Tamino's Interview
The courage of melancholy
– Hello Tamino. Do you think that, for once, we could do an interview without evoking Jeff Buckley?
– Oh!?... I don't know. Maybe.
– It's your choice. Shall we speak of him or shall we not?
– If it’s my choice I prefer to speak of my music and not of other artists.
– Because I think people speak of him with you very very often. (he agrees)
Very well. Your 1st LP is released on October 19th, can you talk about it? Will it have the same ‘colour’ as your excellent EP released last April?
– Thank you. Yes, I recorded with the same producers. It’s the same ingredients. We also recorded with an Arabic orchestra, whose people live in Belgium but come from Arabic countries. Some of them are refugees. They are magnificent musicians. I’m very happy and honoured they have played on my album.
– On several tracks?
– Several yes: "Sun May Shine", "So It Goes", "Indigo Night", "Each Time", "Intervals".
And I sing, I play the guitars, the piano, the bass and a little oud. And my drummer of tonight, that you’re going to see, did all the drums. Yes, it’s the same ingredients, but naturally other songs.
– You're 21. What does it mean for you? Has age a meaning for you, an influence over your songwriting?
– On my songs, definitely. Because I think the themes in the lyrics are influenced by the fact I’m 21. All the things I’m doing are first times: in life, in my career, in love... You can feel it in the lyrics.
Also in the lyrics there is an opposition between romanticism and nihilism. The 2 fight each other. They are 2 extremes which are in my life but also in my music.
– It can be felt well.
As it happens, in your imagery and in your songs, you like to play with dark and light, maybe that’s the romanticism/nihilism opposition. There's a song from one of my favourite English bands, the Mission, which says "Sometimes the brightest light comes from the darkest place". What do you think of it?
– Yes, a lot of people tell me "You write very dark songs, are you a very dark person?" I always say: No I’m not very dark every day but because I’ve got the courage to see melancholy and sadness in the eyes, I think it makes me stronger.
– Do you need courage for that?
– Yes. If you can’t look at those things in the eyes, I think they’ll make you darker because you don't deal with them. If you hide them away, they will come back for you. I like melancholy; I can become happy hearing a melancholic song.
– I understand very well, for I can too.
I find a religious aspect in your music, although I can't really manage to explain why or how. Can you?
– It’s cool you say that because I am not religious, not in the classical sense of the meaning, but I think I am spiritual. I like transcendence, I believe in that; I think people have the possibility to do things that uplift them. And that’s what I feel in my concerts, the good concerts, when everybody is here, in the moment, with me. Everybody uplifts, and I think it’s something spiritual. But I don’t want to say I’m a prophet. The people do it themselves, if they are open in their head... But it isn’t in a hippie way. I think if you are open in your head, you can be much more in the moment in life, much more in the present.
– Can you tell us how you met Colin Greenwood [Radiohead]?
– We’ve got same friends living in Antwerp and who brought Colin to a concert of mine and he liked it. And then...
– Did he contact you?
– After the concert he came up to me, he bought my record, and he was very kind and we talked of it and then he came to a 2nd concert of mine. And then I contacted him to play on my record. He played on "Indigo Night". Bass. He’s great.
– I propose you to have a look at the list of the albums reviewed in japprecie. Which ones do you know? Which ones do you like?
– I know Agnes [Obel]. Very cool musician.
– I expected you on this one. I was sure she was the one who...
– She’s fantastic. The others I don’t know. Ah, the Mission, I’m going to have a look. I know Franz Ferdinand, but I’m no big fan. Tom McRae, somebody told me I should check.
– I confirm. I think you may like Rover too. He’s French but he sings all in English, and he has a voice too, he goes down in the deep very tough and he goes up with his head voice...
Do you have some more to suggest to Appreciators?
– If you like absurd, weird and a bit heavy rock, you can look for Raketkanon.
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– How do you deal with time, duration, in your songs? And in your concerts too?
– When I write a song, I don’t think of the format. Never. But for the concerts I must think of it, because if we must play for one hour, we must mark how many songs we must play. I choose the songs which are best for this venue. -
• Hamza El Din (Egyptian oud player and vocalist)
• Khalil Gibran (Lebanese poet)
• Lee Hazlewood (American singer, songwriter, and record producer) -
Seagulls
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The sentence
“Romanticism and nihilism are 2 extremes which are in my life but also in my music.”
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him
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...And now, listen!
- www.deezer.com/en/artist/11121068 (818 Hits)
- open.spotify.com/artist/3IWdvItNhmdo282Wwp0CwH (358 Hits)
- www.youtube.com/channel/UCzoO5qFoT-7w7o7f1QqhOpA (245 Hits)
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TagsAgnes Obel | melancholy | transcendence | Raketkanon | Colin Greenwood | Tamino | interview | concert | dark
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Created28 September 2018
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Words recorded on September 15th 2018 within the scope ofl Hop Pop Hop Festival.
Thanks to Tamino, Delphine (Webpromo), Martingale team and l’Astrolabe.