„The only silence I appreciate is the silence between the words during a conversation“
Nadia ist Schriftstellerin und Sängerin der französischen Post-Punk-Band Hanging Gardens. Im letzten Jahr hat die Künstlerin ihr erstes Buch veröffentlicht. Subliminale ist ein Gedichtband, viele der Texte begleiten die Musikstücke ihrer Band Hanging Gardens. Seit 2013 kreieren Nadia & Loïc mit ihrer Musik dunkle und hypnotische Klänge, eingehüllt in schwarze Poesie und dunkle Lebensgeschichten, und erschaffen damit ihren ganz eigen Sound.
Corps vides 4.0 ist die aktuelle Veröffentlichung des Duos. Nadias rezitierende Vocals und die nicht selten berauschend klingenden Gitarrenmelodien bilden einen Dialog aus Licht und Schatten – unglaublich fesselnd, melancholisch und ergreifend!
Herzlichen Dank für das Interview, Nadia!
Tell us a bit about yourself. How did you grow up? Was there a particular experience or moment that made you start writing?
I was born and grew up in the mining grayness of the “Bassin Houiller”, in the east of France on the German border. My parents immigrated in 1957 to this deep hole filled with ambient sadness for a young girl like me. From a very young age I never felt in tune with the world around me. A little stranger arrived at school, rejection then friendships between rejections. I had a Russian neighbour, she was old and a former teacher with whom I liked to spend my time and with whom I liked to talk about travel and music. For my 10th birthday she gave me a typewriter. I started romanticizing my life by typing and then writing in notebooks.
What topics are you currently drawn to in your work?
The news, the movements that hover around me, the vibrations of the moment, people, nature, music, painting, timeless encounters, everything that my mind can absorb to the point of disgust.
What are your thoughts about silence? What does silence mean to you? What do you associate with silence?
The only silence I appreciate is the silence between the words during a conversation. To be in a space without noise, without any sound, what is called „absolute silence“ for me is unbearable. I need to hear a minimum like the wind, the chirping of birds and try to recognize them, flowing water, I need to be alive in the living. So I associate the word silence with death.
How would you describe the visual aspect of silence?
Like black or green or blue paintings, sometimes red.
What impact do your surroundings have on your art? How important is nature to you? What role does nature play in your life and in your art?
The eternal rebirth, the beauty of life that you have to know how to see. We are constantly in motion with what surrounds us. Nature is the essential element to our existence like a mother. We feed on its land. In nature I am in my element. I like places with strong vibrations to be in total connection. It’s a way of recharging our batteries to better go back to civilization and find inspiration.
When did you first fall in love with sound?
It was when sitting in front of my radio cassette player one evening that the Doors song “Soul kitchen” came along. I was 15 years old, the text represented well my rhythm of life at that time and until high school. But before, when I was seven or eight, my father listened to a lot of Blues and Mahalia Jackson troubled me.
What is sound to you? What is the sound of silence/what does silence sound like?
Sound for me is a frequency, waves and these waves can vary. We can speak of sound vibration.
I answered this question a little and I will end up saying that one of the best interpretations of silence remains necessarily „The sound of silence“ by Simon and Garfunkel; the text summarizes your question. *smiley*
Which piece of music feels to you like silence turned into sound?
Hahaha I love this question because it is difficult… I would say the discovery of the tool, in the soundtrack of Stanley Kubrick’s A Space Odyssey.
How would you describe the world you are trying to create during your performances?
A world between reality and illusion. Like a pause in this perpetual movement. Take the audience into our universe, make words and stories vibrate in this bewitching and hypnotic music.
What artistic influences, outside of music, have had a significant influence on how you approach your art?
Generally, artists who have used their art to express their suffering as channeler like: Anaïs Nin, Frida Kahlo, Arthur Rimbaud, Jacques Brel, Joy Division, Vincent van Gogh … the list is long and diverse …
Recently your new EP „Corps vides 4.0″ came out. What inspired the music of „Corps vides 4.0“, and where did you get inspiration for your lyrics? How did the writing happen?
Obviously, containment. Everything changed in one move. Lots of anger, questions, doubts, sadness, what better way to be inspired! *smiley*
What’s next for you? What do you wish for & what are you most looking forward to?
Find a label, support in our creations. We are perpetually in search of sounds, of permanent evolution. It takes a lot of time because we are demanding. We would like to continue to breathe healthy in order to continue to exist through our music, to find and meet our audience.
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