Cinnamon Nippard - To someone who’s never heard of you or your music before, how would you describe what it is you do....and who is the Hawkline Monster?

Ava Petit René - I think I would describe my music as a musicoclast. That’s a neologism I made up to name the kind of music someone who’s never ever touched an instrument would make and perform. What I do is half-way between pop and performance. I try to always stay on the verge of genres. My work is self-mocking but it’s also sincere. The fact that I play fake instruments is a joke, but my music isn’t a joke, I try to convey lots of different feelings despite the farcical equipment. The Hawkline Monster is a wicked beast that lies inside everything that twinkles. Its mischief aims at destroying conversations. I found it inside an eponym book by Richard Brautigan. But the Hawkline Monster left ! It still sticks around sometimes but it’s not performing with me anymore, I changed my name last week. I did it on stage in front of the audience. Now I’m Ava Petit René. I believe the Monster decided I was ready to stand on my own feet. It’s a pity because I used to blame everything on the Hawkline Monster. Maybe that’s why it left. Too much pressure…

C. N. - What programs do you use to make music?

A. P. R. - I only work with Garage Band, the simplest music program ever. I use prefab loops and sometimes compose the arrangements with my laptop keyboard (the one with the letters, not an external musical keyboard). It’s funny because since i play music this way, I often feel like a pianist while writing an email. Letters and music mingle in the same gesture. On stage, I perform with fake instruments, I pretend to play guitar, bass and double bass. Oh, and I have an air piano too. But I do sing live. Sometimes I introduce my songs in playback, just to confuse the audience a little, so that they might fear I’m going to fake everything. Then I start singing live and they’re relieved. They only feel half-tricked !

C. N. Where do you get your samples?

A. P. R. - They are all stacked in Garage Band, anyone can use them. Actually, I would love to make a compilation of the best songs made with the same doublebass or guitar line.

C. N. - Your lyrics are quite observational, sometimes cutting (Folker), sometimes charming or funny (Parentslauerberg) - what kinds of themes do you write about?

A. P. R. - Before I started writing songs I listened to a lot of songwriters and I used to get a little annoyed by their obsession with love. I wished they would sing about tsunamis, grammar rules or turkish coffee… Now that I know how songwriting works, I have to admit it’s much easier to write about love then anything else. Writing a song is a very intense process and you feel all the more stimulated when you’re feeling something very strongly. I hate to say it, but love must be one of the strongest feelings. Then again, I do write about other stuff, like demography, my mother or Swiss cantons. Everything I sing is true, I don’t make anything up, I just exaggerate a little. It’s always a reaction to something, it’s directed towards somebody or something. A song has a very peculiar format, shape, it’s like saying something to someone, something that stays, that can be repeated and to which other people can relate. What I love with songs is you don’t need to say much. Sometimes I start with an idea and I start developing it and then I realise I don’t need to, you just throw a few words together, find the proper rythm to assemble them it creates an atmosphere.


C. N. How has your background in art influenced how you make music?

A. P. R. - I guess it mostly gave me the guts and the urge to get on stage and sing my songs all by own despite my musical ignorance. It taught me that if you have a good formal idea and a few things to say, you can do anything.

C. N. - What kinds of themes do you explore in your artwork?

A. P. R. - Well, that’s a hard question to answer to… Because since I started music, I sort of left my artwork aside. Then again, I often feel like playing music and trying to become a popstar is a life-long performance that could be part of my artwork. I don’t feel like a proper musician but I’m not only a visual artist anymore either. Performer would be the right word I guess. The themes I explore(d) in my artwork are communication, misunderstandings, relationships between individuals, language… It sounds pretty vague. But let’s say I was obsessed by the extreme sophistication of our communication apparel – I mean, if you come to think about it, any conversation is a constant improvisation and it very often works out pretty well ! Sometimes it collapses. Sometimes it stands between meaning and absurdity. That’s what my artwork was about. Now I do much simpler things. I sing with fingerpuppets.

C. N. - Stylistically you explore different genres - some acapella, a melancholy ballad (Folker), folk or anti-folk, dub - who are your influences? (or what inspires you?)
A. P. R. - I listen to very different types of music, going from Joanna Newsom to Bach, Alva Noto, Kid Koala or Bob Dylan. But mostly singer-songwriters, I always payed a lot of attention to the words. I used to think it was silly and a minor approach to music but now I realise it’s a choice, I’m very sensitive to the voice as an instrument and I like it all the more when it conveys interesting lyrics. I read a book last year that comforted me a great deal, it’s called « Songs In The Key of Z », by Irwin Chusid. It’s about wacky musicians like The Shaggs, Tiny Tim or Wild Man Fischer. I could relate to these people who made music because they had to, regardless to their ignorance, just to let it out in a « naive art » kind of way. Also, my flatmate introduced me to the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band last year and I was aw-stricken. I still am. I felt like these guys had been my greatest inspiration all along without me even knowing them ! I love the way they all are very talented musicians but still perform in such a silly way. And their stage accessories drive me wild with jealousy… I heard they still perform, I would love to see them one day. Or maybe open for them ! That would be a dream…


C. N. - Can you tell me about the process of writing music? (do you start with a lyric? a sample, beat, or a melody?)

A. P. R. - I always start with the lyrics, because that’s the most important thing to me. Of course, later the tune and the music are also very important but if I don’t have anything to say, I can’t find how to say it ! In the beginning, the process was very simple, I wrote a few sentences, searched for a good sample (bass, guitar or drums) and improvised while recording, all my first songs only have one loop playing in the background. Now the process is a little more elaborate, I write the song, then find a loop and then arrange with different isntruments, using the keyboard interface. But it quickly gets very messy, since I have no idea what I’m doing. In a way it’s nice to be on my own because I can do absolutely what I want but sometimes I wish I had a few musicians to enlarge my possibilities.

C. N. - What’s your favourite Ava Petit René track right now?
Ooh, that’s a hard one. But usually my favorite is the last one I made because I don’t know it so well. At the moment, it’s a track called « I’m Not What I Do »

C. N. - What’s it about?

A. P. R. - I’m not so sure… (laughs) Maybe it’s about irresponsability, or happy regrets. Maybe it’s my goodbye song to the Hawkline Monster, telling him that if he’s not to blame for my mischieves, well I ain’t either ! Hhhm… that’s doesn’t sound very mature, does it ?

C. N. - How did you make it? what does it sounds like?

A. P. R. - I made it in twenty minutes, like all the others. But then something was missing so I rerecorded it. I like to go very fast, I make the song and I listen to it once and then I post it on myspace. Then I listen to it again and I have to delete it and remix it. I’m very impatient with poor organizational skills… But I’m having fun !

C. N. - Seeing your show isn’t like seeing an average musician - you have a sense of fun and playfulness. It’s also theatrical, and draws on performance art - how and why do you use props in your performance?

A. P. R. - For a very simple reason : I discovered I could write songs the minute I discovered Garage Band. I just needed a bit of music to babble along to. So I wrote one or two songs a day every day and ended up with a repertoire that I wanted to play live. For my first gig, in September 2006, I sang with the music in playback but I felt silly standing behind the microphone and doing nothing. For the next show I had the idea to use props, cardboard instruments but I couldn’t figure if it was really too stupid or not. So I called my friend Sibsi and asked him if he thought it would be too stupid or not. He said go ahead. So I did, and I’ve been playing over a hundred gigs with fake instruments. It gives me something to do with my hands while I sing, and I ended up believing I’m playing these instruments. I get really into pretending. Some people also told me they ended up believing the instruments were real too ! I like this kind of cheap but efficient magic.

C. N. - What are you trying to express in your live shows?

A. P. R. - I try to be as intense as possible, whether in humour or despair, I play with the audience and I hope they play with me, I try to offer something unheard of, to surprise the audience, to always be where they expect me the least.

C. N. - How does the audience respond to these instruments? (do they get it?)

A. P. R. - In a funny way, the experienced musicians are the most instantly amused and excited by my fake instruments. For the non-musician audience, it depends, the artsy crowd gets it pretty fast because they’re used to extravagance, but the regular people often start off with a suspicious attitude, they’re afraid I’m making fun of them. But after they give me a chance and realise I do want to offer them something, they get into it and end up enjoying themselves. Sometimes it’s hard in the beginning because in order to play my instruments properly, I have to believe in them, and in order to believe in them, I need the audience to trust me too. But after a little juggling we manage !

C. N. - You sing in English and French and have lived in Berlin, Greece and Paris, what’s it like for you playing to different audiences ?

A. P. R. - The French people are horrid snobs. But not so much the audience as the organizers. I started playing in Berlin and I never had to ask anyone for anything, the gig offers kept marching in. In Paris, I’m struggling. People are more serious and they don’t want to take any risks. In Berlin no one even thinks in terms of risks… But let’s not talk about that it makes me sour.

C. N. - Because you speak English, French, German, Italian and Greek, with these possibilities of expressing yourself, how do you choose which language you write in? or is it just organic?

A. P. R. - It is organic in a way. But I do have a different personality whether I speak/sing in French or English. French is good for ranting and moaning, English is better for seducing, although it’s not as clear really. What I like best is to mix languages in my songs like I do in real life, it’s a much easier way to get words to rhyme !

C. N. - You’ve also just started to write and sell songs for people, how did that come about?

A. P. R. - Oh ! Right ! I forgot about that ! (laughs). Yes, I offer a songwriting service. For a price that goes bewteen 50 to 100 euros, I write and record a song about anything you like, your girlfriend, your hamster or World War Two… I sold three of them, it was real fun, I love to get orders… I wrote one about Switzerland and another one about a couple of friends of mine, Yann and Delphine, I also have an order for a song about Peter Sloterdijk, the philosopher.

C. N. - How’s it going?

A. P. R. - Well, I’m a bit all over the place at the moment so I didn’t advertise it so much, but you just reminded me of it so I’ll go ahead and make an ad as soon as we finish the interview !

C. N. - What’s next for Ava Petit René ?

A. P. R. - I should be going on a southern French tour in April, then to Berlin for a month, from June on, the future is pretty hazy, many offers happen at the last minute. And I hope someone will help me release a decent version of my album pretty soon. Also, I’m starting some interesting collaborations with very talented musicians (Plateau Repas, Charles Baptiste, Ray Bartok, Chronik), although I swear I will keep on rocking my cardboard doublebass ! My next step is getting myself into New York City (where my mother is originally from) and play my head off. Oh, I’m also starting a series of paintings of all my musician friends. And a book in Frenglish about music.



audiozimt is the myspace page of freelance Australian radio journalist, Cinnamon Nippard. Currently based in Berlin, she produces radio features for Deutsche Welle Radio’s English Language Service (Germany), ABC Triple J’s current affairs program Hack (Australia), Free Speech Radio News (USA) daily current affairs program, and ABC Radio National’s arts program Artworks (Australia).