Olivia Louvel

Olivia Louvel
Birth name

Olivia Louvel

Origin Paris, France
Genres Electronic, Experimental, Art Pop
Occupation(s) Composer, Producer, Vocalist, Visual artist
Instruments Laptop and Voice
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 artist whose work draws on voice, computer music and digital narrative. In 2011, she won the Qwartz Album Award at the Qwartz Electronic Music Awards for 'Doll Divider'.
She operates on the frontier of art and electronic music, blurring the boundary between the two. Her work also ranges from video art to live performance. She has opened for artists such as Planningtorock at the Earsthetic Festival Brighton Dome,[1] Japanese avant-garde artist Phew (singer) 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.

Solo works

In 2003, she bought her first computer and started her digital compositions. Learning from scratch production skills, Olivia Louvel made her debut in 2006 with the release of 'Luna Parc Hotel' 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]

Inspired by silent-movie star Louise Brooks and her book 'Lulu in Hollywood', 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]

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 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, enhanced and remastered version, catalogue number CW01.

She produced a minimal soundtrack based on haiku by poet Bashō (1644-1694), released 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. 'tsuga mo ugoke' was broadcast on Late Junction BBC Radio 3.[11]

11 songs complemented by a series of experimental short films shot in West Sussex, reinventing herself as a bird-woman.
'Bats' was remixed by Simon Fisher Turner. [12]

Collaborations & Other projects

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.[13]

December 2014, she produced an exclusive mix for Electronic Beats, "odd and fantastic", which features her remix of Antye Greie aka AGF ’s 'Poemproducer'.[14]

In 2016, she contributed a moving audio-visual project 'Afraid Of Women' to #Rojava, a female:pressure campaign curated by Antye Greie-Ripatti that aims to show solidarity and raise awareness for a special de facto autonomous zone in northern Syria.[15]

With Paul Kendall as The Digital Intervention, they produced the piece 'When the sea will rise II' for Acoustic Cameras, a project which invites sound artists to annex the real-time flow of webcams located in various places around the world. [16]

She remixed the track 'Paris' by Fiona Brice released as the ep 'Postcards Reframed' on Bella Union. [17]

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 2008, she produced for her album 'Lulu in Suspension', the videoclip 'For Love' in which she carries a rabbit, filming herself within projections of a montage of Louise Brooks'.
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, refilming herself in front of a projection.
In 2012, 'Night And Day', cover of the Cole Porter song was published. She is using a pair of animal glove, which was going to be emblematic of the 'Beauty Sleep' artwork/ films. Also she directed a promotional film for Paul Kendall's release 'Angleterror'.[18]
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 sound art project 'Beauty Sleep', re-inventing herself as a bird-woman.

Discography

LP

EP

Collaborations

Compilations

Distinctions

Awards

Nomination

Grants

References

  1. "earsthetic Planningtorock". brightondome.org. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  2. "'Luna Parc Hotel' on Angelika Köhlermann". angelika.koehlermann.at. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  3. "Olivia Louvel Luna Parc Hotel". chaindlk.com. 2006-02-16. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  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. "RECOIL uk + OLIVIA LOUVEL fr". trixonline.be. 23 February 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  8. "o, music for haiku". olivialouvel.com. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  9. "Festival En Boite". bm-lyon.fr. 1 April 2007. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  10. "Cocktail Designers' music furniture". lespressesdureel.com. 26 November 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  11. ""BBC3-Late Junction, Thursday-Fiona Talkington" release". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  12. "INTERVIEW: Olivia Louvel". thequietus.com. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  13. ""The Digital Intervention (Paul Kendall, Olivia Louvel) – Capture" release". icidailleurs.com. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  14. "EB radio presents Olivia Louvel". electronicbeats. 10 December 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  15. "Is The Islamic State 'Afraid Of Women'?". electronicbeats. 20 February 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  16. "Acoustic Cameras". acousticcameras. 10 February 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  17. ""FIONA BRICE shares Gonjasufi 'Glastonbury' remix" release". bellaunion.com. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  18. "Paul Kendall's new album – 'Angleterror'". blog.recoil.co.uk. 1 October 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  19. "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.
  20. "female:pressure release Rojava Revolution compilation for International Women's Day". factmag.com. 8 March 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  21. "Qwartz Award Winners Announced". Thewire.co.uk. 7 April 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  22. "Qwartz Electronic Music Awards – Home". Qwartz.org. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  23. "Qwartz – Paris Réseau international pour les musiques électroniques et nouvelles". Sacd.fr. 3 April 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
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