"Julien Desprez is a musician and performer based in Paris. Jazz and rock were his early musical loves, but they evolved rapidly to free forms where body and space find their places through sound. As his practice progressed as well as his conception and approach to his instrument, the music and space changed. He is now considering the guitar more like a battery, an organ, a modifiable instrument deployable at will. Through a mix of actions on the instrument and a play of foot on effect pedals, taking inspiration from the technique of Tap Dance, it completely opened the possibilities, sound and physical environment of the instrument. This results in a practice where body is engaged to its fullest.

Now evolving between sound art, performance and contemporary improvisational music, his work today is centred around all the questions that exist within a stage space, through body, space, sight and light, but where the sound remains the central pillar. Julien is also a co-founder of the Collectif Coax, a music cooperative based in Paris and created in 2008, which was recently labelled "Compagnie Nationale" by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication. He's also played with Charlie Haden, Mats Gustafson, Jeanne Added, Edward Perraud, Thomas Depourquery, François Jeanneau, Louis Sclavis, Stephane Payen, Guillaume Orti, Benoit Delbecq, Tortoise, Han Bennink, Hubert Dupont, Rob Mazurek, Jef Parker, Frank Vaillant, Gilles Coronado, Beniat Achary, Noël Ackchoté, David Grubbs, Doug Wamble, Marc Ducret, Sylvain Darrifourcq, Eve Risser, Mederic Collignon, Magic Malik, Emmanuel Bex et Hasse Poulsen."

"Averse to any linearity, the idiosyncratic Luís Lopes, a musician connected to Jazz, improvised and experimental music, has been building his career, a simple and singular story, characterised by a unique voice, free of corsets, formal ties or constraints and mannerisms regarding strict stilistical implications. He is an unfollower... experiments himself through paradoxes. Invokes teachings by following standards of subversion to any possibility of pre-established idea. Eminent self-subversion... Introspective timeless trance.

Running Multi-international groups, especially his Humanization 4tet (with Portuguese Rodrigo Amado and Texan's Aaron and Stefan Gonzalez), Lisbon Berlin Trio (with Germans Christian Lillinger, Robert Landfermann), and his "Noise" or "Love Song(s)" Solos, plus his highly recommended records he is growing as an international artist, playing at important Festivals and venues not just in Portugal but in Europe and U.S.

Coming from a rock/punk and blues background, while studying at local classic and rock schools, he began studying Jazz at Hot Club Portugal School and then was finalist at Escola de Jazz do Barreiro/Lisbon. Then did studies with Saxophonist Joe Giardullo who opened for him the doors of modern jazz harmony complexity through the George Russell's "Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization", plunging Lopes into the world of improvised and experimental music, without disregard for his fascination with distorion and guitar feedbacks, expressed in different incursions into noise music, while also canalizes energys towards projects where he can develop his composing abilities.

In more recent times, Lopes has played and / or recorded with different artists connected to jazz and improvised music, such as Noel Akchoté, Christian Lillinger, Robert Landfermann, Marco Von Orelly, Marc Unternahrer, Adam Lane, Igal Foni, Floros Floridis, Joe Giardulo, Harvey Sorgen, Benjamin Duboc, Phill Niblock, Ernesto Rodrigues, Paulo Curado, Sei Miguel, Rodrigo Amado, Hernâni Faustino, Gabriel Ferrandini, Rodrigo Pinheiro, Miguel Mira, Aaron Gonzalez, Stefan Gonzalez, Dennis Gonzalez, Elliot Levin, Alfred Hart, Daniel Levin, Reuben Radding, Daniel Carter, Jeb Bishop, Josh Abrams, Jean-Luc Guionnet, Samuel Blaser, Boris Hauf, Evan Parker, Olivier Benoit, Fred Lomberg-holm, Valentin Ceccaldi, Gonçalo Almeida, among many others."