Ubaye is a one-man experimental music project by French artist and producer Joakim Gautier, based in Paris.

Officially launched in 2026, the project grew out of a much longer fascination with musical experimentation dating back to childhood. Its name comes from the Ubaye Valley in the French Alps, a place closely associated with family holidays and one of several geographical references that have found their way into the music — nearby Serre-Ponçon even gave its name to an album.

Ubaye has no fixed genre or formula. Electronic music, trip-hop, downtempo, ambient and synthwave can give way to alternative and indie rock, hip-hop, R&B, soul, jazz or something harder to categorize altogether. Styles can change dramatically from one track or album to the next; experimentation and freedom are the constants.

The project often begins with a style, an instrument, an atmosphere or a written idea. Whatever the starting point, the aim is frequently cinematic: to create music that could belong to the soundtrack of a film that does not exist. Places, cities, landscapes and imagined environments help establish the mood and give each track its own setting.

Early Ubaye releases were predominantly instrumental, with a strong emphasis on beatmaking, atmosphere and sonic environments. Lyrics have gradually become more important, adding another layer of meaning to the music. Written in English for an international audience, they explore subjects including introspection, human relationships, memory, cities, travel, technology, melancholy, absurdity and fiction.

This evolution has also changed the way albums are constructed. Earlier releases often worked as collections of largely independent tracks, while more recent albums tend to develop a stronger stylistic and sonic identity of their own.

Artificial intelligence has been part of Ubaye's creative process from the beginning, and the project is deliberately transparent about it. AI can be used extensively in the creation of sound, instrumentation and voices, but always as a guided tool within a human-directed process. Ideas, artistic direction, selection, editing, structure and final decisions remain central to Joakim's role. Rather than hiding the technology, Ubaye treats it as another means of making experimentation possible.

Music also runs in the family. Joakim grew up around musicians, including two brothers involved in the early French electronic music scene, an environment that helped shape his curiosity for production, technology and sound.

Entirely studio-based and independent, Ubaye is ultimately a project built around freedom: the freedom to move between genres, to combine words and sound, to use new creative tools without disguising them, and to let each release explore a different territory.

Paris is home. The rest is open ground.

Music available on all major streaming platforms.

Main social page is on Instagram.