” The beard for mystery. Long hair for the feminine side. Dark glasses for the sophisticated side.” Not to mention his traditional white pants and mauve checkered shirt. He has the look and he owns it. Sébastien Tellier, electrified, navigates the corridors of the festival palace to speak to the press. More than comfortable, he is the one who kicks off the interviews after making a nervous sign of the cross. The singer is simultaneously approachable, quirky in his spontaneous reactions, and impressive with his quick wit. “ I try to break the image of the old-school singer, the untouchable artist. Singers are not people better than others.”
Eccentric, Sébastien Tellier always has been. Since his “tender” childhood in the 70s in Paris, he has focused on his music while maintaining a certain freedom in his aesthetic choices. “ I was lucky to have Mom and Dad to give me a leg up. It was always a pleasure for me to lock myself away to make music at home. It somewhat cut me off from others and disconnected me from reality at times but I don’t regret it now.”
“I stay in my dream”
Disconnected is an understatement. This 33-year-old lives at 300 miles an hour. And it leaves him little time for a normal life. “ I try not to differentiate between my artist life and my private life. As long as I’m connected to my music, to my work, I stay in my dream, my cartoon. If I ever disconnect or come down too much to Earth, I get depressed.” Sébastien is sweating, itching to light a cigarette. Stains on his pants suggest he could use a break to do a little laundry. But he reassures us: “ Everything is fine. I should just slow down a bit from time to time. I had a few fainting spells recently in Moscow to realize that. The people managing my schedule don’t plan for sleep or lunch breaks. But it suits me just fine. When I’m inactive it’s not okay. When I’m running everywhere, I feel like I exist.”
Keeping up with the times
With each album, Sébastien fully immerses himself in its theme. When he released Politics in 2004, he would say that everything was about politics. With Sexuality, released last February, same thing: “ Now I only talk about sex and only sex interests me. Attention to enthusiasts.” He also makes it a point to keep up with trends. In his latest opus, the “Chabbal of songs” decided to abandon acoustic sounds in favor of the electro style of Daft Punk, with whom he collaborates. “ Nowadays we can no longer do anything new. The role of the artist is no longer to create but to mix, try new recipes. Electro music evolves because it remains connected with technology. As long as sound equipment makes progress, music will move forward.”
The unsympathetic troubadour
Sometimes nonchalant, he talks about his experience at this year’s Eurovision as a stepping stone with hypocritical undertones: “ I’ve never felt part of it. I arrived with my hands in my pockets. It doesn’t change my life. However, it is true that I got myself some good publicity. The pop world is ultimately simpler than the underground one.”
Sometimes poetic and philosophical, he occasionally aspires to something other than the stage or playing his instrument. For the lyrics of Sexuality, Sébastien had to draw inspiration from his deepest thoughts. “ I’m not looking for the truth. I’m trying to understand why we act in certain ways; how we express our sexuality through our appearance and actions.”
Sébastien Tellier finally gets his cigarette break. Feeling revived, he doesn’t skimp on making faces for the cameras. True to himself on stage, he loves above all to communicate with his audience, to chat and tell every small anecdote of his whimsical life. After several glasses of wine, he simply declares: “ I am a troubadour.” More power to him. Hats off to the artist!
