Diandra Interviews Christian French: Good Things Take Time

Christian French is incredibly kind, intelligent, and talented. His new EP GOOD THINGS TAKE TIME, is 100% emblematic of that. In it, you nosedive into the mind of someone trying to wake up to the weight of having a mind, body, heart, and soul. Honestly, do you ever think of how much you are carrying just in terms of your own humanity? Of course, that sounds dramatic, but you are talking to someone that has over-thought whether their “hello” was “friendly enough.” (The woes of being a woman!) Overall, being smart, creative, ambitious, and sweet are not easy things to be, especially in Covid Times. Hence, Christian and I discuss all those qualities as we realize we are learning more, creating less, and Bokchoy and Zucchini do not get enough appreciation as vegetables.

Diandra: So how are you feeling in these times? One minute, you were preparing for a tour, now you might not tour till another year?

Christian: That has been the toughest thing, as an artist, during Covid. You just get stuck in your house, and everything gets old really fast. You do the same stuff everyday. You realize how important it is to do new things and have new experiences to write songs that are new and different. I guess there is inspiration in the lack of inspiration, but it has been really hard to write new songs.
Christian French – good things take time (Official Video)

I’ve picked up guitar and learned from scratch and the same with production. It feels really cool to say you made a song all by yourself. Then, other days, it just feels really exhausting to be in the same. Still, it is cool to play piano now and write my own stuff. I would say now I’m a decent guitarist and it is fun to experiment with production. It adds another level of authenticity to my music because, sometimes, you go into a booth with a producer and the song ends up sounding more like their vision then yours, but now I am playing piano and working the synthesizer.

Diandra: Is there something you have learned about yourself through all this?

Christian: I need a consistent input to write stuff that feels really good. You can sit down and write all day, but there are special moments when you are in the flow and the words are sent from above. I have found that those moments are not when I am in front of an instrument. It is when I’m about to go to sleep or in a really meditative state. It is like it comes from above. I also really love reading books, and I feel like I always have to be learning something or feeling something new. It keeps me thinking in new ways rather than being stuck in old ways of thinking.
Christian French – time of our lives (Official Video)

Diandra: I totally know what you mean. I get my inspiration right before I’m about to sleep.

Christian: I have always been doing this “inconvenient time” thing; where I would say, “I’m going to remember this,” and then I don’t and it is completely lost. I think my storage runs out because I have so many voice memos, and most of the time I don’t go back to listen to them.

Diandra: You have to! I have so many voice memos of me singing “La La La,” and thinking I was so cool.

(Christian laughs)

Diandra: So, next Q, what is a book that you would turn into a song and from what character’s perspective?

Christian: Wow! That is a great question. I feel like a book that I would pull inspiration from is The Red Notice. It is about a guy, who is from London, and he really wants to work in trading but he doesn’t have any luck. So he ends up going to Russia, and has all his money taken from him from the Russians, and he ends up losing everything in his life in this really unfair way. He’s doing all the right things, but nothing goes his way. He is getting trampled but he takes action. He goes to America, and publicizes this so to make sure that the government doesn’t take advantage of its people. He does everything to not get stepped on.

Diandra: That seems so relevant to today. Someone who, despite all they go through, refuses to have their truth silences. Plus, that is a really goof title track: The Red Notice.

Christian: Yeah! I think I might have to steal that one from you.

Diandra: I wrote a song about the Brothers Karamazov, and it was about how if bad guys get to go to Heaven then is itHeaven. I just loved the theme of forgiveness, and what it means to really have to be the “higher” person when facing off with a lesser acting one.

Christian: Wow! That is awesome! I want to read that book.

Diandra: I think that Red Notice idea is perfect.

Christian: I never even thought of transferring that story into music, and now I’m like thinking about it in my head. (he laughs)
Christian French – paper thin (Lyric Video)

Diandra: Ten days from now you are going to be 30 books deep, and I’m just going to get a random email, “Can’t sleep! So inspired after interview! Wrote 50 songs!”

Christian: (he laughs) Love it!

Diandra: Let’s talk about the new EP. How does it reflect where you are or have been in life?

Christian: I feel like I was kind of thrown into the music industry. I was in college studying science, and I got the opportunity to go on tour with Chelsea Cutler. So I dropped out of school, and wen on tour, and it was very much a fail as you go kind of thing. I was alway trying to put my best intention forward because I believe when you do that things will come to fruition. It is so important to have that because failing so many times is a bummer. Moving past that is so important and that mantra helped me. Failing is the most important aspect of growth. If you are trying to grow and regrow, failing is the quickest way to get there.

Diandra: That is so relatable. I am shocked by how many times I have failed and few times I succeeded, and I think we live in a society that is obsessed with the “success story” and propping it up as a standard when it is actually the exception. Way more people know and stay knowing what it is to not have a dream come true compared to those who do, and I don’t think society prepares us for that truth; you can work hard and not be as rewarded.

Christian: Yeah, I feel like movies really go for the high and glory of it, but they don’t really show how many rejections or the 10,000 hours a person has to put to perfect their craft. You fail so many times. You need that trial and error to keep going until you get there, and I don’t think we bring that to light. “We can tell people, “Hey, you are going to fail! No, need to freak out!”

Diandra: I feel like if we can teach or think we teach people how to succeed, we can teach them how to fail better.

Christian: Totally!
Christian French – wake up (Audio)

Diandra: So, onto my next question, which is really a curiosity. Did your parents have a heart attack when you dropped out of school?

Christian: You would think so, but my parents are the most supportive people. They love that I am doing music, and doing what I love. They knew by sophomore year of college that I was there just to get a piece of paper, and I was going to move to Los Angeles right after I graduate. So when this opportunity came, they were just like, “Take It! Go! Hopefully, this opportunity leads to so many opportunities, and, if not, you can always go back.” Luckily, it has led to other opportunities. They really are so cool and kind and loving.

Diandra: You are a parent’s dream. Any kid that says, “My parents are cool!” Must get a a lot of Facebook posts! Are they the Facebook parents; just posting, “My son did something!”

Christian: Totally! Totally! I love them.

Diandra: The record is about patience.

Christian: One thing that showed me, the most, that I can get really good at touring was my tour with Chelsea. That was the scariest thing I have ever done, but I did it. I would just watch her shows, take notes, and keep going. It really pushed me out of my comfort zone. I looked like a rusted up Tin Man on stage, but I got used to it and started to loosen up in time. It really gave me a good sense that if you put in the time and effort, and yo don’t get really frustrated with yourself, you can get there.

Diandra: Was there a song on the EP, GOOD THINGS TAKE TIME, that really made clearer a situation, in your life, to you?

Christian: I think “Crowded Room” really surprised me. I can be filled with over-thoughts, and I really started investing in self-help. I needed some peace. I was trying to learn as much as I can what it is to find the optimistic twist to my problems, and I realized that, my anxiety and dark thoughts, I can’t really push them away. I have to learn to listen and live with them. That was something like, I am really getting somewhere.

Diandra: You describe yourself as careful. Do you see music as when you are carefree?

Christian: Absolutely! The best music comes out when you let go of thoughts like, “Is this right? Can I do this?” You let yourself be you, and you let yourself feel confident in what you are saying. I try not to keep a careful mind with my music. My best songs are when I am present and having fun and not in my head. Still, when you are trying to make a song that will impact the world, you cannot help but think about it too much; so it is easier than said.
Christian French – i think too much (Visualizer)

Diandra: I know you love to cook. What is the best meal you cook?

Christian: I really love making a good breakfast. I have gotten really good at making eggs with vegetable. I eat a lot of vegetables, and I don’t really like following recipes. One thing I am not confident in making is Thai and curry. That is an art that I will let other people perfect.

Diandra: Is there an underrated vegetable to you?

Christian: Avocados are not underrated. I love them to death. Bokchoy! We make a lot of food with bokchoy, and it is so good. I sauté it in so many things, and it is delicious.

Diandra: I would say Zucchini. Like, it gets respect but not enough love.

Christian: Totally! My mom is all about the zucchini noodles.

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