French Kiwi Juice

Last updated
French Kiwi Juice
Fkj presspic.jpg
FKJ in 2015
Background information
Birth nameVincent Fenton
Born (1990-03-26) 26 March 1990 (age 34)
Origin Tours, France
Genres Nu jazz, Electronic, Rhythm and blues, French house
Occupations
  • DJ
  • musician
Instruments
  • Synthesizer
  • drum machine
  • personal computer
  • guitar
  • bass guitar
  • double bass
  • piano
  • saxophone (alto, tenor)
  • drum kit
  • vocals
Years active2012–present
LabelsRoche Musique
Website frenchkiwijuice.com
FKJ live in Pune, India (December 2018) Fkj india 2018.jpg
FKJ live in Pune, India (December 2018)

Vincent Fenton (born 26 March 1990), known professionally as French Kiwi Juice or the abbreviation FKJ (sometimes stylized Fkj), is a French multi-instrumentalist, singer, and musician from the city of Tours. [1] [2] [3] He is known for his solo live performances, where he does live loopings through Ableton Live and showcases his multi-instrumentalist skills. His self-titled debut album, French Kiwi Juice, was released on 3 March 2017. [4]

Contents

FKJ has performed at music festivals including Coachella, [5] Euphoria, [6] CRSSD, [7] Lollapalooza, and Lightning in a Bottle. [8]

Career

FKJ has been described as a "pioneer" and "one of the flag bearers" of the new New French House genre. He was originally trained in sound engineering for film at a film school. [9] [10]

FKJ achieved significant public attention after the release of the fully improvised song "Tadow" and accompanying studio recording in 2017. He improvised the song with fellow musician Masego, during a day-long recording session that took place just after the musicians met each other. [11]

In April 2017, FKJ announced that he was performing at the 2017 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Do Lab Stage.

On 7 April 2022, FKJ performed on his new single "Greener" with Carlos Santana.

Personal life

FKJ was born on 26 March 1990 to a mother from France and a father from New Zealand. From a young age, he immersed himself in music from his parents' libraries, including "English rock, Queen, Pink Floyd, The Police... '70s rock, Led Zeppelin... some jazz or Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis... a little bit of French music, but not too much, like Serge Gainsbourg." [12] [11]

In March 2019, FKJ married fellow musician June Marieezy [13] (who uses the stage name ((( O )))) with whom he had previously collaborated, on the track "Vibin' Out". [14]

Discography

Studio albums

TitleAlbum details
Release dateLabelFormat
French Kiwi Juice3 March 2017 (US) [4] Roche Musique
Just Piano13 August 2021 (US) [15] Mom + Pop
Vincent10 June 2022 (US) [15] Mom + Pop Music

EP

TitleDetails
Release dateLabelFormat
Ylang Ylang EP12 November 2019 [16] Mom + Pop CD Download

Singles

TitleDetails
Release dateLabelFormat
"Greener"7 April 2022 [17] Mom + Pop CD Download

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brad Wilk</span> American drummer (born 1968)

Bradley Joseph Wilk is an American drummer. He is best known as a member of the rock bands Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, and Prophets of Rage (2016–2019).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coachella</span> American annual music and arts festival held in Indio, California

Coachella is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. It was co-founded by Paul Tollett and Rick Van Santen in 1999, and is organized by Goldenvoice, a subsidiary of AEG Presents. The event features musical artists from many genres of music, including rock, pop, indie, hip hop and electronic dance music, as well as art installations and sculptures. Across the grounds, several stages continuously host live music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Live looping</span>

Live looping is the recording and playback of a piece of music in real-time using either dedicated hardware devices, called loopers or phrase samplers, or software running on a computer with an audio interface. Musicians can loop with either looping software or loop pedals, which are sold for tabletop and floor-based use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Thomas Broughton</span> Musical artist

David Thomas Broughton is an English folk/avant-garde singer and guitarist. Born in Otley, West Yorkshire, he creates the sound of a large ensemble by sampling himself singing, playing acoustic guitar, and making an assortment of other sounds through a Boss loop pedal. He also uses various non-traditional musical instruments to augment his songs, including radios, personal attack alarms and televisions, and occasionally incorporates a use of natural field recordings into his music. He is also known for his love of spontaneity and musical improvisation, recording albums in one take and beginning live performances with no clear plan in mind. He includes self-conscious, ironic dance moves and off-mic singing in his live performances.

Hans Christian is a German-born musician and producer now based in the U.S. in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Christian is a multi-instrumentalist usually associated with world music, ethnic fusion, chamber jazz and sometimes new-age music, but who also plays electronic and classical music. His solo concerts feature the cello, sarangi, sitara, and nyckelharpa with a technique called live looping, where he uses a customized system to record and overdub his live playing on stage. His production work includes projects in a range of genres, from Americana to bluegrass, folk, rock, and devotional chants. He operates a recording studio in Sturgeon Bay, WI called STUDIO 330 and a record label named Allemande Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cloudchord</span> American music producer and musician

Derek VanScoten, known professionally as Cloudchord, is an American music producer, multi-instrumentalist and electronic musician. Based in Austin, Texas, he has been actively releasing solo material since 2009. In 2011, under the moniker D.V.S*, he released an official remix of Break Science featuring Talib Kweli, and in 2012 he was a featured guitarist and co-producer on Michal Menert's album Even If It Isn't Right.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flatbush Zombies</span> American hip hop group

Flatbush Zombies are an American hip hop group from the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York City, formed in 2010. The group is composed of rappers Meechy Darko, Zombie Juice and Erick Arc Elliott, with Elliott also serving as their regular record producer. The trio are part of the East Coast hip hop supergroup Beast Coast, with fellow Brooklyn-based rap groups The Underachievers and Pro Era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galantis</span> Swedish electronic music act

Galantis is a Swedish electronic music act consisting of producer Christian "Bloodshy" Karlsson. Formerly, they were a duo, alongside rising musician Style of Eye, until he decided to part ways with the project shortly after their second album The Aviary in 2017. However, he made appearances in live performances and music videos as part of the project up until 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacob Collier</span> English musician (born 1994)

Jacob Collier is an English singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and educator. His music incorporates a combination of jazz and elements from other musical genres, and often features extensive use of reharmonisations and close harmony. He is known for his energetic live performances, in which he often conducts the audience to sing harmony or play percussion parts. Collier demonstrates his harmonic expertise in lectures and master classes, particularly with his detailed analyses of songs like Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke" and his own music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magic Giant</span>

Magic Giant is an American alt-rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in early 2014. The group consists of Austin Bisnow, Zambricki Li (viola) and Zang (guitar).

Mehdi Benjelloun, known by his stage name Petit Biscuit, is a French-Moroccan DJ and music producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dutch Party (band)</span> US musical group

Dutch Party is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 2014, the band's music is written, recorded and produced by lead singer, Ken Franklin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masego (musician)</span> Jamaican musician (born 1993)

Micah Davis, known professionally as Masego, is a Jamaican-American musician and singer, known for incorporating the saxophone into his music. Masego released two EPs in 2016, The Pink Polo EP with Medasin, and Loose Thoughts. He gained widespread attention with his collaborative record with FKJ called "Tadow" released in 2017. In 2018, he released his debut album Lady Lady. His album Studying Abroad: Extended Stay was nominated for the 2022 Grammy Awards in the "Best Progressive R&B Album" category.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Lloyd</span> Israeli record producer and musician

Nir Tibor, known professionally by his stage name Dennis Lloyd, is an Israeli musician, producer, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for his 2016 hit single "Nevermind", which charted in several countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jordan Rakei</span> New Zealand-Australian musician (b. 1992)

Jordan Rakei is a New Zealand-Australian musician, singer, songwriter and record producer currently based in London, United Kingdom. Rakei has also released and performed under the moniker Dan Kye.

<i>Lady Lady</i> (album) 2018 studio album by Masego

Lady Lady is the debut studio album by Jamaican-American singer Masego. It was released on September 7, 2018 by EQT Recordings, LLC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc Rebillet</span> French-American electronic musician and YouTuber

Marc Rebillet is a French and American electronic musician and YouTuber from Dallas, Texas, currently based in New York City. Rebillet is known for his improvised funk and hip-hop electronic music with free flowing, humorous lyrics. Rebillet distributes his work primarily through YouTube videos and Twitch live streams using a loop station, keyboard, vocals and percussion instruments to produce his songs in his apartment. He has released three studio albums under his legal name: Marc Rebillet, Europe, and Loop Daddy III; two extended play records, and three projects under his "leae" moniker: Pod 314, the Rattlebrain EP, and the week | ep.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roche Musique</span> Record label

Roche Musique is an independent electronic music label based in Paris and founded in 2012 by DJ and producer Jean Janin, also known as Cezaire.

Kyle Watson is a South African music producer and DJ. He creates house music containing elements of Electronic dance, Deep house and Techno.

June Marieezy, also known by her stage name ( ), is a Filipino-American singer and songwriter. The artistic moniker ( ) is unpronounceable. The creative punctuation symbolizes the artist's energetic presence. It also makes searching for her online more difficult which is a permanent fixture in keeping her mind off of creating music to gain fame.

References

  1. "Listen: FKJ - 'Leave My Home'". Clash Magazine. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
  2. "Looped: FKJ (French Kiwi Juice)". KCRW. 6 June 2017. Retrieved 2019-04-06.
  3. "French Kiwi Juice - Showcase". Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris . Retrieved 2019-04-06.
  4. 1 2 BWW News Desk. "FKJ's Highly Anticipated Debut LP 'French Kiwi Juice' Out Now" . Retrieved 2017-05-27.
  5. "FKJ gets into the groove for SF show, Coachella debut". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2017-05-27.
  6. "EUPHORIA 2017". Songkick. Retrieved 2017-05-27.
  7. "Top 5 acts from CRSSD Festival Fall 2016 – EARMILK". Earmilk. 2016-10-10. Retrieved 2017-05-27.
  8. "Lighting in a Bottle festival offers fresh, sustainable music alternative". Daily Bruin . Retrieved 2017-05-27.
  9. "FKJ releases 'Why Are There Boundaries' as debut album release edges closer – EARMILK". Earmilk. 2017-03-01. Retrieved 2017-05-27.
  10. "RA: FKJ". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 2017-05-27.
  11. 1 2 Monroy Yglesias, Ana (August 2, 2019). "Looping Guru FKJ Talks Improvising "Tadow" With Masego & Being "A Melting Pot"". GRAMMY.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  12. "FKJ (French Kiwi Juice) Live Debut - Tours at Undertheradar". UnderTheRadarNZ.
  13. "Vincent and June's Secret Ceremony" via www.youtube.com.
  14. "Fkj - Vibin' Out with ((( O )))" via www.youtube.com.
  15. 1 2 "Just Piano (Release)". Bandcamp. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  16. "Ylang Ylang EP (Release)". Beatsource. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
  17. "Greener (Release)". RollingStone. Retrieved 2022-04-12.