FEMME: Musicians in Residence China
Producer, artist and DJ, FEMME (aka Laura Bettinson) has always been in the driving seat when it comes to her career. Her DIY invention stems not only from necessity – for instance, learning how to launch electronic loops live so she didn’t have to drag her keyboard to early pub gigs – but also from a desire to retain total creative control. Several major label overtures have been entertained down the years, but ultimately Bettinson has always preferred to pursue her own artistic vision. This has been the case ever since those early performances, which earned Bettinson the attention of Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, who recruited her to front electronic alt-pop group Ultraísta. Following rave reviews from Pitchfork, The Guardian and Rolling Stone, Bettinson then took a sabbatical to launch her solo career as FEMME. Debut single ‘Fever Boy’ immediately found a home on both the BBC 6 Music playlist and the stereo of Charli XCX (who invited FEMME to tour the USA with her), as well as on several adverts, catwalks, TV show soundtracks before FEMME successfully applied for and received PRS Foundation Momentum Music funding.