My daughter was still 11 when we agreed to do this interview in The Botanique (on the day on the launching of Neroli's new LP). We did the interview in 3 languages: French, Flemish and English. The Flemish version was already launched on another site (not on the Facebook page and is a bit hidden on that site) and on top you couldn't see who asked what question. Not really happy with it all we decided to launch it in English (a little bit revamped) as Neroli really deserves the spotlight. Enjoy the story of this nice duo from Brussels (read about their roots too below):
Filip: Let’s start with a classic question: where does the name Neroli come from? Is there a meaning behind it?
Lyna: Yes, absolutely. Neroli is a wink to our Moroccan roots. Think of Fleur d’oranger (orange blossom), that’s what it means in Moroccan. We thought it suited us.
Filip: You started under the name Wyld Roses, acoustic. Bit by bit you’re moving to a full band line-up. Why that switch?
Lyna: In small venues it’s nice to play acoustically, just the two of us, but for bigger venues, like here, we prefer bringing a band as backup. A band also brings more energy and lets us sound more like on our LP.
Melania: Do you have a word or a sentence that keeps you strong when you go through a tough moment?
Assia: It may sound cliché, but for us it’s this: at the end of the day everything will be fine. We do have tough moments now and then, but we stay positive and tell ourselves it will get better. That’s our motto.
Lyna: You can also find this in our songs: even if you’re going through a hard time, we always look for a bright spot, a little flame, something positive, and we hold on to that.
Melania: How long do you usually work on a song?
Lyna: It goes quite fast, also because we cut the songwriting in two parts. Simple example: sometimes I have an idea while I’m on my guitar, then I record it on my phone. I send it to Assia, because she usually writes the lyrics. Sometimes it’s done after a few minutes. Most of the time we suddenly get inspired and jump on it right away, otherwise you lose it. Take “Healing Words”, that’s how it happened too. Sometimes it’s more like a puzzle and we need longer to find the missing pieces.
Melania: Do you also work on a song at the same time or do you rather do it separately?
Lyna: It depends on the moment. When we still lived in the same house, we did a lot of musical things together. It was easy: you just walk into a room and start together, which isn’t the case now. Now we’re lucky we can record things on our phone and send them. We send each other messages and ideas more often now. In a way we still do it together, but not in the same room like before. When we get more concrete, we set a time to work together.
Filip: 20 Something is a beautiful album name, it’s also a turning point: from student to actually working. How are you experiencing it?
Lyna: Our album is also about how we evolve from girls into more grown women and how we deal with that. Our whole life suddenly changed. It’s a big step for us.
Assia: It’s a big change for us, also for our music: when we were still studying, we had more freedom and more time to make music. Making music was always our dream, but we knew we also needed a job to be able to do this. Now that we’re in our twenties, we have to find the right balance between work, music, and our own life. I chose communication because I thought it would help with our dream: making music. Communication is a good tool for this.
Melania: How did you actually get the idea to make music together?
Lyna: It was always our dream and Assia, who’s a bit older than me, first started making music on a toy piano.
Assia: We’ve actually always made music together, as kids and now as adults. The first time it became really concrete was years ago. We went to a concert by Vance Joy at Botanique (he even got to perform with Taylor Swift). We spoke to him about the music we were making and let him hear something. He told us it sounded pretty cool and said: send your music, I’ll give it a proper listen.
Months later we suddenly got a message: I’m coming back to play in Belgium, in Brussels (at La Madeleine), you can be my support act. That was the first time we felt: ok, now we have to do something with our music. It was a big leap: from our living room to the La Madeleine stage.
Filip: We saw each other from a distance at Maisie Peters. Did you ask her that question too?
Lyna and Assia: No. When you’re young, you do those things, but not anymore. We wouldn’t dare.
Filip: We just talked about difficult moments in life. “Healing Words” fits with that. What exactly is it about?
Lyna: I was in a relationship with someone who didn’t feel well in his own skin at the time. I wanted to help him and I couldn’t express it better than by writing a song for him. You can also dedicate this song to a friend or a mother going through a hard time.
Filip: Following on that: what is “Let Go” about? Is it more about a breakup?
Lyna: This song is indeed about a breakup. It’s also the first song we wrote about that. This song is important to us because it was the first one we recorded for our first EP. The man who made this EP possible played an important role in it. This song also plays an important role in the storyline of that EP.
Melania: What kind of relationship do you have as sisters?
Lyna: We have an excellent relationship and not a day goes by without us being in touch. I think it’s also because we shared the same room for quite a long time. It’s actually quite funny, because not many people think we’re sisters when they look at us. It’s only when they hear us that they really believe it. That’s because we’re often on the same wavelength, finish each other’s sentences, and often want to say the same things at the same time, as if we are one when we talk to each other.
Assia: We also share everything with each other. Of course we sometimes have a little fight over a game or so. We also laugh a lot together, have lots of fun, and we often say what the other is thinking. It really feels like we’re in each other’s head.
Filip: How did your videos come about and do you like making them?
Lyna: I don’t just like to sing, I also like to act. For me videos are really fun.
Assia: For the first video we were a bit nervous. We also always brought a speaker that played our music, so we could focus a bit more on the music. But we recorded “Dance” and “Healing Words” with friends and that made it different: more relaxed, and that was really fun. The bit we recorded at the Grand-Place didn’t go so smoothly. A lot of people were curious and that made us nervous. The first takes weren’t that good.
Filip: When people compare you with bands like The Bangles and The Cranes (whose members could be your mum or grandmother), how does that feel? Are those influences accurate?
Lyna: Yes, that’s true and it’s a bit thanks to our father, who really had a passion for music. Thanks to him we often listened to music from that time. We also drove by car from Belgium to Morocco and during those trips we often listened to that music. It definitely plays a part.
Melania: Do you both like the same music or is there a difference?
Lyna: Good question, and no: we listen to different things. You can also hear that a bit in our music. I like indie pop and poppy things. Assia is more into folk and ballads. That’s why you hear different influences in our music and it also brings variety to our LP. We do talk about the artists we like or discovered, but our taste is different. There’s also a difference in the music we like to dance to.
Melania: Doesn’t that difference make it harder to write a song together?
Assia: Not really. There’s a difference between the music we love and listen to, and the music we make. We also found our own style. We’re open to trying something different now and then. Sometimes we want something more groovy, a bit less folky… but in the end we land on something we’re both happy with and love.
Sometimes we have an idea, but then we realize: no, that’s not us, and then we let it go. So we have a few things on our phone that we don’t do anything with in the end. It can be something cool, but not for us. So maybe we’ll write songs for other artists one day, who knows? That could also be a good idea for the future. We also write a lot of songs and then decide at the end which ones we keep and which not.
Filip: It must also be hard to decide which song can be a single? We tipped “Don’t Fall” as the next single. Did others think the same or do colleagues suggest other tips?
Assia: That’s a good question, because when we write songs, we never think about whether it will be a single. When we write something, we also don’t know if people will like it. With “Healing Words” we were sure it had to be a single, same with “Dance”, but it could just as well have been “No Worries”. To be honest, “Don’t Fall” is one of my favorite songs on the album. We did doubt: isn’t it a bit too slow at the start, is it single material?
Lyna: What we as artists like might be a bit too niche. A single has to convince quickly and preferably appeal to a lot of people. So it’s definitely not an easy choice. “Don’t Fall” may be a bit too niche.
Melania: I have some less musical questions to make it a bit fun. What would be the flavor of your music?
Lyna: Well, think of our band name Neroli (Orange blossom), because it stands for a flower, a fresh scent and something that reminds me of Morocco. It’s also a bit exotic. It reflects our dual nationality. That flower also makes you think of open spaces, harmonies, something beautiful and moving, and so it fits our music nicely.
Melania: Pizza with or without pineapple?
Lyna: I’d say without, but did you know we sometimes also put pineapple in pasta?
Assia: In Morocco they often mix sweets with savory and it tastes quite good, you know.
Melania: How was your youth, if I may ask? Did it go smoothly?
Assia: We were blessed. Well protected too, no doubt. There were some small things now and then, but that’s normal. Our parents really did their best and maybe they had worries, but they never showed them. We liked going to school and as sisters we were very close. We also have a brother. You can safely say we lived without worries and that we could count on each other.
Melania: Was your brother not angry that he’s not in the band with you?
Lyna: That’s a good question. We were always a bit the emotional girls, the artistic side in our family. Our brother is more the scientist in the family.
Assia: He also tried to produce some beats, but he stopped quite quickly. But we have other teammates in our band whom we love just as much as our brother.
Filip: Is our feeling right that there wasn’t any tinkering in the studio, in other words: everything was recorded direct and “naked” / “pure”? Or was there still some tweaking here and there? How much freedom did you have in the studio?
Lyna: Naked and pure, that describes it well. For us it’s also important to make music with real instruments, whether that’s in the studio or on stage. We love real instruments and the energy you get when you play with others. Think of a guitar: the wood and the sound that comes from it are so unique. We also love older bands who still play everything themselves and we carry that line into our own music. We also see ourselves as singer/songwriters. We feel like we share our diaries with our fans and that’s why we want to sound clean and pure.
Assia: Our EP was also recorded in our flat and that gives a special sound. Think of “Let Go”. It was just us in our flat and nothing else. The base is our voice and a guitar. Now and then you do hear other musicians, but they are flesh and blood. We owe a lot to Filip Detry who was there from the start.
Filip: What makes Fabrice Detry so important for Neroli?
Assia: Fabrice Detry produced the record - from the demos, the process took a year, he came with many ideas about arrangements and definitely made the sisters feel at ease. Since 1999, Fabrice Detry has released a number of albums with Austinlace, Hallo Kosmo, the Tellers (which he also produced) etc. His current band is called Fabiola.
Lyna: It’s funny by the way, because the man who mixed the LP told us: you want your voices at the front of the mix all the time.
Assia: I also think that’s the reason why people come to see us and listen to our music. We make them feel that we’re close to them with our voices and our music. We also really want to profile ourselves as singer/songwriters and bring our music pure nature. I hope we can continue like this.
Filip: Mission accomplished as far as we’re concerned. We also hope that after your show here at Botanique many more gigs will follow.
Assia: We’ll make the necessary announcements soon, summer already looks good. Follow our social media. We’re taking a big step forward and we’re still building everything up, step by step.
Lyna: Some shows will be just the two of us, others with the band, depending on the venue.
