Scarlet Moon is thrilled to partner with PAON, a new band comprised of vocalist/songwriter Pernelle and composer/producer Lemm, to release their debut EP Philosophie du Soi. We wanted to do a deep-dive with the band to explore their inspirations, tools used, and get a teaser as to what the “PAON Narrative Universe” has in store for us going forward. Please enjoy and discussion and grab the album from Scarlet Moon Records if you haven’t already.
On Pernelle’s Partnership With Lemm to Create PAON
Pernelle: I met Lemm completely by chance. I had just been thinking about working on a new original project after years of block, and my longtime friend AKA (a singer) had shared her debut album with me. The opening track was composed and arranged by Lemm. I immediately stopped whatever I was doing, speechless, and knew instantly that he was the one I had to work with.
His music was heavily influenced by jazz, which immediately drew me in—complex yet pure, and above all, with a powerful narrative scope. It wasn’t just that it made me want to work with him; it reignited a sudden inspiration I’d lost years ago. So it became an evidence in the fraction of a second.
On PAON’s Collaborative Process
Pernelle: There’s a lot to say, and yet not that much in a purely structural sense. PAON is a creative chaos, but one that comes in bursts. Once I’d finished the rough draft of the project’s storyline, Lemm composed each song, brilliantly bringing every part of the story to life. Yes, because throughout the creation of this EP, I kept adding ideas, deleting others, revisiting certain concepts, and never being satisfied! After composing “Métamorphose” (which was originally called “Ego”), the lyrics took a while to write. I realized that since my father’s death, I hadn’t been able to write. So I turned to Vega, another longtime friend and exceptional lyricist. She completely understood every aspect and challenge of the story and managed to do an amazing job in no time. That gave the project a huge boost!
Meanwhile, I devoted myself entirely to writing and setting up the music video shoot, in collaboration with the team at the Orléans-based SONGBIRD Studio. We had already worked together on the music video for “L’hymne à la nuit” by Belzifer for the film Constancia, so we already knew what we were capable of pulling off despite the constraints. The shoot was pretty disastrous—on the first day, we had to drive for several hours just to film on a small patch of sand, even though it was freezing cold and there was no sun!
I also remember that on the last day, we went to a small studio right in the middle of an abandoned factory and stayed there until 6am because we were still missing a lot of footage. It was a very kitschy moment—we were alone in the dark in the middle of the night, it looked like a lucid dream. The missing scenes were those featuring the Peacock character, so I’ll let you imagine the surreal aesthetic of that abandoned place, with a human-bird wandering through empty corridors.
Then, as Lemm wrote the other songs, I started to rediscover my passion for writing. That’s usually what happens when you have a broken heart, right? You become even more inspired.
As for mixing the sound, Lemm was originally supposed to handle it, but we realized we were running out of time and that it was impossible to leave so much on his shoulders, so we called on InvertedSilence a few weeks before the EP’s release, and he SAVED the audio aspect of the project. He worked on “Métamorphose,” “Fissure de l’Irréel,” and “Le Paon” very efficiently and in record time. He stayed up all night on them, right up until the last day; he was just as passionate as we were, even though he wasn’t originally part of the project, and that impressed me.
As for the editing, the “Métamorphose” music video went through a lot of hands; it was edited and re-edited several times. We even considered scrapping it entirely because we just couldn’t get it right. (In fact, the entire EP itself almost got canceled at the last minute because Lemm and I weren’t satisfied with our work!).
Among all the people who worked on this video, I want to highlight the contribution of Lööm3d, who, after the decision to start from scratch one last time, agreed to do ALL the editing under my remote supervision (I’m unfortunately very tyrannical). That’s what allowed us to finally pull it off. Without him, it would have been canceled for good. What an adventure!
As for the EP cover, I spent days trying to design one myself using images from the music video with horrible results hahaha. But I’d been dreaming for years of collaborating with the one-of-a-kind artist Rex (or Oze, for those in the know) and this was the absolute perfect time. Rex had already drawn a few assets for the music video, which ultimately couldn’t be used, and we’d talked about how excited they were to design an album cover someday. So, on a whim, a few days before the EP’s release, we decided that Rex would be the artist for all our future covers. Their work is both elegant and raw, which perfectly matches PAON’s aesthetic.
On the Tools Used to Create Philosophie du Soi
Lemm: It ends up being mostly software and plugins…
DAW: Nuendo
Instruments:
Pianoteq
SWAM Strings
MODO BASS 2
MODO DRUM
MNDALA 2
XO
Serum 2
Current
TRK-01 Bass
Kontakt (as a sampler)
Ethno World 6
Hummingbird
REV
And others…
On Creating Original Works vs. Videogames
Lemm: The biggest difference is that, first of all, in the case of game BGM, there is already visual imagery, a story, and a world in place, and I see the music as something like a fragrance that supports and enriches that world.
On the other hand, with an original project, while it is true that it is still based on the world and story born from Pernelle, those things must be expressed through sound alone.
In game music, because there is visual information and interactive information, I think about how to construct the music in terms of controlling how much the music should speak, how it should direct the experience, and how it should support the user experience.
But with an original project, the question becomes how to convey the scenery beyond the sound using only sound itself.
As a result, in game music I may actively use techniques that would otherwise risk becoming overly dense with information, while in other cases I may move toward extremely abstract expression.
I believe these two approaches are fundamentally different.
As for the worldbuilding and concept, Pernelle decides all of that, so in that sense it is a little different from saying that I myself freely determine the creative direction.
However, when I look into Pernelle’s world and story through my own eyes, there are landscapes spreading out there that even I have never seen before. The feeling I have is that I am sketching scenery that was already there and conveying it through sound. At the same time, it is an act of entrusting myself to that world and listening carefully to the sounds that can be heard there. So in truth, it does not feel like I am creating something myself and sending it out into the world.
Pernelle: I’m going to ramble a bit at the beginning of my answer, again.
I work in the videogame industry as a singer and lyricist. It’s a freelance gig that doesn’t really allow me to be fully integrated, creatively speaking. When I’m contacted to sing or write lyrics, I’m given some rather vague instructions, and I have to try to deliver a performance that’s neither too personal nor too far off from what’s expected. But it’s pretty difficult when you’re not working directly with the creative team. And when it comes to big productions, there’s often not enough time to really immerse yourself and build a connection that goes beyond just the technical work, if I may say so. It’s something I regret; I’d really love to be more artistically involved—it’s like a message in a bottle haha!
That said, I’m learning a tremendous amount thanks to video games because it’s an extremely diverse medium, which has helped me a lot in creating the world of PAON. As a film fan, the story is heavily inspired by cinema, but the conceptualization and the eclecticism of the entire project’s execution come mainly from video games and what they’ve given me so far.
The biggest difference is, of course, freedom. I used to dream of this freedom, and it makes me happy, but at the same time, I’m discovering that, paradoxically, it’s very restrictive. I’m realizing just how much of a kind of protection it can be to work within an existing universe that belongs to someone else. And while I thought it was less terrifying to be your own creator, I was wrong! It’s also sometimes unsettling to be your own critic, in the sense that there’s no one to guide you or offer advice, so the leeway is much greater—and, inevitably, so are your own standards.
But it’s really exciting, and it makes me want even more to do more than just make music in the video game industry. I want to participate in world-building and script-writing.
The fact that this is a collaborative project allows each of us to bring out the best in the other. We both try to maintain our own styles while blending them as naturally as possible, all while preserving our individual freedom. There’s a reciprocal dynamic too, because when I’m developing the story, I’m always thinking about Lemm and how I can inspire him enough so he can let loose and create whatever he wants! On his end, he’s always trying to challenge me vocally and inspire me to write even more. It’s truly incredible.
On Philosohpie du Soi’s Narrative and Future Installments
Pernelle: Philosophie du Soi (Philosophy of the Self) tells the story of a citizen of reality (Ego) who wants to escape the world because she feels out of place. She is a personification of the human being itself, who, trapped in reality, decides to withdraw into itself and live in its imaginary world. It’s important to note that this character is psychotic and fundamentally rejects the system of our civilizations. It’s a bit of a mix between Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, Patrick McGoohan’s The Prisoner, and American McGee’s Alice: Madness Returns.
Ego escapes into her imaginary world (the Mirage) and finds it in ruins because reality has followed her there and is trying to take it over, robbing her of any hope of freedom. In fact, because the protagonist has a tortured mind, she created a fissure in her imagination by taking refuge there, which allowed the real world to follow her; but since it is too large, it cannot fully enter, so it gradually sucks it out. The Mirage is a desert because of Ego’s mental state, and the last bastion of this inner life lies within an ephemeral city in the middle of this desert. This is where the EP’s plot unfolds, as Ego meets the other characters in the story there. The Vagabond, who is the personification of her reason; Estro, who is the representation of reality (a gigantic eye); and The Prisoner, who is her pure madness.
Estro and The Prisoner wage a mental war through Ego’s loss of self, while The Vagabond—who acts as a sort of seer—tries to help her but doesn’t speak the same language (think of Ego as the heart and The Vagabond as the brain).
At the end of the story, Ego is overcome by madness and thus merges with the Prisoner to transform into a being who becomes the personification of the Mirage, whose goal is to destroy reality by pouring the dreams of the imagination onto the world. This is The Peacock (Le Paon).
As you might expect, there are many elements I haven’t mentioned, but that’s the gist of the plot.
There is indeed a lot of symbolism and secondary plot twists, and it’s likely that parts of this story will be used in future works.
So this tale is the prologue, the backstory of the Peacock.
I’m still working on writing the next part, but if I had to speculate without committing too much, I’d say the logical next step is the Peacock’s arrival on Earth. The discovery of reality through its eccentric and extravagant perspective. I don’t know yet if this will take place in a parallel reality or in another era, but I think the world won’t be exactly as we know it. I also have the idea of writing each song to be like a different dream, sculpted into reality by the Peacock. This could lead to experiments and the development of spin-offs across different mediums, such as writing short stories or illustrations to accompany the songs…
Philosophie du Soi is available via Scarlet Moon Records: https://scarletmoon.to/philosophiedusoi/
Follow PAON: https://linktr.ee/paon.musicism