Music Minds: Sans Soucis

This week we are delighted to interview afro-soul musician Sans Soucis. Get ready to read about empowerment through music, and find out what inspired Sans Souci Experience’s soon-to-launch new single, They Asked Me to Stay…

Q.1 Sans Soucis Experience is the name for the collective of international musicians working alongside you. How important is this melting pot of influences to the group’s musical style?

It is such a great source of inspiration, being able to understand where each one of us is coming from and how much impact it has on the way we make music. What I think is so special about it is that we are all European, but also have a strong awareness of our cultural heritage. This helps us to explore music genres in a very sensitive way, and with a strong sense of belonging. I consider myself an Afro-European and it is essential for my music to bring within itself the most genuine shades of who I am, where I come from and where I want to go.

Q.2 What artists did you listen to when you were growing up?

Growing up in Italy, I listened to a lot of different music. My father used to be a professional artist, a songwriter actually, and my very first experience with songwriting was through his selection of Italian records. I absolutely love Lucio Battisti who was probably one of the most sensitive and melancholic songwriters back home. On the other hand, my mother was more of an international listener. She loved Alanis Morrisette, Celine Dion, Michael Jackson… back home we had a big record player in the living room and my parents used to buy the records they loved the most, we had quite a lot of them. On Sundays, we would just play them and dance to the music for hours. Such a nice memory from my childhood! When technology came into my life, I started listening to quite a lot of R&B as a contrast to what I was doing outside of my room, singing in a classical choir and being a very young opera singer. I was really into the urban scene of the time starting from Ms. Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, but always quite attached to modern folk such as Kings of Convenience or some other indie bands among whom I really loved Coldplay.

Q.3 The lyrics of your songs are full of positive messages of self-love and pride. Is the role of music to help people feel more empowered?

I believe my mission is to help people feel empowered through music. I live to inspire other people the way they inspired me to grow so much over the past few years. I want to share with the world that grief makes us grow, that we should never lose a connection with our own soul in finding authentic happiness and that we only live to align with our higher purposes.

I always wanted to have a social impact in this world, my mother is an activist herself and from a very early age I used to travel everywhere with her and my sister, following every single project she would undertake while always serving her community to implement equality. Growing up with such an inspiring mother made me very much aware of my mission from a young age. Nevertheless, it took me 18 years to understand that it was my voice I want to use to start spreading my own message.

Q.4 What has been your most memorable performance to date?

My most memorable performance to date was actually my very first band concert. It was my EP launch event at Bunker Theatre and I honestly didn’t expect a lot of people to come. To my great surprise, it was sold out! I’m still amazed by the magnitude this event had on the opportunities I was able to access in the last six months. I felt loved and the music turned out to be a great inspiration for a lot of people in the audience!

Q.5 You will be showcasing new work at your showcase here on July 19. Where did take inspiration from for this new music?

Yes, I will and I’m very much looking forward to it. The music is inspired by a series of central experiences in my personal development. Especially, my recent trip to Zambia this past summer. Being a European of African descent creates a melting pot of so many different customs that I carry with me everywhere. My family is predominantly made of women and what I learnt about my identity and from life, has always gone through the lens of this female community that is quite independent and proud of who they are and where they’re coming from. The women of my family went through their personal struggle to achieve freedom and independence and each one of them, including my mother, have always been open to sharing their experience with the youngest generations in the family. What I learnt from the women of my family is a universal message of empowerment, acceptance and compassion through a deep connection with nature and intuition. Travelling to Zambia last summer and finally spending time with a community of people very similar to my family, was a real wake-up call to all the spiritual aspects of my personality and opened the doors to a very prolific period of my life.

• Join us on July 19 at 7.30pm for the official launch of They Asked Me to Stay – New Single from Sans Soucis! You can also check them out on Spotify, Facebook Instagram and Twitter.