Music
Press
In science, when atoms composed of different
elements rearrange themselves to form a new
substance, it's called a chemical reaction. This
phenomenon, however, is not always limited
to science. Prior to 2007, Le Maitre, TinaB.,
and Billy Winn, the trio that makes up DCbased
singing group Auteur, were individual
singers/songwriters, heavy on talent and
ambition, and navigating the rough roads of
the music industry. Unbeknownst to each of
them, those roads would lead to a fateful
point where all their paths would cross. In
2007, the three of them were hired to sing
backup for another local singer named
SugaBrown, who was performing weekly at
the Ocean Drive Night Club, according to the
group's Facebook Fan page. As the rehearsal
and performance went on, something---that
reaction---happened. "We realized the
impact our sound was having on the audience
we were playing for," they said, looking back.
"It was honestly magical." That magic was the
feeling that things were about to change.
When the gig with SugaBrown ended, rather
than tempt fate and part ways, they formed
Auteur instead. "We knew the best thing to
do was to stay together—at least long enough
to see how far we could really take this."
However, that is not to say things
immediately came easy. “We found ourselves
sort of at a loss”, explained Le Maitre on
Facebook. "All the songs that initially got us
attention, were [SugaBrown's] songs...we had
to start from scratch. We had to sing covers
until we could get our music going.”
Although covers were just a means to an end,
performing them helped Auteur gainexposure and an audience. Still, by summer of
2008, they were searching for producers so
that they could begin working on their own
material and their own sound, which the
group describes as progressive R&B: R&B at
the core, but with bits of Jazz, Hip Hop, Funk,
Soul, Spoken Word, Reggae and Rock thrown
in. Why? Because as the group puts it, they
are "from VERY different backgrounds,
artistically, and so we try to incorporate as
much of that as possible into Auteur's
sound." They knew who they were and who
they wanted to become, thus, it was simply a
matter of time.
Auteur was due for more luck, and at a
launch party for Eric Arceneaux, the group
met producer Andrae Alexander who had
worked with singers Raheem Davaughn and
Chrisette Michele. Shortly thereafter, Auteur,
too,began working with Alexander, who
produced a 90 minute clip that would
eventually become the group's first song, Just
U's. "We all pretty much wrote something to
the track, and brought whatever it was to the
session. I don't think any of us knew we'd
actually come out of it with a song, but we
were ecstatic to finally be able to say we have
a song that actually had music—something
we could actually perform," Billy Winn is
quoted as saying on the fan page. The group
still enjoys the process of creating original
material."It has been really refreshing to be
able to combine our unique styles and allow
our creative juices to flow. Writing and
performing our own music allows our
audience to experience what Auteur is really
all about. Anybody, can listen to someone
else's song and mimic the sound. We want our
listeners to know that when they come to an
Auteur show, they are going to encounter
true artistry." The group continued to work
with Alexander on several songs including,
'Love Drunk', which became the group's first
single.They are currently performing live
around DC, and recently wrapped up a
series of shows at Twins Jazz Lounge (1344 U
Street, NW) in the U Street Corridor. They are
now in talks to continue their performances
there.
Auteur is not signed to a major label, but
clearly that has not prevented them from
garnering attention. Through social
networking sites such as MySpace and
Facebook, the group has been able to retain
complete control of their image and connect
with fans. "The internet has proven to be the
best way for Indie Artists, like ourselves, to
create a fan base and create a buzz for our
music. Being on various websites has allowed
us to touch people around the world. People
from various cultural backgrounds have been
able to listen to and give feedback on our
unique style of music. We have posted clips
from our live shows, photo shoots, band rehearsal and various impromptu jam
sessions."
As 2009 closes, the nearly three year old
group has a lot planned for next year. They
will continue to work on original music for the
Auteur CD (no release date has been set) as
well as their live shows. The group already
has singles available on iTunes.com, Lulu.
com, Reverbnation.com, Facebook.com,
Myspace.com and Jango.com. The members
are also making names for themselves in
other ways. Billy Winn's poetry was featured
in the October issue of Excape the Matrix
Magazine http://etmmagazine.info/index.
html (under the Free Your Mind section).
TinaB., who is also a vocal instructor teaching
the Arceneaux Approach technique to vocal
freedom and working under founder,
Arceneaux ( the group's vocal coach), will be
touring with him and two other local artists as
a backup singers on the upcoming "Dream
Tour" www.dreamtouronline.com.
Auteur was once unsure about how people
would react to the name the group, but they
stated that once they declared it as theirs,
people loved it, and so did they. One thing
that is also worth declaring, is that 2010 and
beyond will belong to Auteur too. - DC Entertainment Examiner
Discography
Single - Just Us, Released 2009
Debut Single - Love Drunk, Releasing 2009
"Just Us", our pre-release single is currently in rotation in local clubs and cafe's and is also available on our Myspace and Facebook pages.
Photos
Bio
Auteur is the Washington, DC based singing group that creates a fresh and unique brand of Soul they’ve dubbed, Progressive R&B—a mixture of their individual sounds and styles melded into a brand new flavor of urban music. Comprised of singer/songwriters Le Maitre, TinaB., and Billy Winn, the members of Auteur met by chance, and from the moment they pieced together their mesmerizing three-part harmonies, it was apparent that together, they had something exceptional—something that could only be describe simply as, Auteur.
In 2007, the future members of Auteur were merely singers, each looking for a way in as so many artists were. That in came with an opportunity to sing backup for another DC artist, as the three began performing weekly at Ocean Drive Night Club. “It was weird at first, because when we sang together that first rehearsal—you kind of got the sense that something important was happening or about to happen,” explains TinaB. “But we weren’t sure what it was—it just felt good.” The chemistry that sparked in rehearsal, seamlessly carried over to the stage during the months the trio spent singing backup. After that run ended, they decided to continue on as a group, seeking producers, performance venues, and a name that perfectly described their musical flair. In early 2008, they began performing covers at a number of music festivals, as a way to introduce themselves as a group. “After the backup thing ended, we found ourselves sort of at a loss.” Explains Le Maitre about the start up of Auteur. “All the songs that initially got us attention belonged to someone else—so once that situation dissolved and we decided to form our own act, we had to start from scratch. We had to sing covers until we could get our music going.” Singing covers did not take away from the performance of the group, but instead reinforced it, as their live interpretations of hit songs like “Golden”, “If I Had My Way”, and “So High” only gained them further exposure. As their appearances continued, their fan base started to form and the group decided to turn their full attention toward recording—but not before they would make a very important and long-term decision.
“It happened completely by coincidence,” explains Billy, “I was reading album reviews one night (I’m a geek like that (laughs)) and I came across the word auteur. I didn’t know what it meant, but I noticed it was used to describe the artist, so I looked it up.” Having considered the meaning and rarity if the word, Billy brought it to the others during a writing session, and by session’s end, the decision was unanimous, and Auteur was officially formed. TinaB. remarks, “We weren’t sure how people would react to the name—because it isn’t a word you hear very often—but once we declared it as ours, peopled loved it, and so did we.”
By the summer of 2008, Auteur’s full attention was on recording, devoting their time in search of the right producer. At the launch party for Singer/Songwriter/Vocal Coach Eric Arceneaux, they were introduced to Andrae Alexander—a producer and an artist in his own right, who has worked with such talents as Raheem Davaughn and Chrisette Michele. Within a month of their meeting, Auteur began working with Alexander—testing their artist/producer chemistry by writing to a ninety second clip he’d created. “When Dwayne (Auteur’s manager) told us Drae was interested in working with us, we were sure it would be a while before anything got started,” mentions Le Maitre, “I think by that point—considering our solo and early group occurrences—we’d all learned pretty much—not to get our hopes up. So I’m sure you can imagine how surprised we all were when Dwayne forwarded the track to us (laughs) and said it was from Andrae!” Each of the three members of the rapidly developing Auteur wrote to the clip before bringing their thoughts to a weekly writing session. After a few hours of cutting, editing, and rewriting, Auteur had finally written their first official song—the summery slow jam, “Just Us”. “We all pretty much wrote something to the track, and brought whatever it was to the session. I don’t think any of us knew we’d actually come out of it with a song, but we were ecstatic to finally be able to say we had a song that actually had music—something we could actually perform.” Billy comments.
The group presented the song to Alexander, who was quickly inspired to finish the track. Weeks later, “Just Us” was complete and everyone was eager to move forward with the project. “’Just Us’ came out so effortlessly—it was clear to me and I think everyone that we’d made the right choice with Drae.” Says Le Maitre. After “Just Us”, Auteur recorded a variety of songs with Alexander, resulting in their first collection of songs, including the hit, “Love Drunk,” their official single, which has played constantly on Jango and sold a number of copies worldwide.
Having successfully created music that exhibited wha
Links
