Salut l’équipe, comment ça se passe?
I’m writing from the empty floor of my brand-new apartment, surrounded by the bones of my dismantled couch and the boxed-up things that will eventually flourish into a home. For now, it’s quite bare. I would love to say that it’s a blank canvas for a fresh start, but I suck at interior design - at the moment, it just looks like a beautiful empty room.
This newsletter is a chilled-out one: I just want to share a playlist and some thoughts with you. I decided to start with the playlist, so that you can listen to some of it while you read, if you feel like it.
Behold, the “check this out” Spotify playlist!
A couple of weeks ago, I wanted to listen to some fresh new music and get out of my own listening habits, so I asked for recommendations on my Instagram story. A few people answered and sent me some really cool stuff (if you’re one of those people, thank you <3); I put all of that into this playlist and went for a walk, and I really enjoyed it. It was nice to set dance music aside for a moment, and to check out some artists that I hadn’t even heard of, as well as some artists that I knew about but never listened to. I want to share that playlist with you today, because what’s better than exchanging nice music recommendations? I also added some stuff that I’ve discovered myself lately, and I’ll probably be updating it once in a while by asking y’all for new material. I hope you enjoy it :)
This month of November brings a few changes for me, the biggest of which - apart from this new place - is a new job! Tomorrow and for the first time in my life, I start work as an employee. That word rings so weird to me, because I’ve only ever been my own boss and employee at the same time; and the two of us have gotten along quite well so far. But I’m trying new things in life. Being self-employed can be extremely complicated for a lot of reasons, and I want to see what the alternative feels like.
It’s tough to describe my feelings in this transition, but I’ll try to sum it up: there’s a lot of apprehension at diving head-first into waters I’ve never swum before, but also excitement at the perspective of a new lifestyle. Another thing that I’ve never done before is centering my professional life around something other than music; and this week, I'll be making quite a switch from working as a freelance music producer.
I think that the apprehensive part of my feelings comes from a longing for what I would call “my best path”. Music and art are among the most important things in my existence, and I have some objectives that I’d like to reach during my lifetime. Funnily enough, reaching those goals also entails the struggle to find time, energy, resources and inspiration to go after them. For me, this means juggling financial situations, dedicating time to relationships and to self-care, and making sure I’m ready in those beautiful moments when creativity knocks at the door.
In these times of reflection, I’m finding social media to be a tricky companion. I constantly see people seemingly achieve their dreams on a daily basis, displays of success and happiness that I crave for myself… A source of inspiration at times, but also a great pit of negative feelings such as jealousy and self-deprecation. I’m distancing myself a bit from social networks these days, because the noise can be overwhelming; and although I need these tools for promotion and networking, I try to see them for the warped and sometimes unhealthy filters that they are.
Through this new apartment and job, I’m testing out ways to build a life that fulfils my calling. I would say that I’m looking for the right path, but I think that it’s simply one where I keep going forward and pick up inspiration and joy along the way.
As a reminder to myself, I wrote a short list of things that I ultimately want in life:
to play more shows
to build a community
to create music, videos and other cool things
to learn new things and discover new art
Anyway, all this to say that I’m currently exploring my best path - I think I’m gonna start by changing my “Home” address on Google Maps. I do hope you enjoy the playlist, and that you’ll think of writing me when you find a cool new artist that you think we should check out. Apart from being all existential and giving my therapist a run for her money, I’m also working on new releases! I have a lot of new music that is aching to get out (I think in early 2024). So yeah, a lot of new things to look forward to.
In the meantime, take care of yourself, and thank you for reading <3
Bisous,
Alain