Artist Name: Songs for June
Nationality: Belgium
Release title: Iowa / Ad astra (per alas porci)
Release genre: Singer-songwriter
Band Members: Main artist Elvy Jean and collaborators
If you enjoyed these thoughts by Elvy and would like to find out more about his work, visit his official channels below.
Single “I want to know” from upcoming album IOWA.
Single “Ordalie” from upcoming album IOWA.
Listen
Songs for June music on Spotify. Enjoy while reading the interview.
About the Artist
When did you start writing/producing/playing music and what or who were your early passions and influences? What was it about music and/or sound that drew you to it?
I’ve been a creative person since I was 17. Learning guitar, piano, singing. It feels now as it was a kind of escape. A needed sweet escape but an escape nonetheless. I had to flee from the place where I was born and take refuge in my mind. Growing up and learning more about who I was, around 40, I felt more and more down to earth, in need of manual work, in need of contemplating and watching the world go by. I still enjoy Art a lot, music, painting, sculpture, writing, but nowadays being in touch with the creativity of others and not creating myself feels just fine.
Could you describe what part of the creative process is particularly dear to you?
I’ve always been fond of songwriting when a song can be sung with just a voice and one instrument. These days I find less and less attractive songwriting, everything is drowned in a lot of studio production. That’s not what I really like.
I turned myself to other kinds of music like classical music and I try to improve my piano to play some pieces I like. Maybe one day I’ll be creative again in that vein.
Time will tell. I want to ride the time and not put up with it.
About the Album
Tell us about your new album IOWA. Is there a story behind it? What were the influences or inspirations to write it?
The last years I was still writing a song now and then. Before that, I had songs I could only manage to record in a lo-fi fashion. My friend, Arnaud Ghilain, is a sound engineer and we took some time to record some songs in better quality. He added bass, and synths and took care of all the recording and mixing process (alongside his friend from Quebec, Dominique Massicote). I was glad because I’m no good at recording or with computers in general. We never thought of making an album before having enough material to have one released. Then we took that direction.
On my side, I bought a iMac and found that the musical programs on a mac are very friendly to use. So I manage to add other instruments on old piano/voice recordings and also record a few new songs. That led to a second album that’s gonna be released in the wake of the first one.
We asked a friend, Christelle Cornil, to add some backup vocals and a friend of Arnaud played the piano on « Solitude ».
Could you describe your creative process behind the album? Where did the ideas come from, how were they transformed in your mind, what did you start with and how do you refine these beginnings into a finished song?
There was no specific creative process behind all those songs beside the process I have since I begun writing music. I guess the lyrics talk about me and my life. Not every song, sometimes you just take a theme (« a guy is pining for his lost girlfriend ») and you develop the idea.
Releasing music is such a mammoth effort. What are the biggest challenges? What things did you learn in the process?
Releasing and promoting my music is not easy for me because I’m not capable of selling myself to the world.
My music is very close to who I am and therefore I don’t want to make a product of myself. So I try to take a step back and I have the chance to have people around me who can take care of the social networks in my place.
I suffer a little bit from “Fomo” (fear of missing out, addiction to the internet) and when I start promoting my music now in September 2022, I really hope I’ll be able to put a distance between myself and the virtual life of my music. I don’t want to be famous as a person, I just want my music to be enjoyed by people who like that kind of music. Like a potter who wants his crafted vases to ornament the living room of people.
I decided to release one song of the album every Friday night (GMT+1) on my youtube channel. And during this process, try to promote it as much as possible to gather people around. When all the songs are released on youtube, the album is out on every streaming service and Bandcamp. (21st October)
I don’t plan any gigs because I’m not comfortable on stage and those songs are in the past for me. But they’re beautiful and they could be a nice present for others.