different solo projects, the bands I play in, and my label (l'Abeille Cool) 2025 will be a very, very productive year.
- Do you want to say anything else to your listeners?
Thanks for being curious and supporting the underground scene. Make noise, create a band, a label, a fanzine, a webradio, whatever. Do it yourself, without transforming your work into merchandise, and without seeking recognition from merchants. Do as little as possible for your boss. Go vegan. Fuck the police. Reject any hierarchy. Love yourself.
Thank you for the interview !
