Béatrice Martin alias Cœur de Pirate: underground indie artist

A look-a-like French actress and singer Brigitte Bardot in her 20s, Béatrice Martin alias Cœur de Pirate, is a Quebec-based musician. Cœur de Pirate is a francophone artist of 19 years old. She lived in Montreal. Béatrice perform under the stage name Cœur de Pirate. Her pseudonym Cœur de Pirate could be translated, in English, as “Heart of Pirate”. About her pseudonym Cœur de Pirate, she said: “A pirate is someone who doesn’t care about anything, and I think that’s similar to musicians in general. They write about what they feel and don’t expect anything in return.” (Source: Montreal Mirror, December 4-10, 2008, vol. 24, no. 25).

She had started played piano at the young age of 3 years old. Cœur de Pirate follows conservatoire courses until she was 14. Between February 2007 and April 2008, several nude pictures of Cœur de Pirate had been published on the Erotic Web site Godsgirls. The pictures had been published under the pseudonym Bea. After Coeur de pirate phenomenal music career debut, the pictures had been removed form the Web site. According to the Quebec newspaper Le Soleil, Cœur de Pirate, from her real name Béatrice Martin, was only 14 when the pictured had been taking. This episode is similar to the one live by Vanessa Paradis, French singer and actress, in her early debut. The longtime girlfriend of Johnny Deep had posed in semi-nude pictures in her early career, just like Cœur de Pirate.

Shortly after the nude pictures had been released on godsgirls.com, Béatrice Martin had been discovered on MySpace. She joined the Quebec rock-indie band Bonjour Brumaire as a keyboarder and vocalist. In spring 2008, she left the band and started a project of her own: Cœur de Pirate.

She released her debut album Cœur de Pirate in 2008 at the age of 18. Cœur de Pirate had been nominated for the Francophone Album of the Year at the 2009 Juno Awards.

Cœur de Pirate is an incredible pianist and songwriter. Her music style is particular – a mix of pop, classical and indie. Béatrice Martin, alias Cœur de Pirate is often being described as an indie singer. Coeur de Pirate songs are soft melodies in which she played the piano. Among her influences, she named the Quebec French band Malajube, the French singer Claude Aznavour, Megasoid, The Kooples, Eddie Barclay, Banksy, Ghostpatrol, and Bernard Emond.

She had performed live in concert with welll-known French band Indochine and French artist Julien Doré. Cœur de Pirate is from the 2009 Jazz Festival in Montreal compilation, featuring jazz standards by Quebec singers. Béatrice Martin performs Someone to watch over me from Ella Fitzgerald.

Her album had been released in France on May 11, 2009. In spring 2009, she had giving several performances in France and Belgium.

She’s currently working on an English project call Pearls. Among with Mathias Hatleskog Tjonn, The Measure, Lindsay Katt, Palmyra, Pale Young Gentlemen, The Defending Champions, Noble Three, Peter Broderick, Steso Songs, The Botticellis, Proud Simon and Brooke Waggoner, Cœur de Pirate had contributed to the soundtrack of the upcoming indie movie Sneakers and Soul.

This summer 2009, Cœur de Pirate had performed at the FrancoFolies de Montreal and Osheaga festival. Her upcoming concerts include the Hillside Music Festival (Guelph, Ontario) on July 24, 2009, Dawson Music Festival (Yukon, Northwest Territories) on July 17 and the Festival Francopholies of La Rochelle (France) on July 10, to just name a few.