Chiara Dubey Interview on Nagamag

Nagamag:
What are the genres that describe better your music style?

Chiara Dubey:
My music is a crossover between alternative pop, dreamy electronic, and modern classical - a fusion of airy strings textures, electronic beats/ sound design and my voice.

Nagamag:
Few words about your musical background and career?

Chiara Dubey:
I sing since when I was a child and started playing the violin at the age of 5. As I grew up, it became clear to me that I wanted to become a professional musician and I chose to study classical music at the conservatoire, majoring in violin and composition. In parallel, I kept performing as a singer/songwriter on international stages - like the Eurovision national finale. In 2018 I left my homeland and moved to London, where I completed my Master studies in vocal performance. Now I am back in Switzerland where I focus on my project as a solo artist.

Nagamag:
Do you remember your first connection of love to music that was the right impact to be a music artist now?

Chiara Dubey:
On the weekends, when I was a child, I would have tea (chai tea) with my father in the morning. It was our little ceremony. While he would prepare the tea, I would play an old CD of Céline Dion, always the same one, and I would sing along with all the air that I had in my lungs. I remember it would fill me with an ecstatic feeling, the same one I still have now when I perform. I guess these were the first moments where I fell in love with music and that bond never broke.

Nagamag:
You just released your début album, Constellations. What is the idea behind it?

Chiara Dubey:
As a child, I would spend most of my summers in the mountains. Nights, away from the city lights were so dark and quiet, and the sky was a breathtaking, dusty explosion of stars. Other children and I would lay for hours on the grass, just staring at them - and eventually keeping count of the falling stars. I couldn’t avoid noticing, what an influence that sight would have on my thoughts. It would slowly detach me from my daily reality, my thoughts would drown in that deep universe and I would find myself wondering about life, about death, about time, about dreams. That awareness and wonder accompanied me through the years, as I grew. I wanted to create an album that would carry some of those feelings, which are a beautiful part of our human essence. They accompany us in our choices and habits, but our daily pattern somehow makes it difficult for us just to find that space, that quietness, which allows our mind to wonder and dream. I have the feeling that we often get lost in the fuss of our busy scheduled lives. With Constellations, I wanted to emulate the effect that the deep, starred skies have on me, and create an atmosphere that would invite people to evade their reality, just for a while.

Nagamag:
Your album also contains instrumentals, why this choice?

Chiara Dubey:
Classical music is an important part of my personality and I like to express myself just trough sound sometimes, trough compositions, without using words. In this album I really wanted to include this side of me as well, without fearing what the audience might expect from me. It also gives me the chance to perform with the violin on stage, from time to time!

Nagamag:
Most artists have a favorite song from a different music genre than the one they are producing music for... Which is yours?

Chiara Dubey:
Jon Hopkins "Emerald Rush"

Nagamag:
Of Course Nagamag would love to listen also which track from a similar artist you admire?

Chiara Dubey:
Aurora "Infections of a different kind"