Q&A

Hi everyone,

I’ve recently posted a reel on my Instagram feed and story asking if there was anything you wanted to know about my music and I had 16 questions! Thank you so much for your interest in wanting to know more about my music. Considering the number of questions the replies needed a long form of content so I thought it was best fitted for the blog which is no problem at all because I do enjoy writing. I have written your questions below and have put them under different themes to make the blog post look more organised.

 

MUSIC JOURNEY

Did you want to make music as a child? When did you start playing an instrument, and which one?
Yes! When I was 3 years old I told my parents who are not musicians that I had a strong desire to learn music and they let me take a few introduction to music lessons. I then rapidly switched to piano lessons at age 4. Later as a teenager I started playing the violin and early adulthood started singing.

How many years of experience of playing?
As I mentioned in the previous answer, I started learning how to play the piano at the age of 4 so I've been playing since then but I'd like to add that there were moments over the years where I couldn't always practice as much as I would have wanted to.

Do you want to learn other instruments?
Not for now because piano and composing, and then when I have more time singing and violin is already a lot of work, but learning a new instrument is definitely a rewarding process so I don't know what the future holds!

What is your most joyful moment when you play music?
I think it's when I finish writing and practicing a song and I just play it and hear the final result, it's rewarding after the hours spent creating and working on the music!

PURPOSE

As an artist, it’s important to know who you truly are and how you really feel inside. How long did it take for you to find your true self?
I completely agree that as artists there's inevitably an inner journey to take to tune in to who we really are and what we really want to do. As creatives we are faced with the blank page where we have to decide which adventure to embark on. My inner work journey has been a long one and I can't remember exactly when it started and I believe it's a journey that doesn't end. I do feel much more aligned with who I truly am than a while back, but I think there's always a part of ourselves that keeps evolving which makes it a lifelong journey of self-discovery and alignment!

Why do you make music? And I mean, what is your why? The reason or reasons that lead you to and keeps you creating, composing, producing, playing, and working on music.
Since a very young age I've had this inner knowing that music was something that I had to do. I didn't know exactly how it would look like but I knew I had to find a way. It hasn't been an easy journey to embark on and when faced with challenges I remind myself that music helps people and makes the world a better place so if I can make a positive impact, even on a small scale, that's enough to make me fulfilled!

 

DEBUT EP

What was the main motivation when you wanted to release your first EP?
It's difficult to pick one, I would say it was a blend of a few things. Firstly, wanting to be authentic and express myself as music has always been the most natural way for me to do so. There was also the motivation of wanting to release professionally a record after so many years of developing my skills. All those long hours of practice, some late nights, some fears to overcome finally has found its purpose. Also, I'm a very creative person and I've always felt a bit different, like I don't really fit in society and we live in a world that is not making it easy for creative people to flourish in their art so releasing my debut EP was a big step for me.

What are the main themes you aimed to talk about in your debut EP?
There is a strong theme of not giving up hope when life gets really dark. I also aimed to talk about inner work and healing. There are also storytelling and fantasy elements in the music and visuals.

What are the lessons learned from releasing your own music?
Having started releasing music independently, I've had to learn to do all the things that are besides the music so the marketing, communication and all the admin that is involved. There is a lot of work to do behind the scenes of the music and it takes a lot of time so learning to get better at managing that.

What do you think went wrong with the first EP that you plan to do differently in the future?
I plan to do a better job at marketing before my next release and I also want to improve some things in my music. However, I'm at peace with what I've done because it was the best I could do at the time especially considering this is my first EP and I had a limited budget so I'm happy with how it turned out and accept where I am in my journey knowing not everything is perfect and I'm looking forward to the next adventure!

 

INSPIRATIONS

What composers and bands are your main influences?
Chopin is my favourite composer. I also love Beethoven, Mozart, Vivaldi and Rachmaninov. About my favourite bands I would say Nightwish, Evanescence, Within Temptation, Epica and Era are my main influences although I have many more!

What are your inspirations for your music?
Regarding music it's a blend of classical, metal, epic orchestral and fantasy. My main inspirations are hope, storytelling, inner work and fantasy. I love immersing myself in movies with fantasy elements that I find inspiring such as the Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, the chronicles of Narnia and many more!


FUTURE PLANS

Any plans for a live show?
Not for now, I would like to in the future but my main focus right now is to release more music to keep building my discography and offer new songs to my audience, and also that would mean that I'll be able to have a full set that I can perform on stage of my songs when the opportunity presents itself. Also, it's much easier to listen and release music nowadays than it was a few years ago when phones and computers didn't exist so it's great to be living in a time where I can still release music and reach people with currently no live shows.

If you could collaborate with any artist in a future album, who would that be and why?
I'm happy to have had the incredibly skilled guitarist Matvei Plekhanov from Dragony record the amazing guitar solos on the first 3 songs of my debut EP. For future releases it's difficult to mention one person in particular because there are so many great talents out there! 

In an ideal world, where do you see yourself in 2 years with music?
In an ideal world I would have released more music, done professional music videos, have grown my audience and started live shows. However my goals do take time because 2 years pass quickly and there is a very real issue of time, budget, and the amount of work that includes the music, marketing and all the admin but I do my best to keep a positive mindset!

 

SOCIETY

What do you think about today’s most popular music genres?
There are some songs that are popular that I like, and some that I don't. Music is to some degree subjective, and we all resonate to different styles of music and that's ok!

 

If you're reading this it means you've made it until the end! I'm very grateful to have you as a part of my musical adventure! ✨

Love,

Thaïs