Interview with Valère Géron: ‘You have to live life to make some good art’

Dutch-born but Sweden based soul revivalist Valère Géron released his debut single ‘You Don’t Want My Heart’ this month, a soul, jazz-infused ballad about a breakup.

‘It has a vintage, retro soul feel, it’s upbeat,’ he said. ‘We went for an old school vibe, guitar-based with drums. It worked out well for this song. Belgian multi-instrumentalist and producer David La Mela played the guitar and recorded bass, percussion and drums on it. There are several guitar tracks on it, he did some layering in the chorus and added acoustic chords.’ As the track kicks off: “Everyone can see our love is bad yet it’s something we don’t mind. I cannot sleep but I sit around your side, walked right in the storm now we are lost inside.”

Infused with retro soul grit and a hooky bass melody, the xylophone, Motown snare and acapella layers reel you in. The big chorus in ‘You Don’t Want My Heart’ complete with soaring backing vocals, almost sneaks up on you. It turns out to be inspired by his own break-up: ‘I was in this relationship, which is usually the case (laughs) and we broke up. It was rough for me. It was such a big part of me, I didn’t feel like writing songs at the time. I wrote it a while later, it was cathartic, in a way. I remember thinking “Do I want to sing about it?” but you have to live life to make some good art, I guess (laughs). It’s the first song you’ve heard but I’ve been writing songs for years. We thought it should be the debut single.’

‘Her music is so timeless, I’ve been listening to her as long as I can remember’

Géron moved to Sweden at the start of July this year for a study program unrelated to music. He has French ancestors going several generations back, hence his name. He has something of a male Amy Winehouse vibe on the track and when I tell him this he’s thrilled: ‘That’s the biggest compliment you can give me,’ he said enthusiastically. ‘Her music is so timeless, I’ve been listening to her as long as I can remember. Her earlier work on Frank (2003) was great, as was Back To Black (2006) – every song is a masterpiece. When I used to play in a cover band, ‘Valerie’ was the number one song we did. You can only lose covering her (laughs), she was so authentic. Her songs will be around forever, kids will find her in 60 years and think it’s the coolest thing.’

He is now working on a ‘bunch of songs’: ‘It’s about finding the right thing to put out next,’ he said. ‘I wanted to see where this song went, I put so much time and effort into it. I have a few other songs that I’ve written that I like, they’re retro soul, too. They include ‘Stuck In My Head’ about falling for someone, it’s a slow soul jam; ‘Sweet Suzy’ is about a past relationship, it has jazz swing influences and ‘Jimmy Brown’ is about doing things the way you want and not letting anyone keep you from that, it’s a bit ska. Usually, I write down romantic stuff, mostly (laughs), so the next song will possibly be about a relationship! Normally what happens is I’ll have a melody in my head and I’ll start humming and singing it, I’ll think maybe there’s something there. With ‘You Don’t Want My Heart’, I came up with the bass line at the start of the song and then it wrote itself.’

Singing has always been important to him and it becomes clear where his love of acapella comes from: ‘I was always singing,’ he said. ‘As a kid, I was in choirs. My uncle was in an acapella group and my parents were in a bunch of choirs – events with bands, doing backing vocals. When I was about 18-19, I thought “Maybe I can really do this” and I started to think about having a band. The first song I ever learned to sing was ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ (by John Denver). I was 9 in school. I remember that being a big song!’

‘I’ve always been a fan of The Beach Boys for their vocal harmonies’

In terms of influences, he is particularly drawn to harmonies: ‘I’ve always been a fan of The Beach Boys for their vocal harmonies,’ he said. ‘I try to incorporate that into my songs, not that I’m on that level (laughs) but they put you in a great mood. I love The Police, I think they’re the greatest band ever. The English band, The Coral, their self-titled album that came out in 2002 inspired me a lot instrumentally for ‘You Don’t Want My Heart’.’

If he could go for a drink with anyone, dead or alive, he is quick to say Amy Winehouse: ‘I’d say to her “Stop taking the drugs and alcohol” because that’s what got the better of her in the end. I’d ask if she could stick around for more music and for her wellbeing. There’s so much more music we could have got out of her.’

Even when something goes wrong at a gig, he finds the humour in it: ‘This one time, in an old cover band we used to play small festivals,’ he said. ‘During one gig, the whole PA system failed on us. We just stood there (laughs) for a good few minutes and the crowd started singing for us! It took like five minutes to fix before we could finish our set. Afterwards, we had a laugh about it.’

His dream line-up would be smooth: ‘I’d definitely have D’Angelo (an American neo-soul singer) in there because even though my music is nothing like his, his album Voodoo (2000) is one of the best albums ever. I think what draws me specifically to that record, besides the groove and great songwriting throughout, is the instrumental palette of mostly bass, drums, lead vocal and harmonies. And if I’m not mistaken, that record was also pretty much written completely during one jam session which is very cool. And Lianne La Havas. Can I have The Beach Boys as well? Just to hear some of the greatest songs ever written played live by the band’s original line-up. For me, there’s no better music to listen to on a sunny day.’