Margot Blanche
Encyclopedia
Margot Blanche Moussempes (born August 29, 1983)is a French/Filipino singer and songwriter
, Mariah Carey
and Whitney Houston
alongside jazz influences like Ray Charles
, Billie Holiday
and Nina Simone
, but also received rigorous training at the age of 9 with a noted local opera soprano. Her talent was first discovered by her elementary school music teacher who urged Blanche's parents to enroll their daughter in professional voice lessons. Blanche eventually began training with a classical vocal coach, tenor Jimmy Chan and at age 11 she won her first competition at the prestigious Hong Kong Schools Music Festival. She went on to win other competitions, and by the age of 15 she was accepted as a pupil through the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts with prominent Hong Kong opera diva, Katusha Tsui Fraser. Very soon becoming constrained by the rigid and academic technique necessary to perform opera, Blanche began turning to R&B and Soul music as a way of self-expression. She recorded her first demo tape at the age of 15, which consisted of a variety of cover songs and musical theater songs. In the following years, she performed at local talent shows, local clubs and competitions and was cast in her high school production as the role of Marilyn Monroe
, in the musical adaptation of the movie Some Like It Hot
.
On October 30, 2008, Blanche's first independent album ‘Pages in My Diary’ was released. Wanting to be in control of her career and artistic development, the project was entirely directed and independently financed by Blanche. She enlisted several producers and artists to collaborate with on the album including budding producer Kevin '12' Samuels, Burlesque Band Leader Ronnie Magri (who had previously worked with performers like Dita Von Teese
), Terrence Lewis, an upcoming Cincinnati Producer and Eric Applegate, with whom she had worked with on her previous EP. The album features songs written and composed by Margot, all of which reflect her musical influences and life experiences.
Blanche was on the Ballot for the 2009 Grammy Awards in four categories, Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal, Song of the Year
and Record of the Year
. She is currently a finalist in the 8th annual Independent Music Awards with her song, 'Let It Rain' nominated for the R&B Song of the Year Award and was recently also a finalist in the USA Songwriting Competition for her song 'You're Here'.
vocal range which spans four octaves. Since her debut she has been compared to the likes of Christina Aguilera
and Mariah Carey
in her melismatic vocal styling and range and she is able to adapt to different sounds and styles with ease. Blogcritics
wrote in 2008 that "Where many people who attempt multiple styles of music within one recording come across as unconvincing or insincere, Margot Blanche is able to carry them all off with equal aplomb and does so sounding like she was born to sing each particular genre. While in part this is due to her ability as a vocalist, it's also a tribute to her talents as a performer."
, female empowerment
, and grief
. Because of her musical influences, Blanche admits she prefers to write songs with more personal subjects in order to connect with her listeners on a deeper, more honest level. Lyrically, she incorporates her real life and experiences into her songwriting. After her brother's death in January 2008, Blanche turned to music and writing as a way of coping with her grief and emotions. Her songs "Let It Rain" and "Beautiful Soul" are heavily influenced by those experiences.
Blanche's 2008 album Pages In My Diary is a fusion of old world jazz with today's hip hop & urban beats. She utilizes sounds, inspirations, and stylistic references from periods of the 1920s, 1930's, and 1940's. She also incorporates pinup glamor and burlesque
into her image and live performances. For the production of the album, Blanche looked to Billie Holiday
, Isaac Hayes
, Bessie Smith
, Cab Calloway
, The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Henry Mancini
, Jo Stafford
and The Meters
among other artists for inspiration. Blanche even goes so far on some tracks as to recreate the thin compressed sound of an old mono tube radio to help craft an authentic atmosphere.
When Blanche first conceived the theme of Pages In My Diary, she was not just inspired by the vintage sounds, but also with the look and stylings of the Golden Era of Hollywood, Pinup glamor and Burlesque Cabaret. She referenced actresses Jean Harlow
, Jane Russell
, Marilyn Monroe
, Clara Bow
, Bettie Page
and Vivienne Leigh as well as pinup artists Alberto Vargas
and Gil Elvgren
as sources of inspiration for her image. She handpicked Pinup photographer Viva Van Story, who has also captured celebrated pinup models Jami Deadly
and Masuimi Max
, for the photo sessions.
Early life
Blanche was born in Hong Kong on August 29, 1983 to Nicolas Moussempes and Patricia Muassab. Blanche's father was born in Paris, France, while her mother is of Filipino and Syrian Descent. She began singing at the age of 3 and was inspired at a very young age by both popular and classical music. Blanche held heroes like Maria CallasMaria Callas
Maria Callas was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century. She combined an impressive bel canto technique, a wide-ranging voice and great dramatic gifts...
, Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
and Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
alongside jazz influences like Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
and Nina Simone
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
, but also received rigorous training at the age of 9 with a noted local opera soprano. Her talent was first discovered by her elementary school music teacher who urged Blanche's parents to enroll their daughter in professional voice lessons. Blanche eventually began training with a classical vocal coach, tenor Jimmy Chan and at age 11 she won her first competition at the prestigious Hong Kong Schools Music Festival. She went on to win other competitions, and by the age of 15 she was accepted as a pupil through the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts with prominent Hong Kong opera diva, Katusha Tsui Fraser. Very soon becoming constrained by the rigid and academic technique necessary to perform opera, Blanche began turning to R&B and Soul music as a way of self-expression. She recorded her first demo tape at the age of 15, which consisted of a variety of cover songs and musical theater songs. In the following years, she performed at local talent shows, local clubs and competitions and was cast in her high school production as the role of Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
, in the musical adaptation of the movie Some Like It Hot
Some Like It Hot
Some Like It Hot is an American comedy film, made in 1958 and released in 1959, which was directed by Billy Wilder and starred Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and George Raft. The supporting cast includes Joe E. Brown, Pat O'Brien and Nehemiah Persoff. The film is a remake by Wilder and I....
.
Career
In 2001, Blanche moved to New York City to further her career as a recording artist.On October 30, 2008, Blanche's first independent album ‘Pages in My Diary’ was released. Wanting to be in control of her career and artistic development, the project was entirely directed and independently financed by Blanche. She enlisted several producers and artists to collaborate with on the album including budding producer Kevin '12' Samuels, Burlesque Band Leader Ronnie Magri (who had previously worked with performers like Dita Von Teese
Dita Von Teese
Dita Von Teese is an American burlesque dancer, model, costume designer, author and actress.-Early life:...
), Terrence Lewis, an upcoming Cincinnati Producer and Eric Applegate, with whom she had worked with on her previous EP. The album features songs written and composed by Margot, all of which reflect her musical influences and life experiences.
Blanche was on the Ballot for the 2009 Grammy Awards in four categories, Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal, Song of the Year
Song of the Year
Song of the Year may refer to:* Dove Award for Song of the Year* Grammis Song of the Year* Grammy Award for Song of the Year* Latin Grammy Award for Song of the Year* Singing News Fan Awards for Song of the Year...
and Record of the Year
Record Of The Year
Record of the Year may refer to:*Grammy Award for Record of the Year*The Record of the Year, a British award based on public polling...
. She is currently a finalist in the 8th annual Independent Music Awards with her song, 'Let It Rain' nominated for the R&B Song of the Year Award and was recently also a finalist in the USA Songwriting Competition for her song 'You're Here'.
Vocal Ability
Blanche has a SopranoSoprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
vocal range which spans four octaves. Since her debut she has been compared to the likes of Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...
and Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
in her melismatic vocal styling and range and she is able to adapt to different sounds and styles with ease. Blogcritics
Blogcritics
Blogcritics is a blog network and online magazine of news and opinion. The site—a self-proclaimed "sinister cabal of superior writers"—was founded in 2002 by Eric Olsen and Phillip Winn...
wrote in 2008 that "Where many people who attempt multiple styles of music within one recording come across as unconvincing or insincere, Margot Blanche is able to carry them all off with equal aplomb and does so sounding like she was born to sing each particular genre. While in part this is due to her ability as a vocalist, it's also a tribute to her talents as a performer."
Themes and musical style
The constant theme in Blanche's music and lyrics is love, although she has written on other subjects including spiritualitySpirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
, female empowerment
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
, and grief
Grief
Grief is a multi-faceted response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or something to which a bond was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, it also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, and philosophical dimensions...
. Because of her musical influences, Blanche admits she prefers to write songs with more personal subjects in order to connect with her listeners on a deeper, more honest level. Lyrically, she incorporates her real life and experiences into her songwriting. After her brother's death in January 2008, Blanche turned to music and writing as a way of coping with her grief and emotions. Her songs "Let It Rain" and "Beautiful Soul" are heavily influenced by those experiences.
Blanche's 2008 album Pages In My Diary is a fusion of old world jazz with today's hip hop & urban beats. She utilizes sounds, inspirations, and stylistic references from periods of the 1920s, 1930's, and 1940's. She also incorporates pinup glamor and burlesque
Burlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
into her image and live performances. For the production of the album, Blanche looked to Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
, Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
, Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith was an American blues singer.Sometimes referred to as The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s...
, Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
, The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...
, Jo Stafford
Jo Stafford
Jo Elizabeth Stafford was an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards and occasional actress whose career ran from the late 1930s to the early 1960s...
and The Meters
The Meters
The Meters are an American funk band based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Meters performed and recorded their own music from the late 1960s until 1977...
among other artists for inspiration. Blanche even goes so far on some tracks as to recreate the thin compressed sound of an old mono tube radio to help craft an authentic atmosphere.
When Blanche first conceived the theme of Pages In My Diary, she was not just inspired by the vintage sounds, but also with the look and stylings of the Golden Era of Hollywood, Pinup glamor and Burlesque Cabaret. She referenced actresses Jean Harlow
Jean Harlow
Jean Harlow was an American film actress and sex symbol of the 1930s. Known as the "Blonde Bombshell" and the "Platinum Blonde" , Harlow was ranked as one of the greatest movie stars of all time by the American Film Institute...
, Jane Russell
Jane Russell
Jane Russell was an American film actress and was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s....
, Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
, Clara Bow
Clara Bow
Clara Gordon Bow was an American actress who rose to stardom in the silent film era of the 1920s. It was her appearance as a spunky shopgirl in the film It that brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl." Bow came to personify the roaring twenties and is described as its leading sex...
, Bettie Page
Bettie Page
Bettie Mae Page was an American model who became famous in the 1950s for her fetish modeling and pin-up photos. She has often been called the "Queen of Pinups"...
and Vivienne Leigh as well as pinup artists Alberto Vargas
Alberto Vargas
Alberto Vargas was a noted Peruvian painter of pin-up girls. He is often considered one of the most famous of the pin-up artists...
and Gil Elvgren
Gil Elvgren
Gil Elvgren , born Gillette Elvgren, was an American painter of pin-up girls, advertising and illustration. Elvgren was one of the more important pin-up and glamour artists of the twentieth century. Today he is best known for his pin-up paintings for Brown & Bigelow...
as sources of inspiration for her image. She handpicked Pinup photographer Viva Van Story, who has also captured celebrated pinup models Jami Deadly
Jami Deadly
Jami Deadly is an American born actress, glamour model, singer, burlesque dancer, and horror host. Jami grew up in Texas where she starred in the NTTV show, Deadly Cinema. Jami has been featured in Lowrider, Rue Morgue, Skin Two, Marquis, Deadbeat Magazine, Ol' Skool Rodz, Bite Me, CK Deluxe,...
and Masuimi Max
Masuimi Max
Masuimi Max is an American fetish model of Korean and German descent. Born on a U.S. Air Force Base in Jacksonville, Arkansas, Masuimi's father was a career Air Force man, with her early years spent traveling all over the world, and her teenage years growing up in Las Vegas, Nevada.-Career:Masuimi...
, for the photo sessions.