It was revealed to the general public in 2006 by winning New star on M6. And, since then, “La Tortue” as Marianne James kindly called it, has come a long way! While he released, in September 2022, his sixth album Panorama –whose title PS: i love you written by Slimane is on everyone’s mind-, Christophe Willem seems to be coming back to the fore with a whole new maturity. In concert in Marseille this Saturday, April 8, 2023, our colleagues from Provence spoke at length with the singer who indeed shows great wisdom, drawing from his past mistakes or traumatic experiences, a whole new philosophy. A peaceful Christophe Willem, almost freed from the gaze of others, in letting go. If his latest album, released five years after Rio which was not a success, is called Panoramait’s good that the artist wanted “of gain height, step back compared to what we observe… And then, rue du Panorama, it’s a street located right next to my parents’ street where I often found myself when I was a teenager, when I had enough moments complicated.”, he explains.
See also: “I don’t care!”, snubbed by part of the music industry, Christophe Maé, who does very few interviews, does not mince his words!
“Audience love is like a classic love story, there are ups and downs…“
The singer recalls his beginnings and the lure of fame: “People’s gaze carries you enormously but it is often misleading. At the very beginning, we use the love of the public to compensate for a lack of self-esteem. When you compensate like that, well the day when the light decreases, as was the case with the Rio album, you fall even lower, because you have the feeling that it’s a rejection of you. You have to learn to get away from it all. And then, we understand better that the love of the public, it’s like a classic love story, there are ups, downs…“ he analyzes, admitting to being “’A little disappointed’ (title of one of his last songs, editor’s note) to have lost so many years not (to) flourish completely because (he was) afraid of this gaze of others, of this constant judgment.” And when our colleagues ask him about the mysteries of his profession, Christophe Willem does not mince his words: “It’s not so much the notoriety that’s difficult, it’s the system. When you are part of the recording industry, there are obligations of result which necessarily take you away from your passion, scratch it. You have to manage to be determined in relation to the people who manage these aspects, and say, what concerns me is the artistic. Afterwards, the way of selling and the results objectives concern you. It’s not my problem. It takes time to to detach from that and from a form of blackmail : “If you do not sell so much or so much, we are not sure to renew your contract”. These are things you can hear.”declares the 39-year-old man who knew how to transform his past mistakes into a rich and beautiful artistic experience.
VF
Find my interview in@Provencebefore our meeting tonight in Marseille “The public is like a classic love story, there are ups and downs” #Panorama#The tourhttps://t.co/rG6cPMCZfR
— Christophe Willem (@cwillem) April 8, 2023