Singer Anggun C. Sasmi marks a fresh chapter in her life with new projects in the works.
Words Bruce Emond
It is early morning in Paris, and Anggun C. Sasmi is at home, with her daughter Kirana sound asleep nearby. The Indonesian-born singer is catching some precious time with the six-year-old (her father is the French writer Cyril Montana) between crossing the Channel to London, where she is writing her next album with, in her words, several “heavyweight” writers.
She admits that managing family commitments between her singing and TV talent show engagements is challenging but “painfully doable”, just like working moms the world over. She believes communication is key, and Skypes with her daughter when she is on the road.
“I know what she studied, what she ate at school and which pajamas she wore. If anything, I actually bother her with my Skype calls! She knows that she’s my most important person in the world and that I love her endlessly. As long as she knows that, she’s fine,” she says.
On April 29, Anggun turns 40, an alternately dreaded or celebrated birthday for many but one that she seems to regard nonchalantly.
“It sure is an excuse to have a big party,” she jokes. “I’ll be surrounded with my loved ones. Lots of nice food, beautiful wines, laughter and good music. Maybe I’ll dance until the wee hours. Who knows?”
She acknowledges that entering one’s fifth decade of life is a “big deal” for some, but to her it’s truly about how you feel, whatever age you are. She refers to the French actress Anouk Aimée, now an octogenarian, who remains beautiful and vibrant.
“I guess the number doesn’t actually define who you are as a person. There are 20 year olds who look and feel way older than their years; it depends on the life that you have, probably, and choices you make,” she says.
“If you are a beautiful person inside out, people don’t see your age but they see you.”
In taking stock of this new “coming of age”, to her it’s more important to be a positive force for the people who matter.
“Now that I have a very happy and healthy 6 year old in my life, I know that I have to take good care of my inner self, and even more than the outer aspect. My daughter deserves a loving, positive, well balanced and happy mother. Although I don’t believe in ‘happiness’ – I know that we only get fragments of it in life and that’s why it’s essential to recognize those moments when they happen.”
Women of her generation, she says, are no longer frightened by the number of candles on their birthday cake.
“Women in our 40s know what we want, we’ve been through a lot so we don’t settle. We are the ‘Sex and the City’ generation, the career women. We’re the ones who don’t need a man for financial stability, social acknowledgment or status, but somehow still secretly believe in Prince Charming,” she says.
“I am that woman, I am in full charge of my life. And I don’t believe that beauty secrets can be found in creams or plastic surgery, but in the attitude, aura and confidence of a person. I didn’t like my 20s at all; I much prefer my mid 30s and my actual self. Beauty really is the reflection of your inner self.”
Maturing also brings greater awareness of the importance of giving back, a social consciousness that the goodwill ambassador for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization has said was nurtured by growing up in a developing nation like Indonesia.
“The more I advance in life, the more I feel the need to do something. Apart from my ongoing commitment as the Goodwill Ambassador for FAO, there are other activities I do personally for people in need in my area in Montmartre,” she says.
“I think when you dream of doing something globally you should also try do that locally.”
Photo: Indra Leonardi – The Leonardi
Show Stoppers
Anggun will be back in Jakarta next month for the live broadcasts of SCTV’s Indonesia’s Got Talent, where she appears as a judge and brings cred as an Indonesian artist who has succeeded in making a name internationally.
The show follows her stint on The X Factor Indonesia in 2013, and some may be wondering why she chose a talent variety show instead of her bread-and-butter of singing programs.
For one, she says, her fellow jury members won her over. The foursome has clicked and become fast friends. She calls man of many artistic talents Jay Subiyakto “brilliant, a no-nonsense human being” and singer Ari Lasso a gentle and endearing soul. Rounding out the panel is TV and radio host Indy Barends, who, Anggun blurts out, is one of a kind.
“She is phenomenal, hilarious! That woman is the Energizer bunny, her brain works nonstop!”
Signing on to the show also appealed to her because it showed her another side of the entertainment business – and of herself to the public.
“I figured that we’re there to judge all kinds of performances that we think are entertaining and deserve to be performed on stage. And that covers every single type of entertainment. It’s broader than a music-only talent show and, to be honest, it’s really nice to be a spectator for once and to get my emotion speaks for itself,” she says.
“People see me crying during performances that are extremely moving, laughing hard with all my teeth showing, getting stressed out by some fakir performances or all kinds of my bleh reactions as well.”
After “Talent”, she will return to writing her album – “I’m very slow in this process – and in June she will also launch what she will only describe as “a very personal, non-musical but super feminine project”.
Anggun says she is glad to have always been busy in her career, including now with the talent shows as the music industry changes amid digital sharing sites.
“Now that the music business is weaker, the opportunities to branch out are broader. But I am careful with what I won’t do.”
She has always been brave enough to try something different, starting when she left her successful career as a “lady rocker” at age 21 in the 1990s for London and, eventually, Paris, starting from scratch. Over time, she gained a following in Europe (the US is a harder market to crack), and the French have also embraced her as an adopted daughter of the Republique. A naturalized French citizen, she performed for her adopted homeland in the Europe-wide Eurovision Song Contest in 2012.
Anggun still bristles at feeling that some Indonesians will never forgive her for becoming a French citizen.
But she has embraced the privilege of being different – she is a foreigner wherever she goes, she says – and what she represents.
“There is a beauty in being a stranger – wherever I go I am the ambassador of my country of origin. People are always so curious about Indonesia and so very surprised about what they learn about the nation. So I always try to tell them what’s need to be told; it’s a great country with endless possibilities, but we are a young country compared to others, so trials and errors are inevitable.”
France and the Indonesia of today each provides her with special qualities.
“France gives me a beautiful language to speak, interesting point of views, an ‘un esprit de critic’ which is totally the French way of thinking in being skeptical, an ability to speak up, an honesty to be discontent, a love for wine, Serge Gainsbourg songs and Boris Vian’s books,” she says.
“Indonesia of 2014 so far has given me new faces of friendship, the hunger to read in Indonesian again and the innocence to believe there is still good in people.”
So does either place feel more like home today?
“Of course, home is where the heart is. My home is wherever my loved ones are.”
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Anggun Essentials
If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?
If I only could delay my father’s passing.
What are you proudest of?
That my daughter knows the meaning of a homeless person, an orphan, a gay guy and that she says “thank you”, “please” and “sorry” when necessary.
Describe the 21-year-old Anggun who left Indonesia. And what would be your advice to her 19 years on.
I was proud, willing and scared. I would tell her to breathe
Where do you expect to be in 5 years from now?
I think I’m becoming short sighted, and not in the ophthalmological way. I can’t see that far anymore. I hope that I’ll still be writing songs that I find interesting, that I can actually see the places I travel to and that my then 11-year-old daughter doesn’t give me too much of a hard time. If I have that, I’ll be fine. That’s a good plan, right?