Start Listening To: Paul Prier
Paul Prier on Panic Peaks, playful vulnerability, and finding his own voice.
Paris-based musician Paul Prier has spent years as a quiet force in the French pop scene, collaborating with iconic artists like Christine & The Queens, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Paradis. But over the past two years, he’s stepped boldly into the spotlight as a solo artist, crafting a sound that’s both intimate and expansive.
His latest EP, Panic Peaks, is a testament to his unique approach - melding nostalgic influences with contemporary sensibilities and blending humor with introspection. Whether he’s channeling his hypochondria into playful yet poignant lyrics or balancing technical mastery with accessibility, Prier’s music invites listeners into a world that feels personal yet universal.
For those unfamiliar with your music, can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?
My name is Paul Prier, I’m French, and I live in Paris. I’ve been making music since I was 5, but I’ve only been releasing some for 2 years. If I had to describe it, I think it’s pop that brings together a bunch of influences I’ve gathered up until now. I also think I’m pretty bad at describing my music, as you can witness, and others often do it much better than I do.
We love your new EP Panic Peaks! Can you walk us through the creative process behind this release and how it differs from your previous work with other artists?
On the Panic Peaks EP, I decided to do everything on my own up until the mixing stage. Until now, I often surrounded myself with collaborators to help with arrangement, composition, and especially production. This time, I wanted to try working completely solo for the creative process. I’m not sure if it’s something I’ll do again in the future, as it can be quite exhausting, but at the same time, I’m pretty proud of having managed to compose and produce an album on my own.
"Ease It" is a captivating track with a celestial melody and delicate vocals. What inspired the song, and what kind of emotional journey were you hoping to take listeners on?
“I’m not sure I can accurately describe what inspired the track because I try to take as intuitive an approach as possible. The influence is definitely somewhere in my subconscious. But when I’m composing the track, I try to free myself from all of that and focus solely on the feeling. Very quickly, I realized the track was going to resonate with a sense of calm, whether through its tempo, the string layers, which add a soft cushion to the track, or the delicate, restrained vocals. That’s actually what inspired the theme of the song, which is ultimately about calm.”
The EP features a blend of classic and modern influences, with echoes of French greats like Sébastien Tellier and François de Roubaix. How do you balance those nostalgic influences with your own sound?
Once again, during the creative process, I force myself to have a completely intuitive relationship with the music I compose. Now, it’s obvious that with all the music and artists I listened to in my youth, there’s definitely some impact somewhere. And if we take the two artists you mention in your question, it’s clear they must influence me in some way, one way or another. But I also believe there are so many other influences, especially in classical music, from composers like Bako or Ravel, whom I listened to a lot, In jazz or soft rock from the 70/80s, the list of artists and influences is so long that I have trouble pointing to one and saying, ‘This one influenced me more than the others.’ I think every note of music that is composed inevitably resonates with something that already exists. Sometimes we’re aware of it, and often, we’re not at all. I think that’s the beauty of it. It’s about letting yourself be carried by the inspiration that necessarily comes from a musical background you’ve absorbed and then expressing it in your own way.
You’ve mentioned that your music balances technical mastery with accessibility. How do you strike that balance when creating a track, especially when you're both the producer and performer of every instrument?
I studied classical music and then jazz for many years, both of which are very demanding in terms of technique and harmony. When I returned to pop music, I had to unlearn a lot of the theory and force myself to create something more generous. I often end up composing things that are too complicated and then have to simplify them. It’s actually something I enjoy doing, even though 10-15 years ago, I would have tended to do the exact opposite. I feel like it’s also an allegory for life and its learning process—being able to bypass and remove the complications we tend to add in our thought processes and executions.
The themes of Panic Peaks range from daily obsessions to more profound dilemmas. How do you approach writing about these contrasting ideas, and what themes are most personal to you on this EP?
The themes I tackle in my songs may seem a bit heavy, but it’s important for me to always maintain a distance and a sense of lightness in the way I approach them. It’s never about presenting these neuroses seriously or drawing attention to them to justify something grave. At the core, I’m mostly trying to draw inspiration from my little everyday mishaps to write songs. And since I have a bit of a tendency toward hypochondria and anxiety, I try to talk about them while making fun of myself, which has the advantage of lightening the mood around it.
And I find it especially visually inspiring. I really enjoy depicting psychological states or medical pathologies because it’s a great excuse to create strong visual material, even something a bit gory or with settings that draw from medical imagery. I really like medical machines; I think they resemble electronic music instruments a lot, and it’s an aesthetic I particularly enjoy.
"Dust" seems to evoke a metaphorical allergy, while "Back Pain" takes a playful approach to physical wellness. How do you use humor or lightness to tackle serious or personal subjects in your music?
I’ve already touched on this in the previous question, but to expand on my answer, I’d say that I also try to tackle quite universal themes so that people can relate to them. The distance and somewhat comedic tone obviously come from the fact that I have no desire to wallow in self-pity, because, deep down, nothing really serious is happening to me. In fact, when I go through episodes of hypochondria, I look back on them and find it really funny. I manage to make myself laugh a lot, even despite myself. That’s also why I convey it in my music videos, because I think the best remedy for all of this is, of course, to laugh about it.
You've spent years performing with renowned artists like Christine & The Queens, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Paradis. How has your experience working with these icons influenced your solo work?
I see my work as a musician for others and my solo career as two very distinct things. In fact, when I accompany other musicians, I play music that isn’t mine. It may sometimes happen that I reinterpret it, but I’m not sure it directly influences me when it comes to composing my own music. Of course, all these collaborations have taught me a lot, but mostly about the live performance aspect, rather than composition or studio production. We shouldn’t forget that I was making music even before I started collaborating with others. In fact, I never stopped making music; I just decided to release it only two years ago.
As a musician who’s well-established within the French pop scene, how does it feel to step into the spotlight as a solo artist? Do you feel any pressure to distinguish yourself from your previous work as a collaborator?
No, I don’t feel any pressure because I don’t really make a connection between the last ten years of my work and what’s happening now. I really try to see myself as an artist arriving as a newcomer. Anyway, people didn’t see me as someone who composed music but more as someone who accompanied artists. So this is a completely new role for me, and I don’t feel any pressure about it because no one had any expectations about it.
You mentioned the risk of being labeled “the keyboardist for others.” How do you approach defining your identity as a solo artist, and what aspects of yourself do you want to convey through your music?
“Actually, I don’t really have a specific approach, plan, or desire to be perceived in one way or another. My only goal is to make tracks that I like and release them, so I can move forward with the next steps. For now, I don’t have any greater ambitions than that; I don’t really care what people think about my past career.”
The video for "Ease It" continues the visual narrative from your previous release, "Dust." Can you tell us more about the concept behind the video and how it connects to the themes of the song and EP?
The idea was to create a universe with a character isolated from the rest of the world. It’s kind of the continuation of the two previous music videos I released. The first one featured this character in a studio, having a series of small anxiety attacks. But in the end, it became clear that he was alone in his head, and no one around him realized what was happening. In the second video, it was the opposite. The character had something objectively serious happen to him, namely a huge pimple growing in the middle of his face. However, while everyone seemed to be worried about him, he appeared to be living his best life and didn’t seem to care at all. This third character would be somewhat of a synthesis of the two. A notorious hypochondriac who decides to isolate himself in a tank, fully aware of his hypochondria, but at the same time, he continues to act like nothing’s wrong by inviting friends and family over for drinks. I liked the idea of a contrast between the clinical and unsettling aspect of the character isolated in his hyperbaric tank and the cozy living room with guests drinking. The atmosphere is disturbing, a bit absurd. I think this is what I try to capture in the themes I address.
And since the songs also deal with physical and psychological pathologies, the aesthetic fit perfectly with the themes being explored.
You’ve performed over 100 shows with Charlotte Gainsbourg. What are some of the most memorable moments from those performances that have stayed with you?
Among all the shows that went extremely well and during which I had a lot of fun, I think the one I remember the most, and that I actually tried to convey in my first music video, is the time when I blocked my neck on stage and had to turn on my seat to keep my head facing the audience while playing the piano. Luckily, it didn’t last long, and I went to see a good osteopath who fixed everything. But I must admit, it was quite a memorable experience.
What do you love right now?
People embracing their authentic selves
What do you hate right now?
People Faking authenticity
Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it’s still important to you?
Songs in the key of life by Stevie Wonder
Panic Peaks seems to be a deeply therapeutic record for both you and your listeners. How do you personally navigate the therapeutic aspect of music, and what kind of space do you hope to create for your audience through your songs?
Indeed, music has often acted as a therapeutic treatment for me, and I’m certainly not the only one to say that. Now, far be it from me to have the pretension of healing people with my music. Once again, I have very few pretensions, other than trying to create music that I like, because I believe that’s the starting point for it to resonate with others as well. And if, on top of that, it can do them some good, then I’m the happiest person in the world.
