Nick Cave copied my moustache

The thought of combining rave and house music with stompy glamminess, chainsaw-whirring guitars and the gut-dropping drama of black metal, would have seemed like an unreachable oxymoron years ago.

But for France's Black Strobe, the recipe is a seamless and wholesome one. The four piece's full-flow debut 'Burn Your Own Church' is like a pill-popping Nine Inch Nails being brutally crossbred with Depeche Mode at an all-night rave party for closet goths. And to make the melee more dramatically spectacular, they even cover songs from rockabilly eccentric Bo Diddley! Bizarre magazine caught up with giant moustachioed frontman and electronics wizard Arnaud Rebotini to discuss the punchy new opus...

You’ve called the album Burn Your Own Church. Are you big black metal fans?

I’m completely fascinated by the Norwegian black metal bands because they’re really, really extreme…extreme to madness, burning churches, killing each other, turning into Nazis… It’s just so evil and really, really dark. Rock n roll has always had a crazy history. But with black metal, it’s the first time it’s evolved into terrorism, and it’s not just one or two guys. It’s a whole new style of music. You know, I’m obviously not for burning the churches, but I just find the attitude so extreme that it fascinates me. There are some lyrics on the album about retaliating against your own interests and beliefs, so I really like the idea to burn your own church and not a church.

The black metal influence is interesting, because your music is obviously very dancey, and therefore quite joyous and uplifting, too. And then some of your other tracks are gothic and romantic…

Well I really like the idea to have romantic side. We want a sad song and even a love song on the album. I don’t know if that’s gothic. But yeah, we do originate from the dance scene, so it’s enabled us to have a wide range of sounds and tempos, you know, perfect for the 12-inch. The rock people can dance, and the dance people aren’t afraid to rock.

The first track on the album, 'Brenn Di Ega Kjerke' is perfect for dancing at that 4am peak in a warehouse rave or underground club somewhere…

Haha, exactly. It’s black metal guitars and black metal synths, but has a big dancey tempo, with dark, eerie melodies. Yeah, it’s like goth rave. It’s actually inspired by a Burzum track [extreme Norweigan black metallers], so it’s really ‘black metal’, but only in the fast tempo and those cutting guitars. The title actually translates to 'Burn Your Own Church' from Norweigan.

It’s an interesting crossover because rave was supposed to be happy with happy face

Haha, yeah, but for me sometimes rave music is really dark.

Adding to the extreme spectrum of influences, your new single ‘I’m A Man’ is a Bo Diddley cover. What made you cover him?

We did a lot of remixes in the past, and doing a cover was a way of introducing that spirit into the album. But it’s the blues, and that’s the new influence we have on the album. For me it’s a key style - blues and ‘50s rockabilly was the original dance music. Guys like Jerry Lee Lewis were playing bars for people to dance to, so for me it’s quite close to what we’re about. I like the song, it’s a really famous riff that everyone knows, but no one knows who it is. A proper boogie woogie dancefloor monster.

I read somewhere that you’re voice was a bit like Nick Cave’s. I think it’s your moustache which is more like his

Yeah, yeah, Nick Cave copied me on that. Haha, you know what, I just love the f--king bad guys and my style of moustache is totally symbolic of that.

'Burn Your Own Church' is out now, through Playlouder