QSC Aspiring Interview: Geiste on To Dusk and destroying her old self

Singer, songwriter, producer and seemingly half-elf (if the elf ears she occasionally wears on stage are anything to go by), Geiste is a French artist creating vital music that flits between fragile ethereal moments and huge, techno-inspired productions. A music project that was born in London and saw the release of huge, anthemic songs such as Ocean and Dither, she has relocated back to the South of France since the pandemic, which has birthed her new stunningly restrained EP, to dusk. She speaks to Headliner about writing ambient piano ballads for the first time, and why she almost decided to never release this new EP.

Geiste is one of those fascinating artists who readily confesses to being an introvert and is quietly spoken, but as soon as her feet touch a stage, she will bound about it with enormous energy. In that context, the juxtaposing extremes within her songs make a lot of sense. At the behest of her parents, she initially studied business in Paris, before relocating to London to intern at a record label and study for a masters in music management.

It was while in London that Geiste was born. Not enjoying her business studies in Paris, attending techno raves inspired her to begin learning music production and Ableton Live, and it was then in the UK that the songs and project began taking shape. The debut EP, Utopia, was presented to the world in 2020.

“Young me was doing a lot of writing,” Geiste says via Zoom. She’s located between Nice and Marseilles, and more or less lives in the woods (further proof she is as close to a real-life elf as you’ll find). “I was creating stories and imaginary worlds in the garden. I had this hectic timetable of activities as a kid, like playing the violin, dancing and more. I tried a lot of different things, and eventually I fell in love with music, dancing and all of it.”

And while gardens and the woodland may appear a very natural habitat for her, Geiste did feel the pull of the city when it came time to study. “When I finished school, I needed to discover something other than the woods. So I moved to Paris, which wasn’t the best time.

"I discovered the city, but also everything else. I didn’t feel like I was fitting in, I chose to do a business course because I didn’t know what to do. I was going dancing at techno clubs a lot, and that led me to discover Ableton and music production.”

Next came a very important education in the nature of the music industry when she moved to London and began interning at The Animal Farm record label. She describes how she loved working with artists and the music: “As I didn’t feel ready to be a musician myself. But I also learned the dark side of the music industry. So I eventually decided, ‘Okay, I’m out. I’m going over to the other side to be a victim of the industry myself’.’” She laughs to confirm she’s joking, but there certainly seems to be an element of truth in there.

If there’s one thing Geiste is more grateful for when peeking behind the curtain of the music industry as a record label intern, it’s that she knew from the start that she would have to do most things herself. “I knew there wouldn't be any money coming in. I realised I'd be responsible for everything — costumes, videos, creating everything. I knew it would be up to me, or with the help of friends and those supporting my project. 

"But that's amazing too, having the freedom to do everything you want as an independent artist. I think a lot of artists are waiting for someone to come and save them. So I’m really glad I found how empowering it is to create so much of my project myself or with friends.”

After several single releases, the debut Geiste EP arrived in 2020 in the form of Utopia. It followed in the footsteps of some very impressive and accomplished singles, including her first release Ocean. 

The anthemic and cinematic track also showcased how important the visual component of the Geiste project is, with a brilliant music video that sees her performing the track with crashing ocean waves around her. There was also the Imogen Heap-esque Dither, featuring a Geiste trademark in which she constructs a huge choir of vocal parts, juxtaposed against huge beats with an organic feel.

Of course, 2020 was a very tricky time to be putting new music out into the world, and Geiste sadly had to cancel a release show for Utopia at The Garage, one of London’s most iconic music venues. The upside, however, is the extra free time spent indoors meant she quickly wrote and released the follow-up only a year later, Retrogrades, in 2021 when she was back in France.

“I remember writing in my journal, talking about the things that were making me sad. It was just before lockdown. I listed five reasons why I was feeling that way. I knew Retrogrades would be connected to the water sign, and each EP was linked to an element, with Retrogrades being water. I thought, ‘Okay, here are my five teardrops,’ and that's how I created Retrogrades.”

2024 has been marked with two new Geiste singles so far, starting with to dusk. While she speaks about how stripped-back these new songs are, with her trademark beats taking a backseat. That said, this song, while more subtle than previous releases, still feels huge in scope, with the usual full choir of Geiste voicings, orchestral elements and tasteful electronic parts.

“I almost didn’t release this EP,” she confesses. “This project was finished and produced two years ago, and I held on to it, worried that the people who like my music wouldn’t get it. Then I realised how silly that was — if I made the song, why hide it?

“I’ve been trying to stick to a certain sound, still exploring its edges but also boxing myself into a specific genre that I don’t always want to be in. There have always been two extremes I’ve dealt with, both in my personality and my work. Hiding this project because it doesn’t match my usual sound was a bit of a stupid idea, don’t you think?”

Next up was the promise, a song that leans even more heavily into this ballad direction Geiste has taken, with piano and strings more prominent. It features one of the more heartbreaking choruses we’ve heard from her yet.

“I think this might be my shortest song,” she says. “I wrote it and realised anything I added wouldn’t be necessary. In 2022, for some reason, all I could write were piano ballads, which I’d never written before. This EP is a story of loss, grief and finding yourself again after the end of a relationship. 

"I always like to end with a bit of hope. But I wasn’t going through a breakup or heartbreak, it’s not based on a real love story. I think it came from moving back from London to France, where there’s no music scene and everything changed. I went from being a London girl, gigging twice a month, to living in the woods with no one around, staying with my grandma. It felt like the loss of the life I had.

“But every day I was going for walks along the coast with my dog and falling more and more in love with the nature around me, and realising I was becoming a completely different person to who I was in London. I think that’s life, becoming a new version of ourselves and destroying the old one.”

And regarding what the phrase Play Out Loud means to Geiste, she says: “I pictured that moment when you're working on something with your headphones on, and then a friend comes into the room. You say ‘Here’s what I did,’ and you turn on the speakers to share it for the first time. It’s this thing you’ve created, your deepest feelings, your world, your emotions. And you’re just like, ‘This is what I did today’.”

The five-track to dusk EP lands on November 1st. In the meantime, if this article has left you feeling an ethereal-woodland techno hole in your heart, you can rectify that immediately by listening to the Geiste back catalogue while we await this new collection of ballads. Enjoy those ballads while they last, as she teases she’s already working on the big avant-garde pop productions again.