Salut Mathilde ! You have many musical projects in which your voice is a prominent instrument. How did your lyrical background influence your electronic work ?
Hello ! Nice question ! So yes, I’ve started playing piano when I was a child and then synths, playing a lot with sounds, especially chords strings and organs on electronic pianos… this made my ear by loving this kind of pad sounds… I also have been very influenced by artists and singers who used their voice like a total instrument : Kate Bush, Lisa Gerard, Klaus Nomi and Christophe…
Writing lyrics and design melodies create also a sense of rhythm so, yes I can say that the lyrical background inspires the electronic work behind the voice.
Your universe and aesthetic is often described as « baroque » in regards to your performances but also your video clips. How would you describe your interest in « mise en scène » ?
Yes !! When I was younger and a student in fine arts, my goal was to become a stage director. I have been fascinated by people like Romeo Castellucci, Pina Bausch or even the Belgian company Peeping Tom, they were very transmedia and free in their art and expression. I spent some time working for living art companies or artists from the field of performance art like Pedro Reyes, Monster Chetwynd… Then I’ve started my musical solo project and obviously I’ve had so much fun designing universes and stories, develop this on stage or music videos. I’ve started later this performance project with my partner Cécile di Giovanni and it’s been evolving since the beginning in 2017.
I like this word “Baroque”, it’s used to describe my work. At the beginning I was a bit confused because I had this picture on “ancient” style but then I’ve understood that it’s because my work does not fit in one style or one category. I’m never bored and this is what we need as artists to keep going.
We asked you to soundtrack the activity of cooking a meal. An activity linked to sharing time with loved ones that was violently impacted by the current situation. Will that theme and the context influence your performance ?
Well, I like this idea of soundtracking this kind of moment. This activity can be meditative. I don’t think it will influence the way I will perform it but it will simply warm my heart to imagine those scenes.
Any musical tip you want to share when cooking ? 🙂
I personally use that time of cooking to listen to podcasts. My favorite is ” Affaires sensibles” on France Inter…
I love to listen to meditative music when I cook or when I’m at home in the evening. I love to listen to Connan Mockasin the album Jassbusters. I recommend also the artist Moses Sumney or just to open the platform you’re using to listen or stream music and put the soundtrack of a film you love. I love to listen to original soundtracks… Angelo Badalamenti is one of the composer I’ve listened the most during lockdown.