What sort of online platforms you’re using at the moment, such as social media, etc?

Currently I’m using Facebook and Instagram as platforms for advertising my music due to the fact that I know all my friends and family will see it, and take interest because they are already familiar with me and I’m hoping they can warm to my Blondel music persona.

I feel like if Blondel were immediately exposed publicly she would fall between the cracks and go unnoticed. So I wanted a small fan basis among people I know first.

Where did the name ‘Blondel’ come from?

I got this pictorial Encyclopedia as a kid, there was this character in the myths and legends section and his name was Blondel. He was a French poet / Minstrel in the 12th century and for some reason I loved the story behind the legend, so I stole the name.

Are you similar to Blondel? I mean, your alter-ego, the musician, not the 12th century poet…

I believe so. Blondel is kind of this character that expresses all the deep and sometimes dark thoughts and interests that I personally have. She expresses all the tings that i need to express, but can’t possibly do so in my everyday life. It needs to be expressed artistically.

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For every song I did I drew a picture for it, which I felt would help people maybe understand the vibe of it before clicking on it. I also thought if I want someone to take their time, and to click on a song of mine, that maybe a visual representation will draw them in..

That’s interesting what you say about the fact that she expresses things you need to express. Have you felt that expression come through in your social media posts about her?

Well initially, when posting my music on social media I would add a visual representation of the song. So for every song I did I drew a picture for it, which I felt would help people maybe understand the vibe of it before clicking on it. I also thought if I want someone to take their time, and to click on a song of mine, that maybe a visual representation will draw them in and help them make up their mind as to whether or not they care to invest any time.

I wound up dropping that idea in the end because I felt all the images got a bit confusing and I wound up choosing a single image that I thought could represent my music / persona as a whole. I thought a single image would be more simple and would help add a consistency/ a familiarity to the art.

It’s interesting how you are mixing sound and visual art – even though you’ve decided to run with one image throughout, you’re providing a multi-sensory experience.

In terms of social media I believe visual art is by far the most important. People have short attention spans and don’t really care to waste time, so visual art is the easiest way to touch someone because all they have to do is look.

You post quite a bit of visual material on social media? Not just for Blondel, I mean.

I guess when it comes to posting, I am much more active on Instagram. As a person expressing myself and my everyday life, I can’t expect people to read a slab of writing on a Facebook status, a picture is much more enticing and less time consuming for both the poster and the viewer.

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I find my generation put so much importance in being recognized online and getting as much attention as they can. It sounds so petty but we are digital natives and that’s what we care about.

How much does it matter to you that people read your posts and engage with them?

It’s actually kind of important to me. I feel silly saying so because its such a generational thing. Not to generalize, because I know everyone is different, but I find my generation put so much importance in being recognized online and getting as much attention as they can. It sounds so petty but we are digital natives and that’s what we care about.

‘Digital Natives’ is such a great term.

I love it too. I learnt it in my media course. Anyone born between 1984 and now, are considered Digital Natives.

Do you spend a lot of time crafting your social media persona?

Not really. honestly I don’t think too much about it. I just try to be genuine. Although I do find myself thinking sometimes if I’ve posted too much of the same thing, for example.. if I already posted a couple selfies in the past week i try to give it a break because unfortunately there is a lot of judgment that comes with the type of things you post. Selfies are vain and shameful. Baby pics are boring. etc.

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I’ve gone to uni and people have been like.. ‘OMG can you please stop posting pics of that baby’ I’ve been in arguments about completely non related subjects and the opposition will come back with .. ‘what would you know, you just sit around and post selfies all day.’

Do you ever experience backlash yourself, or do you hear about others experiencing it?

I’ve gone to uni and people have been like.. ‘OMG can you please stop posting pics of that baby’ I’ve been in arguments about completely non related subjects and the opposition will come back with .. ‘what would you know, you just sit around and post selfies all day.’

So often I find there is an anxiety that comes with posting things, like.. should I?? Will people hate it? Am I being annoying? etc.

So what is it about posting selfies that you enjoy?

I love selfies. I find them totally empowering. If I think I look good I want to share it. I love seeing other people’s selfies because to me that selfies says that they feel so good that they want to share it with the world.

We talked before about how visual art on social media is important. Do you think for you creative expression also comes into it, when you post selfies?

To an extent. There’s an attitude and there’s a thought. Selfies can speak many words. I also find I like to incorporate my interests into my selfies if that makes sense. Like.. depending on the background or what I’m wearing. I can pose with an X-Files or Yeezus t-shirt on, the selfie represents my attitude and my love for a musician and show, ultimately representing my personality.

We’ve talked about your music/art, and you’ve just mentioned some things which I suppose are popular culture (X-Files & Kanye West) – do you find that most of your online conversations center around these sorts of topics? Are there other things you use social media to discuss?

I find as someone who is so obsessed with films and pop culture all round, (I mean that’s basically my life) I guess it’s almost impossible for me to express myself anywhere whether it be in person or on social media, without incorporating these things into the conversation. It’s what I relate to.

I notice in the background of the selfie, there’s a Blondel poster.

Yes. Because even though it’s me, she is always there.

Did you draw the poster too?

No, my friend actually did.

In your other image, Blondel looks like she has horns… is that an animal skull behind her?

Yes. My imagery for Blondel always consisted of a girl and a man with a bull skull.

What does the bull skull represent?

Well he was actually a character. When I first started writing songs as Blondel there was always mention of ‘The Beast’, who always made Blondel do or say bad things. Like Blondel is an extension of me, ‘The Beast’ is an extension of her.