EUGÉNIE

MUSIC

Jul 13

French Artist Eugénie makes waves in bringing awareness to an open conversation about mental health. She recently released her new six track body of work ‘Moment In Time’ and opens up to Astrophe about her personal demons, emotional exploration through writing and her process of creating the EP.

Your recent six track body of work ‘Moment in Time’ explores familiar feelings of heartbreak, vulnerability and self. I’m particularly drawn to the first track ‘Blue’. Tell us about your personal demons and navigating your feelings like a puzzle?

‘Blue’ is the first ever song where I talk about where I was at that time in my life in a vulnerable way. My main demon I think is time. I struggle with how fast life is and I get caught between the nostalgia of the past or the anxiety of the future. But since I wrote ‘Blue’ I’ve been trying to stay more in the present and let myself live without asking that many questions. I allow myself to navigate my feelings in a healthier way which means accepting my truth and then letting go of negative thoughts.

Is creating music a cathartic experience for you? What other forms of expression outside of music do you use to alleviate your demons?

Writing helps me familiarise with where I’m at emotionally speaking. We don’t always sit down with ourselves and ask, “How are you today? What do you want to say?” Writing is therapeutic and cathartic. Singing is another form of therapy, it’s like meditation, it’s feeling your senses, it’s being in the present and letting go. I find these feelings also in dancing and drawing, which can be like writing and singing at the same time.

Tell us about the “blue heart” you refer to in 4D?

Blue heart is a reference to my other song ‘Blue’. But it’s also an emoji reference. To me the blue heart is a bit cold. It refers to how I perceive virtual relationships. Blue is also the light of the phone screen.

Can you talk us through any struggles you face with being so vulnerable in your artistry?

If I write about my problems I have to confront it. But it’s a good struggle; it’s how I grow.

Have you ever doubted pursuing a career as a musician?

I did. I thought I could do other artistic things that could make my life more comfortable, but I always come back to music.

Your music has an electronic pop sound, would you say your home in France has contributed to this in a big way or is there another source of inspiration for this?

Definitely, I work with a lot of French producers and we’re pretty attracted to synth and electronic weird sounds. But I remember having my own first experience of music production on garage band on my phone when I was in high school. The sounds I would use were electronic ones; I really liked playing with these.

“Since I wrote ‘Blue’ I’ve been trying to stay more in the present and let myself live without asking that many questions. I allow myself to navigate my feelings in a healthier way which means accepting my truth and then letting go of negative thoughts”

Are there any experiences you haven’t explored in your artistry yet?

I want to express more with my body through dancing. Maybe get more into drawing and directing my own music videos also.

What are your hopes for the future of the music industry and allowing more space for female artists?

I hope this industry will stop treating musicians as content creators and I hope musicians will keep their artistry intact. I hope female artists will show up more in the production field and that will lead bigger and bigger projects.

Watch Eugénie’s new video for Don’t Speak below / More from Eugénie here / Words by Daniel Hanslow / Images by Valentin Fabre