Owlle is upcoming electropop artist who is taking the scene by storm, we caught up with her and asked her some questions about her love for music, the origin of her name and her favorite places she’s performed.
Where did the name Owlle come from?
It’s an invented name, derived from ‘Owl’. At first I actually liked the sound it makes when one pronounces owl (and also the shape of the word itself, graphically speaking), but I kind of relate to the whole mystique around that bird too, I love hooting late at night! Seriously I’m a night-ish person, that’s when i’m at my best creatively, when all is quiet around me.
Give us a little background about how you came up with your music
Music has always been important in my life. When I was a kid I’d obsessively listen to all those records from the 80′s that my parents owned, that’s where my roots are, musically. I started composing approximately 5 years ago, I always had this desire to make music and sing, but I did not know in which direction to go or how to go about it. So for a long time, this remained a secret fantasy. It was during my studies at the Beaux-Arts that I realized that music was truly important to me. I first tried some composition on a guitar but it didn’t feel right, it didn’t translate the direction or the aesthetics I had in mind well. A friend then introduced me to this weird toy-instrument from the 80′s, the Omnichord, sort of an electronic harp so easy and intuitive it helped me make my first real steps towards composition. All of a sudden i had the perfect “companion” to accompany my vocal melodies, both playful and easy to use for a self taught musician like me. That said, my favorite instrument remains my voice!
How would describe your music?
Dream pop surely sums it up best. Although i’m somehow reluctant to categories…it’s melancholic kinda dark but very danceable too (p.s. I love dancing as much as singing!). I feel entirely free and certainly don’t feel confined to any genre, i don’t think in terms of genres at all myself but really in terms of songs. I want to try and do the greatest songs i can!
Who are your influences?
Musically, i’d say experimental electro music (Brian Eno’s a hero of mine) but also the trip hop movement from the 90′s. And the music scene from the 80′s is very extravagant and cool! If I were to name names, i’d say that beside Brian Eno, Bronski Beat, David Bowie, Madonna, Kate Bush and Grace Jones had a lasting influence on me. But my influences are far wider than just music, I’m very curious and and I need to search in different areas to develop myself. Fashion and contemporary art inspire me a lot.
Who are some of your favorite artists of right now?
FKA Twigs, Cyril Hahn, Thomas Azier. Also my friends Club Cheval, they’re finishing their first album at the moment. But the members of the collective have also released solo EPs (Myd and Panteros666 most recently) that are well worth a listen!
As a French artist, has it been hard appealing to non-French speaking countries?
I can’t tell! I compose and sing in english. But it was not a calculated choice of me thinking that it may help cross the borders more easily, not at all, it’s just that it happens to be the language I find most fitting to pop music. Funnily enough, I recently noticed on some blogs that people wonder where i’m from, it’s like they can’t tell just by listening to my songs. I saw someone saying I was english, another saying I was Belgian or from Scandinavia.
Whats the best show you’ve played and where was it?
I LOVE being on stage, it’s like i’m in my natural element there. i’ve been playing shows for the last 2 ½ years; on my own and as a supporting act. Every show so far has been a new, exciting experience to me even those where I had technical problems or where I considered myself not too good. From the tiniest clubs I’ve played in the UK last spring to when I was in Scandinavia in December or the big rooms I was lucky to play in when I opened for Phoenix last fall in France AND not forgetting that magnificent old theater at a festival in Sao Paulo; it is truly thrilling just being given the chance to play in all those places. I can’t elect just one show, it’s way too early in my career, so let’s leave that question for a few years.
Where would you like to play next?
Bring me everywhere! I want to travel the world! My songs are my vehicles for that! Seriously wherever people will be nice enough to hear me perform. I’ve never played in the US, except for a very short and somehow improvised set at the CMJ festival in New York in 2012 so the prospect of playing in North America would be exciting! Musician friends told me Mexico have the most enthusiastic and warm crowds, so i’d like to try it there too if I can.
What else is coming up for you?
Well, my debut album FRANCE which I spent the majority of last year working on – is soon to be released so that’s quite an emotional time for me. I’m so eager to share these songs as widely as I can. At the moment i’m shooting the video for my single “Don’t Lose it” with Sailor Lvne, a brilliant young french director who already did this lyric video for it http://bit.ly/DontLoseItlyric. i’ll be on the road for most of 2014; on thursday i’ll be in Holland! It’s hard work that I adore, wish me luck!
Check out Owlle’s Facebook and Soundcloud