An Interview with GAZEL, Anna Hofman

AN INTERVIEW WITH

GAZEL

by anna hofman

“I want to start at the beginning. When did you start writing and playing music?”

This article was originally posted online in September 2019. ...I ask Gazel, sitting opposite her in the St. James’ Park grass. “The classical music bit started when I was five, when I started learning violin and piano, and did that relatively seriously until I was 12 or 13 when I started doing it really seriously” she replies. Around this age Gazel started attending the Royal Academy of Music and was “on the highway to becoming a classical musician”. However, the real breakthrough came three years later: “my parents got me a music sequencing software”, she lights up and laughingly adds “it was just so much more fun”. Ethereal- and electronic pop musician Gazel’s up-coming album Gazel’s Book of Souls, to be released on October 4th, is a journey and exploration into a number of different characters, or souls, as the album’s protagonist dialogues with them. From themes of death and insecurities to the liberation of the young mind Gazel, who grew up in Turkey and England, spans and breaches the formerly set idea of genre, evoking storytelling as her primary tool. Blending electronic soundscapes, pop, and swaying vocals, she spans across the globe in her use of instruments such as sitar, talking drums, and didgeridoo. “World music is part of my music and creations” Gazel denotes, “it’s what I’m used to”. To begin, I note that her industrial sound, like that of her 2016 EP Bone Key, clearly has changed judging by the singles from her anticipated 2019 album. Gazel explains that Bone Key was created in the short space of a few months in her bedroom. “I recorded some violin” she adds, but most of the EP was made using her computer resulting in a more “garage-like sound”. Flash forward to 2018, Gazel takes place in a studio. Having previously interned at various studios, Gazel had already become familiar with being a producer and producing other artists. At that time, she real ized that what she enjoyed most was writing and producing for herself. Taking the centre stage was, however, harder than anticipated: “I wasn’t very good at being an artist”, she admits. “Usually”, she says, “the idea of an artist is that they get lifted up and brushed off ”, but not with Gazel, with her knowledge of working behind the scenes and being in control of her own work she finds herself in a position that goes beyond the corporate industry. Especially when comparing it to previous experiences working with producers controlling her sound. “None of their work ended up on any of my records”. This sense of control and having agency over one’s work has seemingly crept its way into her first album through singles like ‘You’re Not Funny’ dealing with rejection and judgment. Although Gazel underlines that the song was not directly influenced by specific experiences, it shines a light on the hardships young creatives face practically, even when being more knowledgeable 40

than the authoritative figure in front of them. Being in charge herself made the studio a space where she reigns and generates positive experiences. Having been compared to artists like Kate Bush, Bat for Lashes, and Björk I ask her about being young and female in the industry. Gazel clearly states that she has never really had to feel like a woman, she has not “had to look or be a certain way”. Gazel is happy to have started her singing career later than many other young artists. Knowing and finding yourself is crucial according to Gazel and “very hard at the age of 18 or 19”. At 27, she seems very happy and confident in who she is. “You seem so calm, focused, and serene on stage” I say and Gazel laughs. She notes that she is her calmest and most serene self in the studio and that her stage presence is almost like a split personality. I ask if finding this stage persona is like creating a character to which she agrees. She doesn’t shy away from the difficulties of becoming an artist as she notes that making the shift from taking care of everything behind the scenes to walking onto it is one of the hardest things: “I’m on the path to making that switch”. “What about your inspirations? What inspires you?” I ask curiously. Although drawing inspiration from many places Gazel has a clear answer - the most important sources are philosophy and stories. Stories are essential to Gazel’s imagination and creativity, particularly for this album. She reflects on her ties to fiction by explaining that she often cannot differentiate between it and reality. She fully immerses herself in the stories she reads, in their world and emotion. Mythologies have become focal to Gazel. “We act like we don’t have mystery; the human has become omnipotent” Gazel states, arguing that it takes a toll on our imagination. “Having mythologies is avoidance of being lonely” she notes. In a world of systems and structures “storytelling is a break”, she proclaims, both for herself and others. Despite being an artist, Gazel pleads the case of silence and stopping the words, “they are not reality”. “I can do what I want and be what I want” she says, seemingly freed by the fact that taking part in the world can mean to break down and transcend its limits and preconceived notions. “We are not taught how to live” she declares. In her single ‘Rain is Coming’, Gazel tackles the miseducation of the young whilst simultaneously turning away from constricting societal paradigms. The video portrays a young girl running away from her current structured life, into freedom as Gazel speaks into her ear: “you better run, run, run”. When I ask about the girl, Gazel clarifies that she is the somewhat inner child in need of protection. “Each character of the album is like a protector around this inner child”, she explains. ‘Rain is Coming evokes societal change and speaks to how children, according to Gazel, are not taught necessary life skills like “how to distract your mind”. When Gazel explains that words come second to the music in her creative process it is not unexpected. Nevertheless, creating meaning through words is undeniably central. “I have a notebook, several ones, where I write dialogues”

“We act like we don’t have mystery; the human has become omnipotent”

she tells me. These dialogues are often the base of the lyrics and are commonly between herself and a figure “of the older generation”, much like in ‘Mina’s Hymn’ – a song that ebbs and flows in intensity ranging from oceanic soundscapes to electronic bases and an almost shouting Gazel in a dreamscape-like exploration of death and the self. Words and significations are vital for the album and go hand in hand with the seeking of truth which the earliest release from the album, ‘Pointing at the Moon’, is a testament to. “Anywhere you go / I will call your name” Gazel sings as she, as seen in the video, searches for the truth in transcendence and books. Already from the beginning this album is an adventure, a journey to find understanding. Something which Gazel aspires to share with listeners as well as readers. In conjunction with the album, Gazel is currently writing a book, to be released alongside it. “It is clear what the songs are saying and doing”, she underlines, so instead of bulking out the album she has chosen to accompany her songs with the background story of the main character on her journey in meeting the souls. As we pack up to leave the park, I have to ask Gazel a final question, if her name was a parental choice inspired by the old poetic form ghazal. “Everyone always asks if Gazel is my real name” she laughs, but nobody has yet made the asked about connection. “It’s a coincidence” she says. Without a doubt a very appropriate one, and one that frankly does not surprise me. There is something to Gazel, her somehow light and fleeting yet anchored personality. A quality that certainly shines through in this musically and thematically multifaceted album. Both Gazel and her Book of Souls cannot be described as anything but interesting, perhaps even confounding at times, and I’m excited to see what is to come.