Image Courtesy of the Artist.
For Sam Quealy, Paris is home. After devoting her teenage years to becoming a professional dancer, Quealy discovered the medium of music through which she felt she could really express herself, unlike the strict structures of professional dance. Midst the hustle and bustle of the Parisian scene, she met her creative collaborator and producer Marlon Magnee from the French Indie/Rock group La Femme, a connection derived from adoration of one another’s work. But singing and songwriting are only a few of Quealy’s creative outlets. Rather than confining herself to one box, Quealy emerges as a shapeshifting chameleon in the industry, slaying the runways of the Paris Fashion Week, rapping lines, being a performance artist and even curating art exhibitions.
Quealy’s techno pop sound pairs fast paced, nostalgic beats together with catchy and bold lyrics, making her collaboration with La Femme’s Marlon feel as though it were written in the stars. Her sound is visualised through videos, with aesthetics reminiscent of the 80s reimagined with a hint of modernity.
Image Courtesy of the Artist.
SLEEK: Seeing your music video for Big Cat, it instantly brought me back to the 80s. Who influenced you growing up that is still reflected in your music?
Sam Quealy: Madonna was obviously a huge inspiration for me in terms of performance but I wouldn’t say the music so much. It’s more so her approach to the industry, being in charge of her own thing and making everything a show. The same goes for Lady Gaga, who aligns with my references to Pop Art and Andy Warhol. Marlene Dietrich playing with feminine and masculine energies and Leigh Bowery as a performance artist were also huge influences. In terms of the sound, everything is kind of inspired by 90s eurodance and techno; I used to go to a lot of raves when I was younger. My music now has a pop twist to it, a little bit of Gwen Stefani, everything just meshed together.
S: Your background is in dancing, why did you decide to turn to music to express yourself?
SQ: When I came to Paris, I was dancing in French cabarets and I was loving it. But I have been a professional dancer all of my life and it’s so demanding on your body, everything is so structured until I got to a point where I was feeling frustrated. I had so many ideas that I wanted to put into a new medium, which I was kind of already doing anyway, and I got more into performance art while writing my own songs. Then I met Marlon and we were like “Okay, let’s make this thing”. There is so much more freedom now. I can still put dance, performance art and fashion into my music, it is all coming together and in the end it makes sense as one piece.
S: How did your long time collaboration with Marlon, from the duo La Femme, as your producer come to life?
SQ: I met Marlon through choreographing for a lot of La Femme music videos. When I am choreographing, I have my little teacher hat on and they were both like “She’s crazy” [laughs]. That’s how we started working together.
S: You have many different outlets to create art from dancing, singing, songwriting to editing your own music videos and walking the runway. Does each one feel special or different to you?
SQ: They are all becoming one thing now, they’re all channelling the same creativity and ideas. When I do a runway, it still feels like any other aspect of my creativity. Before everything I do, I like to think about a story behind it.
S: How does that process reflect when you are songwriting?
SQ: Normally when I write a song, I already conceptualise a character. In the song Klepto, I imagined this kleptomaniac woman who was obsessed with stealing stuff and consuming. I wrote it from her perspective so when making the music video I knew I wanted to do this excessive character.
Image Courtesy of the Artist.
S: Do the narratives of your songs come from lived experience or is it always fictional?
SQ: They all hold a truth of me, but more like an exaggerated version of that character. That’s the same for when I perform or when I dress, I try to imagine the superwoman version of me that is a mixture between sci-fi, Old Hollywood and anime.
S: When performing on stage, where does all your confidence come from to be the superwoman version of yourself?
SQ: I just fake it til I make it, literally. It’s basically my life motto. I think everyone has their bad days and insecurities, I just make the conscious decision to calm my inner voices down on those days. And the more you fake it, the easier it gets to believe it.
S: Why is techno your chosen genre to express yourself in music?
SQ: I really like things that are extreme and dramatic. That’s the thing with techno and hard dance music, it evokes such a strong emotion. I go crazy, I want to cry and I want to dance all at the same time. Someone said to me recently, that my music sounds like something you would listen to during an apocalypse when you’re like “f*ck it, I want to dance and be free.”
S: Do you think reality reflects an apocalypse then?
SQ: Definitely, this album was written during the pandemic, so there are some dark elements to it even though the songs might come across as super funny. Like the song Klepto, it touches upon consumerism and how we can’t stop being greedy, needing all this sh*t we don’t actually need. Follow the night talks about the subject of substance abuse but then it’s got this super sweet, semi auto tune melody over it.
S: What does your day of producing music look like?
SQ: Sometimes I get huge bursts of inspiration and some days just not. But working with Marlon is super easy, we both don’t really follow a classic way of making music which is also why I describe my music as a beautiful chaos. Sometimes I start with the lyrics first and he will create a beat, other times noises just turn into music. There is no right or wrong way, it’s literally just trying random things until something works.