Matt Pokora is a singer, dancer and actor. Grand winner of the first edition of Dancing with the Stars in 2011, he was also a juror in the shows: The Voice and The Voice Kids. It was through the small screen and the Popstars show that the public discovered him with the group Link Up and thereafter, his solo career did the rest with titles that very quickly reached the top of the rankings: She controls me, Not without you in 2004, The planets, Falls and If you’re not there in 2019 five million records sold in total. In 2016, there was also the bet My way which marked a young generation, which thought that the songs of Claude François were yours. He just released a new album, Epicenter.
franceinfo: Epicenter is your eighth album, the most personal, the most intimate. Does that mean you needed to ask yourself?
Matt Pokora : Yes, because I think it was also important since it was the first album that was made when I was a father. So the messages, the feelings, what animates me every day when I get up, it’s not the same thing anymore.
This album is called ‘Epicentre’ because the epicenter, today, is my family, it’s this nucleus from which energy and inspiration come.
Matt Pokoraat franceinfo
What difference does it make to be a dad?
It changes that you no longer really want to leave home, that you no longer really want to leave your family behind. We know why we get up, we know why we come home at night. It is also a duty to set an example. I want to be a good father.
Doting father ?
Yes, it’s in my blood. But it’s important for me to set an example, to also teach them the rules of politeness, etc. Even if it’s young, I still like to insist on that. We look people in the eye, we say:Thank you, please“. I really like this little old-fashioned education that I received, passing it on to my children today.
Precisely, what did you dream of as a child?
I think it was primarily football stadiums. I was born with a ball in my feet, my dad being a professional footballer between the 70s and 80s. And so, the music came quite quickly anyway since from the age of four, five, I had the album Bad of Michael Jackson, I reproduced the choreographies in front of the mirror. I was a show fan, actually. It was really the package that always appealed to me, dancing, singing. This passion for the stage came around 10, 11 years old as well as this desire to entertain the crowds, yes.
A word on this family transmission with grandparents, on the paternal side who came from Krakow in the 1930s to work in the mines in eastern France. Does it create a need for memory?
Memory work is important. To know where we come from. This is what our grandparents experienced before us. As you said, my paternal grandfather came to work in the mines and he died of it too. I didn’t have the chance to meet him. I know where I come from, I know where my family comes from. I know what my grandparents went through, what they endured and it’s important to always keep that. By the way, in a few days, I’m flying to Warsaw for a TV show there. As soon as I am asked to go there, I go there to pay homage to my Polish family.
This album, Epicenter is also a good excuse to get back on stage. It’s the 20th anniversary tour. What do they represent when you look back?
Above all ! 20 years old is great because it’s especially 20 years when I went from being a teenager to being a father, finally under the public gaze. And not only those who listen to me. It’s true that there is this look, this benevolence, this feeling of being part of the family of all French people, because we grew up together, or they simply saw me grow up.
In this album, we realize that you say things, but at times, it’s not that simple. I think of the song: But if I have to. Do you find it difficult to translate your emotions to your significant other?
In fact, it is rather to say that I have always been rather reserved in my relations with women, that is to say that we can say to ourselves: “Ah, singers, it’s easy, etc…“And on the contrary! Me, I wasn’t a super-enterprising person, which meant that it wasn’t easy and suddenly that’s kind of what I’m saying in this song, it’s there to others who have said, what I’d like to tell you, better than I. It’s also a little about not taking yourself too seriously and it’s also full of the second degree.
Continuity is Tower Epicenter with many dates. You will go through Paris- La Défense, the Lille stadium, Nantes etc…
All Zeniths and Arenas.
To end what the little boy you were proud of the man you have become?
I will be able to say to my children: ‘No matter what, everything is possible. You too can allow yourself to dream.
Matt Pokoraat franceinfo
So yes, as a little boy, I could be only proud to have already realized my dreams. Show this example to my children and say that I can be proud of my journey and I am. There’s nothing pretentious about that. I’m a kid from Strasbourg who dreamed of things he accomplished and who continues to be ambitious and set his sights on goals. I take nothing for granted and I continue to question myself and above all to respect my audience. The most important thing is that I have always worked hard out of respect for the people who support me and to continue to surprise them.
Matt Pokora will be in concert, June 10, 2023 in Nanterre, 17 in Lilles, October 1 in Caen, 12 in Le Mans, November 16 in Grenoble etc.