June 17, 2009Back Room
Pepi Ginsberg/Emilie Simon
Description
6/17, back, 8:30 pm, $10
Pepi Ginsberg residency
Emilie Simon residency
Glass Ghost
EMILIE SIMON
Biography
EMILIE SIMON first made her mark on the U.S. on Nov. 7, 2006 with her debut U.S. release, The Flower Book. Her plush, artful soundscapes had already yielded her significant praise and awards in her French homeland and acclaim across the rest of Europe and Japan. Singing in both French and English, Emilie allows her music to flow naturally, and this has rewarded her with devoted fans worldwide. A year and a half after The Flower Book’s release, Emilie is now residing in New York City and writing her next record. She will be performing shows in NYC this Fall to debut her new material. Having always begun the creative process in the recording studio, followed by live performances, Emilie is trying a new approach. For the new record she will let the songs breathe and evolve in a live environment before heading into the studio.
The daughter of a sound engineer, Emilie works in her home studio that allows for spontaneity and the quick germination of ideas. Although she had access to her father’s studio at a young age, she says she didn’t start recording herself until she was 16. “Still, the nice thing for me was that I was not scared of the machines or the cables and plugging things in when I started,” Emilie says. “It’s a completely comfortable environment for me.” Emilie studied at the renowned new-technology music university, Ircam in Paris, learning to pair new technologies and instruments with organic musical creation.
After moving to Paris from the South of France in her early twenties, Emilie recorded demos that wound up landing her a deal with Universal France. “I had a friend who worked at a label and she felt it was time to play my songs for people. So she basically took the responsibility and they sparked an interest.” Since then, Emilie has written, arranged, performed and produced her two records and the original music for the French version of March of the Penguins. There, Emilie used many diverse and inventive techniques including rubbing pieces of ice together to produce beats and sounds, and blended it with her electronic machinery and inviting lyrics. The Flower Book draws music from all three albums, to become her first U.S. release.
Despite garnering best album honors in the electronic category at France’s “Victoires De La Musique” Awards (The French Grammys®) for her debut, and being touted as one of the most promising female artists, the Montpellier-bred chanteuse is quick to champion her independence as an artist over such acclaim. “[Awards] are nice, but it’s like a cherry on top, really,” the singer/songwriter insists. “It’s great when you have the feeling you are doing something important or that you’re understood. But it doesn’t alter the way I work in any way. I’m always thinking back on what I have done, because I don’t want to be redundant. I want to make music without rules, without anybody telling me what I have to do.”
It is Emilie’s goal to focus on the United States with her upcoming touring and new record. The Flower Book was received with rave reviews and impressive sales, and Emilie Simon is only getting started.
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