Miss Figaro. -
My news?
Michel Polnareff.
-
These twelve songs from my repertoire, recomposed in piano-voice version – from
Bal des Laze
to
Lettre à France,
via
Holidays
.
I recorded them in three months, in my studio, in Palm Springs, without schedules or rules.
Serge Khalifa, my agent and my friend, supported me a lot.
I will sing them alone in concert: on a central, innovative stage, with a 360-degree audience.
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What was the challenge of this
album
?
I didn't want to do it at all.
The public had been asking me for piano-voice songs for a long time, but I was afraid of the intimacy that one faces in this sobriety.
No drums, electric guitars, heavy production… We boned until we were naked.
What if I no longer knew how to raise the treble?
What if I no longer knew how to play like before?
I discovered that my voice was still there, and that I mastered the piano better than before.
I didn't want to make this album at all: I was afraid of the intimacy that we face in this sobriety
Michel Polnareff
Where did I find the courage to reveal myself to this point?
It was a difficult challenge, painful at times, and I am led to believe that I won it.
I wanted people to perceive vibrations that belong to me and that I usually only show when the curtain is down.
My relationship with the piano has been important: it's a big-tailed Yamaha, with which I have a love affair.
I bought it in a recording studio in Los Angeles.
Elton John and Billy Joel wanted it badly, but I won.
Talking about yourself in promo, is it a chore?
It's not my favorite thing, the record should speak for itself.
I live in California, in the desert, because I love the sun and being completely incognito.
Fame isn't the coolest thing that can happen.
It can be a punishment, Dante's
Inferno
.
My character ?
Obsessive, which rhymes with passion.
An artist, therefore.
We always wonder why artists have extravagant behavior, sometimes bordering on madness.
Damn, do you think it's fun to be an artist?
What shine does not consume?
Digging to the bone of creation cannot fit into a neat little diary.
My creative secret?
I didn't want any staging for the production of this album.
I was naked, unlike the recording of
Bal des Laze
, my second album, where I sang surrounded by three thousand candles.
On the song
My Regrets
, I was even overwhelmed with emotion.
I broke down and interrupted the recording.
Then I left the trail as it was, unresolved.
What do I like to be said about me?
Eccentric?
Without a doubt.
Once, a woman compared me to Andy Warhol for my graphic side.
I met Warhol.
He is one of those creators who have made a work of art out of themselves.
They are immediately recognized through a series of visual codes.
I have them too: a particular haircut, my white glasses designed by Pierre Marly in 1971... How did I construct all of this?
A true artist, which I think he is, must look at himself as a spectator.
David Bowie, whom I was dating, was great at that.
Dali too!
The last time I was proud of myself?
I try to make it everyday.
There, I am proud of this interview.
Polnareff sings Polnareff, Warner.