Missed the chance to meet and catch Charles-Baptiste live in action last week? The French pop singer and dandy DJ swung by our island for a free live concert on Apr 21, as part of the Voilah! French Festival Singapore happening Apr 1-May 5. We sat down for a chat with the rising star to talk music, French culture, and the all-important topic: local food.
Welcome to Singapore! What did you do while you were here?
Ate a lot, drank a lot! So many parts of Asia are gathered in Singapore…which makes it super exciting when it comes to both activities.
Favourite Singaporean dish you tried?
It’s not really Singaporean, but I am such a big fan of Din Tai Fung that I went twice over two nights, to taste their legendary pork truffle xiao long bao! With a bowl of dan dan (noodles) on the side, of course.
Tell us a bit more about what you’re currently up to with your music.
Music for me is about traveling with your mind, and recently I have discovered that it is also a way to travel physically all over the world! Even though I am currently based in Paris and I was born in the deep countryside, it has been (so exciting) to be perpetually touring in the last few years – performing and deejaying in Mongolia or Peru, in the Balkan region or all over South-East Asia. It has actually been a fabulous way to move forward with the songs of my first album, which had been released in 2014 – my French cover of Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky”, two remixes of “Non Negociable” for Korean label Le French Code, and to premiere my new work-in-progress songs from my upcoming LP.
How did you first get into music and DJ-ing?
I started getting into music when I realised that I would get nowhere with girls if I didn’t find something of my own… and that involved acting crazy on a stage haha! I’ve taken (up) DJ-ing recently, dedicated only to French music, as people don’t know much and enough about it. France is more well-known for its luxury brands than for its pop music, although there is so much to discover apart from Daft Punk and Edith Piaf—from Michel 3 Legrand to Maitre Gims and Juliette Armanet, Martin Circus, Francis Lai, Gesaffelstein and Joakim.
Charles Baptiste. Photo credit: Marie Lopez-Vivanco
Why the classical influences in your music?
Because I was supposed to become a classical concert pianist when I was a teenager, and I never forgot how much orchestras can make me feel both powerful and defenseless.
What aspects of French culture do you bring, or like to reflect, in your music?
It is something about being witty and elegant, while never forgetting to complain! It is about feeling good with nostalgia and guilty for happiness. I call it “dancefloor melancholia”.
What do you think the Singapore arts and music scene (or the global scene, if you’re more familiar with that) can learn from French culture?
(We have) an approach that is based on being obsessed with the past, to make the most modern sound possible. It is all about making kitsch chic again.
What do you like most about traveling or touring in Asia?
The food (think crispy chicken Sichuan style, Korean BBQ, Beijing roasted duck, sauteed noodles Singapore style, Japanese ramen)! No really, more than the food, it is always about the people, and the people in Asia are always so nice with us. Whether it’s Hong Kong or Kuala Lumpur, Ulan-Bator or Seoul, you can feel that people in Asia, when they go out, they are always ready for excitement and partying, and want to live the best out of the night. And that is definitely the best gift you can receive from an audience as a singer!
What’s in the near future for you as an artist?
I am in the process of making, but my quest is about diving into the modern sound—by working with new producers who work mainly in the hip-hop and future (genre). I am much less involved in arrangements today than I used to be; I want to be part of something that does not all belong to me—goodbye control freak, now it’s about giving back. On my part, which are the lyrics, I am trying to invent a new way of writing; I think with all that is going on in the world, things cannot be said the same way as they used to. Also due to the fact that people don’t listen to songs anymore—they mainly watch them, and therefore the words cannot double as the image—you have to invent a language that goes beyond the image, that brings the viewer or listener intimately further and further in both your personal story and the universal yearning. In terms of topics, I know it will deal with the madness of the world and with the only possible answer to that: love.
If you weren’t making music as a career, what would you be doing?
I was born in a very small village in the Pyrenees Mountains in the South-West of France near the Basque country. I guess I would have become a shepherd or a mountain guide—perpetually climbing the rocks, always trying to reach new heights… Not very different from being a musician, as a matter of fact!
