| LiLi Roquelin | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | LiLi Roquelin |
| Born | Toulon, France |
| Origin | Cleveland, Ohio, USA |
| Genres | Trip-hop, alternative rock |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, piano, guitar |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Associated acts | Hate Dies Hard |
| Website | www.liliroquelin.com |
LiLi Roquelin (born in Toulon, France) is a French-born American trip-hop and alternative rock singer-songwriter from Astoria, Queens. Roquelin is most notable for her songs, "I Saw You", which won Best Music Video at several film festivals in 2008 and 2009,[1] "Blues Alone", "Should you get mad".
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Roquelin grew up in the south of France, learning music from her multi-instrumentalist father when she was four years old. She played several gigs as a teenager, both solo and in various bands. She then left France to pursue a career in the United States when she felt the music education in France was too conservative for her and how the country’s music industry seemed to favor French DJs over live singer-songwriters.[2] She first moved to Cleveland, Ohio and fronted Phizzy Lager[3] and then the hard-rock Kent, Ohio band Hate Dies Hard, and released an album with them entitled Neverending Sundown in 2006 (The band had put out three releases from 1996 to 2003. However, Roquelin was not part of the band then).[4]
After the album’s release, Roquelin was introduced to producer Sean Bilovecky, who helped to infuse the sounds of trip-hop with her piano compositions. They co-wrote the song, "I Saw You" together, which was later included in her self-titled EP and became a winner for Best Music Video at the Queens Film Festival in November 2008 and Best Music Video at the 2009 Indie Gathering Film Festival.[5] After Roquelin and Bilovecky wrote the song, Roquelin moved to Washington Heights, Manhattan,
Roquelin recruited Marc Urselli, a three-time Grammy Award winning engineer to mix and master the recordings from her EP and launched an online fundraiser to help cover the expenses of the EP, a recording of down-tempo, trip-hop songs with Roquelin moving between English and French accompanied by the piano.[5] "Blues Alone" received an Honorable Mention at the 2009 John Lennon Songwriting Contest.[6]
Roquelin released a full-length album Will you hate the rest of the world or will you renew your life? and a music video for Should you get mad in February 2010.[7] The video was directed by Arnaud Muller (U2) at RNO Pictures and was in the official selection of ZFF Film Festival (London, Miami, LA).[8] It received the award of 2nd Place for Best Music Video in pop category at the 2010 Indie Gathering Film Festival and Convention.[9] The album also includes a cover of Danny Elfman's “Sally’s Song” (from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas)[10] in French.[11]
She has played various venues including The Bitter End in NYC.[12]
Lifetime (TV network)'s Show Dance Moms used LiLi Roquelin’s song "Renew" for a dance routine entitled "Sinful" (season 1, episode 9, first air-date 09/07/11).[13]