From a recent interview with Pre-Heat’s Alice Preat, she describes her creative process into the group’s new song ‘C-A-T-B-G’, standing for ‘Crying at the Boarding Gate’.
“It’s kind of a love song, I guess, even though it might not feel like that. I guess that was why I wrote it at the time.”
The song takes a cultural shift from the groups previous single ‘Blow’ released in 2024. “It was more of like maybe club banger vibes and definitely more lo-fi”. In this new single they tried to maintain elements within the song, “some of the ad-libs”, “the mood” of the song and “some of the synth”. Alice describes “we also wanted it to feel more serious in terms of the production and also because the subject matter is more serious. And so, yeah, I think also with a lot of the effects that we put on my voice, we wanted it to feel a little bit more ethereal, I guess, and softer. Softer on the ears.”
On the Production
“So actually, I made the track with two other people who I also did Blow with who are friends of mine based in Paris. One of them is a sound designer and producer and also co-founder of quite a big label now, techno though, I mean, electronic music, called Casa Voyageur out of Morocco. But, yeah, so he has a very signature sound.
And then the other guy that we work with is a great sound engineer who works with artists and singers. And so, he does a lot of the, if not all of the mixing and mastering. He really knows how to treat a voice. So, we kind of all have our separate roles that do end up obviously all mixing in a lovely way together”
“And the thing is as well is because they’re both sound engineers and sound designers, they have this plethora of sounds that they know and that they use and all these catalogues”
“I’m not naturally geared towards that, I guess. And so that’s why it’s so lovely that we can have this wonderful symbiosis together.”
“Wydji is a sound engineer by day, electronic producer and DJ by night.
Beside his own project, he worked for french emerging artists such as Malfra, Glios or Lones, making their music come technically to life.
He also works his magic on his own music, along with electronic music labels like Cafe de Anatolia, Teoxane Production or Routine Espresso
Most of his tracks are progressive and melodic techno oriented”
“Viewtiful Joe began his sonic journey in electronic music after discovering the sound of Detroit. His music blends funky electronic grooves, electro beats, and video game aesthetics. Together with OCB and Kosh, he co-founded Casa Voyager in 2017, which has been at the forefront of the underground electronic music scene.
His passion for sound eventually led him into sound design, where he has worked on a wide range of projects from crafting sounds for French rapper Laylow’s live shows to designing audio of a WNBA jumbotron.”
So how did you approach the songwriting for this song?
“I guess the same way that I always do, which is to kind of feel like I’m hit by lightning and then frantically write it in my notes app on my phone. And it never actually – I mean sometimes I write kind of like with the idea that it’s a song in my head, but this – and I guess I knew this would be a song and not a poem, if that makes sense, because sometimes it’s just kind of like free prose and it ends up being nothing. But so – and you never know if it will be something.
But with this one, I never write with like a melody in mind or anything, so it’s like I’m a writer first and foremost before anything else. So, it’s just words on the page. And then I meet with the guys and then they have like some skeleton of a melody or something, and then I see which one lines up with that.
But, yeah, so I wrote that one in – like started it actually at the boarding gate and then I wrote it on a plane from Berlin to Marseille.”
“I just wrote it on the flight and then that was that. And actually – and then I – yeah, I never touched it again.”
On the Visuals
“Yeah, I mean, obviously, you know, just the – again, the subject matter, I guess I already kind of created an environment or like a setting for the song, right? I mean, it’s already – yeah, you’re at the boarding gate.
There’s planes around. Like it’s quite already like a strong setting. So that wasn’t difficult to kind of conjure up and that’s why I also like, you know, this blue and pink.
I always had in mind from the beginning that I wanted this kind of baby blue and pink colour palette because with Blow we had like red and black, you know, because it was – the setting was like party, trashy girl. And I wanted this to be like kind of again in this maybe like, you know, this is why the cover is a bit like collage-y because we wanted to keep this kind of like lo-fi energy to it, but then I wanted it to feel softer. So that’s why we also chose, yeah, those colours.
And then for some of the video elements and photo elements that we have and that we’ve been sharing on our socials. Yeah, those I tried to kind of, I guess, embody both of those. Like this kind of softness.
You know, we did like this whole shoot where I’m like in this negligee and I’m wearing like a very classic brown hair wig. So yeah, kind of have this softness to it because it is, you know, kind of a sad love song actually. And then for the other visuals, it’s a bit more sassy.”
Was there any particular emotion or like event that you had in mind when you were writing the song?
“Yeah, I mean, I was living through it actually when I wrote it. So, it’s interesting because I think that a lot of the time writers and artists often write about things that they’ve kind of already processed or, you know, as like a sort of closure to an emotional event that’s in the past. And myself as well.
Like usually, you know, you realise something later and then you write about it. But this was very much in the moment of living it. And I think love or, you know, the feelings around that, like lust or excitement and projection and idealisation and fear and all of these things that you feel when you meet someone are great drivers of creativity, which is definitely what was happening.
And it’s really interesting because that story didn’t actually turn into anything, which is quite funny because now, you know, there’s this song to kind of like tether me to what it’s like to feel that even if it’s, you know. And I guess I also wrote about it in the song, right? It’s like you don’t know what’s going to come of this kind of situation or this kind of being at a cliff’s edge of meeting someone and not knowing what’s going to happen or if you want to jump in or not. Like it’s an exciting and scary time.
And I think that that’s like a relatable experience. And it just kind of makes me laugh that it didn’t actually turn out into anything because I think that’s also, you know, a very relatable experience for a lot of people.”
Cultural Influences
“I have, I think, musically two people that really, really influence my sound and also just my approach to songwriting and music are Saya Gray. And she’s Japanese-American.
And I mean, I’ve been listening to her stuff for a long time. And now she’s getting quite big, which is really cool. And I saw her in Berlin and she’s just like, I think, yeah, this perfect embodiment of like this sassy kind of grungy kind of post-punk energy but mixed in with this, you know, like sensitivity and softness and vulnerability, which I think is really inspiring.
And then Oklou, she’s a French artist. She’s also getting, I mean, she’s big now, I guess. Billie Eilish said she was an inspiration for her music.”
“She’s been around. And her latest album ‘Choking Off’, that one really, really, I listen to it like almost daily. And I think both of these artists, you know, again, I think it’s like a beautiful dance between this kind of grungy, sassy energy and then like softness.”
“And so that’s quite a big influence for me. And I think with ‘Blow’, it was funny actually because we made it before Brat came out and then Brat came out and then we were a bit like, oh shit, everyone’s going to think we’re just like jumping on some bandwagon. But we really weren’t.
We weren’t. Like we made it before it came out, you know. And I love that whole kind of world and like cultural moment that we’re having right now of like women and female artists making stuff like for other women and not like for the male gaze and anything that’s fucking hot and cool.
But I also realized that, you know, while that’s true and while I’m also like trying to create kind of this persona that’s outside of myself for this particular project because it’s fun, I also can’t remove myself entirely out of it. And so, this kind of like softness and vulnerability, I think I just cannot, I couldn’t make only tracks like Blow, if that makes sense. Like I also have to have to make, yeah, stuff that means something to me and I guess ‘Crying at the Boarding Gate’ was that.”
On the Mood
“It’s like this contrast between softness and kind of this almost like ballad-y element.
And, you know, you have like the mood and this more like electronic element and kind of these like stronger kicks and stuff. And that’s, again, to try and remain in our sonic universe from the first track and also just the universe that we’re trying to build also for future stuff that we have coming up. But yeah, I think contrast between softness and then like recklessness, I guess, almost.”
Mixing of Genre
“I think we’re bound for some more kind of post-punk-y, hyper-pop, aggressive energy. Definitely.”
“And actually, if you listen to Saya Gray, she really inspires me because she doesn’t have just one sound. Her music sounds like nothing else, which is amazing. But then also, you know, she has this one album called 19 Masters, which is entirely acoustic.
And then she’ll have her latest album, which is a lot more electronic. She has this other one, ‘QWERTY’, which is basically punk music. And I really admire that.
And I love to see artists that are not letting themselves be boxed in by a sound, you know, like a very definitive sound. Because I think that while that is obviously more marketable, right, I guess, it also kind of kills creativity in a way. And so, I guess, yeah, I’m excited with this project to kind of keep exploring between softer synth pop-y stuff and then more aggressive kind of post-punk, hyper-pop vibes.”
Aims
“Yeah, you know, I mean, I make—and it’s fun, you know, I like making these little videos and all the visuals and stuff, and, like, fuck it. Even if I only have 100 followers, actually the content does end up reaching, like, thousands of people because, you know, algorithms and all this shit. So, it does reach people, and then, you know, we’re trying to pitch it to, yeah, like, editorials, Spotify people, and stuff like this.
But I don’t think that, you know, like, we all have our other projects going on. We’re all busy people. I would love it if, you know, it became a bigger part of my life, and, you know, we made something bigger out of it.
But it’s definitely not the intent, I guess. Like, we’re doing it because it’s fun, and we enjoy it, and for me it’s a massive outlet. So I do it anyway, you know.
And this project is particularly fun because I think it’s the first time that I am creating a kind of, like, persona to go along with what I’m making. And it’s not just, you know, like, stuff about me from me about, you know, which was fun but feels a lot more vulnerable. And I think that kind of prevented me in the past from, like, really going more all in with, like, you know, advertising stuff and promoting it and whatever.”
If your song were the soundtrack to a film or scene, what kind of moment would it be scoring?
“Fuck yeah, I love this.
Okay. I mean, yeah, I guess, I guess it has to be a fucking, like, sad girl montage. You know, it just has to be.
Like, she’s so cool and so strong and so independent and, like, so in your face. But this is just kind of a moment where she’s vulnerable and scared. And, you know, she’s, like, in her head.
And this is definitely the soundtrack to that montage. I’m seeing, like, Sofia Coppola vibes somehow.
Like, it’s got to be a little bit, yeah, again, like, this kind of soft, glowy, yeah, energy to it. But, yeah, yeah, I think that would probably be it. Fun question.”