A Chat with Nathan Zanagar (01.07.25)
Rising French artist Nathan Zanagar presents his most ambitious project yet with La Grande Salle, a five-track EP that transcends genres, languages, and emotional depths. Already garnering acclaim from tastemakers like Didier Varrod (Radio France) and Antoine Dabrowski (Tsugi Radio), this release signals a bold new chapter in his evolving career. We chat with Nathan Zanagar about the EP and more below.
OSR: La Grande Salle feels both cohesive and eclectic. How did you approach shaping the sound and emotional arc of this EP?
Zanagar: It took a while, to be honest. I wasn’t sure if it was cohesive, but in the end, each song seemed to belong in this grande salle, which literally means “the great hall.” The music industry today can make you feel incredibly lonely, overwhelmed by endless choices, or the opposite: smothered by too many voices telling you what to do and who to be. Somewhere in the middle of that confusion, not knowing if I was making the right decisions, I realised I just needed to release something that was unapologetically me — contradictions and all — and go with it.
OSR: You collaborated with Yasmina Reza and Valentin Marso. What drew you to those creative partnerships?
Zanagar: Yasmina had written these lyrics for one of her plays, and I know parts of this particular text were, in some way, inspired by me. But when I read the words for the first time, they hit incredibly close to home. That’s the thing about great writers, they somehow manage to express something that feels even more personal than what you could have written yourself. The melody and music came to me in just one day, at my piano at home, and the song was born. It immediately felt right to make it the title track of the EP.
I also had the chance to work with Valentin on ‘Occupe Toi’ – he’s such a sweet and genuine person, and it’s always a pleasure being in the studio with him. I have to say: this EP simply wouldn’t exist without the amazing collaboration I had with Théodore Eristoff and Jean-Philippe Reza. They brought more to the music than I could ever fully express.
OSR: The EP spans genres and languages. How do you decide which musical or linguistic direction a song needs?
Zanagar: Some things we can’t really explain, why we make certain creative choices instead of others. Are we influenced by the moment? By what are we listening to? Absolutely. For me, the song usually tells me what it needs. I want to love it, so I search for the genre or form where it can truly thrive. Take ‘EDA’ for example, it went through maybe ten different versions over several years: rock, pop, urban influences, even jazz. I spent so many hours working on it. And in the end, what did I release? A stripped version – just piano and voice. Exactly how I originally wrote it. That’s what the song needed all along, but for some reason, I wasn’t ready to do it well before.
As for language, that’s one of the gifts of speaking more than one. Sometimes the words that fit the music best just come, and they happen to be in English… or in French. It’s fun, as a singer, to have more than one playing field.
OSR: Friendship is a rare theme in pop music. What made you want to explore it so intimately?
Zanagar: This song was inspired by a friend, a very special person. I wrote it at a time when she wasn’t feeling so good in her own skin, and I just wanted to remind her how great I thought she was. It’s a pretty simple story, but I’ve realised it resonates with a lot of people. Maybe we’ve been undervaluing friendship in today’s world. For me, it’s just as important as romantic love.
OSR: Your voice carries so much theatricality. How does your background in dance and direction shape your vocal delivery?
Zanagar: I did a bit of dance, but I was already singing before that. Singing is really my background – I’ve been doing it every day in my room since I was three years old. It started so early that it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what shaped the way I sing, probably a mix of many things and influences over time. But one thing I do believe: voice and body movement are completely connected. That’s actually one of the reasons I don’t love playing guitar on stage, I only do it for one or two songs. Since I’m not that skilled on the guitar, my body gets a bit stiff when I play, and that affects how I sing. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, just different. When you change something in your movement, you change something in your voice too.
OSR: You directed all the music videos yourself. Was that always the plan? What does visual storytelling allow you to express that music alone doesn’t?
Zanagar: It wasn’t necessarily the plan, but I’ve discovered that I really love directing. I had ideas, so I just went for it and learned along the way. I was lucky to meet some great people who helped me through the process. What I love about music videos is that each one is different – I’m always at the service of the song, so there’s no monotony. It’s a great creative exercise, and I get to explore something new every time. A good song doesn’t need a music video to exist, but when you make one, you take the song on a little journey. Sometimes it adds something, or allows you to express a feeling that’s embedded in the music. With ‘In My Head’, for example, I wanted the craziness, the freedom, and the joy that inspired the song to be even more visible. The video became a way to make that energy tangible.
OSR: Some songs feel very club-ready, others deeply introspective. Do you write with a setting in mind, or do the songs dictate that themselves?
Zanagar: I’d say, once again, the song usually leads the way. Most of the time, it tells me what it needs. But it’s a good question because sometimes, yes, I write something simply because I want a song that feels good to dance to, or something happy and light. There’s no real rule. If a good idea comes, I just follow it, whatever it is.
OSR: Did you have a particular audience in mind while making this EP, or was it more of a personal catharsis?
Zanagar: The audience is me, first and foremost. I don’t think I’m that original. If I finish something and I love what I’m hearing, then I figure someone else out there might love it too. That’s the hope.
OSR: What emotional risk were you most afraid to take on La Grande Salle, and did you take it?
Zanagar: I have to say, as a singer, I’m not afraid of emotional risk; I actually seek it out. I have other fears, of course, but not that one. I look for songs that make me feel something. ‘Aux Hommes’ is a great example of that because I didn’t write this one myself, but I knew I wanted to sing it – it was raw, beautifully written, and it took me somewhere I hadn’t gone before. And yet, it felt completely like me.
OSR: If La Grande Salle were a physical room, what would be inside it?
Zanagar: Do I know exactly what would be inside that room? Honestly, no. Do we ever really know what we’re searching for? That’s kinda what this song – maybe even the whole EP is about. So I can’t really give you a full list, but one thing is for sure: there’d be musicians and people to sing along with.
Many thanks to Nathan Zanagar for speaking with us. Find out more about Nathan Zanagar on his Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Spotify.
