Music Q&A:
Anthony Touma

The singer, who has just released a new single, tells us what inspires his music and recalls his time as a Lebanese beauty queen

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What informs your music and songwriting?
I would say my music and songwriting are driven by personal experiences. The idea of the music is always inspired by something I’ve experienced. Occasionally I am inspired by other people’s stories, I put myself in their shoes and try to imagine how they must be feeling. Love, pain, dreams, disappointments and moods – what better inspiration for songs?

How have you evolved as an artist over the years?
As the years go by, an artist evolves in many ways. I personally feel I have become much more mature musically, I have a clearer idea of what it is I want to do, what works for me and what doesn’t. I am also a better judge of my own music. When I was younger, it was very hard for me to listen to my songs objectively and constructively criticise them. I still have a long way to go, and I’m looking forward to seeing how I will keep evolving.

What are you up to at the moment artistically?
At the moment, I am promoting my latest single Walk Away, preparing for the release of the single that will follow and recording the rest of my upcoming album. Basically not sleeping much.

What’s on your rider?
Nothing special, just the backline, the technical stuff and lots of bottles of water.

Tell us your most embarrassing or surreal experience.
I was on TV for a performance for a beauty pageant. After I was done, I had to have a very quick interview. The anchor asked me whether I preferred Lebanese women or foreign women and for some reason I thought she was asking me to name Lebanese and foreign women that I liked so I started naming people. She let me go a couple of names before stopping me to ask the question again. Later that night, my Twitter was filled with jokes about the event. They even photoshopped me as the winner of the beauty pageant. It was both embarrassing and extremely funny.

What song do you wish you’d written?
I wish I had written Cry Me A River by Justin Timberlake. Masterpiece.

What’s your worst lyric?
“I know he’s hot, but hot doesn’t matter when we are 80 years older.” (In my defence, I was 12).

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