Sautereau Creates a Fresh New Sound With ‘Conversation Hearts’

Geneva, Switzerland born, New York based artist, Chloe Sautereau, joins us to talk all about her single release, ‘Conversation Hearts’, which is her first single release under her rebranded, new artist name, Sautereau.

With a passion for creating an authentic and raw sound through her storytelling style of music, Sautereau took the opportunity of her new New York life to create a new sound with a flair of deep honesty.

Influenced by artists such as Finneas, Julia Michaels and Jessie Reyez, Sautereau ‘blurs the line between reality and what goes on in our heads with a bare-face, pop sound.’

‘Conversation Hearts’, co-produced by Toby May at Unagi Sound in Geneva, is a positive, ‘glass half full’ reflection on the past year of the pandemic.

“I know it’s not an easy one to find, but it’s one filled with love I wish to spread. This song is about the bittersweet realization of how fast time slipped by, while also feeling like it suddenly stopped. It’s about the frustration of not being able to do what we should have been able to do, but hopefully still acknowledge the good memories made with the few special people we were lucky to have around. It’s the reminiscing of old times in order to look forward to better ones. The lust for being closer to people, to that special person and your loved ones. It’s about feeling that spark, in spite of the boredom, in spite of the silence, and in spite of the loneliness. Indeed, it’s about letting your heart speak. And then it’s just an extra little bit of sweet, like the candy ;)”

Nostalgic and uplifting, you will hear the initial sounds of guitar, mixed with Sautereau’s sweet, raw and intriguing vocals.. As the song progresses, it builds into a blend of electric and acoustic guitar, pulsating beat and the sound of full drums, taking you into the storytelling world that Sautereau is creating.

You can listen to ‘Conversation Hearts’ below:

Tell us a little about who you are in everyday life.

I’m 20 years old.

I’m originally from Geneva in Switzerland, but am now based in New York studying at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music.

My mom is Brazilian and my dad French… I was lucky to grow up speaking French, English and Portuguese, developing a love for writing and languages.

I danced and figure skated for most of my life before I turned to music, but always had a love for the stage and telling stories.

Random little things: I love hosting and having people over, but also enjoy a quiet night in. I’m a major foodie, and I love that my friends will come to me for recommendations. New York is such a fun place for that. I’m really interested in psychology, and am also studying Child and Adolescent mental health… Understanding how people behave goes hand in hand with music and song-writing in my opinion, so I’m very glad I can do those things together.

What was it that first got you into music?

As cheesy as it sounds, I’ve really sung since I can remember.

I was always shy as a kid, but I think looking back, the exception was on stage or when it came to music.

I gave most of my time to ballet and then figure skating growing up (competed nationally back home in Switzerland) but I finally turned to music when that tapered out due to injury and growing out of it…

I started realizing I was altogether more about the choreography, the dress, the music, than I ever was about competing and such.

I did a year of guitar lessons when I was 8, and set it aside because of skating, but I picked it up again when I was 13, and just self taught myself some songs.

I always had a passion for writing from prose to poetry since middle school, so I suddenly began to put both together and writing songs.

I always performed in school musicals, acting camps, over-eagerly sang in the car all the time, but never created my own until then.

I found that there’s nothing that connects people the way sharing stories does.

Your journey has taken you from Switzerland to New York.. what led you to make this decision?

I love home to bits.

It’s my favorite place… But as far as music goes – and I’m grateful for the start it allowed me to have in this industry –it doesn’t go much further than that I find… At least for the kind of music I make.

I took a shot in the dark applying for the Clive Davis Institute with very little hopes of getting in (although dying to) and I did, so here I am, beyond grateful!

If you told me two years ago I would be living here and performing here, I doubt I would believe you.

I’m lucky to have incredibly supportive parents, and I always loved the city so being here is a dream really, and I am trying to navigate it as best as I can with the music I have just started putting out.

How would you describe the feel of your music?

I hope it feels authentic, nostalgic, refreshing.

Like a friend of mine and I like to say, we live for music that can make you feel “nostalgic without knowing why”, which think comes down to a feeling of longing, that presents a certain energy simultaneously.

I can only hope that my music gives listeners a little bit of that sense.

You have released your new single, ‘Conversation Hearts’.. tell us a little about how this song came about.

I really just wrote this one sitting on my couch in my small apartment in New York.

The leaves had turned green, we’d spent a year of classes on Zoom, and it’s just something that came from inside me, a little bit like a processing mechanism.

Imagery is a big part of these lyrics, so I tried to stick to that… It’s quite observatory and personal all throughout.

The song stuck with me all throughout the spring and beginning of summer, to the point that I really wanted to take it further.

I had been thinking about “rebranding” as an artist (from what I was going by before) and this felt like a good place for a fresh slate to dive into a world that felt truer to who I was.

What does ‘Conversation Hearts’ mean to you?

‘Conversation Hearts’ is my hope for the glass half full version of this past year.

I know it’s not an easy one to find, but it’s one filled with love I wish to spread.

This song is about the bittersweet realization of how fast time slipped by, while also feeling like it suddenly stopped.

It’s about the frustration of not being able to do what we should have been able to do, but hopefully still acknowledge the good memories made with the few special people we were lucky to have around.

It’s the reminiscing of old times in order to look forward to better ones.

The lust for being closer to people, to that special person and your loved ones.

It’s about feeling that spark, in spite of the boredom, in spite of the silence, and in spite of the loneliness.

Indeed, it’s about letting your heart speak.

And then it’s just an extra little bit of sweet, like the candy 😉

What is your creative process like, when you are creating your music?

It’s most often just me and my guitar or me on piano, coming up with chords and lyrics and melody
somewhat all together at first.

I’m always writing lyrics down every where because those sort of pop in and out in my mind, along with some melodies.

Hopefully I get some arrangement ideas as I‘m going too but a lot of the musical elements beyond the core music and lyrics will shape themselves once I’m in the studio.

I love the process of bringing the track to life and experimenting.

I am learning, but I am not super well versed digitally in terms of sound design yet for example, so it’s even more important to me to create my own organic sounds.

Conversation Hearts has both the sounds of me biting into candy and scrunching paper in it, used as percussion.

I really enjoy all stages of the creative process.

Has there been anything along the releasing process that you would do differently next time?

To keep sight of what is ahead and not get too caught up with the one thing my focus was on…

It’s a hard balance to find but I’m definitely working on it.

When you’re doing most of it yourself, I think anticipation is obviously crucial but the hardest to keep up.

What would success in your music look like to you?

I naturally want my music to touch as many people as possible, but I want to get there by being as honest as possible and writing and sharing stories.

Being able to create something people relate to is just so humbling, I have little words to describe it. I hope to make the dull days a little brighter and the bright ones even more so and create a space where people are comfortable feeling what they are feeling and have the best time possible within that.

Is there any message that you would like to share with your audience?

That as much as we’ve heard it, it is okay to feel how you are feeling, and most likely there is someone down the block from you feeling the exact same way as you are right now.

That no matter how big or small, each and every one of us is going through something however apparent it might be from the outside.

It sounds a little cheesy, but being there for one another is the most essential thing at the end of the day and I hope the music I make and words I speak can be there for others the same way it makes them want to be there even more.

Where can people go to find your music?

All digital streaming platforms!

Social media & my website (below).

https://www.iamsautereau.com
https://www.instagram.com/iamsautereau
https://www.twitter.com/iamsautereau
https://www.facebook.com/iamsautereau