Enfnts Terribles

The album sees you get into the character of your uncle, who committed suicide after struggling with schizophrenia. How important is this work for you personally and musically?

It’s more an homage to him. I won’t play him—or it isn’t a reincarnation—but the whole album is more like a diary. I write from his perspective on the album, but I won’t portray him on stage. There’s a distance between us, but the idea was—except for the last song—to understand his point of view. I wanted to have a character and a storyline. It’s not necessarily a concept, but it has something to tell. Maybe I like to write that way because I have a theater background, where I learned a lot about storytelling.

It’s not just pop song after pop song because it would be impossible for me to sit in front of my synthesizer and write. I respect that someone can do it, but I need to create a mood board to know who’s talking. I wanted to do something around my uncle for many years because I’d never really known him. I talked to him as a teenager, but I didn’t know him well because of his disease. He was in a bubble, and I was too since I was a weird teenager. We never really connected. This album was my opportunity to connect with him and pay homage to him and my family. It centers on topics that I really like, such as loneliness, mental illness, and finding who you are.

What’s the impact of It’s Happening Now on your family?

We were always very afraid to talk about him and his schizophrenia in our family. Since I told them that I wrote about it, we talk about it every day, but in a very easy way. Just for that, I’m already proud of It’s Happening Now. I’m even going to Charleroi with my father to visit all the places they went to when they were teenagers. I was very shy at first to talk about it.

I told my dad weeks into my writing process and confessed that I wrote songs about his relationship with his brother. He immediately understood what I wanted to do, and he was really touched when he heard the album for the first time. It opened the door to talk about this important part of his life.

Besides being a musician, you also act in an adaption of Hamlet and star in different movies and series. Is it easy to bring all these disciplines together or is that overwhelming?

I learn a lot when I’m acting because being on set to shoot gives me so much inspiration to come up with loads of new ideas for the studio. I relisten to what I made before and adopt new ideas. When you’re stuck on only one thing, you won’t be able to find a more open point of view. 

Artists have to have different skills and have to be able to use different tools. It’s maybe a bit of a paradox with what I said earlier because I’m not playing a character when I make music, but you need to have the same skills as in theater when you take the stage. You need to be aware of everything: the guys who are playing with you, have a look at the crowd, etc. That’s something you learn in theatre. We have to be handymen as modern artists because we have to bring everything we learned and can together.

In Wallonia and France, people like to put artists in boxes, and we have to fight to show that we’re against that. I’m a big fan of David Bowie; he’s my God because he always tried different things. Lady Gaga is doing the same too. I don’t want to be just one specific thing, and I feel, for example, in France that they see me as an actor that sings. I’m just an actor and singer at the same time.

Artists often don’t like to set too many goals to avoid disappointment when they don’t achieve their goals, but what do you hope this album does?

Honestly, I’m focussing on reaching new audiences and people. That’s also why we planned some shows outside of Belgium as well. I’m working with my new booking agency FKP Scorpio Xavier Wilkin and Jan Digneffe. Jan Digneffe already worked with Oscar And The Wolf and has a great vision for me. I want to see where the album brings me and how people interact with it. I’m really touched by the story of It’s Happening Now and want as many people as possible to hear it. I don’t like to see concerts in stadiums because the sound is often horrible and you can’t see anything, but if I’m being honest with myself, that’s what I want. (Laughs)

Mustii’s new album It’s Happening Now is out now. Tickets for his upcoming tour incl. dates in London, Paris and Brussels are available now.

If you are experiencing suicidal or self-harming thoughts and are in need of a conversation, then you can always contact the Suicide Hotline on the number 1813 or www.zelfmoord1813.be for Belgium. If you’re not from Belgium, please contact your local suicide hotline via www.suicidestop.com.