Fousheé on creativity, rage and working with Steve Lacy

NME

The US artist's 2022 project 'softcore' explored the artist's full range. She tells NME why it was necessary

Transcript

00:00 (audience cheering)

00:03 - Hello, you're watching NME, we're at Reading Festival

00:08 and we're here with Foushea, how's it going?

00:10 - It's going well, I love it here.

00:13 - Yeah, how was your set, first time at the festival?

00:16 - Gosh, I had fun, you know, I'm on the dance stage,

00:20 so as I was telling you earlier,

00:22 I feel like I had a lot of the dancers, which is good.

00:26 A lot of topless people, mostly topless boys.

00:30 Were there any topless girls, I don't know,

00:33 but I had fun, I had on my fur,

00:36 which is kind of like in the middle of hot and cold today,

00:40 so I felt like this was appropriate.

00:43 Right now, I'm a little hot.

00:45 - I mean, the dance tent is maybe the right place to be.

00:51 Your sets, they're hard, they're heavy, you know,

00:53 you want people to go for it.

00:54 Did you feel like you got that response

00:56 out of the people there?

00:57 - I did, I did, especially the hardcore stuff.

01:00 I was surprised at how hard people go here.

01:04 And I did have like some sensual moments,

01:09 which went over well too.

01:11 Altogether, I must say I was pleasantly surprised.

01:15 - So is this your first time performing in Britain?

01:18 So I know you had a show earlier this week in London.

01:20 - I did, yeah.

01:21 - So is this your first time that you've kind of come here

01:23 and performed at festivals and gigs and stuff?

01:25 - Have I done, I've done one show here on tour,

01:30 but yeah, I did a show at the Village Underground.

01:34 That was my first solo show here.

01:38 And then this is, I think this is my first festival here.

01:42 Yeah, this is my first festival here.

01:44 - How does it compare to some of the US festivals

01:46 that you've been doing?

01:48 - Ooh, you're trying to pit me against the US.

01:50 - It ain't Coachella out there, that's for sure.

01:53 - Wow, it seems like people are less,

01:57 they're more game to get a little down and dirty.

02:03 The US, everyone's trying to be cool.

02:07 And there's nothing wrong with that.

02:09 Like, you know, sometimes, sometimes it's necessary.

02:13 But I felt like you have more of a good time

02:16 if you're ready to get a little gritty.

02:19 And that's what I felt today.

02:20 - That's what it's all about, I think.

02:22 - Yeah. - You've been here

02:23 for one day and you've already got the,

02:26 you've really capsulated it really good.

02:28 - I did, you know, I had some fish and chips, you know.

02:33 - Oh yeah, first time?

02:34 First time with fish and chips?

02:35 - Second time. - Yeah?

02:38 Into it?

02:39 - Yeah, is there anything else I should try?

02:41 - Did you have the mushy peas?

02:44 - I did. - All right, and?

02:46 - It tastes like air, but.

02:51 Is that the point?

02:53 I don't know, it's like a dip.

02:55 - It is, yeah. - It's not a main, so.

02:55 - It's like a guac almost, you know?

02:57 - Right.

02:58 It tastes like air. - And a shepherd's pie maybe.

03:01 - Okay, I'll try that next.

03:04 Hopefully that one tastes like air.

03:05 - So, you released Softcore, was it about this time last year?

03:10 So how has that been sort of taking it out on the road

03:13 and seeing people's responses to the stuff

03:16 that you're playing and your performance?

03:17 - Yeah, I mean, when I made it,

03:19 it was with myself in mind and balancing out

03:24 all the rage I felt during that time

03:26 and kind of like, you know, a little anger.

03:30 So it was a release for me.

03:32 And I also had in mind how I wanted it to feel to perform.

03:37 So I toured my first project, Time Machine,

03:43 and it was more laid back, so I did wanna make music

03:46 that was fun to perform to.

03:47 So it was that, and I think I moments,

03:51 maybe very intimidating and very scared some people,

03:58 but I like that.

04:02 I like pushing the envelope a little bit

04:03 and having them not expect what I'm about to do.

04:08 Like, I don't wanna be predictable.

04:14 - Yeah, I mean, you know, the music industry

04:16 likes to pigeonhole people and to be like,

04:19 oh, you are this, but that's not fun, is it?

04:22 That's not fun to just stay one way.

04:23 - It's not fun.

04:24 And I'm like, I'm this, but I can be that too.

04:27 Like, there's so much complexity to being a human

04:31 and it's about finding that balance in the middle.

04:35 But that was just an extreme end of my personality

04:41 and I think now that I let that out,

04:44 I'm ready to do things a little more like pulled back.

04:48 So actually, this set represents the middle point

04:53 of finding the middle point.

04:54 So it's like the middle of the,

04:56 before you get to the middle,

04:57 which would be, I guess, a quarter of the way.

05:02 - So you're still figuring out

05:04 what the next point's gonna be?

05:06 - No, I know where it is, but I'm kinda like

05:08 warming people up to it.

05:11 Like this set, if you would've seen the set

05:15 right when "Softcore" came out, it was harder.

05:18 And it's getting a little softer,

05:19 but still with the heart in mind.

05:21 Yeah, it's still the same personality.

05:28 I look at it all the same.

05:29 Even when I'm singing a love song,

05:31 there's still that intensity.

05:34 - It's just the way you present it changes ever so slightly.

05:37 - Yeah, yeah, exactly.

05:38 - So you're thinking about the next project,

05:40 what you've got coming up next.

05:41 Is that already something you're working on at the moment?

05:43 - Yeah, always.

05:45 I'm always thinking about what I wanna express,

05:50 what I wanna say, 'cause I never wanna be

05:53 one of those artists that just try to make a hit.

05:55 I love hits, trust me.

05:58 I love hits, I wanna make a hit,

06:00 but I don't wanna think about that when I'm writing.

06:03 I just want it to feel, like it's a two-way street.

06:06 I want it to feel as good for me

06:08 as for the person listening.

06:10 So yeah, I think about what I wanna talk about

06:15 in my life now, or what's the overlying message.

06:20 And I find that right now it's been about

06:23 re-finding roots and foundational relationships

06:27 in my life that may be, that go deeper than romantic.

06:32 So family relationships, friendship dynamics,

06:36 and just me growing as a person.

06:39 But damn, I would say it's a challenge

06:43 making that fun to hear.

06:47 I always wanna, yeah, I don't wanna bore people to death,

06:52 but I do wanna tell that story.

06:56 - I think a lot about your fans,

07:01 they'll give you the benefit.

07:03 They want to hear you express yourself.

07:05 I think, I know you're saying about boring,

07:07 I think people invest in you and your performance

07:09 and they're just like, I'm okay to go on this journey.

07:12 - Yeah, I kind of feel like people don't know me yet

07:15 and that's okay, but maybe this is like,

07:18 would be that official getting to know me.

07:21 It's hard to tell who I am by the music

07:23 because I kind of, I bounce around a lot.

07:27 You wouldn't expect softcore from here in Time Machine

07:32 and which one of those songs define me the most.

07:37 I don't even know the answer to that

07:39 because I jump around.

07:41 Spectrum, it's a rollercoaster.

07:45 So those who are on the rollercoaster ride, I appreciate it.

07:50 And I think there's a little relatability to that.

07:53 Like it's okay to be on the rollercoaster,

07:56 but this one, I would say is my official intro,

08:02 the next one that I'm gonna do.

08:04 I'm gonna be a little more open about my life

08:10 or maybe my childhood.

08:15 So that maybe that would give people a better sense

08:19 of throughout the rollercoaster,

08:21 who's on the rollercoaster to begin with.

08:23 - Why are we on the rollercoaster?

08:25 - Yeah.

08:25 - How did I get on the rollercoaster?

08:26 - How did we get here?

08:27 Where are we?

08:28 Who are we?

08:29 - But you were talking about relationships and hits

08:31 and obviously Steve Lacey who's performing later today,

08:34 you're on "Sunshine", it's an amazing song.

08:37 What do you two give each other in that relationship?

08:40 Like what do you sort of, what is that about?

08:44 - I think in the same way where what music gives you

08:49 when you're going through something is like an ear.

08:53 We kind of bounce off of each other a lot.

08:57 I mean, beyond music, if I just wanna talk about something,

09:02 I can talk to him about anything and vice versa.

09:05 So that's what our relationship started as,

09:08 like a genuine friendship and we're just talking

09:11 about what was going on in our lives

09:15 and that ended up turning into a song.

09:18 And I think, well, musically,

09:24 I kinda, I feel like my strong point is like writing lyrics

09:28 and melodies and like, he's like this musical genius.

09:32 He knows how to play all these instruments

09:34 and he does melodies and music too.

09:36 But it's a good like ping pong match or a tennis match

09:41 where we're just like, oh, I would have never thought

09:45 to go there with this melody

09:47 and then I throw something back and back and forth.

09:51 So melodically and friendship wise,

09:56 it's very conversational and I don't know, it's fun.

10:02 It's fun for, yeah.

10:07 - Nice, maybe perform later?

10:10 Gonna head out and do the song to him?

10:12 - Maybe, yeah. - Maybe, yeah.

10:12 - Maybe, yeah, I'm here, why not?

10:15 - Why not?

10:16 - I always love to.

10:17 - Oh, well, thank you very much for your time.

10:18 I hope you enjoyed your time in the UK.

10:19 We can't wait to see you again.

10:21 - Thank you.

10:22 - And thank you very much for watching.

10:24 - Bye.

10:24 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Category

Transcript

Recommended