How much of a role does art besides music play in your career? I am a very hands on person and I like using my fingers, touching, feeling, perceiving, creating my own imagery, artwork, designing and stitching clothes for performances. Dream gig you would like to play. Headlining at the Paradiso in Amsterdam or Le Grand Rex in Paris, under a ceiling created by Berndnaut Smilde, wearing Iris Van Herpen or Hussein Chalayan, with Radiohead as special guest and in collaboration with the most visionary people in music & technology. I played Webster Hall last night and this was a little part of a big dream that became a reality. What was the situation that prompted you to write your first song? I was at a freelance web design project for an audio production company and the owner who I struck a friendship with listened to some old tapes of mine and strongly suggested that I consider pursuing music seriously. Coming from somewhat of a outsider, I gave it a shot. For your next project are you considering adding any different elements? My current project, my first full length is happening in collaboration with Yusuke Yamamoto, who is brilliant. For the album art and forthcoming videos, I am collaborating with some wild fashion designers, creative/ photographer May Lin Le Goff and creative
director Andres Burgos, all of whose works I really admire. Previously, my projects have mostly been solo efforts. How did you get involved with Yusuke Yamamoto? I met Yusuke last year at Studio BPM in williamsburg where I was recording my EP. Got him to play keys on a few of my shows and realized that we were a beautiful match. I also really like him as a person. In the art world do you feel music in general gets a bad rap? Not at all. In my opinion, neither exists without the other. I stay away from artists and humans in general who don’t have a single rhythmic bone in their body. What artist from the past do you feel most in common with? Grace Jones and Blondie. I have noticed you perfer extreme close ups in some of you imagery. Is there something behind that? Close ups carry an intensity and fearlessness which I love. Some of your songs seem to represent a sense of hesitation to embrace the world or a sense of vulnerability. Is this something you were feeling when you made the record? I was in a very difficult phase of my life while making the EP. The experience made me assume a smallness within myself and firing this through music made me feel very powerful and helped overcome the pain. Taking action is my only way out of the feeling of helplessness.
VNDL | ISSUE 1 | 21