Meet the Band: LiLi Roquelin (vocals, piano)
The French Connection: Singer-songwriter LiLi Roquelin was born in France and played in a few pop-rock bands there before she moved to Northeast Ohio in 2002. While at Kent State, she met the guys in the hard-rock group Hate Dies Hard and joined the band as a vocalist. “My interest in music originally comes from my father,” she says. “He’s a guitar player and he taught me singing by ear. I started writing poems and lyrics when I was 12.” After moving to New York in 2007, she started to take piano lessons and would eventually launch a solo career there.
Solo Sessions: Her first solo EP came out in 2008; the self-titled album featured “I Saw You,” a trip-hop tune she wrote with Sean Bilovecky from the local hard-rock ensemble Disengage. The music video even won a few prizes at regional film festivals. In 2010, she released her first full-length, Will you hate the rest of the world or will you renew your life?, then followed it up two years ago with Beautiful Sun.
Why You Should Hear Her: Much like Tori Amos or Ingrid Michaelson, Roquelin plays pop music with an experimental edge. The title track is a sparse number that puts her quivering voice up front in the mix and sounds a bit like Bjork. “Bliss of My Soul” sounds like a more contemporary Joni Mitchell tune. “My music is generally pop rock,” she says. “I think my lyrics are mostly emotional in terms of the message I try to put out through the songs. In terms of sound, I do like to mix ethereal vocal styles. I arrange everything on the record. It was a big challenge to direct all the ideas.” Other songs such as “Try to Remember” have a mellow, Portishead-like feel to them. “I have this chill-out kind of vibe that goes with the inspirational song,” she says. “I find strings compliment the emotion. I have some more aggressive tracks on there too. From having been with a rock band and working with Sean Bilovecky, I still have some of the alternative sound of Cleveland with me.”
Where You Can Hear Her: liliroquelin.com.
Where You Can See Her: LiLi Roquelin performs at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, June 13, at Brothers Lounge.
This article appears in Jun 11-17, 2014.
It’s Friday, not Thursday. Correct?
Great article! I love how Lili arranged the strings on this album too. “Thank you” is my favorite song and music video of hers.
YES THE SHOW IS FRIDAY JUNE 13TH… not Thursday June 13th. Thank you!