Enigmatic musician Irène Schrader talks imposter syndrome, modeling, and global roots
From her childhood playing classical piano in China to her emergence as a multilingual pop talent, Irène Schrader has used music to bridge the various cultures she calls her own. Traveling from her current base in Paris back to her familiar former home of Amsterdam, it was the pivotal moments experiencing the Dutch capital's electronic scene, her parents' varied music taste, and their occasional "tough love" that gave her the confidence to pursue her artistic passion full-time.
Sitting down with host Zack Newmark on the Dam Yankee podcast, Schrader reflects on a life lived across continents. Born in Paris to a German father and Chinese mother, she moved to Beijing and then Shanghai at age ten, returning to Europe for university. Writing in English, French, and Mandarin is a natural extension for this "Third Culture Kid," whose upbringing is the foundation of her linguistic fluidity. While she initially focused on English, she eventually embraced a trilingual approach. "It's just how my brain works," she said, adding that it does not feel right to try to force herself into one language.
Growing up enjoying French singer Françoise Hardy, but also Mandarin pop music, she said the time spent living in Shanghai affected her art greatly. "I think it was probably one of the first places where I got to discover some hybrid-ish genres, for example, Shanghai jazz, which is well, it's Shanghai jazz. It's like Chinese music, but with some Western sounds that just came from expats in the 20s and 30s that brought their jazz sound from the U.S."
Despite her obvious talent, the transition into music was clouded by a persistent sense of self-doubt. With a background in journalism and a career in fashion as both a model and a brand supervisor, Schrader struggled to claim her title until she was brought in to participate at the 2023 Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE). She participated in an all-female production workshop where she was tasked with creating a track for a professional brief.
"The initial point of pride was getting accepted into the program because they had to go through my portfolio and I didn't think I was going to get in, but then I did and I was like, 'Oof, I have to work on this imposter syndrome thing,'" she told Newmark. "I think it's what brought me a lot of confidence, especially since there aren't that many female producers that I know of. And that was one of the places where I saw like what the possibilities were."
This newfound confidence is palpable in her latest EP, Eclipse. While her previous work felt like an exploration of a "70s French music" persona, she views Eclipse as her most authentic self. "I think I just started to show my music world, the actual style that I go for," she tells Newmark. "The previous EP ... felt more of an alter ego rather than my pure self. And Eclipse, I think, is just a little preface to me."
Schrader also explains how constant movement has fundamentally reshaped her definition of "home." Rather than a geographical coordinate, she views it through the lens of experience. "Well, I think I've kind of gone to a point where I had to set out some criteria in order to define whether some place feels like home for me, because I think it's very easy for people to feel anchored somewhere if they've grown up there, if their whole family's from there," she explains.
"But I think at this point, it's not necessarily a question that I dwell a lot on, but I would say that home generally for me are the places where I felt the largest range of emotions, and where I have a place to stay. Sometimes it's as rudimentary as that."
As she continues to balance her work in sustainable fashion with her burgeoning music career, Irène Schrader remains a beautifully enigmatic figure. Whether she is performing at a friend's art exhibition in Amsterdam or connecting with her 63,000 TikTok followers in three languages, she is fully stepping out of the shadows. By embracing her global roots and silencing the inner critic, she is continuously crafting a sound that is as much without borders as she is.
Listen to this entire episode of Dam Yankee on all major podcast platforms, or watch the full videos on YouTube. Irène Schrader shares music on several platforms, including Spotify, and frequently shares updates on TikTok and Instagram.
