Nice-Premium: To start this interview, I invite you to follow me to Place Massรฉna in Nice. It is very vast. It has a look of a “checkerboard” with its square black and white tiles. One end opens onto Avenue Jean Medecin, the other towards the Mediterranean, and just before it, there is a fountain that sends its life towards the azure blue sky where the sun reigns 350 days a year. Life is ever-present on this square, crossed by the tramway. Families stroll around, musicians scatter their notes, some read, others chat, listen, or simply dream. Shall we now move to another life, to your square?
Vincent Niclo: Well, I would take you to a square in Paris, the one of Yves Montand and Simone Signoret. There, there are no cars. It feels like being in a village in the countryside. People play petanque there. Then, we would fly to St Tropez, to another square where petanque is king: Place des Lices.
N-P: We started this interview with two trips, shall we continue with a musical journey? You’re going to lead us there?
V.N.: With pleasure. My next album will be very different compared to the previous one. It will be more pop-dance-electro. There will also be a duet with an international artist, but I wonโt tell you who just yet. Surprise! It will be produced in Los Angeles with American composers.
N-P: How did this encounter come about?
V.N.: Completely by chance. We both had a mutual flash. We were heading in the same musical direction.
N-P: Does music take up a lot of space in Vincent Niclo’s life?
V.N.: All the space (laughs). Music is present as soon as I wake up, as I start a new day. It puts me in a good mood, gives me energy, and awakens me.
N-P: And what music do you listen to?
V.N.: Generally, I turn on the radio, flip through stations. And then, it depends on my mood. I don’t really have a particular style of music I listen to every day.
N-P: At the moment, your mood, which musical notes does it bring you to?
V.N.: I listen to all music. At the moment, I’m listening to Timbaland but also “The Ten Commandments.”
N-P: Your single “All the Space” made a very good entry into the music charts.
V.N.: Yes, I hope it continues in this direction.
N-P: But actually, this song, I feel like I have heard it before, doesn’t it also have a place on the small screen?
V.N.: Indeed. It’s the theme song of a TV show called “The Kings of Laughter.”
N-P: Vincent Niclo, a king of laughter?
V.N.: More like a prince of laughter. I love to laugh.
N-P: What name would you give to your face?
V.N.: My own, which is full of opposites.
N-P: Tell me, with the voice you have, why aren’t you fully in the spotlight yet?
V.N.: (Smiles) A voice is not enough. You have to catch the right moment. With my first album, I was 2 or 3 years too late. You need to be ahead. It’s a bit of luck, but you also need to work hard, have willpower, be tenacious and persistent.
N-P: By visiting your site, I got the impression that you are close to the people who support you. Is that important to you?
V.N.: Yes, very much. It’s impossible to do this job without being close to the people who encourage you. They support me, and it makes me stronger. I often meet people who support me, I respond to their messages. It makes them happy, and it pleases me. And then, I think that I am not doing this job for nothing, and I would be nothing without them. I thank them for all they bring me.
N-P: What was the most moving encounter in your career?
V.N.: There have been many. But let me tell you about one. Once, my fan club had organized a meeting with my fans. I was very impressed and even scared. One of them couldn’t look at me. She was trembling. She was so moved to the point of crying. I had never had such an effect on someone. She let herself go. This meeting was very enriching. It was a very beautiful encounter: A sincere encounter. I thank all those people who believe in me again.
N-P: An appointment to mark in our calendars?
V.N.: Summer 2008, the release of my album!
N-P: A trip to the French Riviera in prospect?
V.N.: I hope so. I’m a lover of the south of France. I would like to do a concert in Nice.
N-P: By the way, you have already come here. Any places you like?
V.N.: I love the Nikaรฏa hall and its stadium, there is good acoustics. I came to present the musical and with the Night of the Proms tour. I also like this restaurant where one eats very well: “La petite maison,” which I got to know during the operation of the Yellow Coins.
N-P: Finally, if tomorrow, we propose you become editor-in-chief of our newspaper, what headline would you put on our daily?
V.N.: Cuba Libre!
