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Let's talk about music! Interview with Valentine Spindler
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In this episode, Satsunami is joined all the way from France by indie music composer and singer Valentine Spindler! From music gigs to life after lockdown, join the duo as they discuss the highs and lows of the music world.
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Appearance
00:00:05
Speaker
Welcome to Chatsunami.
00:00:17
Speaker
Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of Chatsunami. My name's Chatsunami and joining me today all the way from France is the one and only Valentine. Val, welcome to Chatsunami. Thank you for having me. No, it's a pleasure having you because one of our mutual friends who goes by the name Wonko the Sin and has been on the Cinebio episode. Fantastic guy!
00:00:40
Speaker
Yeah, he had recommended you to come on the show because of your many hobbies.
Weather and Cultural Phenomena
00:00:45
Speaker
So yeah, here we are. So how are you doing tonight? I'm good. I'm good. Thank you. How are you? Not too bad. It is surprisingly very sunny in Scotland today. Would you believe her? Yeah. I know.
00:00:56
Speaker
I mean it was because now it's obviously going to be nighttime quite soon but yeah it was quite warm which is nice for a change. How warm was it in Scotland today? At least now it's about 11 degrees which for us that's a heatwave.
00:01:13
Speaker
yeah that's like people out in the garden sunbathing in fact see before I came on tonight I'm pretty sure I smell a barbecue coming in so someone's definitely I wouldn't I wouldn't be surprised to be honest when I lived in the UK when we had that kind of weather people were just like out in shorts and flip flops I'm not I'm not I can't sound surprised about the barbecues
00:01:35
Speaker
I mean, we've got in Scotland in particular a very bad... I don't want to say condition, but a bad epidemic of what we like to call taps-off weather. Have you ever heard of that? No, I haven't. No, so taps-off weather is when usually it's like young or middle-aged men who decide, oh, there's the sun. Let me take my top off.
00:01:58
Speaker
If they just walk around the streets just with their tops off, so we call that taps-off weather, it is exactly the kind of person you think would participate, that's all I'm saying. Yeah, exactly.
Aging and Adult Responsibilities
00:02:10
Speaker
I could definitely picture that. Yeah, it's like the typical, you know the British tourists abroad, yeah, pretty much that archetype as it were.
00:02:21
Speaker
I'm praying for rain tomorrow. No, I'm not actually. For legal reasons, that's a joke. I was like, just like you don't have to see someone with their tops off, or are you serious?
00:02:36
Speaker
I know. It's the burden you have to bear in Scotland. It's like, do you want to see people with their toes? Or do you want this son? You know, you can't get a perfect balance in Scotland. But I'm glad to hear the weather at least is keeping up relatively well over there as well.
00:02:54
Speaker
I live in the south of France actually but we live quite high up like not really like on a mountain but kind of and here it's actually really
Valentine's Musical Journey
00:03:03
Speaker
cold compared to like a city just like an hour away or something. In January we were snowed in and I couldn't go to work we couldn't go anywhere for about a week and when I told that at my job people were like for real like are you serious? I was like I swear I'm not lying. I've never seen that much snow in my life and it just
00:03:21
Speaker
Yeah, seems so weird. Because you picture, I mean, the south of France as somewhere where it's always kind of sunny. And I don't know, I feel like some people kind of being that it's kind of like California or something, which is not in terms of weather, because, yeah, I mean, that was the first the first surprise, to be honest.
00:03:38
Speaker
that is fair though because whenever you see the south of France and this is me generalising but you know you always see the pictures of it being very warm and maybe not tropical but you know yeah i totally know what you mean yeah like people sunbathing or stuff like that and you know it's cold i mean not everywhere but it is definitely colder yeah i was going to say yeah
00:04:05
Speaker
Okay, that's the small talk part of the show. It's like, that's the weather. I'm checking that off my bucket list.
00:04:15
Speaker
We talk about the way they're all in charge. Yeah, exactly. As we were talking a bit before, of course, you have a lot of hobbies, of course, and one of the main prominent ones is the fact that you are indeed a singer-songwriter. Is that correct in saying? It is. I am, yeah. It's kind of funny, because I started, I think the first song that I wrote, I was like eight.
00:04:39
Speaker
It was just like words, like lyrics, and I was just like singing, just like that. So then my mom wanted me to play piano and was like, sure, I guess I'll do that. And I went to every single lesson for a year. Apart from the last one, I quit right before the end of the year because I was just terrified of my teacher. He just, he was just like a big bald man and he scared of me like, you have no idea.
00:05:08
Speaker
And for people listening, I am really short, like a really small person, okay? And I've always been like the smallest kid in the class, kind of like the skinny, small kid, and I just feel, yeah, I've always been that way, and I guess my personality, when, especially when I was younger, kind of like really did fit my appearance, I guess, I suppose. I was like really shy, and the teacher was always like, just play harder, you're not gonna break it. And every time I was like,
00:05:37
Speaker
Oh my god, I was like crumbling on the inside or something. Just before the last lesson, I was like, I can't do it anymore. So I quit. And then I didn't really play music until I was 14 when I started playing guitar. And that's when I started like writing songs with music along with the lyrics. And now it's so many years later. Oh god, I'm old. Four, five, six, seven, 13 years. Yeah, it's been 13 years. So yeah.
00:06:05
Speaker
Oh, that's a long time to be dedicated to it, right enough. Sorry, I was actually going to say when you said, oh, I'm old. I was going to say, yeah, you're amongst brains here.
Performing and Songwriting
00:06:15
Speaker
I know that feeling. Oh, yeah. A little bit before you're going to turn 30, you're actually realising you're not a teenager anymore, like in your early 20s. It's that feeling of, am I actually an adult now?
00:06:27
Speaker
Oh yeah, I still get those kind of existential moments where I'm sitting in the car or I'm sitting in my house and I'm just like, oh my god, I'm a tax paying home owner. What? When did this happen? I've got responsibilities. Yeah, exactly. Here, I've got a dog.
00:06:45
Speaker
of course. It was to be. Yeah, you're like, oh no. As someone who's went over, and I want to emphasise this as of this episode, just went over the threshold of 30 last year. Yeah, it's a scary prospect when you look back and you think. Is it? How does it feel? How do you feel about it? Well, everything aches a lot more, I'll say that. Which is surprising.
00:07:07
Speaker
Don't tell me that. You know, people make the memes, they go, oh, my back's aching, oh, my this and that's aching. And sometimes you wake up and you get like a random ache you've never had. And after I'm in that mindset, I'm like, well, this is the end for me. Oh, no. I had a good run. Tell me that, because I've been feeling that way for quite a while now. Sometimes I wake up with a pain in my neck that I never had before. Oh, yeah, no same. It's like you wake up in weird positions and, you know, you wake up as if you've been, I don't know, cosplaying as a Tetris block. And you're like, how did that, how did that wake up?
00:07:37
Speaker
complicated. Exactly. Well, I mean, I wanted to get a new pillow, it was just in case. I mean, I was blaming the pillow, not my age, but now I don't really know what to think anymore. Further study required. Exactly. I think I'll just get like another pillow just in case and then we'll see. Is it me or is it just my bed? That's not good enough.
00:07:59
Speaker
That is the question of the episode. Is it the bed or is it getting old? I expect the essay by the end of this episode to those bussings. I'll try my best. We all died now. Yes. Going back to your musical journey there. Oh god. The teacher thing. I know exactly what you mean. I had a teacher who was very much
00:08:20
Speaker
quite strict but I wouldn't say like whiplash strict. You know it wasn't so much like very, it wasn't like yelling in their faces or anything but I feel as if it was a form of psychological torture. Oh I definitely get what you mean.
00:08:37
Speaker
Oh, you had to play like the same notes over and over again for, and I know that's how practice works, but you know, you had to play things like Oso La Mio, Master of the House from Les Mis. Oh, okay. That's why I hate that song. Or not hate it, but dislike it to Passion because there's nothing that will kill your love for a song than about 30 kids in the same room playing it over and over again off key. Oh yeah.
00:09:03
Speaker
I was actually inspired to start my own revolution at that point. I was like, you know what, how hard could it be to get my hands on the flag and just start causing chaos? I'm like, it can't be that hard. So I totally see what you mean.
00:09:17
Speaker
The thing is though, it can be quite daunting when you have something that is more in an academic situation rather than, as you said, you've obviously continued writing and singing past school and everything, but would you say there's a difference between when you were studying initially in school versus now that you've got that freedom?
00:09:39
Speaker
Yes and no. It is because just the songs themselves are quite different because obviously I write to biographic. I'm not really good at storytelling. I'm not definitely not like a Bruce Springsteen type of writer. So obviously I don't really have the same
00:09:55
Speaker
worries or stuff like that I guess as 15 year old me so in that sense they are different and there are actually a lot of songs that I wrote when I was a teenager that I don't play anymore because well to be quite frank they were not that good and I just can't relate to them anymore as well there are actually some that I do still play do really still enjoy I think
00:10:14
Speaker
thought that would have maybe more time as because you know like you're a kid and you think oh I have to do homework and stuff like that but actually you do have a lot more time as a kid in school than as a working adult and so yeah the time thing is definitely a lot different because it was definitely a lot harder this last few years to actually find the time to dedicate to do the songwriting because I have
00:10:40
Speaker
I don't know, I have this thing with time. I'm not very good at managing it, I suppose. It's always been really difficult for me. For example, we're supposed to start recording at 8 p.m. my time at 7. I was like, stop everything, I have to do something in one hour. And so even though I would have had the time to actually do something, I feel like I can't because there's something around the corner and it's difficult.
00:11:02
Speaker
I mean, I don't know if that's, I know it's definitely not the case for everyone, but yeah, like time management is definitely like very difficult, but I have actually started working part time and not full time as of this year. So I've actually had a lot more time to dedicate to that, but also just the fact that being out of school and being an adult, I feel like I have more.
00:11:21
Speaker
It's easier in a way to reach out to people and maybe I feel a little bit more confident as well and just so like you've got a gig and I actually have a car to go there and I don't really have to ask my mom, could you drive me there? So definitely have a little bit more freedom there as well.
00:11:36
Speaker
goodness, though, I totally see what you mean about time management, because you're completely right. When you are younger, you do feel as if you have almost all the time in the world, you know, you think, oh, and again, not to get too deep apologies, but you know, you think, oh, I'm going to do this. I'm going to do that. Oh, I've got all this time. And then one day you wake up and you're like, oh, my God, my tried sake, I'm 30.
00:11:57
Speaker
Oh, no. Exactly. I've got to take the dog out. I've got to, I don't know, like for grocery shopping, like stuff that you just did not do as a kid. You had to go to school and you had to do homework and you thought that that was your whole world. I mean, because it was and this just so much more than that now. So yeah, but yeah, I've always been bad at like managing time. I've always been like a big procrastinator. Even in doing like exams, I was
00:12:22
Speaker
sometimes for like 15 minutes just looking at the ceiling or something it was really hard for me to actually like concentrate and you have something to do do it this last few years i haven't been as active musically as i would have liked also because of covid
00:12:37
Speaker
because slightly before Covid I actually saved money enough to actually live on for like a year and a half or two years and I was like I'm going to quit my job and I'm going to move to a bigger city and just try and pay music for as long as I have money and then see what happens but at that time I was 23 and then Covid happened and I couldn't do any of that
00:12:57
Speaker
And I didn't have a job, so I had to actually live off the money that I had saved. And so when COVID ended, I did have to get a job. See what I mean? And so I got a bit, I mean, I just feel like I got kind of like fucked over by COVID to be honest. Because, I mean, as so many other people, but like I had a plan. I was like, okay, like I'm going to like try and do this professionally as much as possible. And because I've got nothing to lose. I don't have, as we mentioned dogs, I have two dogs and a cat.
00:13:25
Speaker
I didn't have them back then. I was single, I had myself to take care of, and that was it. And so, which is enough already, don't get me wrong, but no one was
Impact of Covid on Music Career
00:13:35
Speaker
depending on me. And so now's the time, let's do it, and then COVID happened. So yeah, that was unfortunate. But now that I'm working part-time, and actually I'm going to have a little bit more time, even a little bit more time now, I think I'm just gonna try and get gigs and put as much as possible.
00:13:54
Speaker
necessarily trying to do it as like my main job but at least if that's like one of my let's say if I have like two part-time job and one of them is music that that's good enough for me you know that's definitely kind of the gore right now out of the whole post COVID rush of
00:14:10
Speaker
having to get a job and get a new place to live and stuff like that. A lot of people listening in the future probably will have no idea how bad it was, probably in hindsight. I mean, people born after the 2020s been like, oh, what was Covid? What was this pandemic? Why were you hiding in your houses and things like that? I totally know what you mean.
00:14:32
Speaker
about having plans and saying, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that, because I remember I had plans. I thought, okay, this is going to be the year I'm going to get my act together. I'm going to go travel in. I'm going to save off money. I'm going to do this. I was even going to visit my friend slash co-host.
00:14:48
Speaker
in Canada. It was kind of go places, but I say that. I mean that in the most humble way post though. I mean literally go places. Just in case anyone's listening going, wow, look at him, he's so full of himself. I'm like, no, I literally need to get from what you're doing. I get that. Yeah, I ended up, of course, much like everyone else, we're all trapped in our homes and things and
00:15:10
Speaker
was just a weird time because on the one hand you know it is like a horrible horrible moment of a lot of people's lives but weirdly enough without covid i don't think things like the podcast like this particular show would have existed without it i mean it might have
00:15:27
Speaker
maybe in the future, maybe in some capacity, but not as prevalent as it was back then. And it is weird how that was like a moment that a lot of people seem to be affected by it in terms of their creative outputs.
00:15:42
Speaker
especially with some of the creators that I've talked to before, a lot of them started Twitch streaming or creating their content during that time. So I'm just curious, in terms of your musical career, did you feel as if your music was affected by that period of your life?
00:16:00
Speaker
Not that much to be honest because like the things that I was writing about are like I didn't write about like feeling isolated because of Covid and stuff like that. The stuff that I wrote about were more like issues that I had before or just feelings and stuff like that that were definitely not related to me being stuck in a house. I didn't really have anything to do with that I think.
00:16:25
Speaker
simply because I think that I'm someone that's white. I do better on my own most of the time. I'm someone that gets really tiring for me to be around people for quite a long periods of time and I'm the kind of person that's sometimes been like, oh I'm sorry I can't, I can't go out, I'm just gonna read my book.
00:16:44
Speaker
so that aspect just being locked up in your house was not difficult for me and so i didn't really write about that i tend to write about things that i you know like songwriting for me is definitely like an outlet there's a lot of things that are just like overwhelming and like i just need to get it out and it kind of becomes a song and
00:17:03
Speaker
COVID was frustrating, as I mentioned before, because I had plans and I couldn't do any of that, I couldn't carry on. But creatively, it didn't really affect me, it didn't really affect my songwriting, but I had more time to play music, obviously. And so that's when actually recording my first EP was doing lockdown.
00:17:23
Speaker
Yeah, I can imagine you must have had obviously tons of time. It's one of those rare things, isn't it, where the whole world was pretty much to the same that everyone was just locked in your house, which just feels weird that nowadays that's been locked three years out of this episode.
00:17:40
Speaker
Yeah, I'd say so, but maybe more than that. I mean, it depends, because a lot of people thought that Covid was over four years ago or something, or some people think it's not even really over, so it's definitely subjective, I'd say. Because I know it's still technically they didn't have anything, but the walkdowns are like, ah, I'll be fine, just go outside, you'll be fine, you'll be all right.
00:18:01
Speaker
I actually always remember before I started like doing the job where I worked from home, I used to go into this office and I remember during that time there was like a lot of people who were quite scared about it and everything and in some ways it sounds to boost everybody's mood because I used to like bake and everything and bring it into the office. I was like, oh bake a cake!
00:18:22
Speaker
The next day, our Prime Minister announced that, oh, by the way, lockdown's effective right about now. And I was like, oh shit, I've lost my cake tin. I never saw that cake tin again. I don't know if it's been binned or I hope it was binned because I don't want to think of like this. I mean, obviously now it's all opened up and everything, but I don't want to think of this like cake tin just rotting away.
00:18:50
Speaker
yeah yeah yeah sorry that was a terrible side tangent but in terms of your music because i feel as if this isn't something that i've touched on yet but what kind of music do you play what kind of music do you create
00:19:05
Speaker
I play, again, it's kind of sound like pretentious or something. I was just about to say it's kind of hard to define, but it's extremely pretentious. I suppose I play kind of indie folk, indie rock.
00:19:21
Speaker
type music like a lot of reverb I guess I like reverb but it's definitely like we used to be I mean as of now it's I like guitar and voice and because in my mind I was I like it just had like this really like a minimalistic approach I thought or I used to think that what I put out online like recordings and everything for people to listen to had to
00:19:44
Speaker
be what I was able to recreate live. And so that's why as I am a shadow act, I thought I must only be like a guitar and a voice. And it's been like that for two years, maybe like a year now.
00:20:00
Speaker
half. I used to think that way until now, like a few months ago I've actually started to add like more vocals and more guitar parts and then now I'm actually working on a new song with actually drums and maybe other instruments I don't know yet but it's still the same kind of like indie I suppose like indie rock
00:20:20
Speaker
type of vibe I guess that's kind of how I would define it also kind of quite sad because I remember there was this song that I sent to a bunch of people a few months ago and one guy I can't remember like I survived like a few radio stations and like small labels and stuff like
00:20:38
Speaker
because as I mentioned like I make everything like I write and I perform and I record everything on my own and so having an inside his opinion is actually quite important because sometimes I could just get too much to just need like somebody's advice so this person replied to me he said musically it's quite good it's interesting it's definitely very sad a lot more sad than I would like but if it's your vibe keep going it was like oh okay
00:21:05
Speaker
So I guess you could say sad into music. I mean that is still an achievement if you know you're getting that much feedback from it. It's something you were saying earlier about when you were saying you were getting like lifts to gigs and things. How does that feel playing in front of a live audience? It definitely used to be terrifying, but it's weird because it's in a way kind of like a double-edged sword.
00:21:29
Speaker
because feeling wise not literally because I used to be like something that I was so passionate about I just really wanted to do and so the fear of messing up in front of a lot of people wasn't strong enough to refrain me from actually doing so like playing a live gig something that I've actually started to
00:21:49
Speaker
do I'm actually starting to take singing lessons because I've never had and a lot of people have taught me like you sound great but you need to be more confident and I was like okay I need help and so I started taking singing lessons and that's something that I haven't played a gig since though and that's definitely something that I think is definitely like working so I'm interested to see how that will evolve but yeah it used to be very terrifying I remember when I was
00:22:13
Speaker
18. I played this gig for like a benefit event. I can't remember for what. There was obviously very little people. It was like a small town and they were expecting more people, but there was like, I don't know, like 15 people, maybe not even in the room. So I played and there was no PA. The guy that contacted me, I mean, I was in contact with, told me, you know, like, it's going to be like a full PS head and everything. You don't need to bring anything. And I was like, cool. There was no mic. No, nothing.
00:22:41
Speaker
And I was like, okay, this is going to be interesting. So I did the best I could. And there was this, I always remember, I can't exactly remember his face, but just like the weather he was sitting, there was this guy sitting in the front row with his arms crossed and just, you know, I don't know, like a big old guy. It sounds bad, but I'm just saying how he was very physically intimidating. Maybe I should say that. And he kept looking at me with like zero facial expressions, nothing. And I was like, oh my God,
00:23:10
Speaker
but this guy is just hating his life right now. And afterwards, he actually came up to me and he was like, you know, that was quite good what you did there. I enjoyed it. And I was like, whoa. Honestly, I was so surprised because he just looked like he was hating his life. And he came up to me and was like, good job. And I was like, oh man, you don't know how much that's meant to me.
00:23:31
Speaker
thank you so yeah it's it's scary in a way playing life but only like before you do it i feel like when you're playing you definitely make mistakes but they're not that important i mean depends on the mistake obviously and how you actually react to them but a lot of people don't pay attention to what
00:23:49
Speaker
so like the slightly mistake that you're actually going to make like you messed up a chord for two seconds before you actually like did it right you saying that part slightly out of key but people don't really pick up on it and if they do i feel like at least
00:24:04
Speaker
You know, just live music is what it is and it's honest and you can't fake it. So yeah, it's definitely like a big, I don't know, I don't want to say hi because it sounds weird and it's not that, I mean, not that I've ever experienced that before anyways. It's, I don't know, you feel good afterwards. You feel like you've done something good. Like, you know, give us a pat on the back. Good job. You did good.
00:24:26
Speaker
no I totally know what you mean because I think it was a couple episodes ago one of my friends was saying like a very similar thing we're talking about D&D or something you know something very totally not nerdy at all and he was saying the same idea that if you're like in control of something or you're supposed to be the expert whether you're controlling like a game of D&D or in your case whether you're the musician in the room and if you do something because I've done this
00:24:53
Speaker
plenty of times as well where I've messed up something. I can't believe I've done that. I can't believe this has gone wrong. That's gone wrong. Did you hear the balancing in that episode and all of this? And then other people who are listening to your content, they think
00:25:09
Speaker
Oh, no, I thought that was great. And you're like, you're just being polite. You're just being polite. And they're like, no, no, I didn't. So I totally see what you mean when, you know, as you say, do you think you've done like a minor mistake and then, oh, no, it's awful. And then, as you said, you've got that lovely, lovely yet intimidating man coming up to you and being like, oh, yeah, great. Fantastic. Yeah, honestly, that was lovely. I really was not expecting that. It's one of the best memories I have, I think, to be honest.
00:25:37
Speaker
It was yeah, it was great because it was so unexpected and it was so reassuring as well. It's quite surprising because I feel as if, I mean I suppose no matter how small or big they are in terms of like content creation, it feels really nice and I don't mean that in an egotistical way when someone comes up to you and says oh I loved your music or I loved this or that that you created.
00:26:00
Speaker
But do you feel as if it's something that a lot of people, they are not really as forthcoming but they don't really think about it. Like they'll listen to your music or they'll consume a bit of content say to themselves, oh that was good and you know they'll like walk away but they won't really, I mean obviously not everyone but they might not think that it's as important to actually go up to for example yourself and say, oh that was some great music.
00:26:26
Speaker
it's interesting because i feel like it depends on a person and how maybe how much they enjoyed it or how much they were affected by it i think i think it really depends on a person and also that there's just people that are shy and i wish there were also people that think oh she doesn't care what i think
00:26:43
Speaker
Who am I to tell that person anything about what they are doing? A lot of people think that they are actually not entitled to give their opinions on what you're creating.
Audience Perception and Future Plans
00:26:55
Speaker
Whereas a lot of people shouldn't feel this feeling of entitlement. I actually comment on everything that you do sometimes to tell you things that they should have kept to themselves. But I'm sure you see what I mean. Oh yeah, no, no, absolutely.
00:27:11
Speaker
No, you're totally right. It's definitely just depends on your audience role, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. I'd say so. For me, it's a little bit tricky because people mostly comment on the voice or the sound because I write in English, but I so far have only played in a non-English speaking country. And so I expect a lot of people can't actually relate to anything that I'm saying because I really understand it.
00:27:39
Speaker
and so maybe this like this career maybe a little bit but yeah i don't know because a lot of english-speaking artists are really big in french so i don't know do you feel as if though it's easier because you were saying how your songs obviously since you're writing them they're very personal to you in your journey in life and things like that do you feel as if it's easier to sing those songs in english when you're up
00:28:06
Speaker
in front of a French-speaking audience. I mean, obviously I'm not saying they all don't understand, but I know what you mean in terms of they're probably not gonna get it the same as either a native speaker or someone who is really fluent in English. So do you feel as if it's easier to sing your songs in English to those kind of audiences? Yeah, maybe.
00:28:30
Speaker
definitely at first because as a performer just kind of just wearing your heart on your sleeve can be a bit daunting I think so it's definitely I think easier we used to be easier now I don't really care that much anymore I've definitely grown more confident into what I'm doing I didn't used to either and so yeah I think putting out music in English in a not English speaking country was a little bit liberating because like okay it's
00:28:57
Speaker
out there and not that many people are going to actually, which is again a double X sword because not that many people are going to connect to it but you want the people to actually be able to appreciate what you've done in this entirety. So maybe it used to be easier but now it's a little bit frustrating I'd say. I could just imagine you singing about something very poignant and quiet, it means a lot to you and then you see a couple of people in the audience like banging their head going woo catches on and it's like
00:29:26
Speaker
No, no, that's not the message here. It's like, do you know what it reminds me of? You know how you get very catchy, for example, I think this is probably the common one, but you get catchy anime songs that are in Japanese only, but they're like very upbeat and everything and people go, yeah, this is such a catchy song. Oh, I love this song. What's that about? And it's about like a very serious societal issue or something. They're like, well, I wouldn't be bopping to that in the car. Yeah.
00:29:55
Speaker
I don't know. I definitely, definitely get what you mean. I've seen that. People do that before too. A lot of lyrics. For example, there's that song. What's that song? Another Day in Paradise. I mean, you know that song, right? Oh yeah. Just because of the piano part in the beginning, but you know, like the catchy part. It's very catchy and it is really good, but people here
00:30:14
Speaker
Here, tend to think that it's, you know, kind of like an upbeat, maybe not necessarily happy, but not like a sad song and not about like a serious thing. Like the guy's talking about paradise. It must be nice, right? Because they're definitely like a lot of words, but like the most is a transparent or common one that people understand here.
00:30:31
Speaker
So yeah, like, oh, another name Paradise, what a nice song. And it's actually about, you know, it's about a homeless person being ignored and just like homeless people just being treated badly and then facing just how rough life is. So yeah, it was so weird when, yeah, like I've seen people definitely kind of like being happy, kind of dancing to that song. And I'm like, oh my God, what are you doing?
00:30:57
Speaker
It's that moment when you're just looking and you're like, please don't bop your head. Oh my god, exactly. Don't look happy, like sing it if you want to. Enjoy it, but not that way.
00:31:09
Speaker
because one of the ones that actually comes to mind thinking about like French songs is, I mean you'll know him better than me, not personally obviously, but you know, is it Stromรฉ? Oh yeah. Is he Belgian? Yeah he is. Yeah okay, no that's good, that's okay then. I just wanted to double check. But I know he's got a particular song called, and apologies if I'm butchering the pronunciation, I swear to god, I did do standard grade French.
00:31:35
Speaker
I tried higher, I wasn't great in French. Oh, it's a difficult language. Oh, it really is. Yeah, it's a beautiful language, but my God. Well, some people say, but when it's your native language, you don't really see that, I suppose. You don't hear it like the outsiders, so it's a little bit different. But sorry, you were talking about that. No, no.
00:31:54
Speaker
No, no, that's fine. No, I was just gonna say just on a side tangent before I get on to that point when I was learning Spanish. I always remember I had a pain friend who I was talking to and I was saying, oh, why do you have two verbs to be? And why do you have this? Why do you have that? And then they'll come back immediately and especially my girlfriend as well. She'll say things like that. She'll say, why do you say this in English? Why do you say that in English? And I just look at them and I'm like,
00:32:22
Speaker
I don't know. Because something I didn't realise until I met my girlfriend, I didn't realise that I spoke in a lot of idioms and things like that. That way it's just you're so used to it and you're like, oh yeah, six and half a dozen and they're like, what?
00:32:38
Speaker
Well, you're talking about... Yeah, I get what you mean. But yeah, sorry, going back to France, I promise you. Stromae had a song, I think it was in 2013, called Papa Ute. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's the only song of his I'm actually familiar with. I mean, it's really big, but I don't really listen to the radio or anything. And even his music, I can appreciate what he's doing, but it's not definitely
00:33:05
Speaker
not really my vibe so I'm not that familiar with his recent stuff but definitely like that single Pappeltรฉ was definitely like a big song and keep going. Yeah no I just I always remember when I went through my phase, well I say phase sorry, when I started like re-studying French after
00:33:23
Speaker
just for, and I use this very loosely, just for fun, to try and get back into it. And I'll probably need to get back into it someday. I swear, I'm terrible at procrastinating, but I always remember listening to a lot of French songs, and Stromรฉ was one of the artists that was recommended, was popped up. And I remember listening to it, and I know if you separate the title, it literally translates as, like, Dad Where Are You. It's a very catchy song, you know, it's very upbeat. It's like,
00:33:52
Speaker
really good but I remember this is terrible because the whole song is basically about just quickly looking at the notes here it's like you know a bit of boy who lives with his mum and is wondering when his dad will come back and you know like it's very serious. It is. There's a message behind it like a very serious message and I always remember I don't know what show it was if it was like an American award show or something but he ends up singing it with and this was live he sang it with
00:34:20
Speaker
of all people, Will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas. That was an experience. I was just sitting there like, oh, that was it. Sorry, it was the NRJ Music Awards. Oh, okay, okay. Yeah, it was 2013 where they sang it with Will.i.am. All we'll say is, look at it on YouTube, because the way I'll describe it, it won't do it justice. Because you watch it and you go,
00:34:46
Speaker
this is not a fit and it's just I know I'm sorry that's a long-winded way to say like I know what you mean when it's like you're trying to sing a bit of particular message and then you've got someone trying to parrot the same lyrics back to you but it's like obviously the message is literally here is lost in translation because you're just you're saying the words but you're not meaning the words yeah like you don't really know what it means
00:35:13
Speaker
and how catching deep or personal and serious that subject actually is. Kind of just as a final question, what would you say? Because you've talked about your journey through learning it through school, developing as an artist and everything. I swear to goodness, I don't mean this as a kind of like interview to be like, where do you see yourself in 10 years?
00:35:35
Speaker
You know, that old chestnut of an interview question. But yeah, where do you see yourself going in the future with your songwriting? Because obviously, I know you said like it is a personal thing. I don't expect you to be like, oh, I'm going to write a song about this or that. But where do you see yourself going with it? I feel like writing there, honestly, I'd like to
00:35:54
Speaker
Can we do something so pretentious again? I'm not, I'm like the most down-to-earth person that you could ever meet. I feel like I'm kind of at a pivotal moment, I suppose, because right now, my day job, it's kind of like definitely like taking a turn and I'm going to have a lot more time, actually.
00:36:14
Speaker
to just focus on what I actually care about which is music and the fact that it's the only thing that I want to be doing and the only thing that actually makes me happy I've just had like this realization you know that this is just what I need to be doing and so like if I don't try my best for
00:36:32
Speaker
for at least a couple years and see if I can actually make a living out of it. To me that's like making as much as like a regular part-time job like that would be enough I'm not asking for. Okay I'm not a very ambitious person but even though like I feel a bit making a living out of your art is definitely a very ambitious.
00:36:51
Speaker
So hopefully in 10 years, that's what I'll be doing. I don't see myself as like a big artist or anything like that. That's definitely not what I'm looking for. But honestly, if I'm able to actually tour and play shows outside of France, I suppose that's kind of where I see myself in 10 years, maybe. I mean, hopefully that's what I want to be doing in 10 years, you know, still playing and writing, but maybe writing for other people as well, because that's definitely something that I feel like
00:37:15
Speaker
I can do. And sometimes you can make way more money that way. Again, that's not what I'm looking for. But I mean, I do have rent to pay and dogs to feed. So I think yeah, I think it's the only thing that I think else to like carry with me like no, no matter how old I am or something or anything, you know, like in 10 years or 20 years, it's still what I'm going to be doing. So yeah, hopefully it'll be professionally in 10 years. We'll see. But that's definitely something that I am working towards.
00:37:43
Speaker
right now. Well, all I can say is I can't wait for you to come back in a couple of years onto this show. Well, that is if you're not too famous. Oh, please don't. I'll be messaging you saying, what would you want to come back on in your region? I'll be saying, no, no, no, God doesn't have time. No, no, not today. Just don't say that. Too busy touring in Germany and Spain and, you know, the other warm part of France where there's no snow.
00:38:14
Speaker
But no, I know what you mean. It's obviously hard to know where you're going to go with, or not where you're going to go, but more so what the future's going to hold. Because as we talked about in depth earlier, I mean, none of us expected Covid and the pandemic and everything to happen. No one expected the
00:38:32
Speaker
lockdowns. I mean, there was literally no way to predict that, so I'm not welling another pandemic into existence. God touch wood here, but yeah, the future will be interesting enough. But honestly, I sincerely hope for the best for it, because let's face it, it can only go up.
00:38:48
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. That's what I mean as well. I don't... I mean, as I said, I have dogs to feed without, so I don't have kids. I'm not really planning on it. So no one really depends on me. So I feel like, you know, next to time. And that's what I managed to do before Covid anyway. So, you know, might as well. Sounds like a good plan, to be honest.
00:39:07
Speaker
We'll see, you know, like I'll give it a few years and then, I know, do something else, find another part-time job, but it definitely will always be at least a part-time job or always like at least to treat it that way, I suppose. So, yeah. Well, that sounds good to me, to be honest. On that note, Val, thank you so much for coming on and yeah, just shading your job. Well, thanks for having me. That was great. No, I really appreciate it.
Accessing Valentine's Music
00:39:33
Speaker
Oh, thank you. That was cool. I enjoyed it. Before we finish up though, is there any social media pages or anything that the lovely listeners at home can follow your content on? Oh, sure. Well, if you want to listen to the music that I make, it's up on any streaming platform like Spotify, Apple Music, any of that, even YouTube. And I post like, I've started posting small clips of me playing music or like
00:40:00
Speaker
parts of something that I've written and stuff like that on Instagram. So yeah, like your classic social media platforms, I suppose. I thought I should just double check because I don't want you talking about this and then people are like, well, that was a great interview. Wait, where's the music?
00:40:16
Speaker
But no, once again, Val, thank you so much for coming on. Honestly, it's been an absolute pleasure. And yeah, if any of you would like to listen to our previous episodes or hopefully future episodes with Val on, you can catch the Chat Tsunami podcast over on our website, pottypager.com, forward slash Chat Tsunami. I also would like to give a huge shout out to our Pandora patrons, Robotic Battle Dosto and Sonja. Thank you so much for supporting the channel. And yeah, without any further ado, stay safe.
00:40:45
Speaker
Stay awesome, and most importantly, stay hydrated. This episode is sponsored by Zincaster. If you're a podcaster that records remotely like me, then you'll know how challenging it can be to create the podcast you've always wanted. That's where Zincaster comes in. Before I met Zincaster, I was put a naive podcaster, recording a low-quality, one-track audio waves.
00:41:24
Speaker
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