MYLENE FARMER
“The man who’s sharing my life is a animation movie director. He first fell in love with the character of one of my songs”
Interview by Jérôme Béglé (Paris-Match 20-26th march 2008)
Paris Match : Why going back on stage three years after your last concert series in Bercy ?
Mylène Farmer : Because I’m bored ! I have the need to reinvent my life... Pascal has said : “Nothing is as much unbearable to human beings than being in full rest without entertainment, without passion, without business...” The reason I live is my job, and shows (are) all about sharing. I have such an intense memory of my last appearance in Bercy... I want to feel this head spin (sensation) at the Stade de France again and in all concert rooms from the “province” as well
(note : province is everything that’s not paris and it surroundings).
Is it a farewell tour ?
I don’t know ! Even if (tours are) the reason I live, I have the deep and sincere feeling that I’m saying farewell every time. The idea of exhibiting myself constitutes an effort such that it is impossible for me to plan my eventual will to go back on stage right after a tour. But out of respect for the public, I will never use this as a promotional point.
Most of the singers come back to more intimate venues. You do the exact opposite move...
I like the idea of immoderation (hugeness, excessiveness)... Even if I remain someone who’s modest, humble, I hope ! But I need the immensity, it’s exhilarating. I don’t think the feeling of closeness with the public resides in the dimension of a room. An emotion remains an emotion, the gift of the self remains the same, desire and magic are intact.
Is it a coincidence that you picked september 12th, your birthday ?
It’s a pure coincidence. I haven’t been celebrating my birthday for ages. The idea of gathering people to celebrate it paralyzes me ! I guess you are smiling... Several thousands of people – this is my wish ! – will be present at the Stade de France... It’s my whole paradox. But this is true, when I finally made up my mind, the only available date left was september 12th, a saturday ! I take it as an incredible gift from life.
How are you going to design your show in the next 18 upcoming months ?
The very first meeting will take place in about a month. The goal is for Laurent Boutonnat, Thierry Suc and myself to fill in the key positions, the decorator, the production director... A few ideas already exist, but it is often at the end of those meetings that all possibilities are mentioned, and the unreasonable ones as well ! Then, there will have to be thought about the costumes, the lights, the sound, the musicians, the dancers... Physical preparation...
In 2006, you sang 13 times in Bercy and gathered 170 000 viewers. Is it the insurance that you will be able to fill the Stade de France without trouble ?
Of course not ! Going on stage is not a science, nor maths business. I have been hesitating for a long time... A few benevolent close persons encouraged me. I won’t conceal that ever since I said “yes”, my heart has bumped up my throat...
You haven’t been touring in France for ten years, are you going to make up for this privation ?
It wasn’t about a privation, but about a choice, certainly difficult to make.I had the opportunity, by staying in Paris, to give something unique, a “non-transportable” show. No room in France could have contained the stage structure built in Bercy in 2006. But I can already tell you for sure that a tour is being prepared and that I will be going on the Geneva Stadium stage on september 4th, 2009. And I’m very, very happy about it.
A new album is announced. What will it sound like ?
If I compare it to the previous one “Avant que l’ombre”, it will maybe sound more electronical... With numerous “up-tempo” tracks...
You have been leading a career based on silence and mystery for 20 years. Strategy or shyness ?
My deep nature is discretion. I feel a true repulsion when I have to talk about myself... You know, if we think about it, the consequences of this silence that you mention are or may have been a handicap for any idea of success. I took this risk because I had no choice, that’s all ! Even if this is not the opinion of some that think they know more about me than myself, the word “career” doesn’t belong to my vocabulary. I am more of the instinctive kind. I am a lot more interested in other people’s lives than mine. I rarely confide anything...
Do you understand that this silence may sometimes be interpreted as indifference towards your fans ?
I maintain a relationship with the public based on “high reciprocal expectations”
(note : couldn’t find a better way to express the idea behind the word “exigence” that has no proper equivalent here in english). I expect a lot from it, and it demands a lot from me. This relationship requires sincerity. It’s a bit like a friend to whom you wouldn’t be giving news to and who respects this silence, because, precisely, he knows you well. This silence presages an even more beautiful reunion.
Are you proud of or encumbered by the (considerable) number of your fans ?
I don’t know the number of them, but I feel their energy ! They help me to carry on with life, stimulate me day after day. It’s not a question here of proudness or inconvenience, it would be like confusing a genuine relationship with an ego problem. I would find this sad !
You only gave two interviews in three years, do you think that the only means of expression of an artist should be his work ?
In an ideal world, yes ! The artist has to disappear behind his art. It’s a duty of humbleness, as I see it. At the same time, I’m here in front of you, replying to your questions... Funny...
You seem to have been divulging yourself more for the past few years... Is it the proof that you are more self confident ?
It’s more the proof of a shared confidence that allays me.
How did you meet Benoît, the man who shares your life ?
I was looking for an animation movie director... He’s producer and director and he instantly fell in love with the little character of “C’est une belle journée”. [Smile]
What should one do to seduce you ?
I don’t know... Offer me a strawberry cream cake ? It’s a cake that I love.
Alain Souchon said : “we always make the same song, only words change, sometimes”. Do you agree ?
Yes, we always haunt the same places, only the persons with whom we travel sometimes change. The important thing is that the magic of words operates.
Success is still here after twenty years. How do you explain it ?
One day, I read : “Success is nothing more than the authorization to continue”. After twenty years of songs and stage, I measure the success to the public’s envy, which never ceased. It seems fundamental to me.
How do you deal with time going by ?
I like one sentence by Samuel Beckett very much : “My birth was my loss” [1]. It’s been accompanying me for several years now ! Now, what preoccupies me is the remaining time... Time is not my friend. When it’s too long, I’m bored. When it’s too short, I get anxious. After all, (it seems like) I’m not (that) easy to get along with ! [smile]
You are often depicted as a melancholic artist.
A part of me is living in melancholia, and another part of me also likes laughing and gaiety. Unfortunately, the world tends to make me stick to a melancholic state, where happiness sometimes rises.
What makes you happy ?
A hand that is lent, benevolence...
It is said that you live with an orang utan in complete darkness, and that you never go out of your home ?
You also forget the tarentulas, that I sleep in a coffin, and that I use candles for light... That said, I would love to have a orang utan... [laugh]
At the beginning, sexual provocation sped up your success. Your images are now sweeter, more moderate. You don’t need to provoke any more, do you ?
Don’t worry, the next album announces the sensual awakening of a woman living with a orang utan in complete darkness !
At Bercy in 2006, the stage on which you performed had the shape of a cross. What role does religion play in your life ?
Religion is a way among others to raise our spirit. Like art or science. Religion has to be an offer, not an enslavement. But this question remains private as far as I’m concerned.
What relationship do you keep with death and the after-life ?
Knowing that life ends with a hopeless death is an aspect of existence, a challenge of the most difficult kind that life offers us... This fatality makes me inevitably (feel) melancholic. Yet, I know the non-permanence of things : the present time has to be (fully) experienced at any price... But considering our own annihilation and our relatives’ one is obsessing and inhuman ! The representation of death in arts, on all aspects, as well in litterature or painting, as well as in photography, fascinates me. I love surrounding myself with
Vanities. It’s a way for me to bear the unbearable.
Do you think you’ll be singing until the end of your days or could you stop your career prematurely ?
It’s a questioning that is being daily made, so, it depends... As today’s a good day, I have decided to sing at least until september 12th ! But I know the moment will come when I will feel the necessity of retiring.
At the movies, “Giorgino”, in which you had the lead role, didn’t work well. Did this flop kill your cinematographic ambitions ?
It wasn’t the lead role. I appeared only after an hour... Regarding ambition, I don’t know, I rather have the desire to pay in another movie.
Could it be the movie project “L’ombre des autres” ?
As a matter of fact yes. This project is close to my heart. During my concerts at Bercy in 2006, I met Claude Berri for whom I have the greatest respect. He offered me to play the character named “Tess”, the heroin of “L’ombre des autres”, which is a fiction by Nathalie Reims. Since, then, Stéphane Célérier joined him to produce this movie. The shooting should be starting at the end of 2009 right after the Stade de France concert. I’m keeping my fingers crossed...
You only recorded seven albums and gave four concert series in a quarter of a century, what do you do in the mean time ?
I hibernate and cure my melancholia by reading a “Traité du désespoir” (“Book of hopelessness”)... [laugh]. I like travelling, reading and walking in the forest.
You were born and spent the first years of your life in Quebec. What’s from Quebec in you ?
The certainty that dying of coldness is sweeter than dying of hotness ! The snow told me that... Is this the last question ? [laugh]
[1] The real quote in english is : "Birth was the death of him". Credit to Trinity...
03-24-2008, 05:04 PM
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