As the toast of France ( her homeland ) , Europe and Japan, Emilie Simon has been celebrated for her inventive sound and mesmerizing stage performances. With five CDs released in her native country, Simon released her United States debut, The Flower Book, in 2006. She performs Oct. 15 as part of the the Decibelle Music and Culture Festival. Simon discusses her musical upbringing, her independent spirit and the innovation in her music.
Windy City Times: Tell me about your musical background.
Emilie Simon: I went to music school when I was very young so I stayed there from the age of 7 to 13. And then I starting writing my own songs and playing piano. I was in a few bands for fun and when I was 18 I went back to the Sorbonne which is a university for musicology. I did a little bit at the IRCAM which is the centre of research in Paris specializing in software for contemporary music or electronic acoustic music.
WCT: The Decibelle Music and Culture Festival caters to performers of diverse sexual orientations and musical styles? Why do think that this event is important?
ES: I think it's good for independence, freedom and expression. And I'm really happy to be a part of this because I'm very independent and I have my own vision of the type of music I want to do and the type of things I want to achieve in my life.
WCT: Your current release in France is The Big Machine. Will that get a U.S release?
ES: It's going to be released in the States in 2010.
WCT: In France you were awarded the Victoire De La Musique ( the French Grammys ) . What records did you get the awards for?
ES: All of them, except for the live record L'Olympia in Paris. It was for my first studio album, Emilie Simon, The Best Electronic album Of The Year, and March of The Penguins was for Best Soundtrack.
WCT: How do you feel about being compared to Björk?
ES: I am also compared to Kate Bush so it depends on the journalists and also the albums. I don't mind. Everybody needs to explain the kind of direction in your music. It's pop music and I grew up listening to other artists and it all becomes a big mixture and I don't even know where inspiration comes from sometimes.
WCT: Did your parents encourage you to pursue music?
ES: I've always been very independent so they know that I would always be somebody that took care of myself. So they really trust me and supported me. But I always wanted to be a musician because I have been writing, playing and singing since I was young. It has always been present in my life.
WCT: You are fluent in both French and English, but do you have a comfort level writing and singing in French versus English?
ES: It's really nice to sing in both but right now I am in a very English period because I moved to New York and I am surrounded by English. I do write more melodies in English right now in a natural way. When I was living in France I was writing in French in a natural way.
WCT: Your music has been described as "plush, artful soundscapes." How do you create some of your sounds?
ES: I was recording sounds in my everyday life like the water, the wind and stones, all these different natural sounds. I was collecting them and organizing them into beats. For example I recorded the river floating in nature so I sampled it and processed it and used all the electronic tools to process the natural sounds and organize them to my music.
WCT: What can people expect from your performance at the Decibelle Music and Culture Festival?
ES: It's a solo, so it's me and my keyboard and my machine and I'm playing and singing. It's a little bit experimental, but it's the same songs that I play onstage with my band, but with the electronic side more present.
The Decibelle Music and Culture Festival runs Oct. 15-18., featuring groundbreaking international indie artists performing an eclectic mix of music, including alt-country, hip-hop, electronic, rock and experimental. The festival also features a literary night, an acoustic and electronic music lounge and DJs from across the United States as well as Paris, France. For more info visit www.decibelle.org .
