Sondrine was born in Aubagne, France, not far from Mediterranean port city of Marseille. When she was four years old, her family migrated to Australia to begin a new life.

 

Her parents' eclectic tastes in music—including Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, countless Ennio Morricone soundtracks, Jacques Brel's dramatic songs, the instrumental El Condor Pasa by Los Incas, the Moody Blues' Nights in White Satin and Wallace Collection's  Daydream—seeded a love of haunting melodies underpinned by emotion-charged harmonic progressions. 

 

At the age of five, Sondrine picked out the music that was in her head using the toy piano her maternal grandparents had given her for Christmas. Her love of composing only grew from there. When her parents bought her a keyboard and later an organ with the very modern (for its time) arpeggiator and automatic drums and bass, her passion for writing with a full band in mind flourished. 

 

Her first ever real synthesizer was a Yamaha DX7 which she played in underground bands with her sister during her teen years growing up in Brisbane, Queensland. She discovered a true passion for the subtleties of the piano in her high school music room, a veritable sanctuary for the sensitive, nerdy kids avoiding altercations with less creatively inclined students. Her love of symphonic textures was nurtured in her high school music studies through compositions written for full orchestra. 

 

Moving to Sydney, Sondrine played keys and sang in indie-pop band, Five, which released the EP Life's Curse. 

 

Sondrine originally launched her solo material under the moniker  Cartoon Thelma, playing support to the Whitlams at the Harbourside Brasserie on Sydney Harbour.

 

She later joined Albert Martinez and Ant Banister in the electro-goth outfit Junk Circuit. The band's album, Universal Republic, features 'World Citizen' and 'Life on my Own' , songs co-written by Sondrine and Albert.

 

Sondrine recorded her self-produced debut album The Outsider in her backroom studio over several years while juggling completion of a PhD, parenthood, publication of social science articles and a prosaic day job in public policy.