Bio (Fr)
Pianiste, vocaliste, improvisatrice et compositrice discrète, fondatrice du label Wild Silence, Delphine Dora est une musicienne touche-à-tout à l’univers inclassable, connue pour ses enregistrements sur des labels confidentiels à tirage ultra limité (Siren Wire, Abaton book Company, Was Ist Das ?, Wild Silence, Fort Evil Fruit, Okraïna, Bezirk..).
Son travail musical iconoclaste, basé sur une approche spontanée de la composition, est nourrie de différentes esthétiques musicales : il y a la mise en voix et musique de la poésie de Walt Whitman et Sylvia Plath, (et d’autres poètes anglo-saxons), du songwriting intimiste, des esquisses «brutes» instantanées dans des langues non identifiées, un disque d’improvisation libre avec Paulo Chagas et Bruno Duplant, des pièces au piano et instrumentales, des expérimentations vocales sauvages…
Dans ses projets récents, elle a revisité tout l’album culte «Folk Songs» de Cathy Berberian/ Luciano Berio avec la chanteuse Eloise Decazes (Arlt), et elle a collaboré avec la musicienne anglaise Sophie Cooper pour un duo improvisé/expérimental basé autour de l’orgue, des percussions, des sons électroniques, du trombone et des voix étranges.
Envisageant la musique dans un mouvement constant et une transformation perpétuelle, mais aussi comme une recherche d’exploration d’une cartographie sonore toute personnelle, elle travaille actuellement sur de nouveaux enregistrements qui explorent de nouvelles directions. Sa recherche musicale récente s’est étoffée et a pris une tournure inédite, s’orientant vers une expérimentation accrue.
Elle a partagé la scène avec des artistes aussi divers que Liam Singer, Lau Nau, Baby Dee, Julia Holter, Marisa Anderson, James Blackshaw, Ashley Paul…et s’est produite en France et en Europe dans des lieux aussi variés que : Brotfabrik (Frankfurt), le Musée Fenaille (Rodez), Espai d’art contemporani de Castello (Espagne), Le Periscope (Lyon), Galerie l’Air du Temps (Clermont Ferrand), Cafe OTO (Londres)…
Bio (eng)
« Instant Classic ! I have no idea what language Dora is singing in – it might be french or it might be not a language but listen to the expression and you know exactly what she is saying. It’s like listening to 19th century-german lieder, except easier to enjoy. Not because the longest track is 2:55. Probably because she is writing for her own voice, and manipulates it effortlessly like a wizard – the best kind of vocalist. The piano is restrained – mostly playing a traditional harmonic rôle to support the voice – allowing the voice a landscape in which to emote all over you. The songs are short, as they have captured a moment. (…) » (Julia Holter – L.A Magazine)
Delphine Dora is a versatile and iconoclast musician from France : a pianist, a vocalist explorer, a composer, singer-songwriter, improviser and performer. She plays also different kind of keyboards (organ, harmonium, synth..), and other instruments such as music tools (computer) or objects, or field recordings.
After studied classical piano and harpsichord during childhood, she started to explore her own style since her 20s. She has developed a unique personal language since more than a decade, producing music that is both raw, idiosyncratic, ecstatic, introspective, adventurous and uncategorizable. Her work diverse — which has explored many music words such as folk music, free improvisation, drone, minimalism, experimental music, modern classical, or psychedelism — have been published by underground international labels such as Power Moves Library (Canada), Bezirk (UK/Austria), Was Ist Das ? (USA), Fort Evil Fruit (Ireland), Siren Wire (Wales), Young Girl Records (Belgium), Abaton Book Company (USA), Okraïna (Belgium).
With each recording — that convey different moods and a wide range of emotions, Dora’s continue to challenge herself and invent a style of her own.
Alterate or fragile states of consciousness/minds, the unknown, unspeakable, inner/and outside world are her main subjects of explorations. She’s also interested by musicality of langages through exploration of various existed or invented langages. Since a few years, she’s known to set poetry or litterature into music : Samuel Beckett, Sarah Kane, Walt Whitman, Stephen Spender, Sylvia Plath…
In addition to her solo work, she has played and collaborated with some musicians (Bruno Duplant, Half Asleep, Salvatore Borelli, Eloïse Decazes, Sophie Cooper and Mocke).
She has two forthcoming records : a collaboration LP with Sophie Cooper released soon on Feeding Tube Records and a solo record, a song cycle based on Kathleen Raine’s poetry called « Eudaimon », which will be released in 2018 on three:four records.
She has performed in numerous venues and places in Europe at Cafe OTO (London), Espai d’art Contemporani del Castello (Castellon), Uebel & Gefahrlich (Hamburg), Brotfabrik (Frankfort), MK Gallery (Milton Keynes), Münchner Kammerspiele (Münchner), Hovendstaden (Copenhagen) and some festival appearances including Le Guess Who / invitation by Julia Holter (Utrecht, Netherlands), Fano Free Folk Festival (Fano, DK), Supernormal Festival (Braziers, UK), Tor Fest (Todmorden, UK), Copenhaguen Jazz Festival (Copenhagen, Danemark). She shared stage with artists including Ashley Paul, Marisa Anderson, Josephine Foster, Lau Nau, Baby Dee, James Blackshaw, Aine O’Dwyer, Liam Singer.
She’s also the founder of the micro-label Wild Silence label, for her own productions and for the releases of stuff from other musicians, underground or established, of different parts of the globe, such as Thollem McDonas, Powerdove, Mami Wata (Sharon Gal & Andie Brown), Sophie Cooper, Natalia Beylis, Krotz Strüder, Richard Moult, Pefkin, Empty Vessel Music, Susan Matthews, Rainier Lericolais, Monte Isola, Ensemble0 by Sylvain Chauveau, Cristian Alvaer.
