Living together, Dragon Ball Z, and the future: just over a month before her date at La Maroquinerie on June 12th, I had the opportunity to share a few words with Thérèse about these topics. The result is a long and stimulating conversation now unveiled on the blog.
L’ATTENTE, ORIGINS, AND WHAT’S NEXT
Unis Son: L’Attente covers many subjects that are very personal to you, such as death and illness, which are also very powerful. How does it make you see the future and your future projects?
Thérèse: People who knew me before, and followed the project, might have been potentially surprised by the direction this album took. It’s funny because I discussed it with a media outlet just last weekend, and they said, “Thérèse, it’s funny because I feel like you’re a little less confrontational with this album, and overall in life right now.” Maybe it seems that way on the surface, but in reality, no. I think I simply tried to approach all the issues I advocate for with more gentleness. Life has made it so that this experience, this confrontation with death, has put many things into perspective as well.
I realized that, regarding myself, and my mental and physical health, I needed to continue fighting and hoping for a world I imagine better. After all, I’m just growing up, I think. I consider that my activism, which was a bit more confrontational, was somewhat in the adolescent phase of my emancipation, on certain subjects. Today, feeling a bit wiser, I approach things differently while still keeping the same direction.
I realized how much this somewhat confrontational and sometimes aggressive activism was harming all of us on social media and could also, notably, undermine causes. And I believe we lack voices that unite rather than voices that divide.
I know that life events also stir things inside me. So I let things happen, and we’ll see. In any case, if there’s one thing I’m more certain of today, it’s trusting myself more. I realize that the people who are there are genuinely there. It’s something precious that I’ve been able to build over the years.
The bet, I feel I’ve more or less won, is that people are fully supportive of the project because of who I am. We can travel together, to the right, to the left, in the centre, and do loopings. And people stay there, curious.
I think that no matter which direction the project may take musically, I will always continue to defend the idea of living together. I remain convinced that it’s my leitmotiv. It’s truly about creating connections and the idea of humanity, what binds us rather than what separates us.
US: Like many, I discovered you with the track Chinoise?, which is a huge banger, very confrontational, anti-racist, and really hits you in the gut. Was it a difficult decision not to include it on the album, or was it completely natural?
T: I asked myself the question. I wouldn’t say it was a difficult question, but it was worth considering. In fact, it’s not on the album because it has a concept: time. And I felt that Chinoise ? didn’t quite fit into that. Musically as well, I think that on the album, we found new sounds, that are closer to who I am today. Chinoise ? was the second track I released from the Thérèse project. We weren’t necessarily in line, in terms of texture. One thing is certain, Chinoise ? is there, it exists, it’s also on the EP [Rêvalité, released in March 2021], and I think it will follow me all my life.
Moreover, it’s the only record, for now, that exists physically, so people can still make it their own, physically, and have it at home. It exists materially. And I think this song is my story, but it’s also the story of many people, and it’s making its way. It ended up on the Tour of Drag Race France, season 2 because Kitty Space performed on it. And I like the idea that this track travels like that.
It won’t follow the album’s path. However, it will always be there, and I think that for the people who discovered me at the time, I will always be associated with this track in one way or another. Ultimately, it’s not part of the album, but it was impossible for me not to perform it on stage because it really is part of my story, and especially my artistic story.
SHŌNEN SPIRIT
US: For your leitmotiv of living together, it’s an extremely important track too, a bit like Toujours Trop, which I immediately loved because it has this similar force combined with the album’s softness. Another track spoke to me a lot, and that’s Shonen. Because originally, it’s a demographic—young boys—that these stories stamped shōnen are aimed at. You and I don’t belong to that demographic. And yet, we’re really attached to it. How does the shōnen spirit inspire you? How do you own it?
T: To tell you the truth, I think Dragon Ball Z is the thing I’ve watched the most in my life. It always attracted me, this spirit of camaraderie. I think if we weren’t targeted, it’s because of the predominance of patriarchy in Japan. There were things for girls, the shōjo, but they didn’t tell the same kind of stories at all. When I was little, I played soccer, I fought… I wasn’t interested in shōjo, except for Sailor Moon, for the costumes, I always liked that. However, I didn’t identify at all with the other shōjo, so I didn’t read them, I didn’t watch them.
I wanted to belong to this kind of group of friends who all have different shapes, very different characters, strengths and weaknesses that are displayed in shōnen. What’s cool is that you can clearly see people’s flaws, and yet, you get attached to them and realize how much personalities complement each other, that despite not necessarily agreeing on everything, they fight for the same thing.
I’ve really stayed in the 90s. I haven’t found something that hooked me as much yet. There’s also a kind of violence in DBZ that for me is very cathartic. The character of Vegeta, he cracks me up, because he’s a huge hothead, who, despite everything, recognizes Goku’s power and aligns with… I was going to say the good side, I don’t like to talk like that, because it’s very black and white. But he aligns with what he thinks is best for the community. Not necessarily good and evil through a personal prism, but really through a collective prism, and I find that interesting. I think that today, through intersectional struggles, there’s that spirit that emerges from it. There are a lot of internal struggles too, which unfortunately pollute the message a bit, but fundamentally, we’re fighting for something common.
Despite our disagreements and our differences, we manage to say to ourselves, “Anyway, we’re all here. Now, we have to live together.” How do we do it? Knowing that inevitably, at one point or another, someone will be frustrated or less comfortable with the collective opinion… It’s okay, it’s history. I find this camaraderie quite enchanting.
Now Playing: Shonen
It always appealed to me. And today, I also live my music like that. I know the project is called Thérèse and it bears my name, but we’re a team. And alongside that, I’m trying to develop this idea of a team with the Chrysalide, which is also forming. It’s not just about community, it’s just about creating hubs to be able to defend the same thing. And that’s what inspires me.
I realize that, even though I was attracted to it when I was young, society has put a lot of obstacles in our way to succeed in putting it into practice. You feel like you have to fight with all the other intersectional people because otherwise, you won’t have your place. However, this idea is false and takes a long time to deconstruct.
THE CHRYSALIDE
US: You just mentioned the Chrysalide, can you talk a little more about it?
T: Yeah, sure. The Chrysalide is kind of a nebula or constellation with somewhat undefined contours, and that’s what we all find super cool about it. It’s a gathering of queer artists that started from the idea of an artist I really like named Kely Boy. Through her status as a producer, composer, live accompanist, she has played with a lot of female or queer projects and realized that each one had different strengths and qualities. She tried, in a very organic way at first, to bring together these skills, to organize evenings, to give space and visibility to these projects that the industry, for the moment, tends to overlook for artistic reasons, because they don’t necessarily understand. For political reasons too, because often these are projects that denounce a certain form of system.
The first Chrysalide took place in July of last year and since then, there have been regular evenings highlighting many queer artists, and we’re also starting to organize ourselves to help each other because this world is expensive and sometimes paying for a stage director, stylists, graphic designers, it costs a lot. So instead of that, we share, we trade our skills, and that allows each of us to find our way and expand our audiences.
We try to share our audiences, my Maroquinerie is coming up, and it’s Kely Boy who’s going to be my opening act. On my album, there’s Cœur and Louisadonna, who are also part of the team, who are featured with me. The idea is that a group of friends realizes that there’s room for everyone in the spotlight and that a podium, a crown, can be shared.
What I really like about the Chrysalide is that it’s not something closed. That is to say, we don’t have assigned charters or obligations, each person gives what they can when they can, and that’s cool because it respects our individualities. We’re not a homogeneous group, we’re a lot of different artists with varying discourses as well, which are nuanced. And it’s cool to both feel like you belong to a group but at the same time feel free to say what you want, when you want, where you want, with whom you want, without being afraid of not adhering to a certain editorial line or I don’t know what. It suits me as an artist and a human being.
HER MAROQUINERIE, HUGE PARTY INCOMING
US: You mentioned La Maroquinerie, so indeed, let’s talk about it. It’s in just over a month, on June 12th. Why is it such an important place for you?
T: Actually, it’s a place where I’ve seen a lot of concerts. I’ve been a Parisian for just over half of my life, and I have a very, very close history with the 20th arrondissement. Everything in my life has brought me back there, whether it’s my parents’ old job, my prep school, my love stories. Today, I live in the 20th, La Maroquinerie is really close by, and so it’s a venue that I’ve frequented a lot and where I’ve had incredible sensations. I’ve even played there twice already, but not as the headliner, the first time at Zébrock. It was the first and one of the only musical springboard that supported me since I’m obviously too old and too crossover for others.
This place has an incredible soul, and it’s a bit of a source of pride for me to think that I’m going to be able to play there. So, obviously, I’m very scared because it’s a huge challenge. I think people who aren’t part of the industry don’t realize what it represents in terms of investment. Big labels invest in it without a problem because they have money and potentially can have subsidies, help, etc. That’s not my case. I’m not particularly supported by big media outlets that could help me fill the venue. Fortunately, Unis Son and many other smaller media outlets are there to help us. Because it’s a crazy challenge.
Today, day and night, I wonder if people will come… Will people take their place? I’m working hard for it, but I don’t have the firepower of other media or other artists, so I’m scared. But I know it’s going to be a great moment because we’re preparing a great party. It’s a party to say thank you for supporting me all these years, almost daily. I want to offer them a show that lives up to what I feel when they support me. We’re going to prepare a lot of things, and we’re going to make sure people come as much as possible, and Inshallah we’ll see! I’m really looking forward to it, and I know it’s going to be fire!
REST IN WAITING
US: So, you’re actively preparing for La Maroquinerie, you’re also an activist, it’s evident in your lyrics, you’re also a speaker, artistic director, you have other musical projects and more, here and there… Do you have time for yourself with all these?
T: More and more! I think the operation really shook me up and made me realize how important it was to preserve my vehicle. Strangely enough, I realize that the more I manage to rest, the more I manage to do things. Because I’m also more efficient. It’s a different distribution of time. I’m also learning to delegate, even if I can’t delegate as much as I would like to, because of money issues. Because at some point when you delegate, you still have to pay people – especially if you want a job well done. So, I’m in an intermediate phase, where I need more help, but I’m not yet completely there.
I’ve had several life lessons in recent years. The second thing is that I really understood that best is the enemy of good. At some point, you have to stop worrying about details. Often it’s the fear of finishing. I’m working on this fear of finishing, I tell myself: anyway, I have to go for it. There’s also the idea of simply accepting the imperfection of things, of telling oneself I’d rather do than not do.
Then again, I’ll be honest, I still work a lot. It’s something that’s related to my personality, I need to do a lot of things. It’s true that before, it might sound crazy, but I didn’t have weekends. Now I do, and it’s really essential. I realize that I create better like this, that I think better, simply. And if it’s not finished tonight, it will be finished tomorrow. Or maybe it will never be finished and that’s okay.
MEMORIES
US: A well-deserved weekend. We’re reaching the last question: what is your earliest musical memory?
T: My parents gave me a Fisher-Price tape recorder when I was little. It had a microphone that was attached to it with a corkscrew-like thing, like the old phones. It was a red microphone. And I remember, I wasn’t even 5 yet, because I was in the first house I lived in. Well, technically the second, but I don’t remember the first one, I was too young. I was recording myself because there was a recorder, and I was recording myself on “1, 2, 3, nous irons au bois” [a French children’s song].
I recorded the end of the song many, many times. Because I wasn’t happy with how I said “10, 11, 12, elles seront toutes rouges” [the last lines of the song]. I think that’s my first musical memory, recording myself on this kind of radio cassette thing with a little microphone. If it’s not that, it’s singing in the car with my father. My father is an amateur musician. He used to drum a lot on the steering wheel when we listened to songs. It’s also part of the memories of holidays and trips to see cousins, but I don’t remember the order anymore.
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A huge thank you to Thérèse for sharing this moment with me, and for her generosity. Thanks also to Enora for helping with the organization. L’Attente is available on all streaming platforms, and of course, live at La Maroquinerie on June 12th.
