Most of the world has been in lockdown for over a month now due to the COVID-19 crisis. A moment frozen in time, when people are faced with solitude, grief or anxiety and see their daily lives shift for the better or the worse. In this time of extreme uncertainty, we can also take the time to reflect, create and enjoy the passing of these strange elastic days. We thought it would be interesting to ask musicians around the globe how their creative process has changed during the quarantine and if it has been an inspiring or rather daunting experience… with a quick snapshot of themselves in lockdown. The winner of the Best Female Artist at the Victoires de la Musique of 2019, Jeanne Added has recently been revealed to a larger audience in her home country even though she’s been making killer pop music for a while now. You may remember her from our issue 74 in 2015 but she’s been tremendously evolving ever since, continuing her path and releasing an album in 2018, Radiate, a subtle blend of classic pop and electro.

How has your daily life changed since lockdown began?

I don’t really have a daily routine. My schedule already said « off-writing » for this time. So I was supposed to be on a break and just writing during this time. For me, the lockdown will just support what I was already doing.

Have you had to rethink the way you create?

I’m very lucky. I was able to join my family in the Dordogne region, a nearly all-white part of the French countryside. Our house is one of the places where I can write and concentrate the best (I composed a good chunk of each of my albums here). Every moment here has a unique flavor and value. So I’m really in the perfect work environment. I’m one of the lucky people in this society, and I’m acutely aware of that.

Did you realize anything in particular during this time?

I confirmed things I already knew. The tremendous inequality that exists in France and around the world is being further accentuated by this unprecedented situation. The poor workers who make our cities and countries go round are still on the front lines in a moment like this. The injustice is only getting worse.

Are you worried?

Yeah, it worries me. But I also tell myself that it’s becoming so obvious that we won’t be able to look away for much longer. That we will have to address all the issues that are being raised right now, about social inequality, about the active destruction of our planet by our western way of life.

Do you feel more inspired or paralyzed by the lockdown?

What inspires me is to be (momentarily) almost cut off from everything, for my time to slow down drastically. And rather than talking about inspiration, I would say that slowing down in this way has allowed what was still hiding inside me to blossom. But I often go through this type of process, since it’s how I work. So once again I’m in a position where I don’t have to put up with too much of what’s going on right now.

Have you started or returned to any activities that you do not normally have time to do?

A little more piano, yes. But still not enough for my taste.

What do you think you’ll take away from this shutdown?

I’ve always suspected that deep down inside I’m like a hermit, but now I know it for a fact. Even though I miss my friends terribly, I’m living rather well during my enforced disappearance.

How do you see life after this crisis?

Trying to keep some of this hard-earned calm. Not to pounce on life like a hungry cat. There’s a lot of openness right now about what we may choose to keep or discard from before the pandemic, and I think it’s very important that we sort it out. Our way of life is so harmful to us, to each other, to our one and only planet, which we should cherish so dearly instead of forcibly squeezing more and more of this inhuman economic growth out of it… I fervently hope that we start to question things very seriously. It is so urgent.

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