Long-running French experimental sound maker Romain Perrot is a man with more than a few sonic projects- he’s probably most known for Vomir, his crude ‘n’ unchanging Harsh Noise Wall venture. He makes wonky and deranged folk music under the Roro Perrot banner, as well as being involved in a few other projects/collaborations. But the focus of this interview is Trou Aux Rats- his self-proclaimed 'funeral listening' project- it started in 2017, with eleven releases to its name to date. I was rather taken by this project's last full-length Le Cloaque Apres La Romance, which was released by At War With False Noise in 2022. It’s a two-CD set that focuses on a decidedly grimmer and wavering lo-fi sound pallet, shifting through genres such as hazed noise matter, murky ambience, guitar drone crafting, and beyond. So, I tracked down Romain to his dusty and web-covered crypt for an email chat.

M[m]: When did the idea of Trou Aux Rats first come about? And what did you see as the project's initial mission statement?, and has this changed/ developed since you started the project?

Romain Trou aux Rats was born out of the FREE AS DEAD project, which also focused on graphic works and the film collaboration with Andy Bolus. FREE AS DEAD was pure instrumental, and when I started to add some voices, I named it TAR. It’s mission statement was my love of romance in horror movies.

M[m]: You talk about voice/ vocal elements in Trou Aux Rats - do you write lyrics, or is it just improv sounds/ words? And if you do pre-write lyrics, could discuss some of the themes?

Romain Yes, I always write lyrics, and I often use the cut-up technique to start, that I overwrite etc... the Trou aux Rats lyrics were cut-ups from poetry and XIXth century romantic novels, sometimes translated, reworked...in the end, it's most focused on death and love, abandon lust...

M[m]: To date, the project has seven full-lengths to its name, what do you see as key releases, and please explain why you think they are?

Romain All the releases have the same importance to me. But the 2018 LP released by Nashazphone Amour Et Sepulcre,and the double CD  Le Cloaque Apres La Romance on At War With False Noise are truly special for me.

M[m]: The visual key to many of the project’s releases is a ghoulish masked figure- does it have a name, and what is its relevance within the project?

Romain The ghoulish masked feature is my monster personification. I am the sad monster, out of this world, outcast, looking for true love. This creature doesn't have a name, it's just my own fantasy to be an actor in an old z-grade horror movie ha-ha.

M[m]: You mention wanting to be an actor in a cheap horror film- have you ever thought of filming your own horror film? I know you of course did the Free As Dead Film, but I mean a more narrative-based film?

Romain I wish I had the time to do this kind of project. I would really love to achieve this. But a film would need a large group of people, as well as lots of organization etc... but it's always on my mind...

M[m]: your sixth release with the project was Le Cloaque Apres La Romance- a double CD- twenty-six tracks, and nearing three hours’ worth of material. Please tell us a little bit about this huge work came about, and over how long it was in development?

Romain Al from At War With False Noise asked me for material, so I just sent the latest tracks I’d recorded,  and during that period I created a lot of work for TAR... so I sent the whole lot, and he decided he wanted to release it all!

M[m]: Please discuss the period the material Le Cloaque Apres La Romance was recorded? And was any of it composed during the first covid lockdown- as it feels like it might have been?

Romain The material was made from several recording sessions, and roughly mixing different parts. Lockdown had not affected me, I just didn't have full access to my recording studio (but I found a way around it). So, I did a lot of recording at home, but there was no direct impact. I was pretty at ease during the lockdown. It was fantastic to travel through Paris on empty streets.

M[m]: Le Cloaque Apres La Romance features a fairly wide sonic pallet- moving from hazed noise matter, murky ambience, guitar drone crafting, and beyond. Was this a deliberate move, or did it occur more organically?

Romain Everything I do happens via improvisation, with a minimum of mixing tracks afterwards. So, I guess it was more organic... I never really think of production before recording.

M[m]: Following on from the above question, I take you’ve added more instruments/ sound sources to the project's sound. Could you detail these, and are there any bits of kit you are still using from when you started the project?

Romain You are right, I’ve used some new keyboards, effects, gear. sometimes a track is recorded at home, some in the countryside, some at PUSH studio, so the gear is always different, but the mood is the same... so the overall sound stands... I use mainly organ and piano expanders, which I found second hand... mixed with more recent synth...

M[m]: Some of the tracks on Le Cloaque Apres La Romance highlight a more emotional, at times harmonic side. Do you see yourself developing these tendencies down the line- with either Trou Aux Rats, or another project?

Romain Yes, you are right. I tend to be more and more emotional in my music, developing a more romantic and harmonic side within my improvisation and my zero technique. I am just getting old, and trying to add new forms to the free noise... The Parisian music community mocks me and call me 'emo roro' ha ha !

M[m]:Le Cloaque Apres La Romance cover once again features the ghoulish masked figure, standing in front of a broken down stone folly- please discuss this and is it a real place?

Romain This place exists for real, in Cordica, where there are lots of those ruins. Those towers were set along the coast to guard it, and would serve as a refuge when pirates would attack.

M[m]: What can we expect next from Trou Aux Rats, and have you any plans to play live with the project?

Romain TAR is dead, but it will be resurrected in a different form. The explanation is that TAR was an overall concept, with the monster, the doll, the feeling, the music.

Nowadays, the doll is a problem. I have been attacked as a paedophile because of the use of that doll. I am deeply saddened by this reaction, but I must adjust to the times we are living in. Nobody understands the metaphor of the eternal 'maiden', which is in direct relation to the old horror movies I refer to. The name TAR is directly taken from Notre Dame de Paris from Victor Hugo, and Esmeralda is also a young woman in the story.

The doll is also a homage to Bellmer, to surrealism, to Bernard Faucon, or even Gisèle Vienne more recently... but a few people just see violence towards kids in this use, which is completely irrelevant.

I must adapt to the downgrading of culture nowadays.

M[m]: You're probably most known for your walled noise project Vomir. In recent years the project output has rather slowed- is this down to a lack of opportunity to release things, or have you started to become tired of the project?. And do you still regularly record Vomir work?

Romain Yes, there had been a lack of opportunity to release things, or just some demands that do not conclude... but more things to come, collabs, albums etc... I am not tired of VOMIR actually. In the collab, I have the 'freedom' to adjust the settings to fit the partnership, and when solo, my own 'HNW guidelines' always put me back on tracks. There is certainly a kind of new sound to find, to reach new textures maybe, but the challenge is to continue the basic HNW. Some of my gear is getting very old also, some are not just working anymore, so that is also some issues to deal with.

M[m]: Are there any unreleased Vomir material that could appear in the future for release, or would you like to do another box set of OOP Vomir material?

Romain Some collaborations projects are going on, and I am planning a new VOMIR release soon... there is no planned OOP archives release planned, but who knows ; )

M[m]: What has recently impacted you in the last few months- be it music, film, literature, or art?

Romain Ah !! You know my hate of lists and name-dropping etc... the latest NASHAZPHONE batch was amazing... I am also listening a lot to the DISCREET MUSIC label.

As for movies, I liked the Banshees of Inisherin, X, Blonde and Marianne and Leonard Words of Love, to name a few...

As for books, I don't know how to read of course.

Thanks to Romain for his time & effort with the interview. Le Cloaque Apres La Romance is still available on At War With False Noise. And head to here https://www.decimationsociale.com/ to find out about Romain’s work in general.