[2010-02-04] Alizée in AMUSEMENT Magazine

[Toc De Mac]

Source: Lilly-Town

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The magazine is being released today, and in all stores on the 8th.

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Translation by Backinblack:

"I have 9 pages of iPhone apps"

We met the singer Alizée to talk about her latest album, an electric one. She also spoke to us about her life, an electronic one.


Some people might be surprised to see Alizée on these pages. Wrong. Long associated with the success of her first single "Moi... Lolita", the young singer could have followed the flash-in-the-pan path of a one-hit wonder and ended up fading into obscurity. None of that is happening, since Alizée, now 25 years old, with three albums already, is guiding the reins of her latest endeavor with all the experience accrued during a career that is already 10 years in the making. A return shaping up to be both personal and intimate, yet mainly collaborative, since it is being carried out through an alliance with the talents of the Institutes stable. The result measures up to the prestige of both camps: a delicate and scintillating mixture of the melancholic, flamboyant, poetic and electric. The theme of the album, Une Enfant du siècle (a child of the century) is the subject of this interview with Alizée: the child of a digital and wired century, she tells us here of the secrets of an unexpectedly digital life.

After a debut in French variété, then a more rock-accentuated album in 2003, for this album you've moved into electronic mode...
Alizée: My artistic director, Jean René Etienne from Institubes, has worked with several electronic artists from his label. So the album was produced by Rob (a solo artist in addition to being the keyboardist in Phoenix), les Chateau Marmont, David Rubato, Tacteel... Just like everyone else, I've been familiar with electronic music. When I released my third album Psychédélices in 2007, co-produced with my husband (Jérémy Chatelain), I released a single called Fifty-Sixty and I asked a lot of musicians to do remixes of it. David Rubato produced a version for me and I decided I'd like to work more with this group of musicians...

You're 25 years old, you're part of a generation that has discovered a lot of music by downloading it. Do you have any opinion on the Hadopi law?
A: As a singer, I feel a little compelled to say that downloading (illegally) kills artists. At the same time, though, the Internet gave me the opportunity to become well-known in Mexico, thanks to Youtube. I had recorded a Madonna TV show special in France where I sang La Isla Bonita. Many internet-savvy fans saw this video and when it came to Latin America, I got a lot of messages from Mexicans who were fans of me... At the time I didn't understand it because my album had never been released there! As for downloading, though, I think we'll end up finding a way to get music shared intelligently over the internet. You hear people say that if they don't sell any more records, musicians can't make more music, but that's not entirely true... I'm 25, my brother's 20, and it's hard to make him understand that he should buy music even though everything is available for free online.

So do you also download stuff?
A: I do download, I admit it! Especially TV shows when they are only available online and I can't wait for the next episode...

By the way, you go often go back to Mexico to do concerts there. What digital accessories do you pack with you? For example, what do you play when you're on the plane?
A: I have my 13" Macbook with a spare battery, a DSi, an iPhone and my iPod. Even though I have music on my iPhone, I'd rather save its battery... I hope that there will be an Apple tablet soon that won't weigh down my bag so much.
Also, with the tablet, I hope that the battery will be huge, and that it's more than just a big iPhone, and that it can connect to 3G and have a little webcam for chatting. That's what the iPhone is really missing--the bigger battery and the webcam.

Since we're on the subject, what iPhone applications do you use?
A: I have 9 pages of apps... I'm playing xMotionPoker a lot these days. I also like the application that animates pictures. I actually have a page solely for my daughter with all the games (Spongebob, Monopoly...), then I have a page for photo editing (Polaris...). But I haven't "jailbroken" mine.

At your age, do you think you have a special case of geekiness, or do you think this is a generational movement?
A: For girls, I think it's starting to take hold, but two or three years ago, I was kind of a UFO, even for the guys. Also, my family would usually call me when they had a problem with their computer... I think that thanks to Apple and the iPhone-type devices, people are starting to learn how to use these things on their own.

Nintendo has also had a big influence on opening women up to the digital age, with the Wii and the DS...
A: It's the same thing there too. The Wii has made women want to play video games... Well, I've always played, I had all the consoles in existence. My dad is a computer scientist, so I began with an old Amstrad, the big GameGear, the Super Nintendo, the Megadrive, all the Gameboys... I also like classic games, so with the new Mario that has just been released, I'm on cloud nine...

So you're more of a 2D gamer?
A: Yes! I prefer older games, even for fighting games... For example, I loved Street Fighter IV. I can't say why I prefer 2D. Maybe because I know how to play them better--I spent so many hours on Donkey Kong or Mario that I feel like I have more fun in 2D games, at least having to think about what I have to do.

Did you know that a World of Warcraft developer was inspired by your dance when creating the elves in the game?
A: Yes, I know! A lot of fans have sent me screen captures with the elves dancing like I did in "J'en ai marre". I thought it was really quite funny...

And what do you think of the representation of women in video games?
A: Actually, considering their clothing style and their body proportions, it's obvious that they've been created by guys...for men, by men!

You really seem to be a geek. Which sites do you get your tech news from?
A: On my Mac, I have one section of fashion bookmarks and a geek section with the Journal du Geek, iPhone blogs, MacUpdates.
I am actually a big Mac person. Before, I used a PC, but when you get a taste of the Mac, it's difficult to go back.
This Christmas I got the Cook tablet for cooking, but I think it hasn't been perfected yet because it crashes a lot...it feels like I'm using a PC!