Ilhem
“I don’t believe there’s a constant routine or constant inspiration throughout the year. It works in phases, influenced by many factors.”
“I happened to be based most of my life in rather cold cities and it has indeed influenced my rhythm a lot. The 11 years I have spent in Berlin had me appreciate winter particularly as a special time to create, locking myself up in my cocoon and focusing during these long dark hours on meditating, developing music, ideas, lyrics and learn new things. One feels undisturbed, protected from the outside world, the colder the better to dive in.”
“I have since cherished this season a lot as it helps me creating a routine and finding the inspiration within myself.
Now living on an island in the middle of Rotterdam (Netherlands), I just installed my studio facing the river and the sky and feel ready and excited to welcome this stormy northern winter. It’s becoming my favourite place on earth where I can be free to create, locking myself up for days, preparing a new live show and working focused on the EP I’m finishing, yet being inspired by the environment at the same time.
“On the opposite I sometimes feel nervous if I am in a creative process and set myself deadlines during the warmer seasons as I can get much more easily distracted and tempted. That’s how I create new daily rituals each season. In spring for example I would start the day goin gout for a run, witnessing this way the nature waking up and getting my « shot » if I otherwise must stay in and work. Summer rarely allows consistency therefore I embrace the inspiration it gives, the special moments shared with loved ones, travelling, playing gigs in beautiful places and more or less consciously planting seeds.
“All of this is then being translated in my creative work sooner or later, digging for example in the notebooks I carry everywhere. I also need those moments of « being out there », interacting more with old and new friends and see the world.”