Today we’d like to introduce you to Chloe Perrier.
Hi Chloe, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I grew up surrounded by vineyards in the French Alps and discovered music through my parents’ old records. I started learning the violin and taking dance lessons very young, and ever since I can remember I have always considered a career in the arts. When we moved to Paris, I was ten. I fell in love with the city at first sight! I started attending a theater class and I immediately wanted to get into acting: I was very shy, so the idea of becoming someone else and expressing myself through a character was magical to me. I began working as a professional actress at thirteen years old… the singing came later. I was already taking singing lessons but I was way too shy to just be myself and stop hiding behind a character. The first concert I performed was a compilation of songs from my favorite movies. It is not common in France to start a music career as an actress, but for me it was very natural. A few years later, I was singing more and more jazz, and I decided to go back to school to learn more about it. I enrolled at the Bill Evans Academy where I took singing classes with the great Sarah Lazarus and studied composition with Joe Makholm. That’s when I composed my first song « Si » which is on my first album « Cœur de Francaise ». My jazz life was beginning… When I moved to New York nine years ago, barely speaking any English at all, it was common sense for me to focus on singing first. When I sing nobody complains about my accent, it’s quite the opposite! 😉
After 3-4 years, I was playing everywhere (jazz clubs, hotels, private parties, the French Consulate…) with amazing musicians, five to seven days a week! And as my English became better, I started to get a few acting jobs as well.
Love and the pandemic brought me to Los Angeles, where I took on a new challenge as a singer and actress, and I love it!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It was not really a smooth road… In France, I always struggled to make more connections, I was working a lot, but often with the same people, and I wanted more.
In New York, the struggle at first was finding work while speaking very little English, with a visa but no green card, and not really knowing anyone.
In Los Angeles, with everything being so spread out I have a hard time figuring out where the work is… and I definitely need to get my driver’s license!
But I take all those struggles as challenges, and it usually works out in the end.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a jazz singer, an actress and director. As a singer, I specialize in jazz, hot jazz, swing, chanson, Gyspsy jazz and bossa nova.
As an actress, I don’t specialize because I love to play different characters whether it’s drama or comedy.
As a director, I co-directed two of my music videos with the great Jesse Green, and I am writing a movie that I would love to direct – or co-direct, since I want to act in it as well…
I am proud of my two albums, “Coeur de Francaise” (recorded in Paris) and my latest one “Petite Fleur” (recorded in NY and released by Jazzheads), that I made with my favorite musicians and friends. We put all our love in it. It was really teamwork, and I am proud of the result.
With this latest album, I wanted to make people happy even for a little while, and it looks like it’s working 😉 (You can listen to it on any platform). I am proud when people express their joy at the end of a show.
I am also proud that I’m not afraid to follow my dreams. I think every human being is unique, and I never felt the need to fit in (maybe a bit when I was teenager). I always felt a little weird, but it’s what makes me different and unique, so I learned to love it! And I try as much as I can to put it into my art.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I am stubborn! If I want something even if it takes me years, I will never let go! I know my goals, even if I don’t always know how to get there, and I will try every possible way. Also, even though I don’t enjoy it, I am not afraid of failure. I always learn from it…
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: http://chloeperrier.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chloeperrierjazz/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chloeperrierjazz
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/chloeperrier
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ChloePerrierJazz
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/chloeperrier
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/39OzR66TfZxVxd2qIlDxdG
Image Credits:
Jesse Green Photography for all pics
