Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with Pituf Projects
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
Times with my family when I was a child: my uncle is a saxophone player, and he was always playing at family meetings. I started to play with him (there are pictures of me when I was really young trying to play). The sax is my first instrument, and I learned music and theory with this wonderful instrument 🙂
How did your passion for creating music begin?
When I was 14, I switched from saxophone to guitar. I was listening to a lot of rock music, and I was attracted by the distorted sounds and up‑tempo rhythms. The saxophone is made for solos or to play with other wind instruments. With a guitar, you can do chords & solos! So a whole new world opened up to me. After a few months of playing guitar, I started to compose my first ideas and write my first lyrics.
What’s the story behind your current music project?
At the beginning, music for me was a hobby. I always had the dream of making it one day for a living, but for me, it was an untouchable dream. When I was 25, I finished my studies and started to work… That was the beginning of a nightmare… The professional world is not made for me ^^ So I said to myself, I can’t work my whole life for something that I don’t care about! I need to focus on what I really like: MUSIC.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
It’s a mix of a lot of rock genres (indie, garage rock, psychedelic, ballads), and I add a synth and electronic touch to it to sound more modern. Some songs are very punchy, others more atmospheric and calm. Each song is developed around an idea, and I try to push it as far as I can.
My music is written around one concept: Altered Perception (name of my first EP, by the way, “Perception Altérée” in French). I try to compose and write around this idea: from one situation, you can have different perceptions. For example, from a political point of view, you will not see the same thing if you are from the left or the right. If you are in love and then you break up, you will have different feelings about the same person. If you are sober or if you are drunk, you will see things differently. This is what I try to express in my songs.
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
At the beginning, I was composing and then trying to find lyrics. But sometimes I was struggling and could not finish songs because I could not find lyrics or vocal melodies matching the composed music. So I learned from it and I totally switched my creation process: now I first think about the message and/or the theme of the song, then I write the lyrics, and only afterwards I start to compose the music.
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?
I always start an idea with lyrics and then guitar. Then I use Ableton Live to build a first draft of the song: I record a bass line, add some synths, drums, and try to develop the idea of the song. One thing I do a lot is to record ideas, work on the draft of the song and export it to my phone. Then I walk around the city listening to the draft. It is important for me to listen to my song outside of the studio, because I generally have a different ear and feeling in that kind of situation.
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
A lot of French artists, but not only 🙂
La Femme
Matt Duncan
Flavien Berger
Voyou
Feu! Chatterton
Black Lips
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
As explained, the whole concept of my music is based on one topic: Altered Perception! I try to explore this theme in my lyrics and music. My first EP talks about altered perception when you party. The upcoming songs are more related to love topics, and the third EP will be more oriented toward personal positions or observations on political or social aspects.
To answer your question, I always write my songs based on personal experiences and things that I could observe or think about.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
I don’t really have expectations about this because I think music and tastes are subjective. You can like one of my songs and not the rest, so I don’t know. I just wish that people listening to my music enjoy it and find their personal way of feeling or listening to my messages.
What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
To focus on the feelings, atmosphere, and meaning you want to give to a song or to your art. Music theory is important, but in my opinion, the feelings that people will have while listening to you are more important. So I try to keep that in mind when I am composing or writing something.
Regarding the creation process, the best advice I received is to invest in your knowledge: take music production classes, guitar courses, work with a singing coach, etc… You will grow faster and understand where you need to put focus on!
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
As I am French, the Stade de France would be a dream ^^ Otherwise, give me a stage and a guitar and I’ll show up 🙂 Playing in a show like KEXP or a Tiny Desk Concert would be great as well!
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
Past: Gainsbourg and Brassens — French icons from the 60s to the 80s. Pink Floyd, BB KING, The Rolling Stones.
Now: La Femme and Flavien Berger, Dub Incorporation, Daft Punk
Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website, Spotify, IG, links)
Spotify
Instagram
Linktree
Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
Playing at Stade de France 🙂 In a less dreamy way, I am currently working on my second EP. It is a very exciting project, as this time I am doing the mix and mastering myself (which was not the case for the first EP). So I hope the result will be good.
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?
New aspects of my music and new messages. I am releasing songs in a “chronological” way: the songs released are the ones that I wrote a long time ago. The songs that I wrote more recently will be released with the second and third EPs. The themes and the music will then be more “mature,” let’s say 🙂
If you want, here you can add a representative YouTube video to insert below the interview 🙂
I will post all the new stuff on YouTube! Follow the channel here 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/@PitufProjectOfficial/videos
