Petite Meller who just released her new single "The Drummer" in an exclusive photoshoot by French Cowboy aka Mia Macfarlane & Julien Crouigneau at Château Bouffémont. In an exclusive interview with IRK, Petite discussed her new single "The Drummer", the parallels to "The Tin Drum", a novel by Günter Grass and the symbolism behind Petite beating the drum in her new music video.
SHOT BY FRENCH COWBOY A MIA MACFARLANE & JULIEN CROUIGNEAU CREATION STYLIST is FODE KA ASSISTANT STYLIST is MICHELLE SIMONE & SPECIAL THANKS TO NAGISA & SHAY HALAY ZIV LOCATION CHATEAU BOUFFEMONT INTERVIEW by MARTIN RYBAK VIDEO DIRECTION by German Belkin
IRK: How does it feel working on an album again and when and how did you decide it is time again to put all your creative thoughts and feelings into an album again?
PETITE: Thank you Martin, You’re questions always open up my mind and lead me to the deepest places of the creation in a magical retrospective way. The New Album i worked a long time it’s time to release it this summer. The new song “The Drummer” is a cheer up song that I wrote as everyone around me were in down mood and I felt like my mission on this earth is like a clown of the absurd to uplift and overcome.
IRK: Your new song “The Drummer” seems like the opposite of the previous single “Dying out of Love”. The song sounds optimistic and the lyrics reflect your anticipation for a better time. Why was it important for you to create this song that will make people dance and why do you think it is the right moment to share it with the world?
PETITE: The Drum beat is a repetitive theme in all my songs, to encourage people to March to the Beat of your own drum, to celebrate it in a grandiose way. I went to Russia to film the Russian majorettes they are from a lil town near Moscow called Istra. The little girls there are so beautiful and was practicing the dance before I came, “Are you as Happy as the other kids?”, was the line that they learnt to say. And i felt they really meant it from their own specific place it was magical to watch.
Dress Yanina Couture, coat Victoria Tomas, manchettes On Aura Tout Vu, wig Shay Halay Ziv, drum PGM Couesnon from La Baguetterie Paris.
Dress Yanina Couture, jacket Victoria Tomas, manchettes On Auras Tout Vu, wig Shay Halay Ziv, drum PGM Couesnon from La Baguetterie Paris
IRK: How important is it for you to also talk about the dark elements of the human mind such as in “Dying out of Love” and how does your studies in psychology helped you to understand those aspects of our mind and to create music out of it?
PETITE: My PhD in Philosophy is dealing with “Jouissance” which is a Lacan term for Pleasure out of pain. This video is actually about my intense try to stay positive, I’m like a warrior in that field, I grew up also in a very cynical atmosphere, where everything you do could be better, never satisfied that’s why I’m attracted to people who are over excited about things , curious and celebrate life, this is a present and we have to do it!
IRK: The Drummer is a figure often represented in literature and art. What does “The Drummer” in your song mean to you and what is the message behind the song?
PETITE: There are a few paintings like Dutch painting by David Teniers and American Larry Rivers and by William Morris Hunt. The Drummer I was inspired by is actually from a novel from 1959 Günter Grass called “The Tin Drum” which was scripted into a movie. "Beat a tin drum" means to create a disturbance in order to bring attention to a cause. Me as Oskar in that book using music as a protest against pessimists and bad news.
IRK: What was the artistic idea behind the photo shoot?
PETITE: We shot with the brilliant French Cowboy team, Mia and Julien chose this grand huge Château out of Paris, styled by Fode KA, who brought this beautiful drum and actually thought I’m a real drummer watching me playing haha. I confest to him I got African blood in me.
It looks like me as Oscar , like those dolls you got on tables trying to play a lil harmony , or a Jean D’ark warrior of optimism.
IRK: During times of crisis, lockdowns and restrictions, what helped you to keep on being inspired for your creative work and the creation of your album
PETITE: I was writing music with Producers Ori Avni and Marky Style and visiting family.
Now when it started to open in LA I started to preform at the Neuehouse and Hollywood Decades, with my Sax player Tobias and Andreas on the keys .
IRK: Anything you want to add?
PETITE: Music makes us Saint at the end of the day. Even in times of the absurd I’m here to create new realities. Join me!
