Name: Oriane Lacaille
Nationality: French-Réunion   
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Recommendations: Book: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Americanah; Album: Alain Peters Parabolèr
Current release: Oriane Lacaille's new album iViV is out via Ignatub. She is also currently on tour. Catch her live here:



If you enjoyed this Oriane Lacaille interview and would like to keep up to date with her music, visit her official website. 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 often cry when I listen to music. I don't cry because I am sad, it's just that some harmonies and some rhythms overwhelm me.

I usually listen to music with my eyes open.

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist?

I always played music as long as I remember, with my father. He brought me on stage with him when I was 13 years old.

Through the years I started to build my own kind of music and began to be more and more confident.

I think that we are all artists, some are poets, some paint, some sing, and some don't let this part of them be free.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

It was my first steps on stage, all around the world with my father, René Lacaille.



I was learning fast, and observing a lot. We did some amazing featurings with Bob Brozman or Debashish Bhattacharya for exemple. It was inspiring to see them communicate so much through music, they were such amazing musicians!



Now I think that I am nourished by all those experiences, and it helps me to find my own way.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and what motivates you to create?

Creation is very important for me. It is not always easy. But when I feel the flow of inspiration, it is a sensation that is priceless. It also helps me let out things that I need to express.

My approach to music is very organic. And I also love sharing when it comes to creation. I think that it's richer when we are not alone to create.

To quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

I think that it's more discovered than created.

Most of the artists open something, I don't know how to call it, but it's open and it can receive many energies, thoughts and ideas.

Paul Simon said “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics - my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you define your personal sound?

During the studio sessions I listen to everything very precisely to be sure that it's ok for me. Then, when the album is released, I can listen to the overall sound and it's a great feeling when it arrives.

For me my personal sound is rhythmic and melancholic …

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? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

The most moving experience for me was to listen to a whale. I was on the coast and I heard her. It was so moving that I cried.

I think indeed that music is everywhere.

From very deep/high/loud/quiet sounds to very long/short/simple/complex compositions - are there extremes in music you feel drawn to and what response do they elicit?

I very much like when the lyrics and the music are opposed in some way.

For example, on my album there is a song “Li bat” which is talking about domestic violence but the music is a sweet trance.



I think that it makes us listen to both the lyrics and the music differently.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of one of your pieces, live performances or albums that's particularly dear to you, please?

The song “iViV” is an enumeration of places, people, traditional instruments, traditional music, traditional dishes of Reunion island. A non-exhaustive but sentimental list of different elements where my creoleness take place.




Leyla McCalla joined me to slip in a piece of her own list. We communicated our lists, which represent our memories and feelings about our creole heritage.

Do you conduct “experiments” or make use of scientific insights when you're making music?

I don't think so, or if I do use scientific insights it is totally without knowing!

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

Like I said earlier, my approach to music is very organic. It's not very intellectual. Even when I write, I let the words come out.

In life I try to be more like this. More spontaneous, more fear-free. I think that music can be a vector of many things, and it's different for everyone. But maybe music can allow us to be more attentive to our deep feelings.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

It depends on how you make and serve the coffee! If it's with all your heart, and if you want to make someone feel special when you give the coffee to them it can be like performing music.

Music is my way of expressing anger, sadness, love, and all massive feelings that I couldn't in everyday life. I can be kind of shy so it helps me!

Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a way that you can't explain?

Yes I have many! All the different forms of trance music from around the world.

If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

I would love for women and transsexuals to have more place in the music industry and also in bands!

Secondly, I love all the mixing cultures in life and arts. I hope that the crossbreeding will continue even more and that we'll hear music born from those mixes that will inspire people for living and create together.