Julia Biel
In a UK pop climate teeming with Brit School alumni / pop academy educated acts and X Factor production line wannabes, Julia Biel is a fresh and exciting proposition... an artist doing things the old-fashioned way. A natural performer and self-taught singer, songwriter, musician and producer, all the frustrations, despair, hope and wonders of this less than direct journey to notoriety and of life in general can be heard in the music, enriched with an emotional intensity more readily associated with classic acts from bygone eras than with the sea of identikit music 'products' ubiquitous today.
Yet this is a contemporary artist whose music would not have been the same without the music that preceded it. From Nina Simone to Portishead, Bjork to Radiohead, Beethoven to Billie Holiday, Fela Kuti to Massive Attack there's a wealth of influences to pour over here that have gone into the person and come out refracted in a way that is unmistakably Julia Biel's.
'a voice of supreme subtlety and honeyed depth. Her mesmerizing voice and magnetic stage presence should encourage many to follow where she leads... about to hit the big time...' THE GUARDIAN
Following the critical success of her self-produced debut album release 'Not Alone' (see below for reviews), a collaboration with folk-jazz guitarist Jonny Phillips, fast forward to 2011 and Julia Biel is to be found out and about performing songs from her second album (awaiting release) either with her kicking full 5-piece line-up or in smaller permutations. She has also recently begun working with other artists developing and co-writing material for inclusion in their own projects and has started work producing what will eventually become her third album release.
Other credits include: featured lead vocals with Mercury Prize nominated cult post-jazzers Polar Bear on albums 'Dimlit' and 'Polar Bear'. Collaborations and featured lead vocals with ex Everything But the Girl svengali, Ben Watt, on 'Bright Star' (produced by Stimming) and 'Guinea Pig'. Member of the F-IRE Collective 2005-2009. Nominated in the 'Rising Star' category BBC Jazz Awards 2006. Winner of Perrier Jazz Vocalist of the Year 2000. Julia Biel is also a member of reknowned South London afrobeat/reggae outfit Soothsayers.