BIOGRAPHY
Who is Jameslerouge?
A half-Belgian contemporary composer/pianist from England.
Born in Bournemouth in November 1980, it was James’ Belgian mother who first introduced him to the piano, and begun arranging lessons for him from the age of 4. He excelled in music at school, and as a chorister of a Catholic Church. He then went on to win a music scholarship at Douai Abbey School, in Berkshire in 1992.
James begun writing his own compositions during his GCSE’s and regularly performed and played in concerts at School.
It was not until he went to University that he fully begun to hone his talents for composing/improvising. Joining Northbrook College in 2002 (a subsidiary of Brighton University), James spent 3 memorable years studying Composition for Film & Broadcast Media.
His Degree culminated with one of his finest compositions, a homage to Claude Debussy named “Ballade Des Cascades”. Just before graduating he also put on his first Brighton Fringe Festival performance in May 2006.
He draws on many French and impressionist influences. His music is melancholic, with an abundance of melodic change, situated somewhere between classical music’s studied restraint and pop’s eager melodicism.
His music is very well suited to film, and this is where his music should ultimately end up in years to come.
Lerouge also used to play in a Brighton based band named The O’s (a folk-pop band) and also went on a mini tour of the UK, playing keys with them.
He previously played the Brighton Fringe 2006, 2008 & 2010 and has performed in Japan, at the Lost Vagueness Festival in London and has performed numerous private and public performances in Brighton. He’s also performed for a Classic FM fundraising concert in 2010, which was to raise money for the Charity “Music Makers”.
Lerouge is also a regular DJ for some well-known pubs & clubs in Bournemouth.
Music
Lerouge prefers his music not to labelled; however his music combines elements of impressionism, and some minimalism also. Lerouge’s style differs mainly due his improvisatory nature of composing. He remembers a lot of his own compositions by heart, rather than writing things down, and likes to allow his pieces to constantly “evolve” and to keep them “open-ended”. He’s also well famed on youtube for his reworks. Lerouge takes existing pop songs, and creates his own versions, his most famous being a version of “little 15” by Dépêche Mode.
Jameslerouge is an unsigned artist, and composes, produces and performs all his material.
Works
Ballade Des Cascades EP - (2006)
Spring EP – (2007)
Annapurna EP – (2010)
Jameslerouge ReWorks EP Vol 1 (April 2011)
