On the 14th of June, Axel Marbeuf, a semi-finalist of Star Academy 2023, released his second single. Just before the release of “Pour la première fois”, Axel, feeling slightly nervous about how people will receive this new single, opened up to DH between two concerts.
“This second single, unlike the first one, is more like you…” “Without a doubt. This one truly came from my mind, my spirit. Unlike ‘Chante’, where a big part was already done beforehand, here, it’s entirely my music and my words. Naturally, I wasn’t alone. I did it with Dani Terreur and Alice&moi, two French-speaking artists that I adore. We went to the studio and created this sound together. The advantage is that I had a say in literally everything.”
During Star Academy, you were very hard on yourself. How did you react when you listened to the finished piece for the first time? “It’s true that it’s special to listen to the finished piece for the first time because there’s a whole process behind it. You see the piece come to life, and there’s a real satisfaction in saying ’there, the piece is finished’. There’s a real joy in making music, creating. And to have this finished product in your hands, to have my first ‘baby’, it really pleases me.”
We feel your touch even in the visual of the cover, which contrasts with your image of the class topper… “In the show (Editor’s Note: Star Academy), I had this class topper side for people. A well-behaved child with glasses… A little bit like Harry Potter, to put it bluntly. Of course, it’s also me, but not only. This other side of my personality, we didn’t see it on TV, unfortunately. This time, I want to show the funnier Axel. The one who lives, loves, wants to go out, dance, and meet people.”
Can we expect an EP or an album this year? “Well, I think we should expect everything (laughs). I don’t exactly know where I’m headed, but I know I won’t stop at this single. I have more than twenty other things in the pipeline. We’ll see based on my projects, my strategy, how I want to appear on platforms. For me, it’s not possible to release an album in 2-3 months, especially with the tour we did, we really don’t have much time. And I really want to be involved in all the songs, in all the writing, etc. So, we’ll see what I can release in the coming semesters.”
Speaking of the tour, what feedback do you have? “A very positive feedback, of course. I realize that, in the end, the time in the castle may not have been the most exhausting or intense thing. The tour is what’s really intense, in the sense that we have the same level of fatigue as during the show, except that now, we meet people every day. There’s this crazy energy we give them. And the amount of energy we receive from them is incredible. You can be the sickest person in the world and say ‘I don’t feel like it because I’m not at my best’. And then you get on stage, you see people smiling, people loving you. And you say ‘oh yes, this is exactly why I want to do this job, and for this specific moment’. It’s a real joy to do all these dates, even if it’s very very intense. And I think all professionals would agree on that. I take great pleasure in what I do.”
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You talk about physical fatigue, but what about mental fatigue? How do you manage that? “It’s true that we don’t talk about it very often and it may even be the most difficult thing to manage because we don’t necessarily realize that we’re mentally exhausted. Every night, we have the pleasure of meeting people on stage, they give us an incredible boost at the moment. But after the show, when we go to bed, we can’t fall asleep, we think about a lot of things. There are a lot of pressures that we manage internally. To help us, we quickly realized that the best solution is to communicate with each other, to express our fears, our apprehensions. Our strength is unity, our group.”
Are you apprehensive about life after the tour? “Of course, there is some apprehension. Even though it’s not over yet, we see that the end is fast approaching. There’s already a bit of nostalgia thinking ‘we won’t all be together after’. But on the other hand, we think ‘it’s good because it will make room for new people’. For us, it’s also the possibility to detach ourselves a little more from the Starac’ image and really assert ourselves as artists.”
Your colleague, Djebril, posted on Instagram denouncing the discrimination he faced. A post where you replied “When the time comes, we will speak frankly”. Have you also been a victim of discrimination? “We can’t say that I was a victim of discrimination because, unlike Djebril and Candice, I am not a person of color. But some people don’t even realize that there is this normalized form of racism that is settling in. I have seen what was happening sometimes, the advantages that some had, or rather the disadvantages that Djebril and Candice may have had at certain times. Djebril’s post is very clear, it says enough without having to give details. He states facts. I saw people on social media, especially on X (formerly Twitter), making entire lists to track down all the moments when Djebril and Candice were sidelined or disadvantaged compared to others. Just take a look at these hashtags to realize that there were quite a few not very nice or fair moments during and after the show. It’s great that they can speak up, that they’re not afraid to speak up. It’s by speaking up that we fight all these things, and I will support them 100%. Even if I haven’t been a victim of that, I have been a victim of other things.”
You say you have been a victim of something else, can you talk about it? “For now, we first need to regroup, to discuss so that everyone is aware of what happened, to see if we all have the same versions of the facts. Sometimes, it’s complicated to realize what we’re experiencing when we’re experiencing it. Now that we have some distance from the show and the beginning of the tour, we realize certain things and we say ‘maybe that wasn’t really okay’. For example, why did it happen to one person and not to another, etc. In the first instance, we need to discuss it with the people involved and then see how things can go between us, and if we need to say something in public or not. But the atmosphere remains good between us, no problem on that.”
Here is the remuneration received by the participants of the Star Academy tour
The tour ends on July 7th in Belgium. How do you feel about “closing” this loop with a Belgian audience? “I had never been to Belgium before the tour. The first time was for Helena’s birthday. And it’s true that we can’t absolutely realize the enthusiasm there was during the show, whether in France or in Belgium. It’s crazy to see that we were able to fill the ING Arena twice with all seven of us and four or five times at Forest National. For me, it’s totally surreal. Moreover, the audience is always very welcoming. I believe that the record of decibels we have from all the shows, for now, is Brussels.”
What would you say to the Axel walking through the doors of the Star Academy casting? “I would tell him to hold on, because what awaits him is beyond anything he could have dreamed of his whole life. And maybe he should rest a little more before doing the show and before doing the tour to be in good shape all the time. And I would tell him to believe in himself and above all, to enjoy every moment.”