Thomas Azier is a Dutch electro-pop singer who released his first record Hylas back in 2014. Since that, he moved to Paris and worked with Dan Levy (The Dø) on his new album Rouge available now via Virgin Records / Mercury. We caught him in Paris to discuss the evolution of this art.
You came back this month with a new record which is quite different from the previous one. You think this change is due to the fact that you left Berlin to live in Paris?
Maybe, but I also think change is inherent to all the human beings, you know. Especially when we are young, we change very quickly and in my opinion, the coolest artists are those who always changed and tried new things. It’s like Magritte, at the end of this career, he completely changed his style and it was just amazing seeing how creative he was during that final phase!
Your new songs are less dark and much more joyful, was this a natural evolution from the Berlin years?
Yes, it was a natural process. I always believed in the power of songwriting which nowadays gets frequently lost with all the high-budget productions. On Rouge I really wanted to focus on the lyrics, you will definitely get to know me better if you read all of the lyrics.
You were talking about colors and this album is called Rouge, why?
If I could give my voice a color, it would be red because red is quite antagonistic, think sex, blood, violence, passion and the list goes on. A human’s voice is such a versatile tool, but today many singers are very strict with their voice. I like to sing both loudly and softly so I feel that red would totally fit my kind of voice. I translated it to French in order to create a link with my current situation!
How your collaboration with Dan Levy (The Dø) actually happened?
When he was on tour a while ago we met each other and had a nice conversation, I told him that I really wanted to make a record on which I could explore my voice. I wanted something lyrical and his production took me exactly where I wanted to go. He was a great co-pilot and taught me a lot about my voice.
In France, you played a role in the ascension of Belgian singer Stromae by working on his last album, could you tell me more about that collaboration?
It was before he exploded, he contacted me telling me that he likes my music and we talked about how we could make something together. It’s not about someone else’s fame, it’s more about intellectual collaboration and emotional exchange. We were both really surprised when Stromae became such a massive phenomenon!
We all know that you have a particular attraction for fashion, you think it’s important for an artist to have a complete control over the image?
Yes of course, don’t forget it has always been that way. Look at Iggy Pop and his band, they were trash but they got a very good idea about their look. They were on this punk-wave attitude like Blondie who said that music and fashion have similarities. I don’t know shit about fashion but I love it and see it as an extension of my personality.
Listen Thomas’ new sinlge Gold below:
Interview and Photography by Ivica Mamedy
