Elodie-O - by Paolo De Gregorio
francophilic delight

Refined music critics from any corner of the world love to use French words like "chanteuse" in their reviews to describe charming lady singers - and charming lady singers love to be described that way. The simple fact of being called "singer" in French rather than in English or any other language adds a whole new "je ne sais quoi" to the raw meaning of the word. An aura of light melancholy, elegant pensiveness, balanced reaction to feelings, and a sophisticated, intelligent beauty. This must be why it's always a welcome word. In the case of Elodie O, even the roughest music critic would use it: Elodie is in fact Parisian, she's a singer, and that aura perfectly fits her music. The only surprising element here is that this chanteuse doesn't perform behind a piano or an acoustic guitar. Elodie's music is a refined combination of sparse, carefully chosen electronic sounds and - naturally - a beautiful whispery voice with a charming French accent.

How did you find your way to NYC?

I was trained as a dancer then worked as an actress and always played music (cello).
Since I was seven I was fascinated by the idea of musicals, the film versions, the good ones from the 50’s and 60’s. So i always wanted to do something where image and music would be working together.
In Europe there isn’t this tradition of “musicals”. I want to be very careful with that word because here people think broadway now, wich I hate... this is not what I mean, i think magical movies like “West Side Story”, movies with Fred Astair....So in Europe those three art forms (dance music theatre) don’t really mix. Either you are a dancer or a musician or an actor...So over there I studied those three forms and worked as a dancer and an actress but that was not it for me. Ihad to go and figure out what was the deal with musicals.
Originally I wanted to go to London but after a summer workshop at nyu , they gave me a scholarship for a full year. I got a scolarship from the French government as well so I thought I’ll try NY.
Of course I hated the whole commercial “musical thatre scene” here. It’s funny it’s an art form that got completly stuck somewhere and never evolved.

Since the advent of Air and Daft Punk, Paris has developed a quite interesting and successful electronic pop scene... what keeps you here?

I love the mixed of people and influences here. Also the fact that you can't hide behind your cultural or social background to define who you are. As far as the music scene is concerned, there are great things in France but the live scene is not really happening and also it’s a very very small world, a lobby, it’s totally about who you know and where you come from and I can’t stand that, it’s not really open minded, people have preconceived ideas about everything and I find that very anti creative. I miss good bread and cheese....

Tell us about Nublu and your "permanent residency" there.

I got totally inspired by this place and I think it brought a lot to my music. The mix of electronic and acoustic elements, the mixture of influences (jazz, Brazil, pure electro...), I think Nublu is really awake as far as new musical waves. I will have a record out on Nublu records soon, so this residency is a way for me to build my music and my crowd. It’s great!

Your record is extremely well produced. How did it come together?

The record you have is an LP that I recorded in France in a pretty good studio. I worked a lot at home first on my 8 track and then on my Protools. My brother did a lot of the drum programming with me and the rest I pretty much did myself playing some instruments or editing a couple tracks played by some friends.
I also worked a bit with my producer friend Chris Castagno.

How do you relate to the "virtual" element introduced by computers?

Love it. I discover and learn something new every day. It gives you so much freedom.

Aren't you puzzled by the incredible amount of possibilities that electronics applied to music open up?

No, because I don’t have much to work with and I like it like that. I don’t use any sampling programs for now - I just use my Protools, my keyboards. When I run out of inspiration it’s always good for me to get a new instrument, even if it’s a $20 Casio.

What are the plans for the future? Working on a new record?

The new record will come out hopefully in the spring. It will be under Nublu records. Some of the songs from the LP will be on there as well since it never really came out officially. I think it’s going to be really interesting because the “live” experience brought a lot to the music. For the next one I want to recreate more of the live version of the music, meaning really trying to give it more of a band feel and also the challenge of mixing the electronic drums and the live drums.

www.elodieo.com