Singer Adja: 'When I’m wandering, I feel like I am Satie'

She immersed herself in foot reflexology in India and worked on a permaculture farm in Greece, but after studying in Ghent, Antwerp, and Leuven, she ended up in Brussels. There, Adja Fassa blossomed as a soul singer that, in her spare time, likes to walk in the park.

“I wouldn’t call this a hobby,” says Adja Fassa at the Woodpecker kiosk in the Ter Kamerenbos/Bois de la Cambre, the green lung providing some extra oxygen and birdsong to the buzzing metropolis. The singer, who recently made an impressive debut with the jazz soul of her album Golden Retrieve Her, comes here to walk as often as she can. “With my hands behind my back, circling the pond of Chalet Robinson. I learned that from Erik Satie.”

Satie adopted this routine to clear his mind and digest the music he composed, Adja explains. “He did it to conserve mental energy – a form of meditation, you might say. For him, it was a ritual. He wore the same clothes and headed down the same footpath with the same umbrella. For me too, this routine gets my creative juices flowing again. As a musician, I am often indoors, so I force myself to go outside. During the pandemic, I came here every day.”

Dogs wag their tails as they follow their owners during our conversation. She’s not into dogs, Adja tells us, even though she refers to a breed of dog in her album title. “I’m a cat lady; a dog is just too present for me. The title is about finding the golden part of yourself, about my integrity and sincerity. At the same time, it’s a nod to the expectations that our Western society imposes on us: a house with a white picket fence, 2.4 children, and a golden retriever.”

She hasn’t ticked any of those boxes yet, she laughs. Her existence is still too chaotic. “I’m an emerging musician, but I do want to make a living from my music. I’m not just performing and recording a lot – I’m also spending huge amounts of time planning rehearsals, writing grant applications, and so on. I’m well supported now and I’m signed to a good label, but it remains a full-time job that isn’t paid full-time.”

For Adja, the Ter Kamerenbos/Bois de la Cambre acts as a buffer against the rat race that inevitably sucks you in. “I want my album to sell as many copies as possible, and I hope lots of people come to my shows. But at the same time, I have the impression that many people are crushed by the pressure society puts on them. You have to thrive. Or you drown. Floating is not allowed.”

Golden Retrieve Her is out now through SDBAN Records, Adja is performing live on 9/5 at the Ancienne Belgique (abconcerts.be) and on 23/5 at the Brussels Jazz Weekend (brusselsjazzweekend.be)