Carlos Torres #27
Photographed by Miguel Ángel Castañeda Tautiva
SEPTEMBER 2023
Tessa Ía #27
Photographed by Sam Takataka
SEPTEMBER 2023
COVER
Let’s Connect socials : saturnemagazine website : saturnemagazine.com contact : saturnemagazine@gmail.com
Read / Buy https://www.saturnemagazine.com/read https://www.saturnemagazine.com/buy Carlos Torres Photographed by Miguel Ángel Castañeda Tautiva
Special Thanks TALENTS Carlos Torres - Tessa Ía - Satine Wallé - Chappell Roan - Emlyn - Sophie CatesPUBLICISTS / AGENTS / ASSISTANTS Dan Kaslow - Yami Urias - Joshua Russak Dorothy Caccavale - Jackie Laris - Carolyn Anthony - Nina Bohan PHOTOGRAPHERS Miguel Ángel Castañeda Tautiva - Cassidy Chen - Zoé Satche - Sam Takataka - Carter Whitaker - Ryan Clemens - Jones Crow STYLISTS Felipe Perea MAKEUP ARTISTS / HAIR STYLISTS Sofia Rodriguez LOCATIONS B.O.G. Hôtel - Bogotá, Colombia SATURNE TEAM Cerena Hammana - Lyna Allet - Diane Marchetti 1
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Content
INTERVIEWS
INTERVIEWS
Carlos Torres
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Satine Wallé
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Tessa Ía
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Sophie Cates
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Chappell Roan
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Emlyn
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PHOTOGRAPHY Translucent Reflections: Embracing Solemn Independence By Cassidy Chen
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PLAYLIST Hot To Go CHAPPELL ROAN
Heartbreak on Repeat OLIVIA LUNNY
Supernova SOPHIE CATES
That’s how you make a villain EMLYN
Crush BELLA POARCH x LAUV
Bongos CARDI B x MEGAN THEE STALLION
Greedy TATE MCRAE
LALA MIKE TOWERS
Vagabundo SEBASTIAN YATRA x MANUEL TURIZO x BEELE
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CARLOS TORRES Interview by Cerena Hammana Photography by Miguel Ángel Castañeda Tautiva Styled by Felipe Perea Hair & Makeup by Sofia Rodriguez Location : B.O.G. Hôtel - Bogotá, Colombia
SATURNE MAGAZINE : Can you present yourself, for people who may not know you? CARLOS TORRES : My name is Carlos Torres, I’m a Colombian actor who has like 20 years of experience in the « acting world » if I can say this like that. I got the opportunity to do a lot of TV series, theater, and movies in my country and other countries all around the world. SM : What made you start acting? CT : This is a funny one because when I was 14, I joined a play just to skip classes, and guess what, I ended up in love with acting and it became my dream. It all started with that play that I did. SM : You play in the Caracol x Netflix show La Reina Del Flow. How was the shoot, I heard it was really intense. And what’s your best souvenir of it? CT : Yes, we had 7 or 8 months of shooting, which was really intense but It was great! It was an amazing and special shoot. I’m truly grateful to have had this opportunity that changed my life. After La Reina Del Flow, I haven’t stopped working and I traveled all around the world. But the most important thing is that I really made great friends in that series. I’m just grateful, I feel blessed to have the opportunity to be part of that TV show. It’s hard to make real friends in this industry you know, so I’m just really grateful for the one I made in that series. It’s the most important thing I think. SM : When did you realize the show was this huge? CT : Actually I realized it through my social media. It was crazy because my social media blew up. I was gaining like 10k followers every day. I received messages from all around the world. My manager was calling me every day to tell me I had interview requests from other countries. Then came job offers and that was when it hit me. Also when I’m on vacation, when I have to fly to other countries. For example when I was in Spain a few months ago, people recognized me on the street and their reaction was crazy. You just feel people’s love on social media, on the street… It was crazy to realize we were that global sensation, a worldwide success. I knew it was gonna be a success here in Colombia but I didn’t expect it to be all around the world.
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SM : I wrote that next question before seeing that the writer of the show « confirmed » a third season, I don’t know if that’s true but what would you like to see in that third season if it happens? CT : Well I don’t know either [laughs]. If there’s a third season, that’s already good news for me. But I would love to find out what’s up with Charly’s love story. I also would love to see what’s gonna happen to Mike, to see new characters, new singers, new guests, music, and more action scenes. I love action scenes! SM : You’ve done a lot of action scenes in the show, where you were fighting etc. What was the hardest scene to shoot for you? CT : In the second season, when Charly got out of jail and found out that Manin was alive and out for revenge against Yeimy, that was really intense. No doubt about it. It was a lot of emotions and the actor who plays Manin is really tough, when you’re rolling with him you have to be concentrated, so it was really hard to do. It was also at the beginning of the shooting, so we couldn’t rehearse that much. SM : Do you have a go-to ritual when you’re feeling nervous, before filming or an audition? CT : I’m gonna be honest, no. I just pray and try to stay focused. That’s it, I don’t really have a ritual. SM : Who were your inspirations to impersonate the character of Charly Flow? CT : Maluma! All big names in Colombian urban music like Maluma, J Balvin… I check out how they talk how they move, their expressions, everything. That helped me a lot. And of course, the director’s guidance also shaped Charly flow. SM : You played in the prime video Mexican show De Brutas Nada, where you had scenes with Carolina Ramirez, your co-star in La Reina Del Flow. How was it to shoot a comedy between the 2 intense seasons of La Reina Del Flow? CT : Yes, I had a few scenes with Carolina, not too much but we had a great time. It was a comedy so we were more relaxed. It was awesome to see her again on set. And we shot the show between the first and second season of La Reina del Flow. We just had a lot of fun catching up and talking about what we thought could happen in the next season. We get along really well on set and that’s what matters. I would love to do another TV comedy with her for sure because she’s really funny in real life, you cannot imagine. Actually, we tried to make our character a little funny in La Reina Del Flow once in a while. SM : Do you prefer to shoot comedies or dramas? CT : I’ve been doing drama for a long time now. Right now I’m shooting a comedy and I’d love to do more! And if the third season of La Reina Del Flow happens I’d love to do that too. SM : Can you talk a bit about what you’re shooting right now? CT : Well I can’t say much. I just can say that it’s a comedy and we have an awesome cast, and story and I think it’s also going to be a global sensation like La Reina Del Flow but I can’t reveal many details now. I’m really excited about it, everything is going really well and I’m really happy with this project.
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SM : We heard the sad news about the Netflix show Bienvenidos a Eden, in which you play. The show is cancelled after 2 great seasons. How do you feel about it? CT : The news about Bienvenidos a Eden was really sad, a really sad surprise for me because I loved that project. I’m still processing it. I just feel sad about it because I was into everything about it, the cast, the story. I’m gonna miss Spain, the people, the food. So yeah, I’m really sad about it. SM : What would be your dream collaboration in a movie? CT : That would be to work with Christopher Nolan, even as an extra [laugh]. It would be a dream come true. He’s great, he’s unique. SM : What would be your dream project? CT : I’d love to work in LA. Hollywood’s every actor’s dream. I don’t know, maybe with Leonardo DiCaprio for example. There are so many actors I’d love to work with. Also directors like Martin Scorsese. A dream movie would be maybe The Avengers, maybe play a superhero. Did you know that in the last movie FLASH, Supergirl is Colombian? So maybe I can be Superman one day [laughs]. SM : You’ve done way more TV shows than movies, is that a personal choice? CT : It’s not! I just feel like there are a lot more TV shows productions than movies in Colombia. That’s a bit changing now but it’s not easy to do movies in Colombia. People are not used to watch Colombian movies, they prefer to watch American movies for example. I’d love to do more movies, also theater but we don’t have many offers, or productions here. SM : Yeah, I’ve seen that you also do theater! Would you like to do more theater? Do you have some projects? CT : Yes! Actually, I played with Carolina! It was after the first season of La Reina Del Flow. To be honest, I don’t remember the name of the play in English, but in Spanish, it’s called Lo Que Queda De Nosotros. And, of course, I’d love to do more theater. SM : You have a big career, you’ve been doing this for more than 20 years. What would be today a goal as an actor for you? CT : I’m gonna be honest, I don’t have any specific goal as an actor, I’m just going to keep working in this career that I love for the rest of my life. That’s it. SM : And if you weren’t an actor, what would your dream job be? CT : Definitely architect. My father is an architect so I grew up in that environment and I like it a lot.
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MY SONG OF THE MOMENT LALA by Mike Towers
MY FAVORITE MOVIE, TV SHOW & BOOK
My favorite movie is MEMENTO by Christopher Nolan, favorite tv show is LA REINA DEL FLOW of course [laughs], and the book would be THE MONK WHO SOLD HIS FERRARI by Robin Sharma
THE THING I LOVE TO DO WHEN I’M ON SET Eat. I love to eat, I eat a lot [laughs]
MY DREAM DESTINATION
Right now I’d love to go to Eje Cafetero here in Colombia. And out of Colombia, I’d also love to go to Dubai
MY FAVORITE SOCIAL MEDIA Definitely Instagram
MY FAVORITE QUOTE
« Dale tiempo al tiempo » - « Give time to time »
KISS MARY KILL - LA REINA DEL FLOW As Charly : Kiss Gemma - Marry Yeimy - Kill Manin As Carlos : Kiss Yeimy - Mary Silvia - Kill Mike
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SatineWallé Interview by Diane Marchetti Photography by Zoé Satche SATURNE MAGAZINE : Can you introduce yourself for people who may not know you? SATINE WALLE : Hello, my name is Satine Wallé, I am 19 years old and I am a singer. But you probably know me for other things I’ve done in the past like The Voice. SM : How did it feel to be exposed on such big TV shows like THE VOICE, TPMP or even on Disney Channel France? SW : My parents are in Jazz music, my mother is a singer and my father is a pianist, so I found myself on stage very quickly because my mother’s rehearsal room was next to my room. I heard her sing on repeat. So I very quickly began to give a whim to my mother to want to sing on stage with her and she realized that I knew how to sing quite well and gradually I made more and more big scenes with my parents, then after alone because I grew up. At 9 years old, the french «The Voice» contacted my parents to do the show and I found myself on The Voice France. Following that I had a lot of media coverage, everything went very quickly. I created a YouTube channel which exploded in the field of childhood and therefore the opportunities multiplied. SM : Why did you want to make music ? SW : As I said before, it’s really something that is linked to my parents, I have always been immersed in music. I have a real, almost amorous passion for music. Music manages to make me feel things that I can’t feel in real life. That’s what I try to convey in my own music. SM : Do you remember the first song you wrote? SW : I remember it very well, it is called «Little drop of water» so in French “petite goutte d’eau”. It was raining, I was learning the guitar with my mother, and I was really 6 years old. It was really something childish, but my father recorded me. It was really cute. SM : How did you feel when you released your first work? are there things you regret ? SW : For me there are two first works, there is a first work that I released of my life, with my parents, surrounded by a label, and the other first that I made at 18 years old, completely independent of the musical choices that I wanted to do. For me the real first job is «RE», I felt very happy, the thing was ready for a very long time and I couldn’t wait to delay the release. I was so excited, I felt a lot of excitement. I was looking forward to seeing the feedback and what people thought. -
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- I regret some things I said, because I was speaking in the present but when you do a project you do it maybe a year in advance, so it doesn’t look like me at all today. During our life, we change our minds and especially at my age, but some things no longer represent my mentality. I sometimes go a little strong on certain things but it does not matter because it represented the me of a year ago. The project I’m doing now represents me a lot more, but maybe in a year that won’t be the case. SM : I have the impression that writing is a real passion for you, you have written two books, what would you like to write next? (Another book, a screenplay, other songs…?) SW : I would really like to focus only on music. What I would like is to write an album like Leylow with something that follows, with a logic between the songs. I have always been strong on the French invention tests during my schooling. I’ve always been good at telling stories, what I like the most is being able to write fiction more than things rooted in reality. For example Remède was completely my life a year ago, I was very sad, whereas on the contrary a quarter of an hour is only fiction as if I had lived it, whereas it’s terrifying. Even me when I wrote it I said to myself that I was a monster, whereas it is completely extrapolated. SM : Would you like to reach a foreign audience by making music in English, for example? SW : I would like to reach a foreign audience but still singing in French, there are a lot of foreigners who love France “yes yes baguette” and I think that could please the Frenchy side a bit like Angèle. SM : Can you tell us about your last EP, what inspired you, what did you feel while writing it, what style did you want to give it? SW : My EP is so different in style and I was inspired by everything I couldn’t say during all the years when I was controlled by my parents since I was so young. So I said everything I always wanted to say, nonsense, funny songs, sadder things. RE was above all the mourning stage of my life as a young girl that suffered. All the songs are a bit like the sins of everything I’ve been able to do and I’m giving it all up in order to move on. SM : How do you see your career in the future? SW : I hope to be a mega pop star, dancing with super stylish outfits like Ariana Grande. To be a mega music star would really be my dream and if it’s not worldwide I would like something like Pomme or Angèle, on this scale.
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MY SONG OF THE MOMENT
At the moment I listen a lot to the song attention by Doja Cat. I’m a big fan of her
MY MUSIC STYLE IN 3 WORDS Explosive, cute, diverse
I’D LIKE TO DO A FEAT WITH
In French I would like a feat with Pomme and abroad Tyler The Creator
THE FIRST PARTS I’D LOVE TO DO
I would like to be the first part of Angèle, I really like her team, I really like her universe and I think we play well
THE SINGER (DEAD OR ALIVE) I’D LOVE TO SEE IN CONCERT Queen without hesitation otherwise Supertramp or Elton John
THE SONG OF THE MOVIE OF MY LIFE
I would like to have the image of the little Frenchie, I would like a song, Nature Boy by Lady Gaga
MY SHAMEFUL SONG
I listen to a lot of Claude François, and especially Le Téléphone Pleure, it’s my shameful song
MY TOP 3 ARTISTS ON SPOTIFY Doja Cat, Mac Miller and Tyler The Creator
THE HALL OR FESTIVAL I’D LOVE TO DO
The Stade de France, there are only huge artists they have done like The Weeknd. I even already have ideas for scenography 23
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Tessa Ía Interview by Cerena Hammana Photography by Sam Takataka
SATURNE MAGAZINE : You’re an actress but also a singer. You released an album in 2016 which is called « Correspondencia », and after that, some singles and EP. Are you working on some new musical projects right now? TESSA ÍA : I’d love to release an album but I’ll take my time to do it. A few years ago I left my label, and since I’m working to do things my way, in the time that it will take. Acting is my job, but music is more personal for me. I feel like I didn’t like having to write music to give it to someone, to owe it to someone to finish a contract or something. Because that’s something that comes out so purely from my experiences in life, I don’t want to rush it, but also I don’t want to stop doing it. I just want to change the way I want to do it, so now I’m taking my time and doing it slowly. I think it will be at least a couple of years until I come back with an album. Maybe I’ll drop songs here and there but yeah whatever I do now I want to make it mine in all ways possible. I’m 28 now, so maybe when I’m 30 it will be the time to bring a new album. SM : How music came into your life? When did you say to yourself « I also want to make it my job, I want to release albums… »? TI : I’ve always wanted to make music but I had no musicians in my family so I had no discipline of instruments. I tried guitar, and piano, which I had facilities for. I had actresses in my family so music wasn’t like the first way to follow naturally. When I was 20, someone gave me a ukulele and I started making songs. I’ve always written, poetry, and diaries, so I started making songs out of what I was writing and I found that it was a way that I could share what I was feeling without feeling so vulnerable. I thought, maybe if I’m scared of reading out loud what I’m writing, why wouldn’t I sing it? I’ve never thought of singing as an instrument because I don’t consider myself a singer, I do it because I write these things so I’m the one who has to tell them out loud. But sometimes I feel like that more than singing it’s just reading poetry out loud. At this age I was doing projects that I didn’t really like as an actress, so I preferred to not do anything as an actress, to wait and do something else. So I made music, I wrote, anything. My heart has to be where I work, if not I’m not happy. SM : And what inspires you when you write music? Where do you look for inspiration? TI : My life in general, a lot of love. After « Correspondencia » in which all songs were speaking about finding different people and how to relate to them. I gave myself homework and told me that I couldn’t only write about love, so I tried to write about other experiences that I might have like relationships with « the devil » or addictions, tarot cards… I don’t know, just finding different things that aren’t particularly love. And now I want to write about love again but it feels hard, now it feels like corny or vulnerable to open that side of me again. -
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- But In the end, I think that I really like metaphors and mythology that I bring to my own life. I feel like my songs are very surreal in their writing, not very literal, they’re not telling you about a walk in the park. So you can paint images in your head when you’re listening to them. It’s funny because once a girl came to one of my concerts and gave me a drawing and she said « This is what I see when I listen to your song atmosphere » and painted the landscape. SM : do you remember the first song you wrote? TI : Yes! At first, I was writing in English because it was the music I had been listening to since I was born, it’s normal for me. I think that the first song I wrote was with the ukulele and it was about sharing my heart with different people, piecing yourself together in a different way to be liked by these people but with the same pieces. It’s funny I just found a video about it a couple of days ago so I have the song in my head. After, I showed my songs to my producer’s friend who was the one who used to produce them at the time and they told me « Why are you writing in English? », and I was like « Because that’s what I listen to and it just comes naturally for me », and he told me « call me when you write something in Spanish ». My poetry was in Spanish so I thought if I could make that poem a song, how would I do it? Actually, one of the first songs that I finished was « Acicálame ». It was like 5 pages long at the beginning. And when we were recording it in the studio, I had to choose what I really wanted to keep, what I wanted to say and reduce it to what it is today. I think it’s one of the first songs in Spanish I wrote. And I wasn’t afraid to show my vulnerable side, maybe that is why people love it. SM : You act, you write, do theater, movies, series and you sing. If you’d have to keep only one of these things, what would it be? TI : If I had to keep only one thing, it would be writing. Because of all the things that I do, the beginning of everything is writing. For my characters, I have to write down what I think about them, their emotions, etc. And for my music too. I think everything I have ever done in my life comes from the passion I have for books and reading, so I would be completely okay with stopping being an actress and being in the public eye. I would rather live in the forest and write for the rest of my life. But I don’t trust myself enough to just write [laughs], so I do all of these other things. SM : Have you ever written songs for other people or would you like to write scenarios for TV shows or movies? TI : I’ve done song collaborations where we were writing together but I don’t think I’ve ever written for someone else. I don’t know if it’s because I have a very particular way of writing that I think is very mine and it would be maybe weird for someone else to sing, I don’t know. For fiction, when I was younger I tried to write short films and short stories but I guess I had too much work at the time. I thought « If other people do this, I’d rather just act and have fun doing that because I really love it ». And if I have to write, I really want it to be mine. I think I write really abstractly, so if it’s abstract and only I understand it, and I create this universe behind it from the song to the images to the video to the concept of it, I think that’s what I like the most.
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SM : I know that in the US, a lot of actors direct one or several episodes of their shows. Is it something you’d like to do? TI : I don’t really see this in Mexico, but I’d love to. I really like directing but I feel like I’m not there yet, but slowly moving towards that. I’d rather direct than write the episode though. SM : You’ve played in the prime video show De Brutas Nada, which was your first comedy series, and after that, you made Dos Mas Dos. What do you like about those projects? Do you prefer comedies to drama? TI : I really love drama, I prefer drama, I prefer watching drama. And when I did De Brutas Nada, that was my first understanding of what a comedy was. I was nervous at the time because I never made comedies before but I think after the two seasons I was like okay, this is fun. You don’t have to go home with all these feelings with you of the drama, and that was nice. I also loved the cast and crew that I worked with, so that was really enjoyable. And then when I did Dos Mas Dos, that was when I understood I could really enjoy it. We were laughing every day on set, and that was a new experience for me. Normally I would be on a set where everybody is very serious and concentrated, and I liked to see that I could enjoy it, and have fun. I’d like to keep doing dramas but I feel like as an actress, you have to have a large palette of genres. I haven’t done horror, and I really want to do it, just because I haven’t done it yet. I just did a comedy that hasn’t come out yet, that is called « La Banda », it’s an absurd comedy so that was also new, and that really was a dream job because of how much we enjoyed ourselves doing it. But in the end, I’d like to balance it out. I also think that the character and the project find you for some magical reason you have to do it. SM : I personally finished De Brutas Nada not so long ago, and like maybe a lot of people I am frustrated by the end [laughs]. Will the show continue? TI : We don’t know yet but we hope. Actually, José Pablo Minor, who plays my gay best friend in the show, has been living in Paris for a year so I just saw him yesterday and we talked about, how we’d love to make another season, but yeah we don’t know. We’re just waiting to be told something. SM : Do you have a go-to ritual when you’re feeling nervous before filming, an audition, or a concert? TI : I think that it’s different for acting and music but there’s something that I find very special, which is that I choose very closely what jewelry I wear so I feel like that makes me Tessa, so when I’m going to act, it’s a very simple ritual but, I just take everything off and let myself go to the character, and at the end of the project I put everything back and remember who I am. It’s always a process because you let your character go slowly, you still talk like them sometimes. You have to look at yourself in the mirror and see you in symbolism. And for music, it’s the other way around because I use all my things, it’s me. When I put my makeup on and my clothes on, I find that with my music I like to bring something really theatrical, clownish, because it’s very close to my heart. I used to work in a circus when I was younger, so I feel like it’s an easy way to present myself to the public. Maybe I tried to be more clean before because I was so vulnerable singing my songs out loud but now I’ve found how to embellish them with all these little things that make me me.
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SM : Do you remember your first audition and first job as an actress? TI : Yes! It was really weird at the time. It was for a tele novela. It was huge in Latin America and all over the world. I was playing the main character’s little sister. I was in a meeting room with everyone and it was really simple for me because I was 7 years old so they just sat down with me and told me to play different emotions. And it was fun because I was just playing. Also, my mom is an actress so it was something I was seeing regularly, I understood what it was to play fiction. When I was 11, I did my first film « The Burning Plain » with Charlize Theron, and my mom was totally crazy about it, but I had no idea who she was so I was just like « Oh hello » [laughs]. I was very excited to be working. I’ve always wanted to do things by myself. Specifically with acting, it was always a game and since I was little I went to this big acting class every Saturday, then came back to my mom and said to her « But mom that’s not acting class that’s just play class, all we do is play », and when you grow up you realize how all those game you were playing serve you to understand the connection you have to build with your partners, how you wait for their response and act accordingly. SM : In what series or movie you’d like to play (past or present)? TI : I love Twin Peaks, that’s my favorite show. Also animes, I’d love to do a character in an anime, be it’s voice maybe. I also love euphoria, that could be great to do. I love drama. SM : Earlier you told me about that show you did « Desenfrenadas ». Can you tell me more about it? TI : It’s one of my favorites! It’s a 10-episode series, which shows 3 friends who go on a trip. They meet a girl who comes from a totally different background, and will kind of make them change their perspective of life. There are a lot of feminist and sorority messages in the show so I really love it. We didn’t have a 2nd season because of the pandemic but it’s such a beautiful project. I feel like it’s the kind of series where each episode gets better and you want to keep watching it. SM : Can you tell us about your new projects? TI : I just wrapped a series that’s called « La Banda », it’s an absurd comedy, it’s so much fun. I really want to watch it because I had so much fun doing it that I want to see if it transcribes when you see it. It will come out next year. I also filmed 2 other series. One of them will premiere on HBO, I think in October. It’s called « Sierra Madre » and it’s about high-class society in the north of Mexico, and their really specific identity. The other show is called « Yellow », it’s a 6-episode series about 2 friends who are thieves. I don’t know where it’s gonna premiere but it will be out soon. On the music side, I have a collaboration that just came out with my favorite Mexican band « Valgur ». They invited me to write a song on their new album « Armageddon » and this song is about the Virgin of the Apocalypse and I love it! It was very exciting for me to be able to be part of their new album.
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MY ALBUM OF THE MOMENT
TEMPÉRAMENT by Malik Djoudi, and especially the song AUSSI JOLIE
MY FAVORITE MOVIE, TV SHOW & BOOK
My favorite series are TWIN PEAKS and EVANGELION. My favorite movies are LA PIANISTE, FUNNY GAMES and PERFECT BLUE. And my favorite book are NO COSAS by Byung-Chul Han, and POETICS OF SPACE by Gaston Bachelard
THE THING I LOVE TO DO WHEN I’M ON SET I read a lot or I play Nintendo Switch
MY DREAM DESTINATION
I love Japan! I’m going back soon for the second time and it’s my favorite country. I’d love to live there for a year to learn the language
MY FAVORITE SOCIAL MEDIA That would be Instagram, I hate it but I’m an addict
MY FAVORITE QUOTE
« vulnerable but invincible» or « florecer in prosperar ante cual adversidad »
KISS MARY KILL - DE BRUTAS NADA
Kiss Alejandro, Mary Rodrigo, Kill Guillermo. I’m sorry but it’s just because I have to kill someone [laughs]
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Sophie Cates Interview by Lyna Allet Photography by Carter Whitaker
It’s been two years since I’ve been obsessed with the songs of Sophie Cates. And that same amount of time trying to have an interview with her. But patience is the greatest virtue. I’m so happy to finally have the chance to chat music and heartbreak with the lovely Sophie Cates, and it went beyond my expectations. Please, enjoy this raw and honest interview with the upcoming pop star. SATURNE MAGAZINE : What is the first memory you have of music? SOPHIE CATES : This is so funny you ask that because I was just at a dinner party and I asked everyone this question. I actually have the answer because I answered that last night! The first really vivid memory I had of music was driving in the car with my mom. She didn’t like pop radio at all but for some reason, it was on, and ‘Watcha Say’, the Jason Derulo song came on, and my mind was blown by the effect on Imogen Heap’s vocal. I just always loved that song and she’s one of my favorite artists now. SM : Before singing with your real name, your moniker was ‘Silver Sphere’. Why did you choose this moniker and why change it back to your name? SC : When I started putting out music, I was like, sixteen, and I was putting out as Silver. The reason I had a different name for my music was like, I was so young and shy. I was writing about honest stuff that was happening in my life and I was like too scared to have those emotions and feelings attached to my name.The reason I chose Silver Sphere was because I kind of wanted a space aspect to it. Like another world people could go to when they were listening to it. Kind of the same way I was getting the emotions out through this different name. And so Silver Sphere just felt very in line with that outer-worldly planet that people felt like they were going to when they listened. The reason that I changed was because I just felt more confident about the things I was writing about, knowing how I felt about things. I started making music where I was like: ‘This feels so personal’ that it wouldn’t make sense to put it out on a different name. So yeah, growing in confidence and writing about more honest stuff as I grew older. SM : So you kind of grew out as Silver Sphere but you grew up as Sophie Cates? SC : Yeah, I feel like I always had those strong emotions, you know, when you’re younger you are less confident about the fact that you are allowed to feel them. As I grew older I continued becoming more confident in myself and my writing and the way I felt about things. I was proud to put my real name on things.
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SM : Before talking about your upcoming music, we will mention your previous work. What can you tell me about ‘yikes’ and what it meant for you? SC : It was the first project that I put out, and what it meant for me then, it was the first real project where I had working producers and I worked in a studio... At that time, the thing I was the proudest about was putting it. I was more shocked and confused someone let me into a studio to make it. Now that I look back, because being in a studio is just normal for me, that’s what I get to do all the time. Now I look back at it and it’s like a perfect diary of being like seventeen/eighteen. And I’m so happy that I have that. As you get older you kind of forget how serious everything felt and it’s now to do ‘Damn, I really was in that !’ SM : In 2020, you released your EP ‘all my boyfriends’, your first big body of work. What was your state of mind at the moment of the release and how do you feel now? SC : It was my first and only project that I put out with RCA, it was my first experience on a major label. I was super exiting. With ‘yikes!’ it was exciting because it was the first time I had any music out, and then with ‘All My Boyfriends’ it was great because I had the budget to do very creative videos and I had a team behind it, pushing it... I’m still really proud of it. What I remember about that time was that I felt like a pop star. I associate that with straight-up pop-star energy. It was a completely different experience than putting out ‘yikes!’. SM : In this EP there is my favorite song of you called ‘ghosts!’. Can you tell me more about it? SC : The funny thing about that song, is that I almost never write songs like this. I always write songs about how I’m feeling at the moment, something I need to get off my chest. But that song came about when I was in the studio with this producer Stint, who I’ve worked with a couple of times now. And we’ve always just chatted a little too long before we start working. And that day had gotten into the topic of ghosts like: ‘ Have you ever seen a ghost?’. And I think we’ve wasted like two hours of the session talking about ghosts. And I can’t remember having specifically something I wanted to write about and, really, really naturally, the song concept just came out and I think it’s because we have been chatting about spooky stuff. It’s crazy because I think that this chatting is wasting the time we could’ve been working but in that case, it just inspired a whole concept for a song very naturally. That’s one thing about it. What else? Oh, it took us like an hour and a half to get those screams in the choruses! We wanted the perfect horror scream and we went online to see if we had a great sample, we couldn’t find anything that felt right so I sat there and screamed for like an hour! SM : You will release your upcoming album at the beginning of next year. In a single sentence, what this album is about? SC : The album is called Supernova. I guess the best way to describe that, which is why I’ve called it that, is that I saw an article that said: ‘The Supernova is the colossal ending of an explosive star’. I think it’s the best way to describe it! Let me reword this: It’s a breakup album about a supernova, which is the colossal explosion of a dying star.
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When I read of supernovas, it took me, at the moment that I read about them, resonated with the idea of somebody self-destructing or self-sabotaging in a colossal way, their life. Also like a lot of relationships, people, or I, tend to orbit around the person that I love or I’m seeing. So the idea of a supernova being a sun that just exploded and ceased to exist, I kind of had to question what happened to the planets that were orbiting that sun. And that’s kind of how I felt when I was writing it, I was figuring out what, I, as a planet can do without this sun I’ve been orbiting around. SM : You already released your first single ‘walking the dogs’ , about reminiscing the memories with someone after a breakup. Was it cathartic to write this song? ( And who is it about?)
SC : Yeah, it was extremely cathartic to write that song! I actually wrote it about a journal entry
that I wrote on the plane home from my tour with Jeremy Zucker, because I’ve just gone from this breakup and then gone on tour and had this amazing month where I didn’t really have to think about it. And then I got on the plane home and I watched ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ and something just happened. I was on this eight-hour plane ride and I wrote every single memory down. That plane ride specifically was very cathartic because I was sobbing next to a woman I didn’t know, and couldn’t hold her hands... And then when I got home, I turned the memories into a song. That actually was the most cathartic one. I actually sobbed the entire first take of trying to sing it! We kept in one of those vocals, the last line is from the take where I was crying! And to answer your question about who is it about, I think it’s obvious enough that I’m not gonna say it! But good job trying! SM : Your next single ‘SuperNova’ is also out very soon. And it’s mainly about a toxic boy. What is the meaning behind the title? SC : Specifically with that song, I think one to me represents the unraveling of an entire relationship. I guess it’s about, trying to recontextualize the one that you, again, orbit around. the one that you just fully loved and never saw the bad in them. And being really angry and letting yourself purge all the negativity that you never let yourself purge about this person. In the wake of an explosion you weren’t expecting from them, you know? SM : And why putting this song as the album title? SC : I think, all of the emotions that I was feeling while writing it, you know, the album is about heartbreak and confusion and anger, all of it, right? I think Supernova feels so big and so intense and chaotic on top of representing how I was feeling at that time. I think as I pinpoint what was wrong in the relationship and what happened with this person, it just felt like a really good metaphor for them about how I was feeling about everything.
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SM : And why putting this song as the album title? SC : I think, all of the emotions that I was feeling while writing it, you know, the album is about heartbreak and confusion and anger, all of it, right? I think Supernova feels so big and so intense and chaotic on top of representing how I was feeling at that time. I think as I pinpoint what was wrong in the relationship and what happened with this person, it just felt like a really good metaphor for them about how I was feeling about everything. SM : If the you from the past could ask a question about the you from the future, what would she ask? SC : I think me, a year ago would just be curious if I’m healed and happy. Because a year ago, I had no idea how I feel today, and the answer is that I’m very healed and very happy! SM : Your album helped you to heal? SC : More than any therapy I did! SM : What do you want people to express when they are listening to your album? SC : I think I’ve said this to every project I’ve put out but to me... You know it’s a scary thing to write all of your feelings and your thoughts. Whether it’s like sad or super in love. And this one is the first time I’ve let myself be very angry. And I just hope that people get away from it that every emotion you feel when you’ve been wronged is valid and it’s okay to let it out. It’s good to let yourself feel however you wanna feel. SM : What are your goals for the upcoming year? SC : I want a tour. I’ve never done a headline tour, so that’s something I’m really looking forward to. I’m just excited to put this album out, every song that I release, I release more and more hunger and it just goes out to the earth so I feel lighter and lighter. I’m excited to get it all out and to say what I want to say. I’m not the kind of person to tweet, or post things about another person or how they make me feel. So I’m excited to say everything I want in my own way. And let me think... I’m excited to get back into producing because I haven’t done that in a long time and my goal is to produce my next project! A big shoutout to her friend LAN party who worked alongside Sophie to produce this wonderful album.
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Chappell Roan Words by Lyna Allet Photography by Ryan Clemens
Chappell Roan is the next big musical sensation. Born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, you might know her because of her pop phenomenon Pink Pony Club, an ode to queer liberty, being out and proud. Being from a small town in Missouri where being out was not something common, to L.A where she felt everything was possible, Roan had a renaissance. And we can feel it in her music, in her visuals, in her energy... a mix of burlesque, pop, retro, and a lot of rhinestones is illustrating her brand. She’ll release her anticipated album The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess later this September. A colorful pop-delight where she is vicariously free and herself. With her previous work being also something groundbreaking and camp, there is no doubt that she earned her success through and through. But Roan, who worked for almost ten years and now everything feels so sudden, her biggest goal this year is to ‘adjust’ to this lifestyle. We can only imagine what it must been to be out in the spotlight so suddenly. But Roan stays grounded and she knows what she’s doing for herself and the audience. «I love creating songs for the audience! My favorite part about my job is touring.» something she’ll do very soon because she is opening for the American leg tour of Olivia Rodrigo, ‘Guts’ as well as her headlining tour. Something she’s very excited about, because she’ll get to see the audience wearing what they want, and it’s something she heavily encourages, through putting themes on the tour: «I love dressing up. You know, there are so many places in the country that the only day they get to wear a rainbow is pride. Or they can’t. And I just encourage people to wear whatever makes them feel hot, and sexy, something that’s not appropriate to wear anywhere else. The themes are an opportunity for everyone to dress up, and the show is not only on stage. It’s in line, on the merch stand... It builds such a community, I love it so much.» With songs like Feminomenon and Red Wine Supernova this album is certified to be a huge success as well as a pop-reference in the upcoming years. With her unique style and her magic persona, Chappell Roan is ready for major success coming her way. And she wants you to be your most authentic self but, don’t take it too seriously. «Prepare to be silly».
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Emlyn Interview by Lyna Allet Photography by Jones Crow
A few days ago, I had the pleasure to have an interview with the amazing Emlyn, about her upcoming projects. Not only was her creative mind fascinating but also she is a kind woman who is nothing short of captivating, a badass with a sensitive soul, who puts her heart out into her work, and we can feel it. SATURNE MAGAZINE : You’ll play at the ACL festival soon, How are you feeling? EMLYN : I’m so excited. I’ve never played a festival. I have actually never ever been to a festival before. So I’m excited, I have some fans from Europe who are gonna fly to Austin for it, which is so crazy. I’m excited to play some new music and be in a festival environment. SM : What have you learned on tour about being a singer but also about yourself? EMLYN : One is that, I get really nervous when I go on stage and the moment that I am up there and the music starts and I see people, the fears just go away. The more that I perform, the easier it gets on my nerves. And I also have to practice a lot, because it’s hard to sing these songs on stage! SM : You released « loneliest b!tch in America last year, can you tell me more about the ‘background of this album? EMLYN : I feel like it was just the uncovering of the kind of who I am and the kind of music I wanted to make. I wanted to make sure that I included some that were more heartfelt and emotional on the album as well as the one about being a badass. I kind of realized through the process that women must understand that they can be multi-dynamic people who have a lot of different emotions. you don’t have to just be confident and a badass but you can also express that you’re feeling vulnerability and fear and challenge in life. I just wanted to make sure in the entire project that you got that full scope range of emotions. SM : What does this album represent for you? EMLYN : It sort of represents the beginning of it all for me. Like I started building out a fanbase around songs like ‘rapunzel’ and ‘temporary funeral’. It represents the start of everything for me. SM : You have a lot of songs with a lexical field close to fairytale, such as ‘Rapunzel, plot line, that’s how you make a villain... why is that?
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EMLYN : As a songwriter, I always search for interesting ways to tell stories that are familiar to us. I had fun glamorizing my life too. Rather than just, you know, being the girl t hat was hidden by a in his bedroom, I like the idea of being Rapunzel, or, I’m reclaiming the villain. I just had fun living in this dream world of mystifying everything and it makes it easier to remember things that were not so good in your life and paint them in a cool, interesting way. SM : What is the song that indeed shows people your personality? EMLYN : That’s a tough one... As for the songs that are released right now, I feel like there’s a song that represents me as an artist and what I would want people to know the kind of music that I make, and maybe there’s a song that represents more who I am in my heart. I feel like the song that represents me as an artist would probably be ‘plot line’ because I feel like I’ve poured my whole soul into creating that song. I’m a co-producer on it and I wrote the lyrics through and through myself, the melodies are very me. I feel like that’s my blood as an artist. But as a person, I feel like I always want to draw people toward some of the more vulnerable tracks like ‘right?’ or ‘change for me’. Because, I just want to make sure that when I post my music, people see the stuff on TikTok that’s like the badass, confident stuff and I just want to always make sure that to be confident and badass, you have to be a full-fledged human being with a range of emotions, so I want to draw people toward that. SM : Your song ‘Adulting’ is raw and vulnerable. Why choose to close this album that has more of an upbeat sound , on this song? EMLYN : I feel like, the title loneliest b!tch in america’ was supposed to be funny because I had a song that was like ‘I had to be the loneliest bitch in America to have hooked up with that guy!’ but I feel like I’ve chosen it as the title of the album because there’s a little bit of honesty on it and I wanted to make sure that the last songs on the album reflected that. Even tho I actually feel lonely at times, this is a really universal experience being in your twenties. It asks the question: do we all feel this way? and I just wanted to make a point that even tho it’s a silly album title, if you feel this way, you’re not alone I’ve felt that way a million times and I wanted to end on that serious note, encouraging people to know they are not alone. SM : You released ‘dot dot dot’,’badder’ and ‘your problem’ with cloudy June earlier this year. When can we expect another full body of work from you? EMLYN : Great question! I just made a change for my project release, so I was planning to release it as a full project and then I spent some time with the music and realized I wanted to make the story on ‘that’s how you make a villain’ in chapters. -
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- So I’ve decided to release the music in three chapters, all of the chapters have different themes and sort of like, what it has been to make me into this sort of ‘villain’ that I am today. the first chapter is gonna be released on November 17th and the theme is ‘Revenge’. It’s after I had been hurt, that the first emotion that I turned to is anger and revenge. The songs fall into that category and the next chapter, I can’t say yet but it’ll be a little different and the third as well. I don’t know exactly how many tracks but more than fifteen, split over time. I’m really excited for the first chapter to come out because there’s gonna be a couple of the singles that have been out already but not all of them, and then some new ones. SM : We kind of stay in the ‘storytelling’ stuff that we’ve talked about earlier, everything is linked! EMLYN : I like my fans to feel like there’s storytelling happening. I feel like that’s the one thing I’ve done since the beginning of time, even when I was figuring out who I really was as an artist, I’ve always written songs with storytelling and I feel like that’s the root of who I am. I think that’ll always be there. SM : It kind of reminds me of Taylor Swift, she notoriously writes with a ‘storytelling’. Is she one of your inspirations? EMLYN : Oh yeah, she’s my number one inspiration. I’ve really learned how to write songs by studying the way she wrote music as well and overtime I’ve developed my own voice and my own tone to things. I have more of a sarcastic approach to things sometimes. Or I’ll be more of an aggressive approach. In terms of telling a story, and not being afraid of being specific in my lyric, I’ve definitely taken that approach. SM : What would you say to your past self? EMLYN : My little self wanted the things that I have now so I’m happy. I think I get wrapped up in what the next thing is and how to keep everything that I have. I’ve rarely taken a moment to appreciate that a younger version of me would’ve been blown away by the people that we reached. The emotions and impact that we’ve made and never to take it for granted. I just think that to any younger versions of myself, I would say to just trust in the process because it’s scary when you don’t know what’s gonna happen but a lot of our capacity is inside. If you trust yourself and the process, it ends up working the way it’s supposed to.
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Translucent Reflections: Embracing Solemn Independence Photography By Cassidy Chen Model : Shelly Charters
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CONCEPT The model is adorned in a see-through dress symbolizing transparency and vulnerability. The extremely long, braided hair signifies a connection to tradition and roots, while the gold shell jewelry adds an ethereal touch. The concept of soul-searching and mourning the self is represented through the visual of the model being knotted underneath the truss, symbolizing a process of self-reflection and introspection. The idea of solemn independence and finding one’s true self is woven into the narrative of the shoot. “Translucent Reflections” speaks to the transparent and introspective nature of the shoot, while “Embracing Solemn Independence” highlights the journey of embracing one’s individuality and finding a sense of solemnity and strength in the process.
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