Throwing her hands up in the shape of a heart, CloZee stands in front of a cheering, sweaty, sold-out crowd at The Bluebird club on Reno’s 4th Street. The show was just one of the French producer’s packed concerts on her first headlining tour across the United States. Her music, an electronic amalgamation of melodic glitch hop and organic ambiance, had the room dancing in the glow of laser-light visuals for the entire set.
CloZee, nee Chloe Herry, is touring to promote her album, “Evasion,” which drops on Friday, Oct 5. A veteran of performing at festivals around the world, she explains that this travel makes up a large part of the inspiration behind her songwriting.
“Traveling, landscapes, other art and artists. Many many things inspire me. All of my tracks have different stories, but the main ideas I’m trying to communicate are always positive, motivating; I want the listeners to love, feel at peace with themselves, and feel like they can overcome any challenges in their lives.”
CloZee’s sound tends to have a much strong presence of organic music and beats, which seems to set her production apart from many electronic producers.
Her background while growing up in Southern French city of Toulouse is in classical guitar, an influence that is heavily incorporated into her sound.
“I started composing music with my guitar, so I had a real connection with an instrument. For me, this is something I need. Organic sounds are what we know and recognize. They ground us, make us vibrate. They bring images,” she explains, before describing the other primary element in her music.
“The electronic sounds are good for the imagination, they are the unknown, so we create our own perception of them. I love the combination of both kinds of sounds.”
During October, CloZee will travel across the states in support of her “Evasion” album. This tour will include a stop at the Suwannee Hulaween weekend-long campout and festival in Live Oak, Florida, over Halloween weekend. While her club sets include an accompanying visual production created exclusively for her performances, she admits to approaching her festival appearances differently.
“For festivals, it’s always different, depending on the vibe of the event. I usually play 15-20 percent other people’s music and I let myself have more room for a bit of improvisation.”
When I asked her if she had any feelings on the difference between festivals she’s performed at in the United States and worldwide compared to those in her native France, she’s quick to point out the emergence of smaller producers and artists at some festivals being a draw for her.
“I wish there were more independent festivals like in North America that could give emerging artists the chance to be part of the lineup. Festivals like Shambhala, Lightning in a Bottle, Envision, you can see big and small artists sharing the same lineup. In France, they don’t take many risks. It’s often the same artists over and over because they know they will sell tickets. It’s a pity because a lot of smaller artists perform a much more original music than the artists we’ve seen five years in a row already.”
Commanding stages worldwide with a sound that has the ability to put a room – or a nighttime festival audience — into a trance with music that wildly stacks both world beat and bass, CloZee says there tends to be just a single inspiring element that shapes her music and collaborations.
“I’ve tried to just follow my mood and feelings when I’m composing.” Her sold-out show at The Bluebird seems to be consistent with her trajectory as a performer, while the heart she threw up to her audience with her hands before leaving the stage following her performance seems to be consistent with her connection to those people and places she finds herself surrounded by while on that trajectory.
More info on CloZee and her Evasion album can be found at http://clozeemusic.com
Information on Suwannee Hulaween can be found at http://suwanneehulaween.com
— Shaun Astor
