PLANET OF LOVE MUSIC BY ANNSO
Today I interview, AnnSo, a half French half English singer-songwriter, living in Madrid and who is about to release her first EP called "Planet of Love".
Tell us about yourself.
Born in France, I moved to the Vanuatu in the Fiji islands when I was only a couple of months old. That was my very first international move... and not the last! I have always been moving and settling into new towns or countries... Starting from scratch every time and reinventing myself. From the Congo, the Ivory Coast and Belgium as a child, to France, the UK and even now very recently to Spain.
All of these experiences around the world inspired me and helped me grow as a person and as an artist. I was constantly meeting new people, all so different from the ones I knew previously, so different from my family, and so different to the ones I would meet after...all sharing their music and what it meant to them.
Classically trained as a child, I took the piano as my best friend. Thanks to my parents as a child I was greatly influenced by French music and classics from the 70s & 80s, with always a background of African music playing on the radio! The R&B early teen years in the Ivory Coast led me to listen to a lot of rap, when I had to move to France. For me the words were poetry and the messages & the pain were so strong, perfect for a teenager who just changed continents again.
My dancing years as a student made me change completely to house music and electro. From minimal to drum & bass and in the late hours, even to psychedelic trance music! The tempo did calm down a little but I'm still very keen on a good drop & an all night boogie. That’s why there are several influences in my music. For example on the song "Come With Me", we've used a bongo instead of drums, resonating with my African childhood. I wrote this song more than 10 years ago and I wanted it to be authentic with how I felt then.
Greatest inspirations or influences?
My greatest inspirations would be all the singers who sing with their soul. The first names that come to me are from the blues: Otis Redding or Norah Jones.
Tell us about your new clip, what is the message? My new (and first) clip is coming out mid-May and I'm beyond excited as the message behind it is very powerful: It's a song for the Planet and it's mostly about all small things one can do to participate to lower one's day-to-day pollution by living "A Simpler Way of Life", title of the song.
Tell us a bit about your creative process
In terms of process, I first hear a song in my head with lyrics, rhythm & melody. As soon as my brain processes that it's a song that I never heard before, the most important & probably the hardest thing to do is to record the melody somehow straight away or/and write the first draft of lyrics on a piece of paper. I then finish a verse and the chorus and sing it to my producer and co-writer Victoria Oldfield with whom I'll sit down for hours discussing the directions the music will take. Once we have the piano & lyrics down, the magic can start to operate...
Thoughts on how life is going to change moving forward?
I'm really hoping this video will help some people make the step to recycling for example, or buying locally and stop giving all their money to big supermarket groups that literally have killed local business, producers and small farms for oh-too many years. The rest of my EP will be released at the end of May so I hope to do a bit of promotion around that. I'm also thinking of the next songs I will write this year, as it doesn't look like artists are going to be able to perform anytime soon... I really want my next album to be in French so that will be quite challenging!
Favourite websites, publications, social media handles you follow?
I really like the French e -mag Konbini
I love the account @les.caracteres by Lison Daniel
@marinedequenetain's illustrations
singers such as @loudoillon , @yael_naim_ and gypsyfingers
and of course my DJ friend @baudml
Anything else?
In these difficult times of self isolation I can see 2 positive outcomes: First I'm really hoping for a general citizen wake-up call of realising how nature is important to our survival and that changing the ways we've been living with globalisation is crucial. Secondly, we've seen many artists continuing to create and even perform from their homes! We've never felt so close to them or to anybody else, than from behind our closed doors... I'm amazed by all this and I'm very positive that the 'after-corona' will be for the best.
Follow AnnSo, Merci ma belle!
