Yael Naim:: Bring back memories
Interview conducted on Feb. 13, 2020
by Dan Locke
French-Israeli singer-songwriter Yael Naïm has come a long way since her 2007 single “New Soul” shot to the top of the Billboard charts after Steve Jobs handpicked it to launch Apple’s MacBook Air, making her the first Israeli solo artist to have a Top 10 hit in the US. Today, she shares a delicately haunting new single, “How Will I Know” off her newly announced NightSongs album, out March 20 on Believe Music. Sonically familiar to the worlds of Agnes Obel or Daughter, she’ll be celebrating the release with an international tour – dates below &here.
Dan Locke:How did you discover music?
-Yael Naim: My father used to play guitar and sing like Elvis … it was listening to him and observing his pleasure ad happiness; it made me want to “touch” this feeling … Then at the age of 10, I started to learn the piano and discovered the “Amadeus” Milos Forman movie … this movie changed my life and I decided to become a composer.
How did you start your musician career?
-I moved to Paris when I was 21 years old, and quickly met people from Emi and signed my first deal … It was a disaster and this music was never released. I went back to my little room and my instruments, composing and writing without a real concrete goal or vision. Three years later I met the most important person in my career: David Donatien, musician, producer. He understood what I was doing and together we produced the first album that was actually released. The song New Soul was on it
Tell me about how you got the deal with Apple for their MacBook Air Ad?
Weird story: Someone from Steve Job’s team was stacked in traffic and heard the song on an indie radio station in San Francisco … No Shazam at this time. He called the radio to know what this song was and called our label in France to ask for the sync rights. The crazy part is that we never really found out who sent the song to this radio in the US. The album was not released yet and the song only released in France.
Did they give you a MacBook Air?
Haha yes, they did!
I saw you at SXSW in 2008. How was it? And how many times did you perform during your stay in Texas?
it felt so good to appear in this festival where so many bands we love started, in such a prestigious line up. It felt unreal. We were young and inexperienced, so we might not have realized al the issues, but I remember the simple feeling of being PART OF IT.
Do you use computers to create your music and what software do you use?
Yes; In fact, I’ve used a computer to produce my music since I was 20… I started with Protools, moved to Cubase and Logic …and moved back to Protools more recently! …On tour, I use Ableton live a lot.
You were the first Israeli solo artist to have a top hit on the US charts. How did you feel about that?
To me, it was a childhood dream that came true without even chasing it (I was recording music in my bedroom a few weeks before – which made the taste of it much much better :))!
Tell us about being knighted by the French government?
Feeling welcomed and recognized culturally by a country was a very emotional sensation.
You won the Best Female Pop Singer award from the French Grammys Award in 2011 and 2016. Tell me how it was getting up there to get your award?
Very touching and moving; Maybe much more in 2016. In 2011, It was the end of a crazy 3 years cycle which started with the tremendous unexpected success of New Soul all over the world. In 2016, I was maybe more ready to realize how lucky I was to be able to expose music like this.
You have toured all around the world. What locations do you enjoy mostly performing at?
I love playing in Brazil and Japan … Audiences are very reactive there, in 2 different ways.
Tell me about your new album?
this album is a dive Into some unknown places in myself. I was in a situation where I could no longer hide, ignore it or pretend that there is nothing there… No choice. No matter what would be the personal price of this dive …
it’s obviously a very intimate album. It took me 3 years in a room to make it. I loved every moment of it …It’s probably my most fragile and exciting project, and it transformed me as a woman and human being. Sharing something so personal but so universal (what I experienced is just simply human)
Why did you decide to record a live video of “How Will I Know”?
It has to do with the entire vibe of this project. After 3 years in my room, I decided to record a few versions of my songs in a studio in Paris, live. And we decided last minute to invite a few friends on the very last day to play these songs in front of them and shoot them. because I really wanted to start the “sharing” period playing those songs in an Intimate place where the sound is everything you dream of… just to capture music, nothing else.
I generally love watching live acoustic videos of my favorite musicians because it’s real and so close to the human being.
How do you see yourself in 5 years?
Well …I don’t like so much to play God … have no idea
I just simply hope to stay open, connected, and feel alive
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