Name: Celine Cairo
Nationality: Dutch
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Current Release: Celine Cairo's new album Panacea is out via Ivy.

If you enjoyed this Celine Cairo interview and would like to know more about her music, visit her official homepage. She is also on Instagram, and Facebook.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

I like to listen with full attention, it really relaxes my body. I will always focus on the music first and then the lyrics. I like to really take all the lyrics in, figure out what they mean, and when I think something is interesting, I often listen multiple times in a row to let it sink in.

I like listening with my eyes closed but in reality, a lot of time I'm doing things around the house or walking outside when I'm listening to music. So most of the time my eyes are open.

How do listening with headphones and listening through a stereo system change your experience of sound and music?

I prefer to hear music in a room, so not on headphones. I love having a bit of space for all the sounds to feel organic in my ear. I'm lucky to have a great system at home, as my partner is a producer and mixer so he's made sure everything's beautifully balanced.

I do find myself listening to music on my noise cancelling headphones when I'm travelling but I often find it too intense.

Tell me about some of the albums or artists that you love specifically for their sound, please.

I love the album Perfect Darkness by Fink.



It's made with mostly acoustic instruments, but I love how they've played with electronic effects and delays on those organic sounds.

[Read our Fink interview]

Do you experience strong emotional responses towards certain sounds? If so, what kind of sounds are these and do you have an explanation about the reasons for these responses?

For me, voices are everything. When an artist sings with a really open, emotional tone and delivers the lyrics in a way that feels true, that's the fastest way to tears for me.

I also love nature sounds in music, we've used whale sounds and bird song in my song “Feel“ for example.

There can be sounds which feel highly irritating to us and then there are others we could gladly listen to for hours. Do you have examples for either one or both of these?

I love the sound of rain.

And my favorite sound in the world is my dog drinking water. I'm obsessed haha and I always get emotional. I don't know why.

I'm really bad with loud, harsh voices in public. When I'm in a restaurant and there's someone close to me with a twangy, pitchy voice, I need to find another table or leave.

Are there everyday places, spaces, or devices which intrigue you by the way they sound? Which are these?

Obviously old churches. I love hiking in the south of Europe and I often visit old churches on my walks. I love singing softly when there's no one around.

I'm not religious but I often sense some kind of spiritual presence in those moments.

Have you ever been in spaces with extreme sonic characteristics, such as anechoic chambers or caves? What was the experience like?

I visited Dali's seaside home in Spain a few summers back, and there's a room in there which sounds really strange. He he had it built for his wife to listen to music I believe.

It was round and all stone, so everything gets mixed up and it really messes with your head – not great for music at all. It was interesting for a second but I got very nauseous haha

What are among your favourite spaces to record and play your music?

I love my living room, it's where I sing and play the most.

We have a really old Wurlitzer piano, and it's where I recorded some of the vocals on my album because I just feel very relaxed and at home there.

Do music and sound feel “material” to you? Does working with sound feel like you're sculpting or shaping something?

Absolutely. I sometimes feel like a song already knows what shape it wants to be, and then it's my job to figure out what that is.

Trusting my gut and removing things, then adding things and removing them again – for me it feels a bit like working on a clay object.

It's not only adding or removing, it's an organic process and everything is changeable until you decide it's finished.

How important is sound for our overall well-being and in how far do you feel the "acoustic health" of a society or environment is reflective of its overall health?

Interesting question. For me, leaving my hometown Amsterdam to go and live more in the countryside had a huge impact on my wellbeing.

Although there are downsides, I really do enjoy a quieter, more natural sonic surrounding. Here, I hear a lot more birds and the big city noise is entirely gone.

I can's speak for other people, but for me that's been a really great change.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds?

I had a strange experience a few years back.

When I was in London for a few days for writing, I noticed that I hadn't heard a bird sing for days. Lost in the city noise, it was as if I was completely cut off from the natural world. It wasn't until I heard a bird sing a few days later, in North London, that I realized how eerie it had felt, being so sucked into the traffic, the buzzyness, my headphones.

I ended up writing my song “Bird Song“ about the experience.



Many animals communicate through sound. Based either on experience or intuition, do you feel as though interspecies communication is possible and important? Is there a creative element to it, would you say?  

Absolutely. Having a dog, I communicate with him daily and on some level I feel we really understand each other. My mom has befriended two blackbirds in her garden, she calls out to them and feeds them and they've been coming back for years now.

So yes I feel strongly we are all connected, and sound is an important part of our communication.

Tinnitus and developing hyperacusis are very real risks for anyone working with sound. Do you take precautions in this regard and if you're suffering from these or similar issues – how do you cope with them?

Luckily I don't have any issues but I take good care of my ears.

I never go to concerts without hearing protection, and I keep my monitors and headphones on lower levels consistently, so I don't get used to ever increasing volumes.

We can surround us with sound every second of the day. The great pianist Glenn Gould even considered this the ultimate delight. How do you see that yourself and what importance does silence hold?

Silence is very important to me. I don't listen to a lot of music and love a quiet house. When I listen to music, I listen intentionally, I rarely play music in the background.

I think more clearly in silence and enjoy my own humming every once in a while haha. I sing a lot when I'm home alone.

Seth S. Horowitz called hearing the “universal sense” and emphasised that it was more precise and faster than any of our other senses, including vision. How would our world be different if we paid less attention to looks and listened more instead?

We'd probably all slow down in life. As soon as you focus on sounds, it becomes unpleasant to be in traffic and noisy environments I think.

I'd love a world in which we'd listen to each other more, and choose more carefully when and how we make sound.