ART ON THE SIDELINES

For three years Interview En L’air has enabled us to take a peek into the minds of today’s top artists from all over the world. I am neither a dancer nor a creative professional and in fact I haven’t heard of most people featured on En L‘air. But it is ignorance not to notice the great talent and the huge amount of love for work poured into En L‘air by its founder. At a time like ours, it is but only apt to be reminded of the universal truths about humanity through thoughts expressed by modern artists themselves on En L’air.

Though non-creative professionals agree with professional artists that art is (very) important and indispensable, it is quite hard for us to explain why. We live in a highly specialized society where workaholicism is slowly evolving into a status symbol, so there’s no time left for us to explore. I want to write about these nascent ordinary minds who struggle not to slavishly conform and who bravely seek their own answers to the question « Why is art important to them ».

I would like to open this series with a feature about the 26-year-old female barista I met at a Café in Basel city. Céline leads a team of baristas and works only parttime. She participated in the german TV contest « Unser Star für Baku » and aimed to represent Germany at the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest. She placed sixth in this competition and has released albums since then while keeping her daytime job as a barista.

What occupies you during your spare time?

In my spare time I like to relax with a cup of coffee or tea, reading a book or watch an interesting documentary or interview. Also I love to spend time with my family and friends and my cats, and of course most of the time that I´m not at the café I use for my musical projects which some could see as a “hobby“ rather than my actual passion in life. Though for me it´s more than just a hobby.

Is there something we need to know about your “artistic/creative side”?

I grew up in a family of musicians. Both of my parents are singers. Since I was a child I had the passion for singing and making music and also listening to a lot of different music. It was clear from the day I could open my mouth that I want to sing and this dream and constant “heart beat“ stayed until today. Besides singing I love drawing, painting and dancing or even acting.

Some people exercise creativity because they have a lot of free time which also explains why most busy professionals almost don’t have time for any creative “hobbies”. How is it in your case, are you doing this because you have a lot of free time or do you really make time for this?

For my hobbies I try to find some time but mostly I use my free time for my music. Sometimes I´m still surprised how much time these things need to get into shape and into a productive state. Creativity is not really something you can force within a certain period of time so as a musician or other artist I think you really need to take your space within this fast moving time that we are in these days. At the moment I´m working on a kind of “schedule“ for myself at least for the things which are predictable, steady and projectable (e.g. homepage, gigs, meetings). So yes, for these, I just have to make time.

How does this help you in your non-artistic job? or in everyday life?

I have the feeling that no matter what I do I have to find a creative side in my work otherwise I can’t survive! In my coffee job I started to focus on the baristas “latte art“ which was a perfect opportunity to literally draw (with milk) in a simple cup of coffee 🙂

Besides that I love the feeling singing gives me. It can ease the pain and it gives me a great chance to deal with my problems or to cherish the moments and memories of happiness and love in my life and also in the life of others.

Who inspired or inspires you to do this? To keep going?

Mostly I can feel the drive within myself. It was always stronger than anything else I’ve tried.

Would you consider doing this professionally? Why? Why not?

In the end I dream of turning my current situation upside down. I want to be free and financially independent to fully concentrate on what I was born to do – singing!

Do you consider yourself an artist?

Yes.

For more info about Céline, please visit http://www.celinehubermusic.de/