By G.WEN
ASTRAL GLAMOUR Who are you? Why Astral Glamour?
Astral Glamour is a cosmic entity that translates the twists and turns of fate into a trashy, cheeky, and chic galaxy. My name is Lexie. I am an artist, singer and party creator… I make music and I paint. My canvases are abstract and represent the remnants of my nocturnal escapades. They are dangerously covered in shards of broken glass and glitter. I make videos and artistic installations, some of which also turn into parties. Sometimes I DJ and work in fashion styling.
I was born and raised in the French RIviera. I lived in England for ten years but more specifically in London during my fine arts studies at Central Saint Martins. My apartment was in Shoreditch, and I used to organize parties all the time with disco decor. They were like installations. Visuals were projected on the walls, there were CDs stuck all over the living room, mannequins, and even a pink glittery chainsaw… Each party had a different theme and I filmed everything. After a while, I started getting requests to organize them at venues like Scotch of St James, an iconic club in Mayfair.
In 2015, I moved from London to Paris. I worked in fashion on shoots while simultaneously orchestrating parties, DJing, creating scenarios, and painting. A year later, the performances began. They took place in Parisian clubs like Silencio or Le Montana. I often did actions or poems on stage. My poems were about London after-parties, debauchery, romances, Botticelli, Crème Brûlée, breakups, sequin panties, nightclubs and cemeteries…
I started developing my musical project Astral Glamour a few years ago, but it truly materialized last December when I began working at Studio Ciel Rouge with Jimmy Whoo and Yann Apfel. Making music allows me to bring everything together and be my own artistic director. For the “Biscuit” music video, my first single released a few months ago, I wrote the script, did the montage and styled/set dressed the whole thing. Not enough had been filmed during the shoot, so inspired by the “Biscuit” cover, which featured a nude photo of myself with one of my floral compositions, I started creating additional shots. I filmed myself with flowers, statues, cakes… anything that surrounded me. For a while, I could not go into a supermarket, pastry shop, or florist without imagining how I could film myself with raspberry tarts or other items.
Astral Glamour is the name of a song but also the album by the punk band The Homosexuals. It was written by Bruno Wizard in 1978. I met Bruno in London at a fashion event called the Caligula in East London. That night, he was wearing a white silk shirt covered in blue, yellow, and red dots. We have a great friendship, and we’ve collaborated in the past. I consider Bruno my mentor, and he has encouraged me in everything I’ve done for years.
G.WEN: Can you tell me about your new song, “Enchanted Parenthesis”?
The “Enchanted Parenthesis” described in my song alludes to fleeting romances, micro-loves. Being married for just one night, never to speak again afterwards, life goes on. It’s the second track from my EP. It’s a dramatic journey, an emotional crisis of anger and sadness after realizing that life continues after this intermission. We take refuge in our delusions. To survive, we must radiate in our calamity, be at peace in our own Punk Paradise.
G.WEN: Tell me about the theme of your EP?
The EP is Tragi-Romantic. The songs talk about my experiences, unrequited love, rejection, chic decadence, despair, glamour, and trash… It’s an apocalypse that takes place at the punk dolce vita after-party. It’s okay to be dramatic as long as it remains aesthetic.
G.WEN: What are your musical influences?
It would be impossible for me to live without music. I listen to everything from every era, but I particularly love the ’80s, all the new wave, post-punk and super kitsch songs. I adore Depeche Mode, Nina Hagen, The Cure, Joy Division, The Human League, Suicide, etc. When I was 7, I discovered all of my parents’ cassettes, some from their teenage years, recorded from vinyl records. I listened to Gainsbourg on repeat, The B-52s, The Clash, The Ramones, Roxy Music, Prince, as well as contemporary releases. It feels like I’ve had music in my ears my entire life.
G.WEN: What is the spirit of your artistic universe? And your musical style?
My universe teeters between a celebration and nightmare; everything can shift rapidly from one emotion to another. I see things in a very theatrical way. My life is a whirlwind of glitter, laughter, tears, ridicule… I love elegance but with a touch of dirt, of punk… cursed happiness that can only end in despair. One of my major sources of inspiration has always been the night, where I feel free and like I’m in a movie.
During my art performances, I would scream on stage and lament, so I integrated that into my songs. I would say that the musical style is Modern Post-Punk Disco. Lots of eighties nuances.
G.WEN : Your artistic news?
I performed ‘Biscuit,’ my first single, followed by ‘Enchanted Parenthesis’ two months ago as a preview at Castel. ‘Biscuit’ was released in March along with a music video. The song is about a woman who is in love with her stalker because she likes the admiration he has for her. He secretly watches her but never says anything.
While waiting for the release of my EP, I continue to write, paint, and a music video for ‘Enchanted Parenthesis’ is also in preparation.”
G.WEN : Your favourite playlist ?
At home, I mostly listen to a lot of vinyl records. My favorite vinyl at the moment is ‘Ekseption Classic in Pops’ from 1969, which features covers of classical music pieces. Beethoven, obviously, and Giorgio Moroder.
On my Spotify, I have a playlist called ‘Emotional Excesses’ with the tracks I listen to a lot these days. They are very different, but they make me feel happy and alive, yet at the same time, sad and tormented.
G.WEN : Do you feel like a Fashion Artist ?
Absolutely! Fashion holds a significant place in my everyday life; it’s the medium through which I express myself the most.
Since a very young age, I have been collecting a lot of vintage designer pieces. I started with cowboy boots in my teenage years, and since then I visit vintage stores all around the world in search of treasures. I like to mix everything, to be free in what I wear. I inherited incredible pieces from my mother, such as the brand Voyage by Tiziano Mazzili, which remains one of my all-time favorite brands.
Above all, I believe that fashion is a matter of style more than following trends. It’s important to find one’s identity, the character one wants to show to the world that day. Each day is an opportunity to wear a new mask, a new costume, to be a completely different person if one desires.
Clothes are a means of communication with the world. Fashion is art.
One of my favorite fashion anecdotes is that Basquiat used to paint in his Armani suits and then wear them to Studio 54.
