Yum Cha Chats: Elevate your Spirits with Folamour

Sundays are hard but can be made easier with unexpected delights — so here’s some fluff to get you through it. Inspired by a recent jaunt for dim sum with Miss Yellow in Hong Kong, allow us to deliver a new edition of Yum Cha Chats — which means let’s go eat dim sum and drink tea in Cantonese. The series will dig into the obscure and tasty 'fillings' you never knew about your favourite DJs and have nothing to do with music — every Sunday. Best enjoyed from bed…

Capturing the attention of the world with his debut album Umami in 2017, Folamour is a French DJ, producer, and label owner. He incorporates global-flavoured house beats with jazz and classic disco in his sets. Folamour is not just playing club music, though. He plays music that has soul, life, and energy inside it. While there is no denying his musical diversity, the artist’s goal is to always spread love to the world and take people to the promised land with a groove and a big smile.

The Frenchman has played festivals like FLY Open Air, MADE, and Lost Village as well as clubs like XOYO, Rex Club, and Corsica Studio. To keep up with his tight schedule, Folamour finds it important to always be elevating his spirits.

“I started to be interested in meditation and its ways about three years ago when I began touring a lot. Spending most of my days in airports, planes, and hotel rooms wasn't something I was excited about. I had no time to rest because I was trying to do too many things at the same time. I had to find a way to bring my focus back on what's always been essential to me — creating music.”

“Meditation has helped me find ways of focusing on myself, which has decreased pressure and tiredness, so I could produce music in situations I’m not familiar with. It also carried me through ups and downs, sleepless weekends, and kept my feet on the ground at any moment, always remembering what was the most important.”

Every day, find a moment to step back and consider life and your actions from an outside point of view. You should question yourself to the core and figure out if you are still going down the road you want to be on.

This may seem easy cause you can do it anywhere, and it doesn't take hours to do. Stepping back can bring a certain quietness to your soul at the end of the moment. Either you are feeling positive about your recent decisions and everything is as it should be, or you know you did wrong if you are honest with your inner self. Sometimes when I'm down I also just focus on things I'm proud of recently, not only about my work or my music but overall in life. It helps me remember that I'm capable of great things, and this is useful to bring my confidence back.

When I started to understand the process of meditating, I looked for my own ways of reaching that state of mind. One of the things I always loved when I was younger was doing puzzles. Every time I'm too tired, feeling too empty to write or record music, or when I feel stressed, I try to have a puzzle on a table in my house. It’s always waiting for me to complete it. Sometimes I add ambient music to the scene because the best for me is to forget about everything else. I don't want to start focusing on details in the music, so I keep it light.

Years ago, reading a book, I found out about the link between Rubik's Cube and meditation. I use it pretty much the same way as I use puzzles. The only difference with me using them is the sport/speedcubing aspect of it. Usually, focusing my mind on one activity can cancel all the pressure I may feel and get rid of all the bad thoughts I may be filled with. It's been great for me since, I always carry one in my bag, you can find me solving some in planes, before boarding in airports when I'm bored, before gigs in my hotel room when I'm tired or stressed, or in cabs and more. Sometimes I forget about it for a few weeks but I know it's a key to peace of mind if I need it.

I've always loved writing. I wrote novels, poems, and songs when I was a kid and a teenager, and it helped me get through difficult times, so I already knew how amazingly effective writing is to empty myself from bad vibes. Its cathartic effect is unmatched and it worked in so many ways, I find new ones regularly. I started with writing books seven or eight years ago to turn the page on moments of my life I carried for too long. I found out that even the simplest writing was helping me get my feet back on the ground.

Learning things constantly with no pressure is the final thing I do to help myself feel good and find peace within. It’s what I do to disconnect from life and its pressure, and to ease the tiredness and mental strain. I don't force myself to it and I take care of not pressuring myself with it when I'm aiming for peace. Learning things is great for my mind, on top of giving me good material for dreams and imagination and making me feel good about myself.