Fred Avril

Fred Avril (he/him) is a musician and producer with a vast musical palette based in Montmartre, Paris. Before entering the world of film scoring, Avril started as a guitarist and pianist. A child defector of pop rock (Beatles, Donovan, Hendrix), he fell in love with Miles Davis and picked up the trumpet at age 20. A move to New York introduced him to electronic music, and over the years increasingly gravitated toward orchestral music. Already from his first records on the label F Communications, Avril asserted a cinematographic identity, often with a storytelling element. The hazy, Lynch-like aspect of his debut EP "Now It's Spring" already heralded a close, yet still fantasized,relationship with film. Avril's foray into film scoring began with Man Jeuk (Sparrow). His score to the feature film by acclaimed Hong Kong director Johnnie To develops an unique atmosphere of exotica, mixing Latin percussion and traditional instrumentation. Shortly after, with the experimental and elegant film Sound of Noise, Avril dug deeper and began establishing his voice. The Lifeguard, starring Kristen Bell and featuring a score of ethereal pop music by Avril, premiered at Sundance 2013. During this time, he worked on French box office hits like Harry Me, moving between writing for string quartet and producing with a rock ensemble featuring Toby Dammit, drummer of the Stooges. It's through these opportunities that Avril continued to refine his orchestral writing and expand his toolbox of sounds. Each of Fred's original scores is "the result of a lifetime of musical learning." In his score to Pearl, which first premiered in Venice, he reinforces Elsa Amiel's sharp aesthetic with a hypnotic electronic score, in line with those of Cliff Martinez, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. He has written original music for a variety of projects, from indie films like Cannes 2021 highlight The Big Hit as well as for popular series for Netflix and Amazon. He also writes original songs for films, having collaborated with artists like French singer Christophe and Australian singer Mick Harvey (former Bad Seeds), as well as writing and producing a dark and powerful electronic sound with his collaborator Philippe Monthaye for the cult manga for adults Lastman (adapted from Bastien Vivès, Balak and Sanlaville by Jérémie Périn), recently awarded the European Animation Award.