Purepeople: What did you do during this musical absence which lasted 4 or 5 years?
Benjamin Siksou: So I did… a lockdown! But it was a double-edged sword. It clipped the wings of all current projects. I was on stage at the Folies Bergère, I was doing The Red Shoe, the musical by Marc Lavoine. We played it for a month but we stopped mid-flight. We had been working on it for two years. And in parallel there was another musical show, more theatrical, it’s Think about the softness what I’m doing right now. We play all the instruments, we sing, we dance, we laugh, we cry, it’s pretty awesome. And then, of course, I wrote, composed, recorded. This very sudden stop allowed me to refocus on my songs.
You recently shared a selfie with Marion Cotillard on the networks. She is a friend ?
Yes ! I shot a film with Audrey Strogo, who is called To insanityand in Brothers and sisters, by Arnaud Desplechin, with Melvil Poupaud and Marion Cotillard. It was absolutely sublime. Marion Cotillard was a great “friend” of filming. With her everything is fluid, it’s a joy.
What memories do you have of the Nouvelle Star experience?
I remember a very intense tidal wave. It was quite sudden, everything that happens all of a sudden like that. It’s like confinement, it’s double-edged! It was a success, fast and very pleasant and then at the same time it was quite violent. We are never ready to deal with that. It teaches a lot of things about the job, about managing a live show, production… It was an entry into the music industry, entertainment. But artistically, I hesitated a lot because I didn’t really have a repertoire yet. I suspected it was going to fail me. I did it, I don’t regret it, but it also slowed me down to continue with albums. There was a lot of pressure.
Do you have any news from Amandine Bourgeois, the other candidates or the members of the jury?
It happens that we meet with some. I sometimes see Ycare, Jules Pélissier, I always talk to Thomas Marfisi. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen Amandine since. We had met but it goes back now. I ran into Lio, Sinclair. With André Manoukian we had recorded an album and toured with Anaïs, Héléna Noguerra, who was called So in love.
You were barely 21 at the time. Did M6 offer you some sort of psychological support after the show?
There was no accompaniment. You have to be surrounded by family and friends. In the production team, there are people who I was close to at the time, and who I am still close to, who have become friends. But it was not their job to psychologically support non candidates.
You pass the milestone of 35 years in February 8, 2022…
I don’t know what I’m going to do. The real party is getting that song out. 35 years… I’m not for much. I try to endure it as little as possible, to accept it, to enjoy it. I tell myself that I’m really better at 35 than at 20. In any case, I try to convince myself of that. For now, it’s cool to get old. We will see in ten years!
Interview by Yohann Turi. Any reproduction prohibited without the mention of Purepeople.com.