Julie Roué
A multi-faceted music lover, sound artist and composer, Julie Roué wrote the soundtrack to Jeune Femme (Montparnasse Bienvenue), a feature film by Léonor Serraille released in 2017. Since then, she has continued her work in the film industry while developing her career as a musician with solo projects and in collaboration with Angèle Chiodo.
Published on 24/03/2020
2 min
As a youngster, Julie Roué tried out different instruments: piano, guitar and even Irish bagpipes. She joined the Louis-Lumière School to become a sound engineer. It was “by chance and almost by mistake” that she then immersed herself in creation by taking writing and orchestration classes at the Conservatory in the 9th arrondissement of Paris and began composing film music.
After more than 40 short films and documentaries, Jeune Femme, a caustic comedy directed by Léonor Serraille, was her first full-length soundtrack. This seminal moment allowed her to devote herself entirely to composition, including the soundtrack for the series HP in 2018.
In 2019, Julie Roué is launching her pop album, Like Me, under the name About Luke. Alongside Angèle Chiodo, her partner for the soundtrack to Jeune Femme, she is part of the electro group Carte Contact, whose second EP, L’Élite de la Nation (The Nation’s Elite), will be released in February 2020.
For Julie Roué, film music is a character in its own right, which complements a character or provides a contrast to enhance the action. In all circumstances, she recalls, “Music does not need to be complicated. In fact, it should be simple so that it does not take up too much space, does not upstage the image.”
The composer works in close collaboration with directors, and through “purification” and using a music block, creates styles ranging from jazz to electro to symphonic music. The composition is then rearranged to obtain “the essence of the piece”.
Julie Roué concedes that to be a composer in cinema is to work in a shadowy profession where recognition can take a long time, if ever, to arrive. For her, the breakthrough came in 2017 with Jeune Femme and her heady track “Like a Dog”, echoing the petulant personality of Paola, the film's main character. Awarded the Golden Camera at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017, Jeune Femme propelled Julie Roué to the front of the stage.
The musician rose to prominence two years later when she created the enchanting theme of Erwan le Duc's Perdrix, presented at the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019.
- 2016
2016
Julie Roué signs her first collaboration with director Léonor Sérraille for the music for her short film Body.
- 2017
2017
She composes her first full-length soundtrack for Jeune Femme, Léonor Sérraille’s second film.
- 2019
2019
She composes the soundtrack for Perdrix, the first feature film by Erwan Le Duc. At the same time, the artist releases her first solo album, About Luke, as well as Ha Ha, the first EP from her duo, Carte Contact.
- 2020
2020
Release of the second Carte Contact EP, L’Élite de la nation.
Perdrix by Erwan le Duc, whose soundtrack was composed by Julie Roué, has been screened internationally by the Institut français.
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