Film producer, socialite, philanthropist, fashion muse,&nbsp;friend of Alexander McQueen and Isabella Blow and... musician. As demonstrated by a new romantic and sensual album, halfway between Goldfrapp and Klaus Nomi.

Before dedicating herself to music Daphne Diana Joan Suzannah Guinness was much more. Heiress of the Guinness family - known for the production of beer but also with activities in the banking and political sectors - she modeled for <a href="https://www.lofficielibiza.com/fashion/fendi-karl-lagerfeld-exhibition" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Karl Lagerfeld</a> and Philip Treacy, acted in arthouse films, designed jewellery and make-up lines, collaborated with designers such as <a href="https://www.lofficielibiza.com/fashion/alexander-mcqueen-by-sean-mcgirr-autumn-winter-2024-collection" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alexander McQueen</a> and photographers such as David LaChapelle and Nick Knight. L'OFFICIEL: How did you start writing this album? Daphne Guinness: We had already made a lot of progress with Malcolm (Doherty, the musician who had already collaborated on her previous album, &ldquo;Daphne &amp; The Golden Chord&rdquo;), on draft songs, but I was stuck in LA in the middle of a pandemic , and our collaborators were scattered around the world. The melodies were written, the basics were there , but I wanted us to get together in the studio. At the end of September 2020, we started recording the album with the band, to finish it in the summer of 2023, in the studio, in London. It took three years, we made many different versions... There was an orchestra of 24 strings; It seems extravagant but for me it was essential that there were human beings playing and above all that we did not resort to artificial intelligence,&nbsp;which I am totally against. I wanted a human touch. These musicians are so talented and have been so alone during the pandemic... LO: When you write a song, do you start from a melody, a certain structure, a colour? DG: Sometimes there 's a phrase that suggests a key, which 99% of the time will develop in a minor mode, which will modulate to a major chord progression, which allows me to explore different periods of music history, which doesn't it is necessarily a standard construction in the Western world, but which can be found in Greek or Oriental, Russian or Asian music... LO: What was the first music you loved as a child? DG: Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Schubert. Then the Doors, the Stones, the Beatles... Before being seduced by the beginnings of the psychedelic era with a group like Strawberry Alarm Clock. LO: Staying on Schubert, listening to you in some pieces of "Sleep" comes to mind the German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who recorded the most beautiful versions of his Lieder... DG: It's the best! When I warm up my voice, I sing the arias from the &ldquo; Magic Flute &rdquo; and then some Lieder, baroque music&hellip; It makes me so happy. I don't play the piano very well and when your only instrument is your voice, you have to make it work like a muscle. &nbsp;

LO: When you write or record, do you use visual references? DG: Not really, but I see colors when I sing certain notes and when I close my eyes and visualize certain geometric shapes, I know I'm going in the right direction. I think I have a form of synesthesia. When I'm in front of the microphone, it's like I'm in a dark corridor trying to find my way in a maze. I built the album like a story, like a film. LO: The album has a spiritual dimension. DG: For me, writing music is the closest thing to spiritual... I think we live in such complex times, and I'm trying to convey some messages, which might go completely unnoticed, in a playful environment.... That's the beauty of it of pop music: conveying ideas in a song. LO: There is a song about the writer Mishima, how did you discover it? Was it thanks to Paul Schrader's 1985 film? DG: Much earlier. Between the ages of three and five I had a Japanese nanny. Shortly after the age of three, Mishima committed suicide, in 1970, and she told me everything. My father found me sitting on the stairs imitating the hara-kiri gesture.... I wish this song would help me find her again... LO: You worked again with Tony Visconti, David Bowie's long-time collaborator, who you already knew.... How important is he still to you? DG: It was David who convinced Tony to work with me. He was there during the recording of my first album, without him I wouldn't be where I am today. He didn't even know if I could sing, but he believed in me. He was extraordinarily generous and wise. He was so smart and funny and brilliant. LO: Does your background in fashion influence your writing? DG: I worked with Alexander McQueen and Isabella Blow, but in a way I never had an official role, I kept myself at a distance, I found that world humorless, which means a lot to me! LO: What are you listening to at the moment? DG: Classical music. I like to compare versions of the same symphony or the same opera, to grasp the nuances... LO: Do you dream of music? DG: It happens to me all the time. I often wake up and write a sentence, sometimes meaningless, sometimes I can't reread them, but they help me...

Daphne Guinness: from fashion muse to musician

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