Kayture

My loves, always such a pleasure to write to you, to have this space and opportunity to express myself freely whenever the time is right. There was a time, I remember, when I was about 17 or 18 when I was writing articles on here everyday and sometimes I scroll back at my archives and look back at that period of my life. It feels so long ago and at the same time, quite close. The beginning, the eagerness to be heard, the willingness to become someone, to do something, to escape routine and ordinary life… I was craving adventure, craving the possibility to unlock a life I never thought I’d one day have access to. Internet became a window into another world, and an opportunity to build a new life. In that sense, I’ve been experiencing the mysterious bliss of virtuality for many years now… I want to keep this article lighter than the last one where I expressed myself on a lot of things that were difficult, and extremely painful throughout this experience. I want to focus in this post, on the beauty and learning that came along with it.

My relationship with technology began at a very young age, with my dad who worked mainly with computers, so I was always very sensitive to the tech world. I always had a deep fascination for it, and found in many ways my confort in it. Growing up as an only child, and being an introvert, video games truly became my playground. Instead of going out with other kinds and playing in the park, I could sit and play video games for hours without ever taking a break. I was absolutely addicted to what they made me feel, the adrenaline, the challenge, the rush. It felt like reality couldn’t make me feel such intense things in such a short amount of time. Confronting other kids in the “real world” has always been very difficult too, I was always too sensitive regarding what others were thinking of me and everything for some reason just felt awkward. While in the virtual world, you could choose to be anyone you want, create your own avatar, build an entirely new life, new group of virtual friends… It somehow felt so much easier to wear a mask.

Eventually that’s also what happened with the blog in a way as I can now make a clear parallel between these two stories. I always had a strange approach to seing myself in pictures. As I told you, there was a time when I was posting articles every single day, a multitude of pictures of myself in different situations and places… What could feel like absolute and complete narcism felt to me like the creation of a character. I think I enjoyed it because when I was looking back at the pictures, it didn’t even feel like it was truly me but instead a curated version of what I eventually wanted to be. I was never fully comfortable with my dark side, with my profound melancholy or introversion. To me there was no good in that. I had quite a stereotypical idea of the kind of character you need to have in order to be successful in life, or at least in order for other people to like you… And it mainly evolved around constant optimism and absolute positivity. Something I don’t necessarily agree with anymore as my vision is more tinted now. I find so much beauty and purity in multi-faced personalities that have a bit of everything and that embrace all the wide scope of their inner colors and emotions… Accepting each and every single facet of who they are without ever falling into social standards or norms but instead, making their own rules. I have been trying thus to embrace a more complete version of myself. What I was scared to be or show before, I now wear proudly as a strength. To me, there is something quite wonderful in the idea of inspiring people with something dark. Making people happy with something sad. If anything, I wish for it to be my goal. Inspire others not to be afraid of this side of themselves, a side we all have in us. But instead to wear it proudly, wear our fears and vulnerabilities as manifestations of our human force.

The limits between reality and virtuality are definitely becoming blur and I always felt that through my work, I was becoming somewhat of a virtual figure. My idea of reality and what is reality was corrupted in some way. The idea I even had of myself was virtual. Now, looking back at it. I truly think that in a way, I created a virtual character, an avatar that reflected an ideal that seemed appropriate at that time in my life. I could compare this to the actual CGI influencers that are now “existing” virtually on social media, actual virtual girls like Lil Miquela or Noonoori who have just as many followers as real, human taste makers. To me, this idea is absolutely incredible. The fact that they can be anything and anyone is fascinating. As a human being, of course you can choose to be whoever you’d like to be but let’s face it, there is a certain natural predetermination. You are born into a certain family, in a certain country, you are exposed to a specific education etc… Also of course there is the physical predetermination. We can’t fully choose or totally control what we look like… But a virtual character can be anyone and anything it’s creator decides. Nowadays, brands are more and more eager to work with virtual influencers as they are much more “neutral” than human beings that come with a past, present and future. Instead these virtual beings can adapt exactly to each brand and be anchored in the infinite present. Their existence being just as adaptative as it can get.

All of this of course triggered a lot of thinking when it comes to music. I knew that I wanted my next song to talk about virtuality and this relationship we have with our own illusions. As long as it makes you feel something, do we really care if it’s real or not? If virtuality can trigger the same emotional intensity as reality, then how do we distinguish the two? And especially, what if virtuality can actually make us feel things more intensely than reality, targeting exactly our needs and delivering exactly what we are looking for?  I am fascinated by VR and the innovations we’ve been making in the field. It reminds me of the video games I used to play as a child, when it was so intense and immersive that you forget what’s actually around you… I would play so much that I’d actually even dream of it at night. You guys should absolutely watch this episode of Black Mirror, it’s fascinating to me how technology can analyze our reactions and feelings to deliver exactly what we need, giving us each a personalized experience. It’s also quite intriguing in a way as life itself, has such a random factor, you never really know what you’re gonna get, but with technology there’s a guarantee that comes along making it at terribly tempting experience…

My new song “VR” is all about that, and more specifically it addresses how virtuality and technology affect our dating life. I think our generation is so deeply influenced by social media, this instant gratification, this virtual bubble filled with opportunities. We consume everything at an incredibly fast pace and it seems like these are mechanisms we apply now to our love life as well. Not really making the effort, being afraid of our own feelings, being afraid of love, and of being loved. But what if technology can give you exactly what you need? This instant “turn on” we all crave from time to time… I had this idea of a nightclub where people can go to meet mysterious creatures in virtual reality and so the whole idea started like that. My incredible friend Giovanna Gorassini directed the music video (she is also the one who worked with me on Clockwork) and we both wanted to create a psychedelic, retro-futuristic vision, something out of space and time… That’s why I wanted the main character to be alien-like, or at least not human. So we got our beautiful fish-boy who enters the mystical VR Paradise and the game begins.

I am so happy and proud of this new work. Such beautiful memories of being on set and working with all these absolutely marvelous people. To all my friends who came by, who gave their time and beautiful energy so generously : thank you. Christopher, Andy, Nicolas, Sylvain you guys absolutely rocked it. Thanks to all the crew who created such dreamy images and reflected exactly what I had in mind, Sasha, Sully, Gisele, Thomas, Richard… Thanks to the Pink Paradise for letting us film in such an absolutely stunning location that fits the universe so perfectly. Thanks to my team at E.47 records for giving me so much freedom to create, Nico, Helène, Joelle, Léo and of course Cyril and my love Anne-Sophie. I feel truly a part of such a beautiful family and am so grateful and proud. And last but not least, thanks to all of you, for sticking around, for still being here, for reading this. Much love to all of you.

I am so happy to share with you bellow all the images from the set! You can listen to the song by clicking on this link, and of course the music video is also down bellow!

And watch out as my upcoming EP drops this month! 26TH OF OCTOBER HERE WE COME!!!