Our first EP by EMEZI (Perynn & Elise) - Jazz and pop in breton language

We are making an album!

We have been dreaming about it for a while, and now the dream is about to come true!

We didn't expect it to happen so soon. In March 2020 lockdown happened and our gigs of the season got cancelled one after the other. What an opportunity, instead of a perfectly planned year, a big empty space, just what we needed to finally get to work and produce an album!

Each of us wrote three songs, literally 50% Elise and 50% Perynn. That part was free... But now comes a long list of things we need to do that require quite a lot of investment! Hence this crowdfunding. Read on to find out who we are, what we have in mind for the album and most importantly, what we intend to do with the money you will give us, haha!

First, a word about the two of us! We, Elise Desbordes and Perynn Bleunven, have decided to make our musical union official with a name, EMEZI, and let our two voices become one. We shall henceforth refer to ourselves as such!

Elise is the jazzer of the two. She sings and plays the keys deliciously, finds inspiration in many artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Robert Glasper, Chucho Valdés, Roberto Fonseca, Sza, Mahalia and Snoh Aalegra.

Perynn's musical world is the poppier of the two, having been a Beatles fanatic for many years! Amongst her other music-gods: the incredible Mae Muller, Amy Winehouse, Jacob Collier, Joshua Lee Turner et Bill Wurtz. Some instrumentalists also belong to that pantheon, like Katia Buniatišvili.

Both Perynn and Elise have been brought up in a polyphonic environment, having sung for years in choirs and vocal groups. They cultivate a strong sense of vocal bravado, professing an utter admiration for singers like Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, Whitney Huston, Aretha Franklin, Maria Callas, Barbara Bonney, Cecilia Bartoli. EMEZI constitutes an unapologetic reverence to showwomen and to artists who don't hide themselves, girls who stand up for themselves and go beyond what is expected of them.

Breton language : EMEZI berr ha berr: div vuzisianez o deus divizet en em unaniñ, evit kas da benn asambles un huñvre, hini produiñ ur bladenn! Skrivañ 6 ton klok, produiñ pistennoù hip hop, enrollañ an tonioù, ur raktres mestroniet ganto eus A betek Z. C'hoant ho deus Perynn hag Elise kas un avel fresk er sonerezh e Breizh, o vezañ feal d'o fersonelezhioù ha d'o awen. Lakaat a raint ac'hanoc'h da glevet tonioù RnB, hip hop, jazz ha pop e brezhoneg, gant komzoù kreñv ha lufrus !

A quick word about our project :

"Tentadur", the name of our upcoming album ("Temptation"), is a small step for humankind, but a great step indeed for Elise and Perynn! A key step that brings the duo into the current music arena at last! The album will contain six tracks, with different influences: jazz obviously, but also contemporary sounds like pop, hip-hop and RnB.

What steps are going to be taken in order to achieve the goal ?

1) Write kick-ass songs

2) Record said songs with quality gear

3) Edit and mix everything with some software of other

(Also design a cool album cover, find the best musicians to play the instruments we don't play, hire a good sound engineer, find a recording studio, take stylish pics to promote the whole thing, drink herbal tea to keep our voices fresh, oh and shoot 2 music videos too)

Elise, Perynn, origins

Elise always knew that music would play a huge role in her life. At 25, she played in several bands as a jazz piano player. She still didn't put herself forward as a vocalist, but she kept thinking about it. She wrote songs on her own but still felt quite shy to play them in public. It's not until she met Perynn that she finally dared display her talent as a songwriter to the world.

In 2013, after a long studies and a job as a language teacher, Perynn decided to give up academia entirely to pursue music as a career. Her first move was to find a team of musicians to build a musical project, after having made videos by herself in her room on youtube for a few years. She founded her first band: Alexander Putsch. But soon enough, she realized that she was pickier than she thought and would have to get the cast right before she gets the right fit. Perynn wanted her co-musicians to be strong vocalists and accept her fondness for pop too! As time passed, Perynn took more and more notice of the absence of women in the music scene, that's when she decided to it a priority: make music a more feminine place!

Perynn meets Elise at a jazz jam session in Brest. They had met before because they went to the same school, but had lost sight of one another. After hearing Elise play, Perynn thinks immediately of Elise as a suitable partner in crime for her future band. Elise strikes Perynn as a very competent singer and player. They talk for a while and Elise accepts to work with Perynn for the duration of one summer. The sun is still shining on the duo and summer seems to last forever...

Breton language: Abaoe pell he doa c'hoant Elise enrollañ ur bladenn, un doare da reiñ da anaout he labour, ha da ober annez e bed ar sonerezh. Seniñ a ra piano e meur a strollad jazz, klevet e vez ivez o kanañ e meur a lec'h (gant ECBM, Lunch Noazh) met n'he doa ket bet tro c'hoazh d'en em ziskouez e-giz skrivagnerez, ha da ganañ he zonioù dezhi. Eüruzamant eviti eo deuet Perynn da gerc'hat anezhi, plijet ma oa bet gant doareoù Elise da seniñ ha kanañ. Abaoe pell e klaske Perynn ur vignonez barrek gant piv sevel strollad ar c'hantvet. Meur a daol esa he doa graet Perynn gant strolladoù all, a-raok en em gavout gant Elise, plijet o div gant ar c'han, ar mouezhioù lirzhin (Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, Aya Nakamura), an harmoniezh hag ar groovoù hip hop. Hiriv eo kroget mat an daouad, hag e pado, sur mat !

A closer look into the project

In 2019, Emezi won a competition for bands singing in breton, the Taol-Lañs, and started gathering fans. The logical next step was to make a record to spread their music to the world.

Perynn: "We want our fans to be able to listen to our music on the internet or elsewhere, on the radio, on youtube. When I go to see bands live, the first thing I do afterwards is go online and check them out, see if they have songs available. It seems logical for me that we would produce something that people could listen to from the comfort of their own home. Especially during lockdown, where listening to music has become a necessity."

Elise: "Our goal is to offer something we are proud of to the public, and to festival organizers. We wish that this object represents us. We want to go on stage and perform the album to the world. When covid is cancelled... The album is a visual object, something that will last in time, supported by music videos which we hope to make, with the help of a professional filmmaker."

Your job :)

If you wish to support our album, please feel free. We hope you find our rewards appealing! Thank you so much!

Premier album EMEZI (Perynn & Elise)

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