WL//WH Interview THALIE NEMESIS
Thalie Nemesis – Aix En Provence (FR)
Thalie Nemesis is a French artist with Armenian roots, which she embraces and honors in her art. This heritage defines her identity as a person, a woman, and an artist. In celebration of her new record, “CATARSI APOTROPAICA” EP (May 30, Transmission Nova Label, USA), Ι had a conversation with her, and she proved to be an engaging and enthusiastic conversationalist, discussing topics such as her past, traditions, the present, and the future, among many others. Ladies and Gentlemen, here is Nathalie Antranik!!!
Hello Nathalie, and welcome to WL//WH. You have a new EP out on May 30th, with unique music, and the impressive title “CATARSI APOTROPAICA”. I want to start the interview by asking what the title emphasizes and its significance to the album.
Hello, Mike! Thank you very much for giving me this interview. This title was very dear to my heart. It carries within it the idea of a descent into the abyss, into the depths of the human soul: it’s catharsis, the purification of passions—here, through the instrument I hold dearest, the voice. The voice is the ultimate organ of emotion. I’ve always been fascinated by Greek mythology. My first album, “Némésis”, was inspired by it, with the figure of the vengeful Fury. Here, the ‘apotropaic’ dimension—embodied especially by the Gorgon—serves as the backbone of the EP. Ancient peoples (especially the Greeks and Armenians) believed that by depicting monstrous figures on the pediments of temples and palaces, they could ward off evil and break curses. It is this ‘apotropaic’ magic that I wanted to infuse into my tracks.
What topics do the lyrics touch upon and deal with? Even if someone sees the song titles before listening to the music, they can grasp that they reflect thoughts, myths, and human situations.
The themes of my tracks deal with the invisibilization of women, but also that of Artsakh, whose war began during the COVID pandemic in 2020—an epidemic that helped obscure it. The woman, whose voice can be heard throughout the different tracks, thus becomes a symbol of the struggle of women to be seen and heard (she notably sings: “Est-ce que je n’existe qu’à demi-mots”(‘Do I only exist in half-spoken words?’) and ‘I will silence you / I will erase you’). She also takes on the role of an allegory for Armenia as a whole, which fights to remain standing. In “No Surrender”, you can hear her sing: “Even invaded, even desecrated, there will be no surrender.”
Your music is darkwave, but its edges also extend characteristically into other musical paths. What motivates you to explore other musical horizons and present them in your musical spectrum?
I have eclectic influences—mostly within dark rock, of course—but my musical landscape is very open. I enjoy trip-hop as much as gothic, and I’ve been deeply influenced by well-rounded artists like NIN, for example. That said, I really wanted to give my tracks an ethnic direction, especially on this EP, by incorporating distinctly Armenian sounds (such as the duduk, the dzourna, etc.). All this variety naturally leads to exploring a broader emotional palette.
There is an invisible weight and depth in your interpretations and music, and I also sense a “finite” feeling in the overall listening. I wonder what lies within your artistic thoughts and soul?
Ah! Maybe I’ll allow myself to invoke the Goncourt Prize winner Nicolas Mathieu here, who says that “literature exists to take revenge on reality.” I believe music serves a similar purpose. It offers access to a sublime world we’ve lost touch with by becoming consumed by reality. I need that transcendence in order to reconnect with it. To borrow and adapt a famous writer’s words to the realm of music: music exists because reality is not enough.
What does the song “A Barbaric Language” and its official video clip emphasize?
This track and its video evoke the power to erase the other, to render them invisible. This process is at work in various forms of violence, from the issue of harassment to that of genocide, which is the will to completely erase a people and a culture. In the end, singing becomes a means of reclaiming power by reversing the situation: the curse turns against the torturer, as the woman becomes Nemesis, the goddess of retribution. She returns Evil for Evil.
And what about “Acedia is my partner in crime”?
Acedia is the typical form of depression among believers. They no longer believe in anything, lose their faith, and stop praying. It opens the door to all kinds of vices! Hence the title: boredom becomes my accomplice in crime. It’s the story of a woman who feels numb, trapped in anhedonia, and who needs to go through sins and intense, even dangerous sensations to feel something again.
“Nemesis”, the formidable enemy of the Human Comedy. How much does this mythical condition define your artistic vision?
Nemesis is my double, sometimes a dark one, an Evil one! She reflects the fact that we all have a dual identity. That’s also why, in the beginning, I wore a mask. She is my alias—the Woman who dares to embody, in a dreamlike life, the one I cannot fully be in the real world. We are two, and at the same time, we are one and the same. She is also the Goddess of Vengeance and Retribution, who ensures that everyone gets what they deserve. She mends injustice.
I want to ask what inspires you to sing and to make music. Is the artist inspired by external stimuli, or is the process of musical creation private and “isolated”?
I would say it’s both. The artist needs introspection to be immersed in their own world. It has happened to me that I dreamed entire pieces and woke up to compose them. Sometimes, I have very dreamy moments where I’m completely cut off from others… I probably come across as very solitary, even antisocial! But that immersion is necessary. That said, it allows us to transcend reality — the traumatic and painful events of our existence — and also to create some distance from them.
Are your albums like dispatches addressed to humanity?
My first album wasn’t political at all. It was more introspective. This EP is much more so, especially in light of what happened in Artsakh and the threat currently looming over Armenia. However, I believe that through Art, we explore parts of ourselves—depths that resonate with the suffering of others. And that’s what makes Music so precious: it allows for an exploration of the psyche and a catharsis that are universal. For me, it’s Music that saved me.
I’d like to ask you to highlight a book and a music album that defined you and influenced you forever, and why?
Hole, “Live Through This” LP (I didn’t only listen to gothic music—I’m from the grunge generation!): the voice and the aesthetic of that album left a lasting impression on me. I used to listen to the track “Doll Parts” on repeat and thought to myself that, being a girl, picking up a guitar and playing was possible. Courtney Love’s voice—at times whiny, at times volcanic—really moved me, as did the power of her lyrics. Both fragile and rebellious, a true raw nerve. Punk and dark.
As for books, it’s really hard to choose… I love Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. The landscapes of dark moorlands left their mark on me, the cruelty of those passionate love affairs, the chills you get during the supernatural passages…
Thalie Némésis, thank you very much for your time, last words on you…
Thank you for these very personal questions and for your interest in my music. I’m really grateful <3
Keep up with Thalie Nemesis:
Interview by Mike D.
