Name: Tatiana Paris
Nationality: French
Occupation: Composer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, sound artist
Current release: Tatiana Paris's new album t h a l l e is out via carton.
Recommendations for France: I'm lucky enough to live near the Loire River, just a few minutes' walk away. And right in my garden, a ten-meter-high tufa hillside drops away. The region is full of troglodyte dwellings and vineyards. I feel like I'm finally putting down roots in this space of rock and terroir, me, the nomadic child. And the fact that this rock is made up of the remains of coccolithophores (literally shells) drives me crazy, brings me back to my unbearable lightness. The whole thing is sublime.
Topic I am passionate about but rarely get to talk about: Actually, I'm completely obsessed with geology, watersheds, and the water cycle. I love maps, exploring space, and understanding the different representations of the Earth's layers and how water shapes the landscape.

If you enjoyed this Tatiana Paris interview and would like to stay up to date with her music and current live dates, visit her on Instagram, and Facebook. 



For you to get started, do there need to be concrete ideas – or what some have called a 'visualisation' of the finished work? What does the balance between planning and chance look like for you?

To start making a record, I really like to think about it from a distance. For example, in the mountains.

I like to draw the overall shape of sides of a vinyl record and especially for thalle, I wanted to make an album that could be listened to while cooking with children in the same room. I have an image of the different materials I want to use and how I would like it to be arranged and interact. So I can start.

I navigate between precise writing and the wandering of collage and improvisation. For example, for the piece “Thalle I,” I first looked for the organ, then found the performer Rachel Langlais, and finally revised my score for recording after a first rehearsal.



For “Thalle II”, it was rather during the recording and after careful consideration that the instrument's construction in the Trinity Chapel inspired me to superimpose six minimalist chords in which the different stops gradually open up.



I already knew that I wanted two organ pieces, one for each side.

The opposite approach is a focus on a material, preparing the guitar and recording an improvisation around the discovery. I like to record my guitars, vocals and other materials alone because I couldn't welcome someone into my wanderings.

Do you have certain rituals to get you into the right mindset for creating? What role do certain foods or stimulants like coffee, lighting, scents, exercise or reading poetry play?

Poetry is part of my life and constantly reveals my desire to express the world through art.

Poetry proves to me the effect that art can have on our lives, its importance, especially in the extreme political times we are currently experiencing. It is also a demonstration of the power of sensitivity, of non-violence as a weapon of resistance. When I have a lot of work and I need to connect in all circumstances, poetry quickly opens the way for me.

In thalle, you can hear Marie Andrée Gill, Josephine Bacon and Pierrick Pagé, all poets. When I play live, I say the words of Audre Lorde, from Pirouettes.

What makes lyrics good in your opinion? What are your own ambitions and challenges in this regard?

I really like stripped-down, poetic, finely crafted lyrics. But also because singing in French was one of my challenges. This language seems heavier to me than English, less suited to prosody, less melodically expansive.

For “Canine,” I sing a love text message that was sent to me by my sweetheart, Pierrick Pagé, who reads a lot of poetry and writes it, too.



Saying his words allowed me to enter a more intimate space that I quite naturally avoid if I'm alone.

There are many descriptions of the creative state. How would you describe it for you personally? Is there an element of spirituality to what you do?

I like to record at night and in holiday areas, like at Christmas when everyone is busy. At those times, for me, there are empty spaces.

As a child, I lived in a caravan, and for me, listening is something very primal. At night, I can let certain states of being take hold, relinquish control. Often I play with my eyes closed and tilted back, my head falling backward. I feel like I'm rediscovering sensations from my childhood, when I had vocal trances.

I can't say I'm in a specific spiritual place, but rather that I let myself be carried along without naming it, and I just try not to be afraid. My path is more about acceptance without trying to understand.