Hoshi's second album was due out on Friday. But his label preferred to postpone it to June 5, hoping for the reopening of record stores and cultural brands. Because after having made a shattering appearance with "Ta marinière" and sold 200,000 copies of the album "Sufficient to believe in it", the young singer from Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (Yvelines) is betting big on her successor, "Sommeil Levant", more mature, varied and successful, better written and produced, but also more personal, entirely written and composed by him.
Mathilde Gerner, alias Hoshi, 23, discusses his doubts and injuries, the attacks in “Coule Mascara”, his roots in “SQY”, his loss of hearing in “Fais- me sign ", homosexuality in" Love censorship ". She sang it at the Victoires de la Musique, of which she was one of the revelations, in mid-February last and concluded it with a kiss with one of her dancers.
This gesture against homophobia earned him thunderous applause but also unbearable insults and threats on social networks. So much so that she filed a complaint against X for harassment and death threats. His fight, his confinement, his album, the artist talks to us cash.
How do you experience containment?
HOSHI. Like everyone, it's complicated. But I make music. I am preparing the 3rd album while the 2nd is not even out (laughs). This period ultimately inspires me a lot. What interests me is that the coronavirus puts us all on the same level, whatever our means and our way of life. I also noticed that my song "Children of danger" was damn topical. I say inside: "We will need masks and not be able to disguise ourselves." It was a delusion and it is unfortunately true. To keep in touch with my audience, I regularly do live shows, on Instagram and for radio stations.
Your song “Amour censure” is getting a lot of attention…
I did not expect this point. It was the last one I wrote, like a cry from the heart, when I saw on TV the demonstrations against PMA ( Editor's note: medically assisted procreation ), surrogacy, homophobic attacks. It reminded me of bad memories because I was assaulted when I was younger. I had to free myself. And I am happy and moved to see that she helped teens come out or talk about the subject in their family.
Was it also a way for you to assume?
At first, I didn't want to put my private life in my music for fear of being put in a box, of having a label. And then, while writing my second album, I was tired of always looking for a pronoun to reach more people, to put my words in the masculine when I was completely lying to people. It was a relief, now I don't have to hide anymore.
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Your kiss marked the Victoires de la musique…
I wanted to do a somewhat militant act, but certainly not provocation, as I could read. The battle against homophobia is a daily battle in which I decided to take part. But I did not expect the reactions to be so violent. I received hundreds of horrible messages, death threats, Nazi comments, like "Hitler hasn't finished his job". At one point, I felt in danger because some people were looking for my address.
View this post on Instagram
Last night we were at the Victoires de la musique to sing #AmourCensure 😍 What a chance and what an incredible evening! A big thank you to everyone who made this possible: the whole organization of the victories, @fleurcopin and all the dancers who were on stage with me, @philippartcom, @joandcolabel, @caramba_prod @giamartinelli and great thoughts to my whole team of tour! 🧡
A post shared by Hoshi (@hoshi) on Feb 15, 2020 at 6:05 am PST
Hence your complaint for harassment and death threats ...
I did it because I can afford to do it and let it be known. It is also my fight. In "Amour censure", I encourage those who are assaulted or harassed to do so. Homophobia is a crime and not an opinion, cyber-harassment is punishable by law… But I mean that I have received more positive messages than negative ones, including a lot of singers who felt concerned because they are also taking it up on social media.
In the song "Let me know", we discover that you suffer from major hearing problems. How do you live it?
I didn't talk about it because I didn't think it would be so bad. I have a malformation of the Eustachian tube which causes repeated ear infections and hearing loss. I was operated on six times, but I was recently discovered about Ménière's disease, which makes things worse. I had to cancel several concerts last year because I had attacks of vertigo and ear pain. I had lost 20% of hearing before the tour, now I'm 40%. To treat myself, I no longer listen to music with headphones, I rest a lot and on stage, we remove the lights that move too much, the drummer taps less loudly. It became a fight. But I will fight.
Your second album was due out on Friday. How is he ?
I tried to go further than the first, to say everything I could not say, everything I had in mind for more than a hundred concerts. I started writing it on the tour bus. It was a need. It is more electro than the first, which included a lot of ballads. I wanted the songs to move more, to send darker messages but while dancing. I listen to a lot of electro, techno and Indochina, I like synths.
You ask yourself a lot of questions in your songs, "I'm between a nightmare and a waking dream", "I don't want to be a star, I don't want to be forgotten", "fed up with powder in the eyes" ...
I never wanted to be a star. As a kid, I never dreamed of being a singer. But music became a vital need and I understood that notoriety and its bad sides would be inevitable. Evenings, after parties, business, it's not really my thing. This job is a roller coaster and the ride is sometimes a little scary.
