The Doc's Interviews!
It's now on
Vinitaim!
but it's better than it was last week so uh i'm glad we could move some things to today okay so great crossfinger because i know that november is coming very soon right now and you have so many gigs and so on so i
hope it's better to go to go on stage uh with nothing i just tell myself like it's good that i get this flu now yeah of course now maybe i'm resistant to it
I just take a couple of minutes of your time and of course again thank you so much for accepting this invitation.
It's a great pleasure to speak about these new records.
My pleasure.
It's great to know that you're coming back on stage.
I'm excited about it.
And I see the date in Paris with Vola,
it's maybe sold out in a couple of days.
be great to see again you and vola playing in the petit bar which look like a funny funny funny venue but uh yeah it's maybe uh totally sold out in one or two days so congratulations yeah thank you i hear it's a boat yes
yes it's near it's clear it's on the sand just uh near to uh to paris bercy as you know but yes yes yes and maybe when a lot of people playing you see on stage that something is moving like this
I'm very curious.
So I don't make any pressure right now,
but yes,
if you have a lot of people on it,
each time it looks like,
yeah,
jumping and so on.
So it looks like something like a little bit moving like a boat.
But it's a great venue because a lot of people prefer to see a lot of bands right now in a small venue like the Petit Bain.
I think for a band point of view,
it's better to see everybody with a big.
laugh each time because it's really near so uh yeah now it's not uh like uh 50 000 people uh around the the venue and nobody listen or something like that it's clearly the the good people and the
people who wants to see you on stage in fact so yeah it's a it's a good venue but uh let's let's talk about the boat yes uh maybe i just starting few few words in french to that is english you
It's a great pleasure to welcome
Charlotte Wessel,
if I pronounce it right,
to La Flamande,
to talk about her new album,
The Obsession,
which is in the back since September 20,
via Napalm.
There are really very,
very good songs,
there are good comparisons.
And then,
of course,
you understood,
there is a tour coming.
Charlotte,
thank you so much again for accepting my invitation.
It's a great,
great pleasure to speak about
The Obsession,
the coming back on stage.
so many things right now.
So how do you feel after this release and do you have some pressure with the tour which is coming a couple of days now?
Thanks for having me first of all,
it's my pleasure.
Yeah,
I feel very excited that the album is finally out,
that people can listen to it and enjoy it.
I've been getting great responses so far.
We've spent a lot of work.
getting everything together for this album and for the singles and for the videos.
So now that the album is out,
of course,
the next logical step is to bring it to the people on the stage.
We've got a sold out release show and then we've got a tour coming up with Vola in November.
So we're all very hyped up.
I can say that.
Yeah.
It's looked like a good end of 2024,
by the way,
Charlotte,
because.
as you said we you share a lot of music before this release of obsession you share a lot of particular uh a voice with coming with simone simons with aliza with gross and a lot of people following you to see what is the next step after this single and everything and
now that you said a few seconds you uh
I just know that if I don't let her in,
she will keep complaining.
I have a dog and I have some fish,
but not a cat.
Ah,
yeah.
I'm just coming back about this question.
You said a few minutes to share.
many singers with similar experiences with blues,
people discover this music now we discover that something is really personal and
I see a lot of feedback provided by a lot of fans who follow you since so many times.
I think you are more comfortable right now because this one is really a personal album with a lot of friends on it now.
Most definitely,
yeah.
It has both of those elements,
both the introspection and being very personal in the lyrics and the story that the album tells.
But then at the same time,
it is also an album that is characterized by a lot of cooperation,
the collaboration with...
with my band,
I've been working on the arrangements with Timo who plays the guitars a lot.
Everyone did wonders on their performance of the parts,
with Vic Ramchankar for the orchestral arrangement and the additional key arrangements as well,
with Aliso,
with Simone.
All of those guest appearances were also felt like really full circle and felt like it had to be like that for those songs.
To the cellos by Eliana and to the gospel choir.
It has both of those things.
The songs come from a very personal...
place and
I've done that introspection in the songwriting phase but after that you know we came into a new phase of collaboration and also just a lot of joy in recording the album and I yeah I hope that people will be able to hear both when they listen to the record.
Pretty sure and after that of course I think you're thinking not only about this record because we have some different invite right now but you thinking about the the show clearly because we have
play some songs like Dopamine tomorrow on stage and it would be a challenge because this is more what you shared before.
So when you create this song do you have some particular thinking not only on this release but again if you want to play something like this on stage or you can manage both this records approach and maybe
I don't know if it's on the playlist right now but maybe I'm pretty sure.
Or you can share this particular song because you have a different invite on this.
Yeah,
I usually do think about...
It does change my songwriting a little bit,
whether I am just writing something that I think will live on Patreon and that will not end up on an album,
that I will not play live.
Like if I know,
like for this record,
I knew...
I was working very intentionally with the album in mind when I was writing these songs and I was also working very intentionally with the goal of performing those songs live after the album dropped so of course
I think about how we can do this live and like both of these songs in the first version
They didn't have the features yet,
so I know how to cover them when I'm just on my own.
So that works,
of course.
They're much cooler with Simone,
they're much cooler with Elisa.
But
I can still sing them when they're not there on stage with me,
so that is great.
But yeah,
it does make a difference whether I know if I'm writing for songs that will be performed live or not.
You make different choices.
difficult right now because we have a lot of songs to be listened by the people.
So it would be not so easy to find the best approach but you are not on the opening act so it's really difficult to select the song right now.
It's something that maybe you are prepared to share.
Of course,
some songs about the obsession but some other songs I would like to say.
We'll be mostly playing songs from The Obsession I think.
Maybe there's one or two from
Tales that will also slip in,
but I think,
like,
I really feel like I'm reintroducing myself and like we are reintroducing ourselves with this album.
So yeah,
so this is what I want to focus on.
we've got i think we've got like 45 minutes on the tour the album is a little longer than that uh um you can play everything i cannot play any everything unfortunately because also some songs we play you know we have intros and outros and longer solos like the songs are like a little bit different where we play them live so uh but
people will just have to see about that themselves of course maybe we're coming back i have
one question regarding something that you share on Facebook because I like one moment but I would like to speak before about the title the exorcism with the powerful tracks both with the lyric and musically can you explain the story or the theme behind this song?
Sure
The Exorcism is very much about kind of parts in yourself which give you trouble.
And for me,
like,
I wrote it when,
you know,
I've been going through therapy on and off,
you know,
through my teenage years and thinking that I was done and then...
you know a few years later you kind of fall back again and then things happen in your life and and you something new arises it it's kind of about these these demons in you that
you feel like okay i've done the work i've expelled them but then they kind of keep coming back and the song the exorcism is about this process of kind of
exercising these demons again and again and about wondering whether it will ever be the last time that you exercise them or whether it will be something that you'll just have to keep doing all of your life in different shapes
or forms um yeah about that
It's one of my favorite songs on this record so that's why I would like to know.
It's mine as well,
yeah,
it's my favorite song on the record.
I mean,
I know that this sounds heavy but
I do love the way the song turns out and I also love performing it.
It's very cathartic,
especially sometimes with topics which are a little bit heavier.
It can be really...
Yeah,
it's coming from the art.
Yeah,
it can be really impactful to let it out through music.
and because i just i would like to speak about the vinyl and so on because uh i follow you on facebook in so many times and i your faces when you open the the the back with coming from napalm and you share this vinyl and the fantastic t-shirt and so on i see you so
smiling since so many times i said wow i just buy the vinyl i put the vinyl on my my table behind me and i prefer to listen your obsession on vinyl and not on cd because
I'm feeling better to listen to your voice,
what is created.
And do you think it's the same for you?
Do you listen to this vinyl and not the side?
Sometimes it's strange.
I've not listened to the vinyl yet.
My record player is in a room now where I don't really listen to it.
So I'm thinking of moving it back to the living room so I listen to it more.
I listen to a lot of music digitally,
which I know is...
even worse um but uh yeah i do i do agree nothing really goes above listening to vinyl it's you know the just the action that you have to do for it just
uh it has a certain it feels romantic and cozy i think listening to vinyl in a way that a lot of other other ways of consuming music don't so
Yes,
it's because I'm so old now I prefer vinyl.
Yeah.
Hey,
it's making a comeback,
like all the kids are buying vinyl.
Yes,
yes,
but
I listen and I think it's a little bit different but maybe because I'm sitting,
I'm listening to the vinyl many times and yeah I really appreciate the vinyl and when I see you sharing this video and with a large smile and so on and you discover something like a new baby in fact,
no?
Yeah,
very much.
You work on it for such a long time and then when it comes out it's always very special.
One thing I do like about the CD is that it's got the booklet.
This is also very nice to unpack but it's always unpacking the first CD,
unpacking the first vinyl is always a special moment for sure.
Before we end because we have a small slot and I prefer to speak quickly about this touring that is coming because as you know you come in France with Pola and maybe this venue is called Petit Bas,
it's maybe turning
sold out so a lot of people after you you're coming back on stage would like to see you again with vola it's a great great uh great news now because you have a lot of french fan now it's uh the fan is everywhere but uh i know that a lot of people in france waiting you're coming back oh
i cannot wait until we get to perform my little bit and um i don't know we've always like i have very warm memories of performing in france performing in paris
So I hope to see some familiar faces,
it would be absolutely wonderful.
And
I hope that the French audiences will enjoy the Obsession a lot and maybe come see it live,
that would be great.
Charlotte,
before we end,
my last question is regarding,
again,
this fantastic cover of your CD,
Vinyl,
because it looks like a fantastic cover for a coming back.
Or we have this idea to create this cover because it's so red,
so white and we see your face is so happy.
Where is coming this idea for the cover?
Who has this idea?
So we did the photo shoot and the video shoot for the exorcism and chasing sunset at the same time.
With the idea that all the scenes in the videos would...
have this kind of photographic quality to them that all of them could kind of be like cover photos in their own right so we worked on a lot of different scenes uh tim tronco is the photographer but like i should also mention uh
uh claire stewart who was a videographer and nina who was the scenographer uh so there's always many people involved in something like this you know and then
of course we had Lidewei who's a dancer who did like the who's pushing through the fabric next to me on the cover she was like the personification of of the demon so we had different ideas for different scenes um that
we conceptualized together with this team team and that was the basis of like the photos but then from the photos of course it um
was still adjusted into the collage on the front cover.
And this collage is the work of another Nina.
There's two Ninas in the team.
Nina from
Studio Detour.
And she's a collage artist and she's worked with the entire artwork,
like combining the photos that we made during that shoot with different elements to make it into...
And I was kind of attached to the oval shape.
So she worked with these different kind of images to make the cover as it is now.
I really adore the cover and I really adore everyone's signature,
how they worked on it and made it happen.
So yeah,
I'm very glad with how it turned out.
This cover is clearly you.
Earth,
wind,
sea,
you in the middle.
So it's clearly what you share in so many years right now.
It's clearly you in fact on this cover.
Yes it is,
yeah.
Charlotte,
thank you so much for your time this afternoon to speak about the obsession who is coming since the 20th of September and of course we wait to see you again on stage with Bola everywhere and of course at the Petit Bain.
Before we ending Charlotte,
do you have maybe some French words for the French listener?
merci beaucoup no i i i have to practice and polish off my french word i promise that i will speak some french uh during the show uh for now yeah like i said thank you so much and i hope i hope to see everyone soon or revoir and
maybe at the little yeah again thank you so much for this interview and thank you so much for your coming back with obsession it's uh really
good good good one and again crossfinger for the tour charlotte and enjoy each moment thanks so much you have a great evening over there and hopefully see you soon goodbye see you in petit