Tessa Dixson: 'I am a natural-born performer'

With a new single and EP on the horizon, Brussels electro-pop singer Tessa Dixson has regained her self-confidence following two years of Covid that were as frustrating as they were exciting. “Vulnerability should always be an asset.”

Tessa Dixson firmly believes that everyone is born with a talent. “I was fortunate that I found mine quickly and have been able to use it for what I love the most. I live for my music, and I will continue to do so all my life, even when things are not going so well.” “Not so well” is a euphemism for what happened to the Brussels indie/electropop singer in the aftermath of 13 March 2020. One day after her first full-length album Genesis was released, the country went into lockdown and the album she had worked on for so long barely got any attention, let alone that there was any chance to present it live. “Had it not been for that, I might have been able to live off my music by now.”

At the end of last year, she had the opportunity to tell her story in musician Isolde Lasoen's three-part television documentary She's Lost in Music and you could see her working in a coffee bar. “It is very frustrating that I still am not financially independent because I really don't see myself doing anything else.” Paradoxically, last year she was more independent than ever. In consultation with her label, which also suffered from the pandemic, she cancelled her record contract, and she has been managing herself for some time now.

“Suddenly I had to make decisions that used to be made for me, even hard ones. It was not always easy. Especially as a woman, you are quickly judged. The line between appearing forceful and bitchy is a fine one. But I believe that everything happens for a reason, and that a setback also can make you strong. The fact that the pillars that had supported my career for four years suddenly fell away was not only terrifying but also challenging, because you learn a lot exactly when you are vulnerable. I questioned a lot of things: relationships that fell under water, my music that people perhaps did not immediately respond to the way I would have liked. At the same time, I tried to stay positive and pulled myself up by the fact that I love what I do. This is the shit.”

Personal growth
In a post on her socials at the end of 2021, in which she looked back on more than 18 months of Covid, she recalled her performance at the Ancienne Belgique at the end of September that did her a world of good. Before she got on stage, her face clearly showed the tension, but afterwards it was as if it had been washed away completely. “A pivotal moment, not only artistically, but also in terms of personal growth,” she says now. “I am a natural-born performer and gave myself a pat on the back for keeping my head above water in extremely stressful circumstances. Right before the concert, I had fallen ill. Seeing the audience sing along with my lyrics, which was impossible in front of a masked audience during an earlier show at the AB, mentally revived me.”

That her passion was taken away again during the fourth Covid wave was frustrating, but she had passed the turning point. “After all, all was not lost: I tried out new music software and the music video for 'Creep' told me that I also could direct, I took part in my first music documentary and did some TV appearances with Axelle Red, and we clicked immediately. She could be a mentor one day.” With a cover of “Rouge ardent” we got to hear Dixson in French for the first time since her participation in The Voice Belgique. Her new single, “Forget U”, is a teaser for Unspoken, an EP with “mostly introspective songs about the interesting space between what is said and what is not.”

Welfare work
The cornerstone of her artistic soul, Dixson realises, is an upbringing that focused on developing an open mind and eclectic taste. “As a child I was a big pop fan, but these days the record collection of my (British) father, who would play guitar and who loves Mazzy Star, R.E.M. and Green Day, and my (Belgian) mother, who loves Sade and Cesária Évora, is a veritable gold mine.”

But her parents have not only left a musical mark. “My father has a very serene energy. He is a sounding board and has taught me how to see myself better. When we were younger, he often looked after my sister and me because my mother worked a lot. She remains my main inspiration to be the best version of myself professionally.” As Co-President of the Club of Rome and driving force behind the Earth4All project, Sandrine Dixson-Declève is trying to convince world leaders to make the planet more sustainable. “Seeing her push and get things done as a woman also helps me. I've always thought: if she can do it, so can I.”

If an economy based on well-being instead of GDP growth is the big dream of the mother, then on a smaller scale the daughter is pursuing the same with her music. “My music can help people get through the day, be at peace with their emotions or make them feel that they are not alone. Vulnerability should always be an asset, because to question yourself you need decisiveness.”

TESSA DIXSON
The single “Forget U” will be released on 4/2, the new EP Unspoken comes out in May
www.tessadixson.com