Gautier Serre (born June 5, 1984), better known by his stage name Igorrr, is a French musician.
Under the Igorrr alias, he combines a variety of disparate genres, including black metal, baroque music, breakcore, and trip hop, into a singular sound.
Serre is also part of the groups Whourkr and Corpo-Mente.
The Igorrr project became a full band with the addition of vocalists Aphrodite Patoulidou and JB Le Bail, drummer Sylvain Bouvier, guitarist Martyn Clément and bassist Erlend Caspersen.
Serre plays piano, drums, and guitar and primarily uses Steinberg Cubase for recording.
He named his band after a pet gerbil called Igorr that he had as a child, adding the extra "r" to "make it harder to pronounce."
Serre claims to have synesthesia, in his case perceiving music as colors.
2004
""It was around 2004–2005 when I had several groups.
Whenever I had an idea or a composition, I had to consult with other people to know if it was good, not good, etc... and it annoyed me a bit.
I wanted to have something for myself where I would be the only person to make that kind of decision.
I was looking for a specific style of music, but I could not find what I wanted because it did not exist.
The goal was that I wanted to have a CD, put it in the player and hear exactly what I wanted to hear."
2005
Serre was part of Whourkr from 2005 up until 2013 when the group split up into their individual projects.
2006
Igorrr self-released a demo album, Poisson Soluble (2006) and Moisissure (2008, Acroplane Recordings), which gained the attention of label Ad Noiseam.
2010
His debut album Nostril was released in 2010, alongside a companion EP Baroquecore.
2011
In 2011 interview, he spoke of the origin of his solo project:
Both demos were reissued in 2011.
2012
Igorrr's second album Hallelujah was released in 2012.
It featured collaboration from Mayhem guitarist Teloch and classical singer Laure Le Prunenec.
Igorrr's pet chicken, Patrick, gained notoriety for "playing" the piano (Serre would put chicken feed on corresponding keys the chicken would peck at.) Serre won a GoPro award for film making for a video of Patrick playing filmed with a GoPro.
2014
Igorrr has also performed at several other festivals, including Heavy Montréal festival, Dour Festival (three times, in 2014, 2015 and 2017), Roadburn Festival, Europavox, Montreux Jazz Festival, Metaldays, Durbuy Rock Festival, Motocultor Festival, Download Festival, Brutal Assault, Hellfest Open Air, FortaRock, and Copenhell, among others.
Igorrr also had a short film shown at the Orlando Film Festival.
2017
In February 2017, Igorrr signed with Metal Blade Records.
His third album Savage Sinusoid, was released on June 16, 2017.
The album was recorded over five years by a collective of musicians.
The album was preceded by the single "ieuD".
Unlike previous Igorrr albums, it did not feature any samples.
It featured collaboration with members of Cattle Decapitation and Secret Chiefs 3.
The album received positive critical reception, Metal Injection awarded it "The Bat Shit Crazy Album Of The Year Award", and a perfect 10/10 score, while AllMusic gave the album 4 out of 5 stars.
Metal Hammer gave the album 4 out of 5 stars as well.
The album charted in Belgium on the Ultratop Flanders chart, reaching #173.
They also performed at a rock festival hosted by the opera company Opéra national du Rhin in 2017.
Igorrr's sound combines breakbeats, heavy metal riffs, extreme tempo changes, and operatic singing coupled with screaming/growling, among other elements, to create what AllMusic describes as "an intense, disturbing, and undeniably distinct experience".
The project's musical sources include black metal, death metal, industrial metal, progressive metal, classical music (especially Baroque music), Balkan music, breakcore, and trip hop.
It has provoked labels such as "Baroquecore" and has been described as Dadaist.
In a 2017 interview, Serre said of the origin of Igorrr: "It started when I was a teenager looking for a band or an artist destroying all the limits of music, a band able to bring what all the boring mainstream bands could not bring."
Serre listed classical composers Frédéric Chopin, Johann Sebastian Bach, Jean-Philippe Rameau, and Domenico Scarlatti, alongside contemporary acts Taraf de Haïdouks, Cannibal Corpse, Meshuggah, Aphex Twin, Mr. Bungle (as well as other Mike Patton projects), and Portishead as influences in the early days.
2018
Igorrr toured North America for the first time in 2018.
In June 2018, Igorrr supported Ministry on their 2018 North American tour.
The live show features drummer Sylvain Bouvier and vocalists Laure Le Prunenec and Laurent Lunoir, alongside Serre on vocals and programming.
