I like that concerts don’t look like records, or albums. And in Forest, you really feel the energy of the concerts.
This new tour began over a year ago. Tour, album, tour: is this a circle that appeals to you?
The stage is the element where I feel most natural. I really enjoy singing and playing with my musicians, with the audience. I like meetings and even more when there is a story with the public.
The reunion aspect is something that touches me a lot, to see people who grew up and grew old with me, who bring their children. These are strong moments in life, I think.
You composed this album while you were on tour. How do you find the time? Was there an urgency to write?
There were mostly sleepless nights because there were some truly magical concerts, notably at Palais 12, here in Brussels. I couldn’t sleep because there was excitement, there were songs that came out.
I said to myself: why wait 2-3 years, still following this usual pattern? To break these patterns a little, I made the album in my corner and I surprised everyone; I surprised friends, I surprised family, I surprised the record company… and the public. And especially with social issues, questions too, trying to remain optimistic in a somewhat worrying world.
You’re talking about people who have difficulties in life, including those who don’t do well in school. Have you experienced this kind of situation?
I was rather a difficult student. I wasn’t trying very hard. I got zeros, but frankly, I deserved them, whereas there are kids who make an effort, and who are sometimes subjected to somewhat rigid grading which can ruin them for the rest of their lives.
It’s not a song against school either because today, teachers are still better than before. It’s just saying that you can succeed in doing something with your life, even if you had average grades at school.
This album is called 10. Have you said that 10 is the end of a cycle: the end of what? And the beginning of what?
It’s a catchphrase (laughing). In fact, 10 is the end of a cycle, it’s the beginning of something else. It was just to say that I like the idea of having made 10 albums. 10 albums isn’t a lot, but it’s still enough to have a repertoire. The stage will never leave me since I breathe better on stage.
Afterwards, how am I going to make albums afterwards? I want new things. I just want to surprise myself to surprise others. That’s what I mean, is that I always hope to renew myself.
In this album, you perform a song about friendship. Do you have a lot of friends?
I believe that real friends are not necessarily people we see all the time in life. These are people we see from time to time, but when we see them, they comfort us and they reassure us.
I’m more of a solitary person. I have four children, so I have a busy life. Sometimes when I find myself alone, that’s good too.
But, in my job, we sometimes have doubts. All artistic professions are complicated professions because there is no stability, and that’s what I like too. But when I went through moments of doubt and I kept them to myself, so it wouldn’t spread. I don’t think it’s worth sharing all these doubts.
Is there a title that you are particularly proud of?
I composed the music for the Fireworks, and I felt something was happening. Because it is both a song that tells something clearly and at the same time not at all. It’s a song about childhood. And when you are a child, you are inevitably an artist. We understand things that we no longer understand when we are adults.
What song do your fans talk to you about the most?
It depends. There are pop-rock pros facing the sea, and there are portrait or fireworks pros. I don’t try to please everyone. I try, as I said earlier, to surprise myself in order to surprise others. I believe that we must always change to renew ourselves. What’s important is that people recognize my music after two bars, that means having a style, and that’s the most important thing.
