8 minute read
Meet Bastian Baker
Since his debut album, «Tomorrow May Not Be Better» and our last interview with him, Bastian Baker has come a long way and broadened his musical horizons. Actually, the Swiss singer-songwriter has travelled between pop, pop-rock and folk and is now exploring country sounds. After two other albums (« Too Old To Die Young « and « Facing Canyons «), he is currently on an international tour with Shania Twain and is taking advantage of a visit to Paris to tell us about his new eponymous album.
On The Move: How are you ? How does it feel to be back in Paris?
Bastian Baker: Feels good. I made some new resolutions and I’m happy to be able to come back to France, it’s been a while since I’ve been back so I’m happy!
On The Move: It’s been a long time. What happened since 2011 and the release of your debut album «Tomorrow May Not Be Better»?
Bastian Baker: It’s been a long time, yes, it was a long time ago! I’m not going to do the retrospective of the last eight years but I’ve travelled around the world, I’ve made other albums, I’ve been busy. I am lucky enough to be able to live off my passion and therefore to have some pretty crazy experiences all over the world thanks to this.
On The Move: Can we say that it had an impact on you, on the way you make music, on your tours...?
Bastian Baker: Yes, totally. It has been a long process of encounters and collaborations. Lately, the most important was Shania Twain. I met her six years ago at the Montreux Jazz Festival. So yes, there really has been this continuity in my career, where every encounter, every trip, has taken me somewhere new until I ended up here with you today.
On The Move: Exactly, in the interview we did at the time, you said «if I create a melody, I won’t write the lyrics for it six months later because in the meantime I’ve evolved». Do you still think it is the case?
Bastian Baker: Yes, let’s just say that what really changed on the new album was that I collaborated with other songwriters. I often finished the songs the same day I started them. There wasn’t this situation where I wasn’t serious, not finishing the song. I’ve written almost sixty songs in a year and a half. It was the input that was really beneficial: working with other people, doing planned sessions. Although it may sound a little more formal, it is cool!
On The Move: How did you experience this transition? You went from an artist who musically started to find himself to an artist who writes sixty songs a year.
Bastian Baker: I like it, it’s the best excuse to meet strangers because that’s the way it turned out. I met one, two, three songwriters who introduced me to one, two, three others... a lot of different people with whom I wrote the album. I think that there were about fifteen songwriters. They helped me to participate in the album and it’s true that it felt good. It opened up new horizons for me: tracks like «Stay» which is electropop for example. It’s not necessarily something I used to do naturally but I like it too. I think the transition went pretty well!
On The Move: Your new album is called «Bastian Baker». Why did you make that choice?
Bastian Baker: Yes, soberly. The eponymous album is often something that comes with the first album and, in this case, it will be my first album in a lot of territories like the United States, Australia etc. And also because I felt like I closed a chapter with the first three albums. Actually, I feel like I’m at the beginning of a new chapter with this album. There was this feeling of «rebirth of the phoenix», renewal, new beginning...
On The Move: So if we compare your four albums, we realize that each one is different. You went from pop rock to folk and then to country. How did it happen?
Bastian Baker: Yeah! It’s Bastian Baker’s trip (laughs). I don’t think I’ve ever liked being put in one box. It’s true that I like to navigate between different styles. On each album, there were songs which were very different from one another. This is still the case on this one. If you compare «Blame It On Me», which is a country song, and «Yokko», which sounds like The Weeknd, there are quite a few different universes. But it’s true that in the United States, I have the label «country». There are still different influences. I wrote a lot in Nashville, which is like the cradle of country music. More than the places, it is really the people I work with that inspire my music.
On The Move: So did Nashville influence you? Did you write a lot of songs there?
Bastian Baker: Yes, I wrote a lot there but not the whole album. I worked between New York, Los Angeles, Nashville, Toronto and Montreal. I also went to Belgium, in Brussels to put the finishing touches. I’ve worked with guys like Jacquire King, the producer of Kings Of Leon, Of Monsters Of Men, James Bay that I love, with Jordan Lehning. If we talk about country, it was with him that I did «Blame It On Me» and also «Stagefright». It’s more of a rock song, more like Shawn Mendes. He worked with Kacey Musgraves. So the places do have an influence, but in fact, I’m mostly inspired by the people who live there. Just because I was in Nashville looking out the window doesn’t mean I had an idea for a song.
On The Move: Do the songs come to you depending on the environment you are in? Or did you want to write a country song and you thought, «I’m going to Nashville to write it»?
Bastian Baker: No, typically for «Blame It On Me», we were at a friend’s house. I was playing guitar and two girlfriends came, two super talented songwriters. At only 21 years old they are impressive. So we wrote this song full of beautiful metaphors that talk about the tensions you may experience in a relationship. Yes, we were in Nashville, yes, we recorded this song in Nashville with musicians from Nashville and a producer from Nashville: indeed, with all these factors, the chances were high for it to turn into country music.
On The Move: In 2011, you were already talking about doing more country music, you already wanted to take on the American market. Do you think that it encouraged you to go to Nashville?
Bastian Baker: Yes, it’s clear that it increases the chances compared to Perpignan! (laughs) It was mainly the tour with Shania Twain that opened nice doors for me in the United States. Right now in the American press, it’s pretty awesome, it’s pretty unanimous: RollingStone, Billboard, it’s really cool! Yes, I think it’s really the moment when all the efforts that have been concentrated over the last 6/7 years, the whole story we created to get to the United States with content... it all makes sense now.
On The Move: So you went on tour with Shania Twain?
Bastian Baker: Yes, we’re still on tour right now. 80 dates in total around the world and we only play in arenas of 15 000 to 17 000 people. I do the opening act and then I join her on stage. I have a really big exposure both in the media and with the public. We just have Australia and New Zealand left, for the whole month of December so I’m going back to the sun, to summer. So yes, a tour like that with a legend like that helps to open doors. But it’s true that from the very first album as you say, my intention was really to reach not only North America, I wanted to have a global project. It’s something that stimulates me.
On The Move: Does working with Shania Twain have an influence on you?
Bastian Baker: Actually, I’m learning a lot from her, whether it’s on tour, personally or on stage. We haven’t written a song together yet, but maybe we will in the future. I really want to write with her one day but she has been more of a solo writer in recent years. She collaborated with many people for a long time and now, she wanted to be in control of the whole story. I’ll wait a little while and then maybe we’ll write something together.
On The Move: We can hopefully expect a collaboration! And after this tour with Shania Twain, do you already have a planned tour of your own?
Bastian Baker: Maybe, we’ll see. Future will tell! I hope so, that would be really cool. We launched a tour called the «Pregame» to do a kind of warm-up before the festival season and before a larger tour in the autumn of 2019. We’re going to Paris, by the way! It will be on March 18th at La Maroquinerie, very important to mention it. We also play in Switzerland, Holland, Germany, Belgium. After that, I will be on constant promotion in the next few months. I will go back to the United States in a few days before returning to Australia. And then at the beginning of next year we have some plans too. I will also continue to write because I am starting to have a network of people with whom I like to write.
On The Move: Do you prefer to write with songwriters or are there artists you would like to collaborate with?
Bastian Baker: Now I prefer to write with others rather than alone. I find it much more social and nicer. Otherwise there is not necessarily an artist who makes me fantasize, with whom I can write. I think the experience of writing with Ed Sheeran would be special because I don’t understand how he does it! I don’t understand how he manages to have so many songs that are so many hymns, that so many people know by heart. I’m impressed by his ability to do this. I’d like him to give me two or three lessons. I’m sure it would help me.
On The Move: The last time we saw you on stage was for the release of «Too Old To Die Young». Were there changes in the band that works with you?
Bastian Baker: Yes, there has been a change. We added people who were not here before. There are Zack and Leon doing the brass and then there’s Priscilla, the multi-instrumentalist backing singer. And then sadly, we lost Simon the pianist, who is leaving to work on his own project. Unfortunately, he won’t be on the next tour with us. It’s a shame but you always have to let people go. All the musicians who work with me know that they can follow their own paths. I am always in favour of others’ happiness. I am looking for a new pianist by the way, please send me your resume if you’re a multi-instrumentist pianist. The rest of the group remains unchanged: Nathan Bonjour (drums), Joris Amann (guitar), Christophe Zindel (bass), Priscilla Formaz (backing vocals)...
On The Move: What have you been listening to lately?
Bastian Baker: I don’t listen to a lot of things, but I actually listen to a lot. I listen to a lot of Portuguese music these days. We played in Brazil with Shania Twain in front of 100 000 people. I fell in love with this language. I listen to Vanessa da Mata, Vitor Kley. I listen to a Dutch punk rock band that I love called The Deaf, they are crazy on stage! I did a little souvenir session with The All-American Rejects because I was wondering what happened to them. I’m a big fan of The Weeknd, I listened to the album a lot. I’m still a big fan of Robert Francis, he became a friend now so it’s fun. Angus and Julia Stone too, Dierks Bentley for country, The Script because for me, they have some of the best lyrics in the world. I love The Script! A lot of different things.
INTERVIEW BY NAOUMIE BENATTAR AND PAM CHARBIT WITH DEBORAH GAILLARD
PHOTOS BY NAZYM HERMOUCHE EXCLUSIVELY FOR ON THE MOVE
