(Photo by Elisa Cucinelli)
Margaux Gazur is a French-Vietnamese composer, musician, and producer based in Berlin. Having just released a stunning new album – Blurred Memories for Smallville Records, we talk about the art of music production, art and culture and more with this fascinating artist.
Welcome to Magazine Sixty, Margaux. How did your love of the piano begin? Can you tell us about the influences that then expanded your musical horizons, leading to the sounds you now create? Was there a lightbulb moment in all this?
I started classical piano when I was 7 years old, it was a bit of a love-hate relationship as it was a very strict teaching, many hours at the conservatory and practice at home. My parents are music lovers, at home we were listening to music all day long, dancing in the living room. It was quite eclectic, from Fela Kuti to Zakir Hussain, also experimental jazz, punk rock and more.
The main starting point of my music approach was around 15 years ago, when I was living in Vietnam, I was recording sounds from the streets and my dad asked me to make music for his martial art videos. I recorded sounds from his practice, the traditional weapons and instruments they use and created collages of those.
You studied classical piano at the Conservatoire. What lessons from that time do you still hold dear and value?
The Conservatoire was a bit traumatic to be honest, but somehow it left me with the idea that you need to practice and persevere. I’ve actually spent the last 20 years trying to forget what I learnt to be able to create in my own way. I still love playing classical pieces I learnt then but piano isn’t the instrument I use much in my composition. I prefer to use instruments that I don’t know how to play.
Your brilliant new album, Blurred Memories, for Smallville Records, explores a range of diverse textures, moods, and atmospheres. Where do you find inspiration for creating a piece of music? Do you find making music happens quickly, or is it due to a longer process?
This album is a collection of memories of my life in Hanoi, the tracks are all made with the recordings from the streets of Hanoi and martial arts, voices of friends and family like the track Agata, it was made after I secretly recorded my friend singing in Japanese in our living room. In my composition in general, I like to use what’s around me to compose with, something personal, a memory, an object, a feeling, it can really start from anything. I usually make a track in one go, if it doesn’t work directly, I usually never manage to do something with it.
I particularly love the way Su Phu builds in subtle intensity as the keys and percussion unfold. Can you talk us through how you produced it? Do you have any favourite pieces of software/ hardware to use in production?
First, I created the percussion patterns with the recordings I did in my dad’s practice room: traditional weapons (swords, bamboo sticks, chains etc) and instruments (wooden drum used for Lunar new year celebration). I used a guitar and my dad’s gong to create the melodic part. The voice is from Dong, who is a Vietnamese master of martial art. I recorded him while he was teaching in his practice room in Hanoi.
The tracks were made a long time ago, back then I was mainly working with my laptop and field recording. For a few years I’ve only been worked with an electro-acoustic setup and no laptop. I like to play with acoustic instruments, objects and effects that I loop with different types of loopers.
Outside of music, have any artists, painters, writers, cinema, etc, always inspired you?
Yes, I’m very fascinated by artists from the 20th century and how writers, painters and musicians would get inspired from each other. I like the experimental approach in the different artistic expressions, it’s not about the final result but how you get there. I am also a cinema lover, particularly for movies from the 60-70s, like the Japanese director Ozu or French new wave, very contemplative and poetic. I did a performance for the screening of La Collectionneuse, a film from Eric Rohmer, where I created music looping sounds from the film, using objects like foley and instruments.
If you could own any instrument in the world, what would it be?
That is a difficult question, I would like to have many instruments, I think they all bring some new dimension to the music and I am always looking to add a new sound to my music. I’m particularly interested in traditional instruments. I would really like to get some traditional Vietnamese instruments.
How would you describe your involvement with the Berlin-based collective Weich?
I joined the collective some years ago, Weich was created by Elisa Cuccinelli, she booked me to play at one of the first events, I loved it immediately and we decided to continue the project together. We were running the events, booking artists we love, creating a special place to listen to music and gather for a cosy evening. At the moment, I’m not involved in the organisation but I deeply support the project.
Have we lost something being so focused on the individual both politically and within society? How do you feel about the role of social media in all of this?
Social media has definitely changed the way we interact, we expose ourselves. In the music field, It is no longer about listening but about watching, which I’m not very comfortable with. Of course it also gives a chance to anyone to share their music, art, opinions and be heard but I feel it s more about having good marketing skills.
What, for you, is the difference between performing live as an artist and the art of DJ’ing?
DJing is about digging, selecting and mixing tracks to create a story and playing live is about searching for sounds, composing with textures, creating a story with your own music. The technical skills are different and the approach as well. I actually don’t really DJ anymore, I feel like I’m sharing something more personal with my own music and somehow, I feel more comfortable playing live.
How do you see the future for musicians in terms of streaming and ways of making a living from performance? What do you hope to achieve moving forward from 2025?
The process of creating and releasing music can be very long, and it’s quite sad to see how little artists get paid from streaming platforms. But I guess it has always been like that: artists make a living with their performances, not their releases.
I am really happy how 2025 started and I hope it will continue in the same direction. I want to keep playing music without being labelled in any genres, I hope to release my recent music projects soon to show the different sides of my music, collaborate with artists and keep playing in nice venues and festivals.
Buy Blurred Memories at Smallville Records on Vinyl
Download/Stream at Bandcamp
Margaux Gazur
Margaux Gazur on Instagram
Smallville Records
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