More than an hour later than agreed, Sylvie Kreusch (31) appears in the lobbyof her mother’s hotel in the heart of Antwerp. The dinner with the recordcompany, a four-course gift for her top year, has run over. The elegantAntwerp woman who won many hearts this year with her debut album ‘Montbray’apologizes extensively. We forgive her and want to know how they feel abouther rollercoaster year at Sony Belgium.
“I’m their best-selling artist in the vinyl market. Nice, of course, but Idon’t care much about numbers. I am especially happy that our cooperation isgoing so well. I was quite scared to go into the sea with such a big house.Could I keep my freedom? But they release me 100 percent. Their trust is agreat surplus. They don’t push me at all to come up with something newquickly. The only person I feel pressured by is myself. I want to write along-term story and leave a timeless body of work. As a woman in this businessyou have to think very carefully about that. Sometimes this work feels a bitlike modeling. Since I turned thirty, I’ve been doing more career planning.(laugh) Male musicians have it a lot easier in that respect.’
Let It All Burn by Sylvie Kreusch
Before going solo in 2018, Sylvie Kreusch – her family on her father’s side isrooted in the East Cantons – was a member of Balthazar singer MaartenDevoldere’s bands Soldier’s Heart and Warhaus. Anyone who saw her at work inthe early days of her solo career quickly understood why a life as thefrontwoman of her own band was the only right way.
She matured against her pace in music studios and smaller venues until shefelt fully ready to unleash ‘Montbray’ on the world. On that debut, beautifulmystical love songs unrolled like in a personal diary, wandering around in thedreamy sensual universe of elegant chanteuses like Grace Jones and CharlotteGainsbourg. With her single ‘Walk Walk’ as the biggest earworm.
David Bowie
The elegant art pop comes into its own even better live. Kreusch performed 75times this year with her six-piece band. No Belgian festival that didn’t havethem on the bill. She also looked beyond our country and cast anchors inFrance, Germany, the Netherlands and England.
Concerts by Sylvie Kreusch are a total experience: her pearl of a voice,sensual performance and groovy band leave the audience in amazement. Theintriguing light show and surprising stage setup visually complete thepicture. Because there is a lot of improvisation in singing, music and dance,her shows are never a repetition exercise. “I could never force my dance movesinto a choreography. If I feel for just a moment that I am doing the same asthe night before, I go completely tilted. I need to be able to go into a showunprepared. I expect more or less the same attitude from the musicians. It’sexciting when you feel there’s a lot of improvisation – for us, but even moreso for the audience.’
Bio
Sylvie Kreusch (31) won with Soldier’s Heart in 2013 the talent show ‘The newgeneration’ of Studio Brussels. In 2016 she switched to Warhaus, the band ofher then boyfriend Maarten Devoldere of the rock group Balthazar. Her solodebut ‘Montbray’ was released last year.
At the last concert of her farming year two weeks ago in the Roma in Antwerp,she tried something new. At the end, a screen rolled down and the concertsuddenly took on something of a film performance. A live recording showed thetall frontwoman and her musicians walking the wings to the tune of DavidBowie’s ‘Five Years’. It was a stylish closing chord of her first majorconcert campaign.
It is no coincidence that she draws the lamented British pop icon into heruniverse. Although she never lived to see Bowie’s heyday and never saw himlive, he is an important source of inspiration. “I think my vision aligns withhis. Bowie didn’t see himself just as a musician. He invented a character,explored a style and then looked for the right people to translate his ideasinto a musical and visual universe that was as original as possible. I strivefor that too. I also want to control as many aspects of my music as possible.I have built a team of confidants with whom I test my ideas. The finalresponsibility rests with me. That’s quite hard, because although I know verywell what I want, I feel more like a follower than a leader. Still, it’s theonly and best way making music works for me. The keyword is trust. You have tohave confidence in the people you work with. If you succeed, you can let goand learn from others.’
Full screen display
Singer Syvie Kreusch: ‘Although I know very well what I want, I feel more likea follower than a leader.’ ©katrijn van giel
Her team consists of an amalgam of music professionals – her permanentguitarist, her manager – and a childhood friend, such as the Belgian stylistTom Eerebout who also works with world stars such as Lady Gaga and Rita Ora.Eerebout told us on the phone that he sees a parallel between Lady Gaga andhis childhood friend from Mortsel: both have a clear vision on all aspects oftheir career.
“That’s a huge compliment, but that’s where the comparison ends for me,” shesmiles. ‘Lady Gaga has the mega talent to write pop songs that you know inadvance: that will be the sound within a few months. I don’t think I have thattalent. I would find it liberating to be on the writing team of a mega-artistgenre Lady Gaga. I could work well in groups, as an additional factor. Thingslike that sometimes cross my mind as an alternative to the moment in my careerwhen I just don’t think I’m interesting enough to be on stage anymore.’
Guilt
Sylvie Kreusch broke through in a bizarre and dark year for the world. Thepandemic was just sweating out when she was allowed to perform again, andthere was the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis and extreme heat waves anddrought due to climate change. Did she experience those crises to the full orwas she safely in the bubble of her success? “I was fully aware of the worldaround me, to the extent that I haven’t fully enjoyed what happened to me thisyear. I have sometimes felt guilty about my happiness. Was I allowed to behappy when so many people in the world were unhappy? In my private life,everything is also going well for me. I was able to buy an apartment – which Inever imagined – and sometimes even think about children. But I also strugglewith climate fears. Isn’t it better to procreate less?’
There is also the fear that the economic crisis could put the brakes on herinternational dreams. ‘Things are going very well in Belgium, but I amambitious. I’ve had a few tastes this year of what it feels like to be abudding artist in another country. In England I felt the crisis up close.People had no money to buy tickets.’
”
I have to get some bad news or things can’t turn out the way I want them to.That’s how I usually get into survival mode to make new music. “
‘When I hear my older colleagues tell stories about how much harder it is tobreak through abroad than it was ten years ago, I feel very fragile as a youngartist. You want to build something abroad, you want to show what you’ve got.I didn’t choose the easiest path either, I have a big live band and aproduction that has quite a price tag. I can only hope that normal times willreturn soon.’
Next year, the singer will slow down a bit. At the end of January there arethe MIAs, where she can win two statuettes. In February and March she willmake a blitz tour of a number of major European cities. For the time being itis just the intention to start writing new music in peace. She has alreadystarted with that, but it is still a bit of a search. Euphoria leads toparalysis. I have to get some bad news or things don’t work out the way I wantthem to. That’s how I usually get into survival mode to make new music.’ Thecliché of the suffering artist? ‘Is that right?’ (laugh)