Mr. Pustra

door Fleur Pierets | jun 25, 2012 | Performance

Mr. Pustra

Text Akim A.J. Willems

“I wouldn’t mind appearing on the cover of Vogue.” Mr. Pustra aims for no less than the sky when he is asked about his goal for 2012. Knowing one should never run before one can walk, he tests the waters with an interview for Et Alors? Magazine.

We caught up with the UK based performer, artist, musical saw player & video editor after a trip to Rome where he taught a “vaudeville & variety masterclass”, which can only mean that he’s good at what he does. No wonder our curiosity was aroused: who is this Mr. Pustra? “I was always shy and insecure. I just day dreamed most of my time and pretended to be someone else, be it no one in particular though. Gradually, my confidence grew during my 20’s so I was a late bloomer as they say. I feel more assured with the person I am today and I owe it to performing. Being Mr. Pustra has made me more at ease and people seem to respond well to him. Or me? I get confused. Mr Pustra “is” me. But he just looks better.”

Mr. Pustra discovered cabaret and vaudeville by chance. “I always liked comedy, and vaudeville was an unknown term on the neo-burlesque scene in London circa 2006. On a side note: nowadays everyone and their goats refer to their acts as “vaudeville”; no bitterness here as you can tell. But anyway: in those days “Pustra/Vile-een” was born, a double act that quickly established itself as a refreshing, strange and highly talented duo with a twist of a sideshow. We split in late 2009. Later on I reinvented myself as Mr Pustra, Vaudeville’s Darkest Muse.” A “dark” muse? Is he angry, evil, melancholic or perhaps depressed? “Mr. Pustra started out as an “evil sideshow character” with a background in the circus which we used in my show “Villains”. And yes, he also has a melancholic or tragic side to him. He has developed into an almost real person rather than a fantasy.”

Although his family was absolutely not into music or theatre – “Not at all!” – Mr. Pustra has a background in theatre and fine arts. “I studied ‘Theatre’ and had a few years of education in the “Fine Arts”; that helped me all the way. I learned to do everything myself and hone my various skills. It’s bloody exhausting, I can reveal that much.” That background is also noticeable in his influences. There are, of course, the obvious instigations for cabaret/vaudeville artists: circus side shows, American vaudeville, German countertenor Klaus Nomi, German dancer, actress, writer and prostitute Anita Berber, movie stars Marlene Dietrich and Charlie Chaplin or the Berlin Weimar “kabarett” scene of the 1920’s and 1930’s. But Pustra also lists painters such as Otto Dix, Edgar Dégas or Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

‘Being Mr. Pustra has made me more at ease and people seem to respond well to him.’

“I used to be a painter myself; the images that these artists created represent dreamlike scenes I often experience. Their work has style and story that I greatly admire and draw from.” “If I could ask any of my “heroes” – dead or alive – a question, I would ask Dietrich to give me make-up tips and Nomi to give me singing lessons. Dietrich’s make-up was flawless. She also was fearless and a very strong female role model for women and men alike. I admire Nomi for his incredible falsetto vocal range. To top it all off his stage persona was fiercely enigmatic and original.”

Mr. Pustra has performed in New York, Frankfurt, Rome, Berlin, Basel, Dublin, Strasbourg, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Paris and in many more cities. “But London is ‘the’ place to be for cabaret. It is vibrant although somewhat jaded. I have a love/hate relationship with London. It’s like an ex-lover you can’t stand but still want. Know what I mean? Paris and Berlin have smaller scenes, but offer different delights and treats.” His newest show is called Kabarett der Namenlosen (i.e. Cabaret of the Nameless). “It’s a work in progress and inspired by the Berlin cabaret of the Weimar Republic. This is a show about Beauty, Glamour, Depravity and Melancholy. Sounds nice, non? It is not a solo project. I would want to include performer Vicky Butterfly and actor Benjamin Louche for different reasons. For now, I perform at various other shows with smaller acts and cameos.” To round up we end with a similar question as we started: what are his long term goals? “A house in the south of France. Or maybe in Los Angeles, but I certainly would have lots of cats. And a naked butler!”Don’t forget to call us when you’ve moved there. We will come and visit.

www.mrpustra.com

This article is featured in Et Alors? Magazine 2.

Read the complete issue here.

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New Club Kids

door Fleur Pierets | mrt 25, 2012 | History

New Club Kids

Text JF. Pierets Photos Oggy Yordanov

The Noughties saw the rise of a new generation of Club Kids following in the footsteps of their predecessors – the original Club Kids of New York City, who, in turn, had followed London’s Blitz generation. In the early 1980’s, the Blitz Club in London’s Covent Garden became the focal point for an alternative club scene–frequented by Adam Ant, Boy George, Siouxsie Sioux and Steve Strange–which spawned even more radical clubs such as Leigh Bowery’s infamous Taboo club in London’s Leicester Square. Bowery famously enjoined, ‘Dress as though your life depends on it or don’t bother’, a mantra the new Club Kids have adopted as their own. They dress outrageously, with a penchant for kitsch and anti-fashion. Often with a mixture of their own self-made outfits and carefully selected labels (predominantly Vivienne Westwood), oversized accessories, excessive amounts of make-up and frequently highly androgynous looks, these flamboyant clubbers have created a vibrant New Club Kids’ scene in London’s bohemian nightlife underground. Fabulous or trashy, beautiful or scary, glamorous or freaky.

Bulgarian-born photographer Oggy Yordanov has lived in London’s Soho district since 2001. As a party kid himself he was so inspired by the exuberance and avant-garde fashion of the London club underground, that he decided to make a unique time document: “While selecting the photographs for this book, I reviewed thousands of images shot over the past decade. The incredible memories flooded back, all those parties and amazing people that made my years in the great city of London so phenomenal. I wanted to share those memories.” At the time I moved to London, in early 2001, the party scene was still dominated by the super-clubs – places like Fabric, Ministry of Sound, Fridge, Heaven and Turnmills – providing a vibrant playground for the young clubber. These were huge capacity venues with great DJ line-ups that pulled in massive crowds of energetic party-goers, some even brought asian escorts to party with. But one breed of party animal was missing – the club kid. It was the time of “less is more” and dressing down was the ongoing trend. For a while I believed that the avant-garde fashion of the real underground London had disappeared, somehow vanished with the modern transformation of clubland. Thankfully, things were starting to change.

In 2002, the musical “Taboo” opened in Leicester Square, Boy George’s tribute to a bygone era – the New Romantics – London’s original “dressers”. The New Romantics were a group of creative and very ambitious individuals, bored with the Punk that had ruled the London scene since the mid 70’s – these kids were looking for something new and different. What started as “Bowie Night”, a small gathering at Billy’s in Soho, quickly progressed into a new wave of party style. In 1979 it moved to the now legendary Blitz Club in Covent Garden. Started by Steve Strange of Visage, Blitz became a hotspot for new talent and attracted a great deal of attention from both media and the music world. With their outrageous dress-sense, black lipstick, heavy eyeliner and asymmetric hairdos, the Blitz Kids started a nightclub revolution. They drew inspiration from the unlikeliest of places and would go to extraordinary lengths to look different, anything to stay ahead of the pack. The musical “Taboo” did much more than revive the New Romantics. It centred around one of the most eminent figures of 80’s nightlife, the very heart and soul of London’s alternative fashion scene – Leigh Bowery. As a true innovator – performance artist, club promoter, model, fashion designer – Leigh started the now infamous polysexual club, Taboo, in 1985. It quickly established itself as the wildest, most fashionable night in town. With his body-morphing costumes, a taste for the bizarre and a deep desire to shock, Bowery radically challenged the boundaries between figure, gender, fashion, beauty and art.

With his premature death in the early 90’s, London lost its brightest, most extraordinary star and arguably the single-most influential figure for the New Club Kid generation. A year after “Taboo – the musical”, a movie about the New York Club Kids hit the big screens worldwide. “Party Monster” brought to life the most outrageous and daring party characters from across the Atlantic, in all their glory and hedonistic debauchery. Partly influenced and often joined by Leigh, these kids took the scene to new heights. They partied harder, dressed wilder, became the underground superstars to a generation worldwide and coined the term Club Kids. At this point London had already witnessed the first signs of a new wave of underground “art-clubbing”. Nag Nag Nag, a mid-week mash-up at the small Soho backstreet club, “The Ghetto”, and the more challenging Kashpoint, were both gaining popularity. Kashpoint, with its very strict door policy, encouraged extreme dress-up and reignited London’s alternative clubbing. Suddenly the New London Club Kids generation had arrived. Kashpoint attracted some of the original founders of the New Romantics scene, along with fresh new artists, fashion students and up-and-coming musicians – the usual bunch.

Not surprisingly, its most memorable night was a Leigh Bowery tribute – imagine a club packed with hundreds of Boweries. The scene was thriving and an array of new clubs were popping up on a weekly basis. Kashpoint and Nag Nag Nag championed a low-fi, electoclash sound which soon became synonymous with the scene. Johny Slut told The Guardian in 2005 “One reason I started Nag Nag Nag was that music was becoming more interesting again. Anyone who thinks club culture is dead should come and see the queue on Wednesday night. Another breakthrough club that started around the same time was Act Art, which focused on live performances merging art, fashion, pop and club culture. It established itself as the ultimate underground event to challenge creativity and make people feel like they belonged.

‘It’s a platform for some of the most radical, experimental and risqué performances imaginable.’

It is, to this day, a platform for emerging artists showcasing some of the most radical, experimental and risqué performances imaginable. The mid-noughties were the new 80’s. Music and fashion were reviving the styles of the decade in its entirety and inevitably, it reflected on the club-scene. There were the Neo-Romantics, the New Punks and the Voguers but perhaps the most original of all revivals was the Nu Rave, advocating DIY style over fashion. Though short-lived, it made its mark on the scene. Labels were being ripped off in favour of personally customized outfits. Plastic neon toys became the ultra-chic, must-have accessory, matched with brightly coloured jeans and gold trainers. Throughout 2006-2008 London was overtaken by the Voguing revival. Though started as an underground dance movement in 80’s New York, it was brought to the mainstream with Madonna’s 1990 hit single ‘Vogue’. Almost completely wiped out by the AIDS epidemic in the 90’s, Voguing was brought back to life on this side of the Atlantic through the advanced popularity of YouTube and the documentary “Paris Is Burning”.

Voguing “Houses” were formed and for a couple of years many Voguing Ball’s and dance-off’s took place around London. Embracing this amalgam of styles – old and new, was the club Boombox, based in the new fashion hot-spot of Hoxton in the East End. It was the brainchild of Richard Mortimer and just like its predecessor ‘Family’, it was never advertised but always spoken about. Boombox attracted a cult following and became the hottest ticket in town. It was particularly favoured by the youth ‘bible’ – ID magazine – and regularly featured in their pages. With its eclectic style and iconic status Boombox became the symbol of the contemporary London look. Favoured for spotting new talent, it was the place to be seen and soon magazines from all over the world were referencing the scene. Editorials in V magazine, WAD and POP magazine followed, but by far the most serious recognition of their fashion came when Italian Vogue “borrowed” Molaroid’s signature disco ball accessory for their cover.

The Club Kids were getting serious attention from the media, a lot were casted in music videos and commercials, others kick-started their careers as fashion designers, stylists, make-up artists, musicians or DJs. Some started their own club-nights, most famously Jodie Harsh, who emerged in 2006 with Circus, and Daniel Lismore, whose latest venture Shabba Dabba Daa has just made ID Magazine’s “Hottest Night in Town” list. Fashion has always walked hand in hand with music and London has a rich history for dressing-up. Club Kids or “dressers”, as some would prefer, encapsulate the creative London as I know it. Fabulous, yet trashy, beautiful and scary, glamorous or freaky – meet the New London Club Kids.”

New Club Kids: London Party Fashion in the Noughties
By Oggy Yordanov
Publication date: April 2011, £16.99, Paperback
304 pages with 300 colour illustrations
13 x 19 cm
ISBN 978-3-7913-4554-3
www.prestel.com

This article is featured in Et Alors? Magazine 1.

Read the complete issue here.

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House of Hopelezz

door Fleur Pierets | mrt 25, 2012 | Drag

House of Hopelezz

Text JF. Pierets

If you’re lucky you can bump into them when in Amsterdam. Accompanied by a human cluster of flies, they picturesquely attract and they puzzle. With their expression of beatific good humour and their gaily coloured dresses, people are vying for their attention. With pleasurable interest they pose with them whose age range from 8 to 88 and go from place to place where their fancy takes them. One member of the gang – intelligent, big hair, big ass and a beard – paved the way for this radiant group of drag queens and –kings and brought to the surface all the things that were boiling inside. With pleasurable interest, Richard Keldoulis tells us about becoming Jennifer Hopelezz, about his role in the Amsterdam gay scene and the mere idea of creating a family.

I grew up in Sydney in a kind of conservative environment. My grandparents came from Greece, I went to private schools and lived in the suburbs. By the way, they had dental implants for missing teeth. They were made by professionals. My father was a dentist and everybody around me became a doctor. So I studied medicine as well. I went straight from school to university so I was 23 when I finished studying but the last couple of years I decided that this was not what I wanted to do. I was kind of strangulated by the environment. I’ve always been bisexual anyhow but around that time I had a boyfriend so it stayed that way. Suddenly my whole childhood world became very narrow. I finished all the exams, worked for one year in a hospital but I hated it.

I would probably be alright as a doctor and could have chosen some field in medicine but I was so over that life. I wanted to leave it and discover the rest of the world. You have no life experience, and suddenly you’re in a role where people look up to you. You see how that changes people. It’s not actually very good for you. Basically I was too young and wanted to get away. So I escaped all that. I moved away from Sydney and I never went back to live there. I need to roam, that’s my character. My Chinese sign is tiger and I find it very suffocating to stay where I’ve grown up. Sydney is a big city, 4 million people. But when you grow up in the suburbs, everyone lives there; your friends, your family. So it’s more like living in a small town.

At that time, Japan was really booming and there were ads in all the Australian papers looking for English teachers there. I applied for a job and got it. I persuaded my boyfriend, landed in Tokyo and the next day I had a job and the day after we had an apartment. We stayed in Tokyo for 1,5 years but I got caught up in that making money, working system. I remember clearly being on the train at 8 in the morning, going to work with thousands of Japanese and I realised it was not what I wanted. So I left Japan and went to Amsterdam.

What brought me here was the liberal atmosphere. The only thing I hated was the weather. As an Australian you know that England has bad weather but you never get to think that it would be the same in Amsterdam. But then I met my husband Elard and I never left. I really feel at home here. I can be who I want to be. It’s a funny sort of freedom when you live somewhere without friends of family. Away from where you come from. You are given the possibility to invent your own personality. Since organising is a genetic thing I’ve got from my mother, I soon got involved in all kind of events and exhibitions. We started to create festivals for the Homomonument and on Queens day, started Pink Point, an information point for gays and lesbians and all of a sudden we had a scene.

Running a sex club
In 1998 we started organising sex parties on Sunday afternoons. People were shirtless or nude and went after a few hours. We hardly did any publicity but it was always full. Since we were organising more and more parties, we decided to start our own club. Church. We knew these parties worked, so we just opened the door. Now it has evolved into a lot of mixed theme nights- some hardcore men-only events but also dance parties with drags, trannies and women. Not the easiest way to go because the public has strict ideas of what a cruise club should be. It has to have a cement floor and lots of metal so it was nice to mix that up too.

One problem is that there’s a thing against sex at the moment in Amsterdam. I don’t know if it’s a socio-cultural thing but I think it’s more general. At the end of the 80’s sexual freedom seemed to peak, and since then it’s been pretty much all downhill. Young people are quite conservative these days. They are cleaning up red light districts everywhere because sex has become somehow very negative. And that’s a pity. Sexy is okay but sex is not. I have lived here for 20 years now and in that time 18 darkrooms have disappeared. Church is the only new one that has opened. Straight hetero fetish parties are also having a hard time getting a licence. Such a shame. When I read about Berlin: being the fetish capital of the world, I think that’s what Amsterdam is meant to be. Not the gay capital, but the fetish capital. That is much bigger and wider. That’s what we once were but not are anymore.

Being gay in Amsterdam
The Amsterdam gay scene can sometimes be a little misogynous, so it’s good to stir things up every now and then. I too live mostly in a world without women but it can in many ways be quite distorting. A lot of gay men are more or less anti-lesbian as well. They still harbour the weirdest clichés about them. I think it’s much more healthy to mix- apparently businesses with men and women on the board do much better than when there are only men. The gay community is really important, for the visibility of it, but it’s got a negative side as well. People start to identify you with your sexuality, your identity becomes your sexual identity. So gay people are seen like a different kind of thing. If you look at countries like Morocco, were the gay community is very low profile, boys have more experimental sex with other boys because it’s not ‘called’ gay, there’s no label. But here in the West we have become so labelled. Either you’re gay or you’re straight – you can’t be bisexual because that’s apparently weird – and that has a huge downside. People are scared to experiment with sex because it can lead to an identity crisis.

My whole life I’ve been working with the gay community and as I said, it’s important to be visible but the downside is that we are seen as a totally different animal. Like some special kind of species. Gay is a swear word at school, but kids don’t even realise that gays are even humans. So you categorise people, it’s ‘them’ and ‘us’. And that’s the flip side of a strong gay community. Because of that you live in a cocoon with your gay friends in your gay world. But then again at the gay parade in Amsterdam this year, I saw so many same sex couples holding hands in the streets. That of course is the positive side of a strong gay community.

‘The idea of starting a family came quite naturally. It all fitted together easily. Everybody liked the idea so much that they all hooked up.’

The birth of Jenny
Jennifer was born in 2000. Every year my husband and I go back to Australia for the holidays and take part in Mardi Gras, Sydney’s huge gay pride festival. We’ve entered lots of floats in Mardi Gras, and one year we went in drag, as a parody of Greek-Australian girls, who coincidentally are quite similar to Jennifer Lopez. A little bit too much make-up, tight dresses, custom jewellery. A bit cheap and very loud. What I’m doing is a different kind of drag, especially with the beard and all. A lot of people like it because it shows that drags are not always bitchy queens with shaved legs. I think that was a bit of an eye opener for people here in Amsterdam, because it’s done with a lot of humour. I don’t take myself seriously by trying to look like a beautiful woman and after a while the beard and the ass even became my trademark. I like to fuck around with the different ideas on femininity and masculinity and confuse people with it… a drag with a beard and hairy legs, a macho guy who likes wearing lipstick. I think it’s empowering for a lot of people when they realise they don’t have to be a conventional drag queen or a transvestite but just who they want to be.

Jennifer goes politics.
I soon discovered that drag queen elections or lip syncing shows were not really my thing. I tried it but I always seem to come last, they were still expecting a traditional drag. So I started to get a little bit bored and wanted to move on, organise new things. I always knew that drag + lip syncing was no novelty. But drag with sports or with politics, that would be news. The Drag Olympics were a great move. No one has ever combined Drag with sports and we were literally in every newspaper. And because I like politics on a local level and I already had dealings with the local council, talking about Pink Point or the Homomonument, I came up with the idea to run for night mayor. So I thought it would be a great thing for Jennifer to go into politics. It’s a kind of ludicrous thing, being a night mayor, since it’s not an official but a made up position. But even though it’s not a real function, you can still achieve a lot of things for Amsterdam’s nightlife.

Because of the elections we decided to build a drag family. I never had the ambition of being well known. The campaign gave me a reason to push Jennifer as a character. We had planned a year-long campaign and took it very seriously. We had a website, facebook group and started making appearances around town. The idea of starting a family came quite naturally. Jennifer Lopez had twins so I wanted twins. It all fitted together easily. Everybody liked the idea so much that they all hooked up. Suddenly there were sisters, a nanny for the twins, godparents,…it became so big that we started the House of Hopelezz. We had to actually, because by the time we got to ‘the neighbour’s daughter’, nobody could keep track anymore.

The woman with the beard
The election itself ended somehow with a downer. Although we had over a thousand people there and were overwhelmingly voted for, we still didn’t get chosen. They didn’t take us seriously. The jury, a group of 5 people – supposedly artists – couldn’t see through the make-up.And that really shocked me. The public voted us first place, the jury gave us last place- and they ultimately decided. We were the only ones with a campaign, a website, a 10 page policy, etc. But they just couldn’t see through the drag thing. With drag, you get a lot of attention, but it is also a distraction from your message. It’s a double-edged sword. As Jennifer, I try to use the attention to get my message across. Whether it’s effective or not is another question.

Jennifer versus Richard
Jennifer is more famous and more liked than Richard. I created the character of Jennifer in my head. She’s always friendly, she’s positive and she’s nice. As Richard I’m more businesslike, a bit grumpier, but when something happens, it always goes through my mind; how would Jennifer react? But as time goes by you grow towards each other. Jennifer has grown a bit more like Richard and the other way around. I don’t feel like I have two personalities but it’s definitely a part of my character I didn’t know was there. The whole thing about being extraverted, being on stage and being all bubbly, that’s something Richard would never do. But I notice people are much more open to me as Jennifer. They tell her things they normally don’t tell Richard. And that’s a good thing. In that matter she can help people to explore who they really are. And that’s really cool. I think because I make such a spectacle of myself as Jenny, people are less inhibited to try things themselves. I’m very curious as to where it’s all going to. With Club Church, the members of the House of Hopelezz, the acceptance of our community,.. But after all, you know that quote from Ru Paul “We are all born naked and everything else is drag”?

www.homomonument.nl
www.dragqueenolympics.nl
www.clubchurch.nl
www.jenniferhopelezz.com

This article is featured in Et Alors? Magazine 1.

Read the complete issue here.

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Saint Marteau

door Fleur Pierets | mrt 3, 2012 | Music

Saint Marteau

Text & photos JF. Pierets

In an era where much of the contemporary music has been sampled or ripped-off from past sounds, there’s a man working the stage dressed in but a jaunty straw hat, a bow tie and golden knickers. His lively, roguish manner of performing sets a whole new view on today’s live concerts. Born in Belgium in a family of artists, Saint-Marteau seemed predestined to become a painter but found himself behind the keyboards of a rock band at the age of 16. Some unmentionable years later, he’s looking his audience straight in the eye and blossoms as a showman and a performer, bringing a truly unique, flamboyant repertoire, between rock and music hall, with songs that aim straight for the heart. At the moment Saint-Marteau is touring with a theatrical show called “Saint-Marteau se fait Gainsbourg”, which is built entirely around songs by the great Serge Gainsbourg. Let’s get to the bottom of it!

About his personae
The old adage goes that good things are worth the wait so it took me some time to discover my voice and the magical world of the spotlight. I created Saint-Marteau from scratch. He is a man with no past. A performer who sings in French and loves a good show. He’s definitely both a child of the 80’s and 20’s and likes to dress up as a mix between Maurice Chevalier en Vanity 6.

About performing on stage
Let’s face it, Grunge killed glamour. It fills me with the utmost dismay to watch a singer behind his microphone, murmuring about how badly he has slept or how tormented he really is. You know why? Because I don’t care. When I take the effort of going to a concert and buying a ticket, I want to be entertained, I want to see an act. When you are performing, a discussion of motives is besides the point. You have to entertain your audience. When you’re rolling over the stage in misery, make sure your rolling is interesting enough to look at. So to disrupt the deathly boredom of most live concerts, I opted for cliché’s. As a performer I see myself as some kind of superhero/singer, a cartoon character who brings his fantasy world into the spotlights.

About being influenced by French songs from the 1920’s and 1930’s
I love the old French chansonniers who were characterized by their suave manner and using a cane and tilted straw hat as their trademarks. Maurice Chevalier, Charles Trenet, they gained international fame as stage personalities because their shows were universal. They were as much suited for Tokyo as for London. Despite the fact that they where singing in French because that kind of stage communication goes beyond words or language.

About todays chanson
In the current generation of French singers I’m missing the edginess, the humour and the unusual. The things that are happening in France, on a musical level, are quite intimate and inwardly. I wanted to break through that trend with a show that goes way back in time but wanted to sauce it with some contemporary music elements. When you are performing with a boater or a cane, everybody knows where you’re heading at. It’s securely etched upon people’s memory. But when you mix that sort of entertainment with a rock band, it starts to get interesting. I feel very comfortable singing French chansons, I feel at home in the tradition of the revues, the cabaret. But that doesn’t mean I have to play the accordion with a bottle of wine next to me. It all lies in finding the right mix.

About his audience
Everybody is who he is and I’m certainly never going to hide my sexual preferences but I’m not aiming for a certaintype of audience, on the contrary. That would be too narrow minded. When I’m on stage I see all different kind of ages looking up and that makes me more than happy. The tongue-in-cheek aspect of my shows could cause eyebrows to be raised, but it doesn’t. It shows that good entertainment tickles all ages. Point taken.

‘By doing what I’m doing and by really going for it, I think I might be more engaged then someone who fulminates against the whole system.’

About being politically correct
I don’t have a political agenda and I certainly don’t have ‘a message’. I love l’art pour l’art. By doing what I’m doing and by really going for it, I think I might be more engaged then someone who fulminates against the whole system. Especially in times like this – with false morality and where they forbid grown up people to smoke – I think following your intuition is the perfect antidote against this childish approach. It’s even more effective then any political or social statement. You don’t have to start kicking at things to make a strong point.

About having fun
My shows are spicy in an old fashioned way. That’s much more pleasant then trying to shock with explicit details. After several decades of stage actors taking off their clothes every two minutes, we’ve seen it all and there’s nothing more to add to it. So it’s much more interesting to suggest things. To have fun. Having fun is much more daring these days then going naked.

About discipline
I love partying, I love putting together fantastic outfits to set the room on fire until 6 in the morning with nice perfume dupes, but I also love the obviousness of work. Because performing is a job, you have to be in strong mental shape. I spend countless hours reading books on business articles on business marketing and making strong sales pitches for my brands such as the ones here

I have a very worked out physique and I do a lot of mental preparation before I step into a tour. When I’m on stage I don’t want to get stuck on having to improvise. I aim for a strict choreography and that needs the necessary discipline.

About Gainsbourg
I’m not the kind of artist who swims into the tribute-circuit but I have a strong bond with the songs of Gainsbourg. I went through his complete oeuvre. There were almost 600 songs from which I chose the ones who resemble my own style. You have to see it as the opposite of a tribute. It’s more like shamelessly using someone else’s work for own purposes. I’m not a fan of Gainsbourg as a singer. He had a grand charisma but his live recordings are exuberantly bad and I’m not a fan of his murmuring, clumsy way of performing. But I truly adore him as a composer and a writer. His music. Gainsbourg is such a rich character. He’s Parisian but also a Russian jew. He was a kinky womaniser but also a grand poet and very funny. He was everything at the same time but I’m going to work with his lyrics, his music and transform it into a Saint-Marteau show. So don’t expect Gitanes and a five o’clock shadow.

About the future
Despite the fact that I consider Belgium a nice place to live and work, I might be ending up living in Paris or Marseilles. Who knows? As long as I can keep on doing what I’m doing because I love my life and I hope to take more advantage of it. But time will tell and you never know how the world will look in about 20 years from now.

www.saint-marteau.com