Name: Margaux Gazur
Occupation: Composer, musician, producer, DJ
Nationality: French-Vietnamese
Current release: Margaux Gazur's new album Blurred Memories is out via Smallville.

If you enjoyed this Margaux Gazur interview and would like to stay up to date with her music, visit her official homepage. She is also on Instagram, Soundcloud, 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?

When I listen to music I feel emotions, I feel shivers in my body when the music touches me. I see memories, landscapes, places, people, I imagine how the sounds where made.

Depending on the place, moment or type of music, I mainly listen to music with my eyes open but also like to listen to music with my eyes closed, lying down.

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

I actually stopped listening to music with headphones a few years ago. I started having tinnitus and since then, I've become very careful. I kind of forgot the feeling of it.

I think I’ve always preferred listening on stereo system, the music takes on another dimension with space.

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

Rabih about-Khalil's Blue Camel is a beautiful oriental jazz album.

Every time I listen to it, it takes me back to my childhood.



My parents were listening to this a lot at home, you feel like you are riding a camel in the Sahara. And it has such a beautiful cover, embossed in blue and gold.

Recently I discovered the project called Flock, amazing contemporary jazz, they made two albums that came out on Strut, both super nice.



More artists that I love who have their own sound and I think I could listen to them forever: Jon Hassell, Carlos Nino, Jonny Nash, Pharoah Sanders, Connan Mockasin … but there are so many more.

[Read our Carlos Niño interview]
[Read our Flock's Sarathy Korwar interview]
[Read our Flock's Bex Burch interview]
[Read our Flock's Danalogue 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?

What touches me the most is organic sound, it makes me feel emotional, happy or nostalgic, like having a big hug. By organic I mean sounds that are subtle, warm, soft even if they can be powerful at the same time, like acoustic instruments, objects, nature ... but they can also be created by electronic instruments.

I'm not really sure why I experience it that way. I have always been quite sensitive to sounds and noises and I can easily be disturbed by a sound that feels too sharp, too cold, too dark, too digital, too loud, too intense (to my taste of course).

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 could listen for hours to sounds related to ‘water’.

When I was living on Guadeloupe, we would go to La pointe des Chateaux, which is the tip of the island, almost every day to watch the powerful waves crashing on the cliff. I also love the sound of the sea when I am underwater, it creates a very round sound which I think I unconsciously recreate in my music.

When I was living in Vietnam, I loved listening to the monsoon rain and sometimes I would put on a monsoon soundscape as a background when I couldn’t fall asleep.

On the contrary, I feel like city noises can sometimes be irritating. I now live in Berlin, which is actually a quiet city in general, but I think the sound of the ambulances and police cars is louder than I ever experienced in other countries.

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

I'm very sensitive to the sounds which surround me and I love to play with objects and any sounds from daily life.

I think the kitchen is one of my favourite places with kitchen utensils, ingredients, metallic, glass or wood objects, combining textures, the sound of pots against each other.

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

Hanoi was a very interesting place with extreme sonic characteristics. It is a very noisy city, very recognisable from the motorbikes, honking, people shouting. If you focus on the details, there are so many interesting sounds.

For example, there was a lady selling food in the street and I liked the sound of her knife moving on a cutting board, the sound of a lid on a pan, scissors cutting spring rolls, the metallic sound of an old bike, the voices of people on the street … everything in this chaos created an amazing soundscape.

Vietnam inspired me a lot in my music.

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

I don't have a favourite place to record, I love recording any sounds that catch my attention, I like to be surprised by them.

I think the most interesting sounds are the ones you don't expect. I love playing in nature - I feel my music takes on another dimension there.

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

Yes making music is sculpting and shaping. That's why I like using surrounding sounds and objects, it feels like you are sculpting sounds of every day life, you are shaping them by the way you move or touch them.

Using the environment as an instrument is a vast source of inspiration.

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?

I guess it depends on each individual. But I think environmental sounds are definitely affecting people for the good or bad.

City noises can become real sonic pollution, creating stress and difficulties to wind down - which is often reflecting in big cities.

The idea of a relaxed life or holiday is often connected to nature.

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 Hanoi, there were crazy lightnings and storms during the Summer, I have never seen something similar anywhere else. You could really feel the power of nature.

We were watch the lightnings for hours, listening to the loud crackling, rumbling and booming sounds.

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?  

I think communication between species is possible through sounds, emotions, signs and more.

It is very important to stay connected to what's around us. It is definitely an infinite source of inspiration.

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?

I have had tinnitus for many years. When I first realised I had it, I immediately started being very cautious, wearing custom made earplugs when there was loud music. I probably had it for longer than I thought as I had rarely silence around me.

I stopped drinking alcohol and started taking on a very healthy life style - it helps to reduce it.

I am listening to music quietly, I got used to it and it is actually more enjoyable. People usually think we need to listen to music loud to feel it but that's not true, and you are just damaging your ears. You just need to train you ears to listen less loud and you will enjoy it even more.

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?

Since I have tinnitus, I realised how important silence is and weirdly since then, I've created a lot more silence around me, even though it's never totally silent for me, as I have the ringing in my ears.

I think it's very important to have rest for your ears (and your brain) and listen to the silence. We live in a time where we always feel the need for something to entertain us - when cycling, driving, walking, being in the metro, there's always something in our ears. I stopped using earphones/headphones since a few years and realise how nice it is to not cut myself from the surroundings.

It's a shame you only realise the important of silence when you can't have it any more.