Yoann Lemoine

Yoann Lemoine
Yoann Lemoine performing live in 2014
Background information
Also known as	Woodkid
Born	(1983-03-16) 16 March 1983
Origin	Lyon, France
Genres	Pop[1] chamber pop[2] art pop[3] neofolk[4]
Occupation(s)	Music video director graphic designer singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Green United Music
Associated acts	Woodkid

Yoann Lemoine (born 16 March 1983) is a French^[5] music video director, graphic designer and singer-songwriter.^[6] His most notable works include his music video direction for Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream", Taylor Swift's single "Back to December", Lana Del Rey's "Born to Die" and Mystery Jets' "Dreaming of Another World".^[6]

Lemoine is also a neofolk musician, going by the stage name Woodkid.^[7] On March 28, 2011, Woodkid released his first EP Iron EP, and on March 18, 2013, he released his first album titled The Golden Age, which is an autobiographical record.^[8]

Life and career

Yoann Lemoine was born in Lyon to a mother of Polish-Jewish origin.^[9] He studied illustration and animation at the Emile Cohl School, where he completed his diploma with honors. He then left for the UK to follow a silk screen printing process course at Swindon College. In 2004 Yoann moved to Paris. After a brief experience at H5, he joined Luc Besson's crew and worked on the project Arthur and the Invisibles for a year. In 2006 Yoann directed a series of roughs for Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette.^[10][11]

In June 2010, he received 5 Lions for his AIDS Awareness campaign Graffiti at the Cannes Lions Advertising festival.^[12]

Lemoine's films are produced by Iconoclast.^[13]

In 2012, Lemoine received the award for Best Director of the Year at the MVPA Awards in Los Angeles ^[14] and was nominated for 6 MTV Video Music awards for his videos for Lana Del Rey, Drake, and Rihanna ^[15]

As Woodkid

Woodkid performing at the Kaufleuten in Zurich, 2013

One explanation as to why Lemoine became a musician is that guitarist Richie Havens gave him a ukulele during a video shoot he was directing.^[16]

Woodkid released the Iron EP on March 28, 2011. For the music video for the single "Iron" (composed by Yoann Lemoine), he collaborated with English model Agyness Deyn.^[17] The song was featured in trailers for Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed: Revelations^[18] and the film Hitchcock, as well as the TV series Teen Wolf.

On October 6, 2011 during a live performance in Brussels he performed a cover of the Katy Perry song "Teenage Dream" ^[19] (whose official video he directed).

On October 15, 2011 he sang on stage with Lana Del Rey in New York City.^[20][21] He co-created the video for her song "Born to Die".^[22]

He performed at the London Jazz Festival on 15 November 2012.^[23]

The French couture brand Dior Homme's fall-winter 2013 collection, "A Soldier on My Own," was inspired by Woodkid's "Iron", and is named after a phrase in the lyrics. The song was used as the soundtrack of the show.^[24]

Woodkid and Philip Glass after their conference about New York Minimalism at the Opera de Saint Etienne in 2014

On December 15, 2012, Lemoine announced he was beginning recording of his debut album, to be named The Golden Age.^[25] It was released on March 18, 2013 through independent label, Green United Music. Lemoine released the official album cover through a video he created himself on December 14, 2012^[26] and released the album's corresponding track listing one week later on December 21 on his official Facebook page.^[27]

"Run Boy Run" was directed by Lemoine himself^[28] and was used in several O₂ and Science Channel adverts (those voiced by Sean Bean).^{[29] [30]} It was also used in the teaser trailers for the BBC's series Musketeers, in January 2014.^[31]

The music video for "Run Boy Run" was nominated for Best Short Form Music Video at the 2013 Grammy Awards. The song was also used in the trailer for the game Dying Light.

"Run Boy Run" and "I Love You" were featured on the soundtrack of the 2014 film Divergent.

During his Golden Age tour, Woodkid performed at the London Brixton Academy with the BBC Orchestra in November 2013,^[32] and was invited by the Montreux Jazz Festival to perform for the second time with the Sinfonietta de Lausanne at the Stravinsky Auditorium.^[33] The Golden Age tour performances were marked by a well-coordinated light show and visual projections that included imagery from his music videos.^[34]

In January 2014, Lemoine / Woodkid was invited to give a performance and talk about the New York minimalist movement with Philip Glass by the Opéra and Museum of Modern Art of Saint Etienne.^[35]

In February 2014, Woodkid received the award for best stage performer at the French equivalent of the Grammy Awards, Les Victoires de la Musique.^[36]

In 2014, Woodkid / Lemoine worked as creative director for Pharrell Williams' 24 Hours of Happy music video concept, seen more than 600 million times on YouTube.^[37][38]

He also served as creative director of the video campaign for John Legend's album Love in the Future, produced by Kanye West, including videos for "Who Do We Think We Are", directed by Paul Gore^[39] and Made to Love, directed by Daniel Sannwald.^[40]

In April 2014, Woodkid performed at Coachella.^[41]

On June 26, 2014, Woodkid opened the Montreal International Jazz Festival with a free outdoor concert to an audience of 100,000+.^[42]

In July 2014, Ubisoft released its second cinematic trailer for Assassin's Creed Unity, where "The Golden Age" was played.

In August 2014, Woodkid performed at the FM4 Frequency Festival in Austria.

In December 2014, Woodkid performed at Wonderfruit in Thailand.

He also directed Pharrell Williams's Coachella show, featuring Jay Z, Gwen Stefani, Usher, Pusha T, Busta Rhymes, and Puff Daddy.^[43]

The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps featured "Run Boy Run" as part of their 2015 repertoire, entitled "Game On".

On July 15, 2016, Woodkid performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival at a special "Woodkid and Friends" evening with a nearly all acoustic set. He was accompanied by the Sinfonietta de Lausanne orchestra and a choir of children from the Montreux Choral Festival. Among his friends who also performed at this event were Son Lux, The Shoes, Ed Droste, Thomas Bloch, and actress Elle Fanning singing for the first time live on a stage.^[44]

On Septembre 16, 2016, Woodkid promoted Mykki Blanco's debut album on his Facebook page. He is featured on the single "High School Never Ends" and helped producing the album.

Discography

Albums

Albums - score / soundtrack

Desierto (Original Motion Picture Score) ^[55]

Extended plays

Singles

Music videos

Videography as director

Awards

• 2009: Cannes Lions Advertising Festival – ‘Tiji’ – Silver – Best Film^[67]
• 2010: Eurobest European Advertising Festival – ‘Aides Graffiti’ – Bronze – Best Film^[68]
• 2010: Cannes Lions Advertising Festival – ‘Aides Graffiti’ – Bronze (2) – Cyber^[69]
• 2010: Cannes Lions Advertising Festival – ‘Aides Graffiti’ – Gold (2) – Best Film – Viral^[69]
• 2012: UK Music Video Awards – "Born to Die" – Best Pop – International. The video he produced for "Blue Jeans" was also a nominee for the same award.^[70]

Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards are held annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Yoann has 2 nominations.

Personal life

Lemoine is openly gay.^[71]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yoann Lemoine.

• Official website
• Woodkid on labelgum (Green United Music)
• Woodkid's Discography on discogs