Mika in Asian Press 2016

[mamiam]

So sad to hear what he said after 8:00, how can someone consider him/herself a fan if he/she was insulting the idol?? To make him upset in his own gig!! I understand if fans were not happy for his song choices, but insulted him? That went too far!

I know he got happy after that for the fan flag action. But the thought of him getting insulted in his stage, where he should get the most happiness from, really made me sad.

 

I agree - it's totally crazy, and impossible to understand, this intolerance! But I'm happy that MIKA himself tells about it - that it happened at Adelphi theatre in London, and how he felt about it! Anyway, the fan-action with the flags really was a huge success, which made him SO happy!!    Thank you guys, for this nice and intimite little interview, just across a little table - so cosy!   

 

Love, love

me  

[NaoMika]

Interview in Japan!  

 

 

 

MIKA came to Japan to hold two shows here.

TVGroove interviewed him and he talked about Japan, how the latest album Mika Et L'orchestre Symphonique De Montreal was made, and so on!

 

 

 

NaoMika☆

Edited March 8, 2016 by Kumazzz
adding a url

[MIINA]

Interview in Japan!  

 

“ミラクル・ポップ・プリンス”ことMIKAにインタビュー！ 「僕にとって音楽は香水のようなもの」 MIKA Exclusive Interview in Japan!

 

 

MIKA came to Japan to hold two shows here.

TVGroove interviewed him and he talked about Japan, how the latest album Mika Et L'orchestre Symphonique De Montreal was made, and so on!

 

 

 

NaoMika☆

 

Did they record this interview? Why did not they upload this video first?      

anyway, thanks.

Edited March 8, 2016 by MIINA

[Kumazzz]

Did they record this interview? Why did not they upload this video first?      

anyway, thanks.

 

I think they need time to adding Japanese subtitles.

[Kumazzz]

Shanghai, China

https://www.facebook.com/mikasounds/posts/10153562571178040

 

Mika met the wonderful lady and superstar 莫文蔚 Karen Mok in Shanghai, they had fun together!

 

 

 

[Zel]

So sad to hear what he said after 8:00, how can someone consider him/herself a fan if he/she was insulting the idol?? To make him upset in his own gig!! I understand if fans were not happy for his song choices, but insulted him? That went too far!

I know he got happy after that for the fan flag action. But the thought of him getting insulted in his stage, where he should get the most happiness from, really made me sad.

Now we know why! That night the show felt "rushed" and I was told due to time restrictions as it was Sunday night. I am glad he spoke it and even if he wasn't Mika, why the rudeness? Once words are uttered, one can never take it back . He's neve said such things before , so I think it's time "fans" be mindful that he is HUMAN afterall.

 

SO MUCH hate on twitter today, scary and childish at the same time. Told to F*** off is NOT NICE.

Edited March 9, 2016 by Zel

[yang]

Hi! Can someone please translate these three answers? Google's translation is messed up, as usual.

EM：不知道你介不介意聊这个，还记得Patrick Wolf很久很久以前Diss过你吗？说来出道那么久，你有什么后悔的决定吗？

M：哈哈哈那事情其实挺蠢的，我从来没有回应过，他说的侮辱话笨死了也毫无根据，之后也道歉过两次了。我猜他当时应该就是一时冲动口不择言吧。

要说后悔的事情，我还真做过不少，例如允许自己因为身边工作的人而压力山大。压力是种幻觉，它只是别人想在我身上赚钱的工具而已，我现在已经对这个很敏感了，见了就跑。现在我已经不再后悔什么了，总体而言我的音乐事业很特别也很奇怪，对此我感动很高兴也很自在。人生啊，就像电影《滑动门》，Gwyneth Paltrow那部嘞……（编注：又名“双面情人”，讲述Paltrow主演的女主角因为赶上与未赶上地铁班车而过上两段截然不同的生活）总之就是，如果回到过去改变了什么后悔的事情，天晓得最后结果又会碰上什么屎呢对不对？

 

http://www.eardrummusic.com/exclusives/mika-china-tour-2016-interview/

 

 

 

EM： I hope you don't mind me asking, but do you remember that Patrick Wolf diss you long time ago? Also, have you regretted about anything about your career?

 

M: Haha that is just a stupid thing. He said some insulting words with no base, and he appologized twice after that. I guess he is just being implusive.

     Speaking of the things that made me regret, I actually have done a lot. For example, allowing people work around me to give me huge pressure. Pressure is kind of an illusion, it's just a tool that people want to make money from me, now I am very sensitive to this, I run the moment I see it coming. Now I no longer regret anything, overall my music career is very special and very strange, and I am very happy and very moved and feel ease. Life is, ah, like the movie "sliding", starred by Gwyneth Paltrow...... (Editor's note: also known as "Sliding Doors," about Paltrow starring as the leading actress who live to completely different life base on whether she did or didn't catch up with subway).  Anyway, if you go back to change the things that you regret, God knows what other s**t you will meet anyway, right?

[MIINA]

I think they need time to adding Japanese subtitles.

 

I had quite forgotten about that the most important part for the Japanese.

[mamiam]

Now we know why! That night the show felt "rushed" and I was told due to time restrictions as it was Sunday night. I am glad he spoke it and even if he wasn't Mika, why the rudeness? Once words are uttered, one can never take it back . He's neve said such things before , so I think it's time "fans" be mindful that he is HUMAN afterall.

 

"Nothing's only words - that's how hearts get hurt"   And now I wonder why Nina's post has been deleted here !?  She was at the Adelphi theatre together with her whole family, and wrote about how she experienced this gig  She posted it right after me, yesterday...  

 

Love, love

me 

[babspanky]

 

SO MUCH hate on twitter today, scary and childish at the same time. Told to F*** off is NOT NICE.

Gosh you are so right. Why only today someone called my friend a rude cow on twitter! 

[Christine]

 

SO MUCH hate on twitter today, scary and childish at the same time. 

 

You mean when you called Jemma a rude cow with no provocation at all? Yeah it was childish and scary all right. Stop slagging off people you don't know who were members of this fanclub before you ever heard of Mika.

Edited March 9, 2016 by Christine

[sariflor]

Now we know why! That night the show felt "rushed" and I was told due to time restrictions as it was Sunday night. I am glad he spoke it and even if he wasn't Mika, why the rudeness? Once words are uttered, one can never take it back . He's neve said such things before , so I think it's time "fans" be mindful that he is HUMAN afterall.

 

SO MUCH hate on twitter today, scary and childish at the same time. Told to F*** off is NOT NICE.

 

 

You mean when you called Jemma a rude cow with no provocation at all? Yeah it was childish and scary all right. Stop slagging off people you don't know who were members of this fanclub before you ever heard of Mika.

 

 

What Christine said!   

[tiibet]

"Nothing's only words - that's how hearts get hurt"   And now I wonder why Nina's post has been deleted here !?  She was at the Adelphi theatre together with her whole family, and wrote about how she experienced this gig  She posted it right after me, yesterday...

 

Love, love

me 

 

No it was me who deleted it! I thought I wrote it in the wrong thread and that I should have written it in the Adelphi thread  Sorry the confusion. I didn't realize the discussion goes on in the both threads. 

[Kumazzz]

Shanghai, China

VIDEO

iQiyi and Universal Music reached a paid music collaboration

 

ORIGINAL

爱奇艺与环球音乐达成付费音乐深度战略合作-娱乐视频-爱奇艺

 

RE-uploaded to

VK

2016-03-01 爱奇艺与环球音乐达成付费音乐深度战略合作-娱乐视频-爱奇艺

Edited March 10, 2016 by Kumazzz

[yang]

Shanghai, China

VIDEO

iQiyi and Universal Music reached a paid music collaboration

 

ORIGINAL

爱奇艺与环球音乐达成付费音乐深度战略合作-娱乐视频-爱奇艺

 

RE-uploaded to

VK

2016-03-01 爱奇艺与环球音乐达成付费音乐深度战略合作-娱乐视频-爱奇艺

 

Great!! And we have a Chinese flag emoji too!  wait how to type this flag？ I cant find it  :China:  , no not working

Edited March 10, 2016 by yang

[missrully]

Hong Kong  

(and the article is in English yay  )

 

Young Post

http://yp.scmp.com/entertainment/music/article/102901/mika-reveals-his-love-dim-sum-why-small-gigs-are-important-and

 

Mika reveals his love for dim sum, why small gigs are important and how his mum reacted to his lyric “all that she wants is another son”

British singer Mika came to Hong Kong and spoke to Young Post about prepping shows, working with his mum and barbecue pork

By Melanie Leung  March 10, 2016

 

 

 

While Mika is famous for putting on dynamic, huge arena shows, he says tiny, intimate shows are the ones that keep him sharp.

 

Mika has a quirky look, but he’s pretty soft-spoken.

 

 

As flamboyant as Mika is on stage, backstage the British singer is soft-spoken with a thoughtful demeanour. Now at the age of 32, he’s never seemed more comfortable in his own skin. So why does No Place in Heaven sound so hopeless? “There’s no place in heaven for someone like me, there’s no place in hea ...” he croons in the song. But the lyrics pages might have gotten that last line wrong. Instead of a dragged on first syllable of “heaven”, Mika was singing “hell”. “So if there’s no place in heaven or hell that means I’m free,” Mika tells Young Post. “I’m liberated. The song is in a sense really horrible. It was partly written as a letter to my father that then turns into the father. You deal with the conflict by illustrating the conflict.”

 

With that settled, we discuss prepping shows, working with his mum, and French music.

 

How are you finding Hong Kong?

I was cooped up in my hotel room for the first 15 hours here doing all the press, and then afterwards I just walked around. I’ve been here many times. The thing about this place is that you guys have some of the best restaurants in the world. I just spend my time eating.

 

What’s your favourite thing to eat here?

Dim sum. There’s nothing like it. And barbecue pork. You dream of it when you’re eating that horrible [crappy] dim sum that you eat in London. And it’s so expensive in London.

 

You never listen back to your own music after you record it. So how do you prepare for a live show?

I designed a new system which is super geeky, but we use a sampling system which has pieces from every single song, from like a timpani sample to a girl’s “oooh” vocals. Which means that I can play any of my songs, from any of my albums, and make it sound like the record even without a set list.

 

When I’m preparing for a show it’s just about having as much flexibility as possible so that you’re not caught in some kind of sophisticated karaoke routine. I do different things every night. Like here, this is a tiny show. And at a tiny show there’s no point in bringing a set, because it’s all about the connection. If you manage to put a little bit of personal touch in it then that’s more memorable than any spectacular set you can ever have.

 

Personal touches are what matter in a small show, says Mika.

 

How often do you do small shows?

I always put in a couple of small shows even when I’m doing big shows in the same run. The last one I did was probably two months ago. I think it’s really good in tour even though it costs a fortune. It’s expensive to do small shows. But they keep you sharp. It’s like exercise. Keeps your brain ticking. They keep you fresh and you can develop ideas without the pressure of a team of 45 people on top of you waiting for the next cue.

 

And what’s your process for prepping big shows?

It’s one that I’m going through right now developing a new arena show. It all starts in my kitchen and it’s about, what’s the message? If I had to write the message for a show, can I do it in one sentence? So the last time I did this was about seven months ago and the show was called Heaven. I’m at the gate of heaven and I couldn’t get in. It looks like this kind of Blade Runner landscape.

 

I presented this to a friend of mine, Job Smeets from Studio Job. They’re mega designers that do museum shows. And I’m like, this is my story, can you help me illustrate it? And between him, a group of fans in a village in Italy who are specialists in street theatre, Valentino Couture house, and Christian Louboutin, we all came together, and built the show. We make models, illustrations, and little videos, and all these elements show in a huge aeroplane hanger, and I sit at a table and put together the show with my team. And we pray to God that it’ll be good.

 

It doesn’t guarantee you commercial success, but it certainly guarantees you inspiration. It’s all in the process. I’ve been doing this for 10 years now – I’ve given myself the freedom but I’ve also had to pay the price for it as well. But it doesn’t really matter to me because the totality of it tells a story and helps me develop my own way of doing things.

 

What’s it like working with your mum on costumes?

The funny thing is when we are together no one would even think she’s my mum. We just work together. I’m the kid that ran away with the circus but took his entire family with him. It wasn’t really the idea, but it just happened that way (laughs). I work with her because she’s good. She’s an anti-snob. She doesn’t care if something’s expensive or cheap, as long as it’s good. And that’s why we wear everything, from Uniqlo to a Valentino couture suit that’s taken seven weeks to make, to a pair of converse with holes in it. She’s much more focused on style than fashion. Which is why she’s quite good.

 

Songs like All She Wants is about your mother, where you have lyrics like “all that she wants is another son”. How does she react to that?

She’s remarkably OK. As long as it’s constructive or creative she doesn’t care. If it was a tabloid, she’d kill me, but if it’s for something good and constructive she doesn’t care.

 

You’ve been on several TV shows, like X Factor (Italy) and France’s version of The Voice. How has that impacted your career?

Hugely. Crazy opportunities come out of that, although you make sure that everything that is created comes back to your artistic intentions. I would never have been able to do the symphonic concert (with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra last year) if I hadn’t been doing The Voice in France, which really resonated in Canada. It was easier for me just to cold-call them, through a friend, saying hey, would you guys like to do this.

 

You’ve done quite a few songs in French. How does the French music industry differ from the British scene?

The temperature’s just a little hotter when it comes to tendencies in stylistic preferences. So it’s more European; a little more towards Italy. In France, there’s much more tolerance within different niches, and it’s such an incredible touring market. They have African artists that sell out arenas, and that’s unheard of. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that France is actually one of the most culturally curious countries, with one of the best cultural appetites. But beyond all that I think there’s a change that’s happening in the UK.

 

Six years ago there was an irreverent, mean, kind of attitude that was so popular and that’s just died. And thank God that’s kind of going. With a less destructive opinion culture, you can be a lot more experimental. You can let strange things grow. And that is absolutely crucial because I just think we’re in a massive transition in the music industry and we’re still only a quarter of the way through it, if even that. The music icons of the future are going to be niche icons, that will be able to amass millions of fans around the world, just through the online platforms, nothing else. And they will be free to make the music they want.

 

How does the French language lend to songwriting?

It’s more percussive. But English is the best language to sing in. Absolutely. Italian is really hard to sing in. Chinese is really hard to sing in (laughs). I wouldn’t know. In French there’s more wordplay as well, you can get away with more poetic lines, saying things like “My heart of silex quickly catches fire and your heart a pirate resists it.” Like, in a pop song. It’s premium.

Edited March 10, 2016 by missrully

[mamiam]

Hong Kong  

(and the article is in English yay  )

 

Young Post

http://yp.scmp.com/entertainment/music/article/102901/mika-reveals-his-love-dim-sum-why-small-gigs-are-important-and

 

Mika reveals his love for dim sum, why small gigs are important and how his mum reacted to his lyric “all that she wants is another son”

British singer Mika came to Hong Kong and spoke to Young Post about prepping shows, working with his mum and barbecue pork

By Melanie Leung  March 10, 2016

 

 

 

While Mika is famous for putting on dynamic, huge arena shows, he says tiny, intimate shows are the ones that keep him sharp.

 

Mika has a quirky look, but he’s pretty soft-spoken.

 

 

As flamboyant as Mika is on stage, backstage the British singer is soft-spoken with a thoughtful demeanour. Now at the age of 32, he’s never seemed more comfortable in his own skin. So why does No Place in Heaven sound so hopeless? “There’s no place in heaven for someone like me, there’s no place in hea ...” he croons in the song. But the lyrics pages might have gotten that last line wrong. Instead of a dragged on first syllable of “heaven”, Mika was singing “hell”. “So if there’s no place in heaven or hell that means I’m free,” Mika tells Young Post. “I’m liberated. The song is in a sense really horrible. It was partly written as a letter to my father that then turns into the father. You deal with the conflict by illustrating the conflict.”

 

With that settled, we discuss prepping shows, working with his mum, and French music.

 

How are you finding Hong Kong?

I was cooped up in my hotel room for the first 15 hours here doing all the press, and then afterwards I just walked around. I’ve been here many times. The thing about this place is that you guys have some of the best restaurants in the world. I just spend my time eating.

 

What’s your favourite thing to eat here?

Dim sum. There’s nothing like it. And barbecue pork. You dream of it when you’re eating that horrible [crappy] dim sum that you eat in London. And it’s so expensive in London.

 

You never listen back to your own music after you record it. So how do you prepare for a live show?

I designed a new system which is super geeky, but we use a sampling system which has pieces from every single song, from like a timpani sample to a girl’s “oooh” vocals. Which means that I can play any of my songs, from any of my albums, and make it sound like the record even without a set list.

 

When I’m preparing for a show it’s just about having as much flexibility as possible so that you’re not caught in some kind of sophisticated karaoke routine. I do different things every night. Like here, this is a tiny show. And at a tiny show there’s no point in bringing a set, because it’s all about the connection. If you manage to put a little bit of personal touch in it then that’s more memorable than any spectacular set you can ever have.

 

Personal touches are what matter in a small show, says Mika.

 

How often do you do small shows?

I always put in a couple of small shows even when I’m doing big shows in the same run. The last one I did was probably two months ago. I think it’s really good in tour even though it costs a fortune. It’s expensive to do small shows. But they keep you sharp. It’s like exercise. Keeps your brain ticking. They keep you fresh and you can develop ideas without the pressure of a team of 45 people on top of you waiting for the next cue.

 

And what’s your process for prepping big shows?

It’s one that I’m going through right now developing a new arena show. It all starts in my kitchen and it’s about, what’s the message? If I had to write the message for a show, can I do it in one sentence? So the last time I did this was about seven months ago and the show was called Heaven. I’m at the gate of heaven and I couldn’t get in. It looks like this kind of Blade Runner landscape.

 

I presented this to a friend of mine, Job Smeets from Studio Job. They’re mega designers that do museum shows. And I’m like, this is my story, can you help me illustrate it? And between him, a group of fans in a village in Italy who are specialists in street theatre, Valentino Couture house, and Christian Louboutin, we all came together, and built the show. We make models, illustrations, and little videos, and all these elements show in a huge aeroplane hanger, and I sit at a table and put together the show with my team. And we pray to God that it’ll be good.

 

It doesn’t guarantee you commercial success, but it certainly guarantees you inspiration. It’s all in the process. I’ve been doing this for 10 years now – I’ve given myself the freedom but I’ve also had to pay the price for it as well. But it doesn’t really matter to me because the totality of it tells a story and helps me develop my own way of doing things.

 

What’s it like working with your mum on costumes?

The funny thing is when we are together no one would even think she’s my mum. We just work together. I’m the kid that ran away with the circus but took his entire family with him. It wasn’t really the idea, but it just happened that way (laughs). I work with her because she’s good. She’s an anti-snob. She doesn’t care if something’s expensive or cheap, as long as it’s good. And that’s why we wear everything, from Uniqlo to a Valentino couture suit that’s taken seven weeks to make, to a pair of converse with holes in it. She’s much more focused on style than fashion. Which is why she’s quite good.

 

Songs like All She Wants is about your mother, where you have lyrics like “all that she wants is another son”. How does she react to that?

She’s remarkably OK. As long as it’s constructive or creative she doesn’t care. If it was a tabloid, she’d kill me, but if it’s for something good and constructive she doesn’t care.

 

You’ve been on several TV shows, like X Factor (Italy) and France’s version of The Voice. How has that impacted your career?

Hugely. Crazy opportunities come out of that, although you make sure that everything that is created comes back to your artistic intentions. I would never have been able to do the symphonic concert (with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra last year) if I hadn’t been doing The Voice in France, which really resonated in Canada. It was easier for me just to cold-call them, through a friend, saying hey, would you guys like to do this.

 

You’ve done quite a few songs in French. How does the French music industry differ from the British scene?

The temperature’s just a little hotter when it comes to tendencies in stylistic preferences. So it’s more European; a little more towards Italy. In France, there’s much more tolerance within different niches, and it’s such an incredible touring market. They have African artists that sell out arenas, and that’s unheard of. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that France is actually one of the most culturally curious countries, with one of the best cultural appetites. But beyond all that I think there’s a change that’s happening in the UK.

 

Six years ago there was an irreverent, mean, kind of attitude that was so popular and that’s just died. And thank God that’s kind of going. With a less destructive opinion culture, you can be a lot more experimental. You can let strange things grow. And that is absolutely crucial because I just think we’re in a massive transition in the music industry and we’re still only a quarter of the way through it, if even that. The music icons of the future are going to be niche icons, that will be able to amass millions of fans around the world, just through the online platforms, nothing else. And they will be free to make the music they want.

 

How does the French language lend to songwriting?

It’s more percussive. But English is the best language to sing in. Absolutely. Italian is really hard to sing in. Chinese is really hard to sing in (laughs). I wouldn’t know. In French there’s more wordplay as well, you can get away with more poetic lines, saying things like “My heart of silex quickly catches fire and your heart a pirate resists it.” Like, in a pop song. It’s premium.

 

Thanks a lot!!  Very good interview - with relevant questions, and good answers... 

 

Love, love

me 

[Mikasister]

Hong Kong  

(and the article is in English yay  )

 

Young Post

http://yp.scmp.com/entertainment/music/article/102901/mika-reveals-his-love-dim-sum-why-small-gigs-are-important-and

 

Mika reveals his love for dim sum, why small gigs are important and how his mum reacted to his lyric “all that she wants is another son”

British singer Mika came to Hong Kong and spoke to Young Post about prepping shows, working with his mum and barbecue pork

By Melanie Leung  March 10, 2016

 

 

 

While Mika is famous for putting on dynamic, huge arena shows, he says tiny, intimate shows are the ones that keep him sharp.

 

Mika has a quirky look, but he’s pretty soft-spoken.

 

 

As flamboyant as Mika is on stage, backstage the British singer is soft-spoken with a thoughtful demeanour. Now at the age of 32, he’s never seemed more comfortable in his own skin. So why does No Place in Heaven sound so hopeless? “There’s no place in heaven for someone like me, there’s no place in hea ...” he croons in the song. But the lyrics pages might have gotten that last line wrong. Instead of a dragged on first syllable of “heaven”, Mika was singing “hell”. “So if there’s no place in heaven or hell that means I’m free,” Mika tells Young Post. “I’m liberated. The song is in a sense really horrible. It was partly written as a letter to my father that then turns into the father. You deal with the conflict by illustrating the conflict.”

 

With that settled, we discuss prepping shows, working with his mum, and French music.

 

How are you finding Hong Kong?

I was cooped up in my hotel room for the first 15 hours here doing all the press, and then afterwards I just walked around. I’ve been here many times. The thing about this place is that you guys have some of the best restaurants in the world. I just spend my time eating.

 

What’s your favourite thing to eat here?

Dim sum. There’s nothing like it. And barbecue pork. You dream of it when you’re eating that horrible [crappy] dim sum that you eat in London. And it’s so expensive in London.

 

You never listen back to your own music after you record it. So how do you prepare for a live show?

I designed a new system which is super geeky, but we use a sampling system which has pieces from every single song, from like a timpani sample to a girl’s “oooh” vocals. Which means that I can play any of my songs, from any of my albums, and make it sound like the record even without a set list.

 

When I’m preparing for a show it’s just about having as much flexibility as possible so that you’re not caught in some kind of sophisticated karaoke routine. I do different things every night. Like here, this is a tiny show. And at a tiny show there’s no point in bringing a set, because it’s all about the connection. If you manage to put a little bit of personal touch in it then that’s more memorable than any spectacular set you can ever have.

 

Personal touches are what matter in a small show, says Mika.

 

How often do you do small shows?

I always put in a couple of small shows even when I’m doing big shows in the same run. The last one I did was probably two months ago. I think it’s really good in tour even though it costs a fortune. It’s expensive to do small shows. But they keep you sharp. It’s like exercise. Keeps your brain ticking. They keep you fresh and you can develop ideas without the pressure of a team of 45 people on top of you waiting for the next cue.

 

And what’s your process for prepping big shows?

It’s one that I’m going through right now developing a new arena show. It all starts in my kitchen and it’s about, what’s the message? If I had to write the message for a show, can I do it in one sentence? So the last time I did this was about seven months ago and the show was called Heaven. I’m at the gate of heaven and I couldn’t get in. It looks like this kind of Blade Runner landscape.

 

I presented this to a friend of mine, Job Smeets from Studio Job. They’re mega designers that do museum shows. And I’m like, this is my story, can you help me illustrate it? And between him, a group of fans in a village in Italy who are specialists in street theatre, Valentino Couture house, and Christian Louboutin, we all came together, and built the show. We make models, illustrations, and little videos, and all these elements show in a huge aeroplane hanger, and I sit at a table and put together the show with my team. And we pray to God that it’ll be good.

 

It doesn’t guarantee you commercial success, but it certainly guarantees you inspiration. It’s all in the process. I’ve been doing this for 10 years now – I’ve given myself the freedom but I’ve also had to pay the price for it as well. But it doesn’t really matter to me because the totality of it tells a story and helps me develop my own way of doing things.

 

What’s it like working with your mum on costumes?

The funny thing is when we are together no one would even think she’s my mum. We just work together. I’m the kid that ran away with the circus but took his entire family with him. It wasn’t really the idea, but it just happened that way (laughs). I work with her because she’s good. She’s an anti-snob. She doesn’t care if something’s expensive or cheap, as long as it’s good. And that’s why we wear everything, from Uniqlo to a Valentino couture suit that’s taken seven weeks to make, to a pair of converse with holes in it. She’s much more focused on style than fashion. Which is why she’s quite good.

 

Songs like All She Wants is about your mother, where you have lyrics like “all that she wants is another son”. How does she react to that?

She’s remarkably OK. As long as it’s constructive or creative she doesn’t care. If it was a tabloid, she’d kill me, but if it’s for something good and constructive she doesn’t care.

 

You’ve been on several TV shows, like X Factor (Italy) and France’s version of The Voice. How has that impacted your career?

Hugely. Crazy opportunities come out of that, although you make sure that everything that is created comes back to your artistic intentions. I would never have been able to do the symphonic concert (with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra last year) if I hadn’t been doing The Voice in France, which really resonated in Canada. It was easier for me just to cold-call them, through a friend, saying hey, would you guys like to do this.

 

You’ve done quite a few songs in French. How does the French music industry differ from the British scene?

The temperature’s just a little hotter when it comes to tendencies in stylistic preferences. So it’s more European; a little more towards Italy. In France, there’s much more tolerance within different niches, and it’s such an incredible touring market. They have African artists that sell out arenas, and that’s unheard of. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that France is actually one of the most culturally curious countries, with one of the best cultural appetites. But beyond all that I think there’s a change that’s happening in the UK.

 

Six years ago there was an irreverent, mean, kind of attitude that was so popular and that’s just died. And thank God that’s kind of going. With a less destructive opinion culture, you can be a lot more experimental. You can let strange things grow. And that is absolutely crucial because I just think we’re in a massive transition in the music industry and we’re still only a quarter of the way through it, if even that. The music icons of the future are going to be niche icons, that will be able to amass millions of fans around the world, just through the online platforms, nothing else. And they will be free to make the music they want.

 

How does the French language lend to songwriting?

It’s more percussive. But English is the best language to sing in. Absolutely. Italian is really hard to sing in. Chinese is really hard to sing in (laughs). I wouldn’t know. In French there’s more wordplay as well, you can get away with more poetic lines, saying things like “My heart of silex quickly catches fire and your heart a pirate resists it.” Like, in a pop song. It’s premium.

 

 

He should try it in spanish, he does it really good and it's a good language to sing in. 

Edited March 10, 2016 by Mikasister

[Dreamy_Queen]

He should try it in spanish, he does it really good and it's a good language to sing in. 

 

Totally right! We witnessed him singing on the spot the Spanish text, that he saw for the first time. And he did it perfectly! 

[Mikasister]

Totally right! We witnessed him singing on the spot the Spanish text, that he saw for the first time. And he did it perfectly! 

 

And the LYL chorus in spanish. But bahh he's not interested. His 10 years of spanish were killed by his italian  

[missrully]

He should try it in spanish, he does it really good and it's a good language to sing in. 

 

Totally right! We witnessed him singing on the spot the Spanish text, that he saw for the first time. And he did it perfectly! 

 

I loved it when he sang TAY in Spanish. 

[krysady]

You’ve been on several TV shows, like X Factor (Italy) and France’s version of The Voice. How has that impacted your career?

Hugely. Crazy opportunities come out of that, although you make sure that everything that is created comes back to your artistic intentions. I would never have been able to do the symphonic concert (with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra last year) if I hadn’t been doing The Voice in France, which really resonated in Canada. It was easier for me just to cold-call them, through a friend, saying hey, would you guys like to do this.

 

   

 

Also no Como concert without XF and Sky 

[Mikasister]

 

 

I loved it when he sang TAY in Spanish. 

 

 

Me too.   and he's really good on it. 

[dcdeb]

   

 

Also no Como concert without XF and Sky 

 

 

Well, that goes both ways, doesn't it? I mean, who knows what great opportunities he's missed out on because he was tied up with X Factor and The Voice for so long?

 

Everything happens for a reason, I guess. But a person just can't know what might have happened if s/he chose path B instead of path A.

 

 

Great!! And we have a Chinese flag emoji too!  wait how to type this flag？ I cant find it  :China:  , no not working

 

It's not part of our smilies list yet -- Eriko just inserted that as an image. I'll add it.

[yang]

 

It's not part of our smilies list yet -- Eriko just inserted that as an image. I'll add it.

 

Thank you