Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
A: As other artists – quite a good number it seems to me – my childhood was very much messed up, so of course it impacted my music – as well as my personality. To put it bluntly, I was confronted very young with dysfunctional dynamics, physical violence, abuse, and death. Music was my way to escape in another world; as well as imagination. While other kids went around and played outside, from a certain age detaching from my body was one of my favorite activities; I guess that playing the piano 10 hours a day was a bit the same thing, a way to forget reality.
Q: How are you planning on growing your fan base and sharing your music with the world? What message do you have for anyone who is about to discover “Gintsugi”?
A: I make music for people like me, the misfits, the sensitive. So I just make my message clearer and clearer and wait for my fellow beings. It seems it’s catching on, bit by bit. On bigger things I can’t say more, I try not to preoccupy myself too much with things I can’t control.
Q: Who is the most inspiring artist for you right now? And where do you find inspiration for making music?
A: There are a lot of fellow artists I find inspiring. I appreciate people who can really detach from the surface and go deep. My friend songwriter Joanna Gemma Auguri is an inspiration for that.
Then in my songs I know that consciously I get inspired by Billie Eilish, Placebo, Agnes Obel, Pj Harvey, Anthony (now Anonhi) & the Johnsons, Kate Bush. Some singers from the Fifties. But if you hear other influences, maybe there are. It’s just not conscious.
I guess I find inspiration from my subconscious, if we want to call it that way; the part that is not very loud, but if you listen it’s constantly telling something very precious. I have the impression that music doesn’t came from me. I love the say of Quincy Jones, melodies come straight from God.The song tells you what it needs, it’s weird. I don’t have the impression of “making” something – or when I do, I know it’s my will to control that’s messing up. It’s a humbling process. You listen, and everything is already there in a way. You put down the notes. Some words come. You put yourself at work and do what needs to be done. A hundred takes, or two, thirty-five revisions. It doesn’t matter. The song decides when it’s done. At least I like to think that way.
Q: Can you tell us about the story or message behind the album, “The Elephant in the Room.”?
A: I wanted to sing things I find difficult to verbalise. I think that’s why I do music, I can definitely sing stuff I don’t have the guts to say.
Q: How would you describe your sound in one word for potential listeners?
A: Entrancing.
Q: Did you face any challenges while writing or recording “The Elephant in the Room”?
A: The album has been nothing but a series of challenges. The main difficulty was that there was no budget, the instrumentals where almost entirely produced in my bedroom – I know this is normal for other artists, but Mon coeur, for exemple, it has A LOT of stems. My computer kept crashing. And it has an entire string section. So it’s really a challenge to do it at home.- I found great collaborators that truly believe in my music. They worked in exchange of favors or for little money and a split of rights. And I did most of the work myself. I even did all the videoclips! But I actually enjoyed the process and I have to thank YouTube tutorials on how to place the lights for dramatic effect. This is the thing with DIY, it’s that you want to die sometimes for all the work and the responsibilities you carry , but at the end, you learn a bunch of things – that nobody can take away.
Q: What is the message of your music? And what are your goals as an artist?
A: I want to touch people emotionally and I wish that my music can help someone through tough times.
I’d like to be able to live of this.
I don’t want millions, I’d just love to be able not to worry about the next bill. Also, I’d love to tour a bit more.
Q: Who is your dream artist to collaborate with? (dead or alive)
A: Brian Molko. I could be backing vocalist of Placebo already, as I know all the songs. Ha
Q: What is your advice for people interested in pursuing music as a career or for those trying to enter the industry?
A: Disclaim : This is an advice from an introverted who enjoys her own company : Do it Yourself. Don’t wait for any savior who’s coming and making you a star. That’s not happening. If they promise you that, they’re lying!
Rely on yourself, almost everybody is a bit self-centered (ha) and overwhelmed/overworked so rely on yourself first. If you find people you get along with, it’s huge, it can change your life, but it’s not easy. So do it yourself and then the right people will come at one point. To decide if they’re the right ones, look at what they do, not what they say. Also, never trust people that tell you they’re the only ones you can trust. They’re in general the last people you should trust 🙂
Q: If you could go back in time and give a younger you some words of wisdom, what would they be?
A: “Focus on yourself” and “stop caring so much about the feelings of people that don’t care how they make you feel” . It would have saved at least ten years of my life.
