Enfnts Terribles

We are in the middle of a pandemic, yet you’ve managed to write, record, and drop a brilliant mixtape Saisons. What’s a typical day like in TESSÆ’s life at the moment?

I must admit that I don’t have much to do these days. (laughs) When there’s a promotion day like this one, I take the train and everything, but generally speaking, I don’t do much at the moment. Sometimes I get inspired and, for like, three or four days, I’ll write songs. This way I start building the next project that should come out. So I’m either doing nothing or writing and recording music.

Do you manage to keep your creativity rolling?

I try because otherwise, I’m afraid I won’t be able to do it again.

What does Saisons symbolize for you? 

It’s the first project that really serves as an introduction to who I am as an artist. Even though I’ve already released a few tracks before, this is the first time I release something in a physical form, with such a strong message. With this project, I wanted to show my audience what I was capable of. People often say that I’m a rapper, and I’m the first to say that I’m not.

In fact, when you check out the mixtape, you realize that it’s a lot more melodic than you’d think. So yeah, my main goal with this was to enjoy myself, and show others what I could do. The notion of seasons was predominant here because I often vary mentally in terms of seasons. You can really feel this throughout the mixtape: spring and summer have sunny and joyful vibes, then there’s autumn and winter, which carry harder themes.

How was it like to collaborate with GIMS on “Le coeur n’y est plus”? How did you end up working together?

It’s all thanks to social media, again. (laughs) I created a concept called Ad Vitam on TikTok and Instagram, where I write songs about my followers’ memories. I received a memory that was about a failed love story—broken heart and everything—and I had to perform in the style of a GIMS song. So I did it like any Ad Vitam, but this one received greater attention on social media, and GIMS came across it! It was such a wonderful surprise, I didn’t expect GIMS to have a TikTok account. (laughs) He reacted to the post, then our respective teams got in touch so that we could work together. We both did our own bits, reworked everything, and came up with the track!

Would you be keen to collaborate with other artists?

Absolutely. There are artists that I listen to just for the sake of it, but there is often this thing where I discover an artist—or rediscover an artist—have an instant crush on them and listen only to their music. When this sort of connection happens, there’s always a moment when I tell myself, “I want a feat with them”. From the moment that I’m interested in what an artist does, or simply because I find their project touching, I just want to share something with them.

I would be super keen to add some feats to my upcoming album, but I haven’t thought about it yet. Normally the mixtape was not supposed to have any because it was really the time to present myself, but frankly, I couldn’t resist a feat with GIMS. (laughs)

I understand that you are very present on social media. Has your audience reacted to the fact that you address these kinds of themes?

Social media is where Ad Vitam was born. I didn’t have a lot of tracks when it started, but I was getting a lot of feedback from my followers. They were thanking me for the music, telling me that it helped them to keep going. There were also things like, “It’s rare to see these themes in a song”. I felt that the notion of therapy was taking hold, and I realized that I wanted to help others.

Social media seem to have played an important role in your career. What are your impressions of these new ways of communicating? Does it allow you to feel closer to your audience?

These days, I can only get in touch with my audience through social media. So at least there’s that! That being said, you have to be careful; I’m really addicted to social media but on the negative side of things. I spend time responding to people who contact me, but I also spend time looking at people’s lives and putting myself in a bad position—alone with myself. So I have to set a limit. But clearly, it’s an indispensable tool. You don’t need to have a specific event to talk to people, you can chat any time, about whatever you want. You can reach out to people who live thousands of miles away from you. It’s pretty amazing.

You were born in Marseille and have been developing your career there for a few years. How did this city influence your creative choices?

It didn’t really influence me. Because of my socialphobia, I spent my whole life recluse at home. That being said, Marseille did influence me in a way because everything I can tell about myself happened there, but it’s not positive stuff. Then again, that’s where it all started: that’s where I started to take singing lessons, that’s where I performed for the first time. It’s where everything started. But if I had been somewhere else, it would have been the same.