Olivia Louvel

Olivia Louvel
Birth name

Olivia Louvel

Origin Paris, France
Genres Electronic music, Electronica, Pop, Experimental music
Occupation(s) Composer, Producer, Singer, Visual artist
Instruments Vocals, Laptop, Programmings
Labels Cat Werk Imprint, Optical Sound, Angelika koehlermann, Ici, d'ailleurs..., Parallel Series
Associated acts Paul Kendall, Alan Wilder, Recoil, The Digital Intervention
Website http://www.olivialouvel.com/, http://www.catwerkimprint.com

Olivia Louvel is a French-born, British composer, producer and performer, crafting electronic songs from laptop and voice.
In 2011, she won the Qwartz Album Award at the Qwartz Electronic Music Awards for 'Doll Divider'.
She works on the frontier of art and electronic music, often blurring the boundary between the two. Her innovative and quirky songwriting brought her to perform alongside artists such as Planningtorock at the Earsthetic Festival, The Irrepressibles at the Brighton Dome and Recoil for various concerts on the European 'Selected' tour.

Early career

Initially trained in classical singing, she began to work as a singer for the renowned flying trapeze circus 'Les Arts Sauts' performing at 12 metres in the air a Meredith Monk composition 'Madwoman’s vision'. She toured with them for 3 years.
From 1996 to 1999, she attended the National Superior Conservatory of Dramatic Arts of Paris, and graduated in 1999.

Music

In 2003, she bought her first computer and started her digital compositions.
Under the moniker of The Digital Intervention, she worked with Paul Kendall (long term Mute Records collaborator) on the album 'Capture', which was released in 2003.[1]
Learning from scratch production skills, Olivia Louvel made her debut in 2006 with the release of 'Luna Parc Hotel'. 'Luna Parc Hotel' was released on Angelika Koehlermann[2] run by Gerhard Potuznik. The album features Michael J.Sheehy on guitar for the cover of David Bowie's The Motel and Sébastien Libolt. The album was mixed by Paul Kendall at the Thin Line, the studio owned by former Depeche Mode member and current Recoil brain Alan Wilder.[3]

'Lulu In Suspension', inspired by silent-movie star Louise Brooks and her book 'Lulu in Hollywood', was released as a digipak CD on Optical Sound Records and Fine Arts run by French artist Pierre BelouÏn.[4] In 2009, she presented an AV performance of 'Lulu In Suspension' at Le Cube, the digital art space in France.[5]

'Doll Divider' was initially released as a digital version on Ototoi Music in 2010. The starting point for 'Doll Divider'[6] was derived from A4 paintings which she made using pages from fashion magazines and repainting on top of the photos of the models. Collectively these paintings are called "Processed Dolls".
In 2010, she supported Recoil (the musical project of former Depeche Mode member Alan Wilder) for 4 concerts on the European 'Selected' tour, at Kulturkirche Altona Hamburg, Trix Antwerp, Le Bus Palladium Paris and O2 Academy Islington London.[7]
Following her Qwartz Album Award in 2011, she created her label Cat Werk Imprint. 'Doll Divider' was re-released as a limited edition vinyl, catalogue number CW01.

For 'ō, music for haiku', she produced a minimal soundtrack based on haiku by poet Bashō (1644-1694), released 1 December 2012 on Cat Werk Imprint. She also mixed the 7 tracks. The limited Edition CD is adorned with a hand-drawn 'Magic Fish Dog', a character invented by Olivia Louvel [8]
The project 'ō, music for haiku' was originally performed in its first incarnation at Festival En Boite, Lyon (F)[9] in the electronic bandstand designed by Cocktail Designers.[10]
The track 'chichi-haha no' was played on 'La matinale', France Musique, Olivia Louvel was 'Le coup de coeur' of Christophe Bourseiller. [11]
"tsuga mo ugoke" was broadcast on Late Junction BBC Radio 3.[12]

In 2014, she released 'Beauty Sleep', 11 songs complemented by a series of experimental short films shot in West Sussex, reinventing herself as a bird-woman.
She produced for Electronic Beats an exclusive mix, "odd and fantastic" , which features an extended version of 'O Don’t Worry' from her album 'Doll Divider', edits of tunes from her latest release, 'Beauty Sleep', and a remix of AGF’s 'Poemproducer'.[13]

Visuals

In 2007, with a basic camera she began filming footage she later used for her short films accompanying' o music for haiku'. An early version was screened at the Festival Electron in 2008.
In February 2008, in Paris with the help of a friend, she produced the videoclip ' For Love' in which she carries a rabbit, filming herself within projections of a montage of Louise Brooks for her album 'Lulu in Suspension'.
In 2011, she produced the video 'Army Of Dolls' in which she appears, her head hidden in a paper bag mask, along with projections of her 'Doll Divider' art, using the same concept of refilming herself in front of a projection.
2012: 'Night And Day', cover of the Cole Porter song was published on YouTube, in which she is using a pair of animal glove, which was going to be emblematic of the 'Beauty Sleep' artwork/ films.[14] Also she directed a promotional film for Paul Kendall's release 'Angleterror' on Cat Werk Imprint.[15]
Subsequently she began to construct her visuals for live show around her Doll Divider art and she presented her first audio visual show based on Doll Divider visuals at the earsthetic festival, Brighton Dome in December 2013.
In 2014, she produced a series of 7 short experimental films for her project 'Beauty Sleep'.

Discography

LP

EP

Collaborations

Compilations

Distinctions

Awards

Nomination

References

  1. ↑ ""The Digital Intervention (Paul Kendall, Olivia Louvel) – Capture" release". Side-line.com. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  2. ↑ ""Luna Parc Hotel" on Angelika Köhlermann". Zero-inch.com. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  3. ↑ "Olivia Louvel records debut solo album at studio Alan Wilder - Olivia Louvel Facebook news at". Side-line.com. 1999-02-22. Retrieved 2011-12-31.
  4. ↑ ""Lulu In Suspension" on Optical Sound". Optical-sound.com. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  5. ↑ "Concert hybride". lecube.com. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  6. ↑ "LISTEN: Olivia Louvel-Doll Maker". Thequietus.com. 20 May 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  7. ↑ "Olivia Louvel releases new album 'Doll Divider', supports Recoil on tour + photo shoot by Alan Wilder". Side-line.com. 8 February 2010. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  8. ↑ "album // o, Music For Haiku". documentaryevidence.co.uk. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  9. ↑ "Festival En Boite". bm-lyon.fr. 1 April 2007. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  10. ↑ "Cocktail Designers’ music furniturel". lespressesdureel.com. 26 November 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  11. ↑ ""La Matinale France Musique" release". sites.radiofrance.fr. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  12. ↑ ""BBC3-Late Junction, Thursday-Fiona Talkington" release". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  13. ↑ "EB Radio Presents Olivia Louvel". electronicbeats. 19 December 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  14. ↑ "Olivia Louvel covers Cole Porter's 'Night and Day' - watch the video=side-line.com". 24 February 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  15. ↑ "Paul Kendall's new album – 'Angleterror'". blog.recoil.co.uk. 1 October 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  16. ↑ "ō , music for haiku by Olivia Louvel now available". Catwerkimprint.com. 1 December 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  17. ↑ "All-female EDM and digital art collective female:pressure have released a new compilation album in aid of Pussy Riot.". thegirlsare.com. 13 December 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  18. ↑ "Qwartz Award Winners Announced". Thewire.co.uk. 7 April 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  19. ↑ "Qwartz Electronic Music Awards – Home". Qwartz.org. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  20. ↑ "Qwartz – Paris Réseau international pour les musiques électroniques et nouvelles". Sacd.fr. 3 April 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  21. ↑ "Olivia Louvel Nominated Prix Ars Electronica 2013". 6 April 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2013.

External links