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TOMMY LE MAGNIFIQUE - CITIZENK HOMME FAN TRANSLATION

Hi ! I'm no professional translator, but I got the magazine and translated the article for friends, and decided to share. As a note, there may be mistakes, but I will try to correct them when I can.

You can see it as a Google Docs here

Translation under the cut ⬇️⬇️

Written by CAMILLE LAURENS - Photographs KOSMAS PAVLOS - Stylist LAURENT DOMBROWICZ - Grooming ALEX GLOAGUEN - Set LOLA CARRIÈRE

(Translation attempt DUE’)

The Enfant Terrible shows up like a creativity storm. From an Estonian contortionist to an icon on the world stage, Tommy Cash stands out with his surrealistic performances and absurd looks. Meeting with a chameleon, transformed into a dandy, by us.

11 in the Morning, in the outskirts of Paris, a slender figure walks into the studio out of nowhere. Wearing oversized Balenciaga shoes and a solar smile, truly, Tommy Cash never fails to surprise us. Because, yes, the shape-shifting artist has the gift to shock. Be it his music video with an erotico-comedic atmosphere, his Fashion Weeks appearances - quite literally dressed as a dining table or a living mattress - or even his grotesque collaborations with Margiela and Rick Owens, to describe Tommy's universe seems as complex as a Rubik's Cube. In pitch darkness. And eyes closed.

Only 33 years old, the singer has managed to carve himself an important place in multiple artistic worlds. For him, it's impossible to imagine music without the performance surrounding it, but as well the character that he takes inspiration from his unique story. Tommy grew up in Estonia and if, as a teenager, he toured through Europe with his troupe thanks to his contortionist talents, the artist never expected to find such a wide following on the international scale. To the point that he is representing his country for Eurovision. During a unique photo-shoot, we had the Opportunity to discover and meet a few of the myriad of facets that make the singer into a mi-Gatsby, mi-Dandy look, a new role that fits him perfectly, to no one's surprise.

CitizenK Homme : Hello Tommy. You seem at ease in this 1930s vibe, with a suit and suspenders. Yet we're more used to seeing you in more eccentric outfits. Is it easy for you to immerse yourself in your character's skin ?

Tommy Cash : Easy ! To me, all of this, it's a bit like shedding skin, from me to myself. Every single one of you is a mosaic of identities; we explore, mix them up, and then, sometimes, we put them on like we would clothes. I grew up in Estonia while juggling roles : dancer, contortionist, musician, all-around artist, or a hybrid, a bit out of the box. This Gatsby look ? This kind of retro elegance, it's theater, I love it !

You grew up in Estonia. What memories do you keep from your childhood, and how do you grow up in a post-Soviet atmosphere ? Did it influence your creative work ?

Ever since childhood, I've been very creative. For example, in my teenage bedroom, I had spray painted a giant dollar on my ceiling, and my computer was right in the middle. Very quickly, I've started making rap freestyles with friends, and most importantly I would dance in the streets in order to leave on tours in Europe.

You were part of a travelling troupe ?

Yes. Every summer, we would board a bus with friends and tour Estonia until we reached Paris. We would perform and do shoes in every single city so we could cover gas and we would sleep in our “tourbus”. It helped a lot to build up my identity, I was shyer than I am today, but already ready to explode.

You used to be really shy ! It seems so hard to believe when looking at your body of work. Is the brazen and over the top character you play part of your personality, or is he an alter-ego that allows you to dare ?

I do no play any role ! It is my opinion that we cannot pretend to be mad. There are many artists who would like to call themselves mad, but we can feel it when it is not true. Everything I create comes from the deepest parts of myself. I’m 100% myself. Just like the David Bowie and Michael Jackson alter egos were all real. They’re simply other facets of our personality that we put under a spotlight at different stages of our lives.

Your artistic world is also full of references, tributes. You for example mentioned your affection for Cronenberg’s The Fly. What movies inspire you today ?

To be completely honest, I have the feeling that today we are stuck in a cycle where we keep recycling what has already been done. We keep going in circles, often. But I have heard about a movie, The Substance; I am expecting a shock as strong as what a Cronenberg would do. In The Fly, there is a mutation, a latent monstrosity. The idea that we can permanently transform ourselves is fascinating to me. A mutation body, it is absolutely a kink for me. I love imperfections, everything that deconstructs the idea of “normality”. Crash, for example, is a perfect universe of sublime abnormalities.

You have said you liked the t.A.T.u duo for their “shock” factor. Do you enjoy provoking others on purpose ? Why ?

Of course ! I am moved by strong emotions, the rest bores me. There are three that strike a chord within me : death, love, and sex. I don’t feel anything if it’s flat and smooth, I hate conceptual expositions with a dot on the wall, I want to feel the pure emotion of it all. To me, it’s not provocative, it’s powerful. If I drink alcohol, I want it to be the strongest possible, if I taste a meal, same. I see little interest in the in-between; if we are alive, it is to feel those emotions down to our guts.

Your musical style is a mix of rap, electro, pop and experimental, but Eastern Europe culture is also extremely present throughout your songs and videos, such as in “Leave me Alone” and “Winaloto”. What parts of Estonian culture or Russian do you seek to share and transmit ? If you can even manage to describe your style…

It is impossible to describe it for me ! And I don’t want people to try… Sometimes, I create without knowing where it comes from, I simply combine energies. For example, Eastern European culture is present in all of my tracks, it is a heartfelt cry because no one knows where I come from. I need to tell where I come from, and it’s difficult because I come from nowhere. Whenever I talk about Estonia, everyone seeks to correct me : “Australia ?”. My aesthetic and my music are echoes of my roots; for the rest, I grew up with Eminem, and have always been fascinated with experimental music.

In X-RAY, you play the guru of a wellness community, with practices such as yoga and lithotherapy, before a dollar sign appears on your hands. What is your relationship with spirituality ?

I am a very spiritual individual, but I first and foremost believe in humans. Newer generations don’t believe in anything anymore, whereas the older ones are the most pious ones. My mother, for example, goes to church every single day. Let’s say I simply believe in the secrets of the universe. The idea that everything is connected, as if every moment was written in a script somewhere. For that role, I plunged myself into the worlds of gurus, read insane books. I wanted to fuse with the mental world of those characters, with this aura of mysticality and manipulation. Fascinating, and entirely off-the-wall, kind of like we all are.

You enjoy the works of Russian Gosha Rubchinskiy, and a good friend of Rick Owens, with whom you built “The Pure and the Damned” exposition. What do you enjoy in their universes ?

I am fascinated by mass creation. The work of Rick Owens, of Galliano, of McQueen influence me so much. These creators build alternate realities ! TikTokers have no impact on me, I find them a bit too “soft”, without this power in their inner selves. True universe creators are sculptors of the mind, sailing away in words that strongly resonate with me.

Your dream featuring ?

A single name ? Impossible ! I wish I could mix a thousand artists at a time to create a perfect chaos, a sort of clash between fashion, music, bodies - a performance on the edge of absurdity. No superficial provocations, but a brutal impact, with live bodily transformations. A half-way trip between real and surreal. And I’m not talking about throwing soup on The Mona Lisa !

Your Fashion Weeks entrances are always incredible performances, why this desire of dramatization ?

Everything started with jokes. There is something incredibly paradoxical in the Fashion world. We mostly wanted to mock the pretense residing among some of those fashion shows,, and then, with time, they became their own entities. My ideas came from my imagination and they don’t always work. I wanted to come in as a mirror, covered from head to toe so that people would see their own reflection. Maybe next time !

In “Eurodance UNTZ UNTZ”, you re-imagine the Olympic Games in a voluntarily off-the-walls and even “X” way (available on YouTube, but most importantly also on Pornhub). What did you want to say with this Olympic wink ?

But who said that we cannot launch our very own Home Olympcs ? This idea was going around my head for four years, and, with fame, I finally was able to bring it to life. I wanted to make a porn movie, yes, but a porn movie my way. A project under my supervision, no filter, but a visual and conceptual one, a true creative shot. It was risky, but it was worth it.

You represented Estonia for Eurovision. What does this contest mean to you ?

At first, it was only a big joke. Think of this bio : “In August, I shot a porn movie and, the same year, I represented Estonia in Eurovision.” A true artistic performance ! I like to establish links, to create surprising narratives where every single project becomes a new chapter in a wacky story, yet coherent.

If you could set up a dinner between five artists, living or dead, who would they be ?

Freddie Mercury, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson, and Marilyn Monroe. The madness and aura of every single one of them - this would truly make it an out of this world dinner !

Paris, does it inspire you ?

What I like the most, it’s to stop by a small café, light a cigarette and enjoy an espresso. But afterwards, I prefer to go back home to Estonia, to isolate myself and unwind.

When you were a child, what was your dream ?

Veterinarian. To heal animals, and take care of them… And then I took a sharp turn ! I never thought I would make it. Especially to this level ! Especially since, where I’m from, it’s really void of everything.

Your collaborative works, like those with Margiela or Adidas, are always unexpected. Has fashion become an essential way to express yourself ?

When I’m old, I want to be an art collector, and make wacky performances. In the end, I want to be a bit like Jeff Koons, a burst of visual delirium in the art world. Everything collab’, I see it like an art piece, a shard of an universe. For now, people laugh at me, but when I’m old, we’ll see !

And finally, if you had to pick an epitaph ? HOLY FUCK, WHAT A LIFE

#tommy cash #TOMM¥ €A$H #fan translation #citizenk homme

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