Anna Magidson (Singer / Writer / Composer) Romain Hainaut (Beatmaker / Producer / Composer) Anna remembers learning to read music the same time she learned how to read. Her parents, both musicians, played jazz/blues/soul in bars in Poitiers, France and decided to move to California when she was 11. There she started getting more involved in choir specifically, before playing guitar and singing with her own gypsy jazz band and with her parents occasionally. In choir she began to sing more RnB and soul solos, an affection for this type of music that only augmented after getting to Montreal where she realized she wanted to start singing her own RnB imbued compositions on electronic beats. Romain was born in Paris, France but moved to live in New York with his parents when he was 4 years old. He started playing the saxophone at age 8. He moved on teaching himself electric guitar at 11. When he was 12 years old he started using his father’s computer to make beats on garageband. He started releasing Hip Hop beats under the name Blasé, and the next year started another music project, this time releasing house and techno tracks under the alias Rombo. HAUTE formed in 2013 in Montreal, where both Anna and Romain moved to become students at McGill University. The duo met on a Facebook page which Romain had created for McGill musicians to share their work and ideas. After sending each other beats and acapellas, the two met in Paris the summer of that year to record a song at Diez Studios, the label with which Romain had been working with for his other projects. The song became “Down,” which was released in the summer of 2014 by french radio station Radio Nova and playlisted on the same radio. "When choosing a name for the band, we wanted something that evoked our french origins, all the while being relevant in an anglophone environment. We chose the name Haute because it has connotations of grandeur, perfectionism (ie Haute Couture), traits that we value and that we want reflected in our music." Anna and Romain both live in Montreal, Canada, where we are finishing their studies at McGill University (Romain: Music, Anna: Philosophy). They spend most of their time off in France where they have family and a production team working alongside them. Anna has recorded a studio album with Gypsy Jazz guru Denis Chang, and sang at the Jazz Festival of Montreal in 2014 with him. She has done numerous cameos with the Hot Club of San Francisco (one of her parent’s bands) in concert halls in Boston and San Francisco. She has also done many vocal featurings for upcoming rappers in the Bay Area, Montreal, and New York. Her main influences/inspirations are Brandy, Sade, Aaliyah, Tink (Timbaland’s newest protegée), Lauryn Hill, Amy Winehouse, Erykah Badu, Tinashe, SZA, Kelela, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Jhene Aiko, Stromae, Buena Vista Social Club, FKA Twigs, AlunaGeorge, Corinne Bailey Rae. Under his aliases Blasé and Rombo, Romain has opened for and played alongside acts such as A-Trak, Baauer, Araabmusik, High Klassified, Lil Mike, Sango, Synapson, Klangkarussel, Darius Syrossian, Sharam Jey, Traumer, in clubs in Montreal and in Paris. (Social Club, Lakomune, Showcase, Cabaret Underworld, Apt. 200.) He has done official remixes for Deep House artists The Avener and Synapson. He has also produced for Montreal-based rappers such as Gabe ‘Nandez and ST. He played this year at the official closing party of the Cannes Festival. His main influences/inspirations are Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Manu Chao, Prince, Air, Justice, Mr. Oizo, Daft Punk, Dr. Dre, DJ Premier, Just Blaze, Timbaland, Hit Boy, Flying Lotus, Kaytranada, Dawaun Parker, WondaGurl, Da-P, SBTRKT, Mr Carmack. https://soundcloud.com/hauteofficial https://www.facebook.com/hautemusic