Biography
Julia Kent works from New York City as a cellist, composer, recording artist, and frequently sought session musician. Recognition first arrived through her place in the founding lineup of the cello-driven rock outfit Rasputina throughout the 1990s, followed by her ongoing role with Antony & the Johnsons beginning in the early 2000s. Her initial solo outing arrived via the 2007 release Delay, comprising solo cello pieces augmented by electronics and found sounds. Across the 2010s she sustained a series of solo projects that included the 2015 album Asperities while also supplying scores for films such as 2012’s The Boxing Girls of Kabul.
Born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, as a Canadian native, Kent pursued cello studies at Indiana University in Bloomington. After finishing those studies she moved to New York City and took an editorial position at the alternative newsweekly The Village Voice. She belonged to the original roster of the pioneering rock & roll cello trio Rasputina alongside Melora Creager and Agnieszka Rybska. Outfitted in Victorian-era costumes and advancing their own gothic chamber pop sound, that incarnation of the band issued Thanks for the Ether in 1996, followed by the 1997 EP Transylvanian Regurgitations that featured remixes by Marilyn Manson, and then How We Quit the Forest in 1998.
After departing the ensemble once the tour for the latter album concluded, Kent entered an extended stretch of session and concert engagements with additional artists. She entered Antony & the Johnsons in the early 2000s, serving as cellist and string arranger while appearing on nearly all of the group’s output beginning with the 2001 EP I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy. She also spent a brief period with Black Tape for a Blue Girl, adding to their 2002 album The Scavenger Bride. Beyond those affiliations she contributed to innumerable releases as a session musician, spanning experimental indie and folk projects by the Angels of Light and Devendra Banhart as well as mainstream recordings by Sheryl Crow and Norah Jones.
Her first solo album, Delay, reached the public in 2007. That recording presented her cello combined with live digital delay loops across a sequence of deeply melodic pieces marked by remarkable detail and arrangement. Session work and touring continued alongside this activity. In 2008 she supplied music for Irene Lichtenstein’s documentary Mario Benjamin, focused on the Haitian painter, and for P.J. Taval’s film Trinidad. The EP Last Day in July appeared in 2010, and she joined electronic sound artist and vocalist Barbara DeDominicis to score Davide Lionardi’s film Mon Apparente. Her second full-length, Green and Grey, emerged in 2011 on Important and earned international praise for its fusion of highly original compositions that incorporated digital effects and field recordings.
During the same year she provided music for Paolo Sorrentino’s film This Must Be the Place and composed the score for choreographer Douglas Lee’s dance work 5 for Silver, staged by the Norwegian National Ballet. Theater engagements proved equally extensive. She partnered with Paul Beauchamp to score Giordano V. Amato’s Il Tempo Scolpito for the Torino Festival and with Michael Camp on the music for Albert Ostermaier’s Radio Noir, which premiered at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus; she additionally wrote the score for the theatrical concert Dieci Anni Dopo il Paradiso by author Israel Horovitz, marking the tenth anniversary of September 11.
Kent and DeDominicis reunited in 2012 to record Parallel 41, named for the imaginary line connecting New York City and Naples, Italy, where DeDominicis resides. She also scored Ariel Nasr’s documentary The Boxing Girls of Kabul that year. Amid a demanding calendar she still managed to complete her third album, Character, issued by Leaf in March 2013. String arrangements for Swans’ 2014 album To Be Kind followed, and her fourth solo effort, Asperities, appeared on Leaf in 2015. In 2016 she joined Library Tapes’ David Wenngren for the full-length Escapism and the original score to the film Europe She Loves. The next year she contributed to Total Fiction by Shinya Sugimoto and Jeremy Young. The Great Lake Swallows, a collaboration with Belgian experimental artist Jean D.L. originally created for a 2015 video installation, surfaced on Gizeh Records in 2018. She further released the collaborative EP Thesis 06 with Sophie Hutchings. Her solo album Temporal came out on Leaf in early 2019.
Born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, as a Canadian native, Kent pursued cello studies at Indiana University in Bloomington. After finishing those studies she moved to New York City and took an editorial position at the alternative newsweekly The Village Voice. She belonged to the original roster of the pioneering rock & roll cello trio Rasputina alongside Melora Creager and Agnieszka Rybska. Outfitted in Victorian-era costumes and advancing their own gothic chamber pop sound, that incarnation of the band issued Thanks for the Ether in 1996, followed by the 1997 EP Transylvanian Regurgitations that featured remixes by Marilyn Manson, and then How We Quit the Forest in 1998.
After departing the ensemble once the tour for the latter album concluded, Kent entered an extended stretch of session and concert engagements with additional artists. She entered Antony & the Johnsons in the early 2000s, serving as cellist and string arranger while appearing on nearly all of the group’s output beginning with the 2001 EP I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy. She also spent a brief period with Black Tape for a Blue Girl, adding to their 2002 album The Scavenger Bride. Beyond those affiliations she contributed to innumerable releases as a session musician, spanning experimental indie and folk projects by the Angels of Light and Devendra Banhart as well as mainstream recordings by Sheryl Crow and Norah Jones.
Her first solo album, Delay, reached the public in 2007. That recording presented her cello combined with live digital delay loops across a sequence of deeply melodic pieces marked by remarkable detail and arrangement. Session work and touring continued alongside this activity. In 2008 she supplied music for Irene Lichtenstein’s documentary Mario Benjamin, focused on the Haitian painter, and for P.J. Taval’s film Trinidad. The EP Last Day in July appeared in 2010, and she joined electronic sound artist and vocalist Barbara DeDominicis to score Davide Lionardi’s film Mon Apparente. Her second full-length, Green and Grey, emerged in 2011 on Important and earned international praise for its fusion of highly original compositions that incorporated digital effects and field recordings.
During the same year she provided music for Paolo Sorrentino’s film This Must Be the Place and composed the score for choreographer Douglas Lee’s dance work 5 for Silver, staged by the Norwegian National Ballet. Theater engagements proved equally extensive. She partnered with Paul Beauchamp to score Giordano V. Amato’s Il Tempo Scolpito for the Torino Festival and with Michael Camp on the music for Albert Ostermaier’s Radio Noir, which premiered at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus; she additionally wrote the score for the theatrical concert Dieci Anni Dopo il Paradiso by author Israel Horovitz, marking the tenth anniversary of September 11.
Kent and DeDominicis reunited in 2012 to record Parallel 41, named for the imaginary line connecting New York City and Naples, Italy, where DeDominicis resides. She also scored Ariel Nasr’s documentary The Boxing Girls of Kabul that year. Amid a demanding calendar she still managed to complete her third album, Character, issued by Leaf in March 2013. String arrangements for Swans’ 2014 album To Be Kind followed, and her fourth solo effort, Asperities, appeared on Leaf in 2015. In 2016 she joined Library Tapes’ David Wenngren for the full-length Escapism and the original score to the film Europe She Loves. The next year she contributed to Total Fiction by Shinya Sugimoto and Jeremy Young. The Great Lake Swallows, a collaboration with Belgian experimental artist Jean D.L. originally created for a 2015 video installation, surfaced on Gizeh Records in 2018. She further released the collaborative EP Thesis 06 with Sophie Hutchings. Her solo album Temporal came out on Leaf in early 2019.
Albums
Leaves
2023
Branches
2021
Temporal
2019
The Great Lake Swallows
2018
Escapism
2016
Asperities
2015
Character
2013
Singles
