www.fantazio.org

LA TRIPERIE PRESENTS

URBAN NOMADISM AND SONIC SOUNDS PERFORMANCE / RAW PUNK ROCK / FREE JAZZ / CABARET That's it, it move again! since the time that we waited for the new, the original and not the so called creative Here it is, the French scene awakes under the battering of a certain Fantazio. Tribune de Genève 2008 An Unidentified Musical Object. An expression often used haphazardly, but in this case, illustrates Fantazio’s universe perfectly. A true showman, a spirit haunted by an incredibly extravagant creativity, bringing together the most divers crowds over the course of his performance-like concerts. Covered in tattoos, traumatised for a long time by the poster of Elephant Man, his stage name inherited during his punk era, this wild individual is a character out of the ordinary and his music totally uncategorised. As if he and his doublebass where one, his fingers bashed by mishandling the cords, he has travelled with his peculiar music throughout different countries, concert halls, theatres, circuses, bars, street alleys and is now known as one of the most fantastic figures of the Parisian alternative scene. If one had to detect all the different styles in this musical ensemble (one might judge as having no head or tail), you could probably find as much scruffy punk as anxious jazz, archaic primitive hazy hip-hop, fine-spun reggae, brassy rock as well as electronic rhythms. A mixture between an aniseed brass band and a surrealist experimental work shop, the man-elephant and his Gang playfully dodge expectancies using noises that wander and tranquil sounds to the limits of obliteration. At the centre of these treasures of musical inventiveness, Fantazio narrates, sings with his malleable voice, spits out, roars, howls, becomes a malicious geisha or a crude crooner, his sudden outburst of words provoke strange stories in his own hallucinated storyteller posture. The "Fantazio Project" comes in different shapes & sizes : some are more “traditional” with more “popular shapes” like Fantazio Gang with Stephane Danielides on soubassophone. Pierre Chaumié, baritone saxophone. Denis Schuler, drums. Benjamin Colin, percussion. Frank Williams, guitar. Fantazio, doublebass & singer. Others forms are more surrealistic and half improvised. Some are more traditionally « rock’n’roll ». Some are purely wild and experimental though keeping popular childish refrains. And then a performing solo still goes wild…

Many different guests nourish the shapes by giving free rain to the moving animal: Akosh.S, Denis Charolles, Katherina EX, Joelle Léandre, Jean François Vrod, René Lacaille, Emiko Ota, Stephen Harrison, DJ Shalom, Dgiz, D’ de Kabal, DJ Junkaz Lou.

PRESS CUTTINGS Genius. The hexagonal equivalent of a Captain Beefheart, which in the heyday of Trout Mask Replica, pushed the boundaries of rock'n'roll, Fantazio deconstructs la chanson francaise, blues, punk and jazz (among others) into an avant-garde maelstrom belonging only to him. Impressive and stunning. LETSMOTIV 2008 Fantazio didn't wait for the awakening of the media to federate these little gregarious crowds (…) Highly appreciated subversiveness flows into our doped imagination. D.Queillé. LIBERATION 2010. The double bass player of stamina and crazy singer, with the voice alternately warm, high-key, rocky or childish. The great performer who gained his reputation of brilliant curiosity in squats and bars. F. Marmande. LE MONDE. Fantazio is an exceptional artist. A true personality, a true musical universe and most of all a true talent. Surrealist poet, iconoclastic instrumentalist, a concert of Fantazio is always a surprising, exciting and confusing moment. His performance exudes sincerity. Nothing is played, all is done in a passionate relationship with his audience. One song follows the other, poetic and musical improvisations emerge, and the music, of an abundance and incredible freedom, lives and develops under the direction of the fantast Fantazio. Between jazz and chanson, rock and experimental music, the compositions serve as the backdrop to the crazy poetry of the artist. Always on the road, he alters between concerts in squats, bars and concert halls in the entire world. But every concert is unique. EVEN 2007

This strangle animal singer, who won his reputation of genius curiosity in squats and bars, does neither traditional music, nor jazz, nor rock or hip-hop, he draws from all kinds of music and proposes poetic songs, where languages and audacities multiply. His band grooves all the time and charms with its protean universe. MONDOMIX 2006

Discographie 2010: Double LP « Lost and found sounds » Fantazio, Akosh.S et Denis Charolles (Fantaztic Records / La Triperie) 2009: CD et LP "5000 ans de danse crue et de grands pas chassés" Fantazio Gang (La Triperie / Pias) 2007: CD et LP « The Sweet Little Mother Fucking Show » Fantazio Gang (La Triperie / Pias) 2003: CD « Black Betty, Live à Rennes » Fantazio, Dgiz, Stephen Harrison, Cyrille Andrieu (Les Ateliers du Vent)

Films / Acting / Performances 2010: Actor in « Bye-Bye Blondie » directed by Virginie Despentes Release expected in 2011 2009 / 2010: Master class : Royaumont / Conservatoire de Strasbourg 2008: Composer: Soundtrack of Chasseurs de Dragons FUTURIKON

BEST OF ELEFANTAZIO TOUR International Tour : Japon, Italie, Allemagne, Belgique, Suisse, Hollande, Algérie, Colombie...

Glastonbury Festival 2011 (GB) , Hootananny Brixton, Londres (GB) / Fuzion Festival, Larz(De), Festival Plein Open Air, Bruxelles (Be) / Robodock Festival, Amsterdam (NL) / Biennale de Venise (It)Expresso del Hielo (CO). Parbudice Festival(CZ), Bitef Festival, Belgrade (RS) / Treibsand, Lübech (DE) / Im Objekt, Halle (DE)/ Haus Der Sinner, Berlin (DE), CCF, Tlemcen (DZ) / Festi Concept, Neuchatel (CH) / Undertown, Genève (CH) / Festival Theater Aan Zee Oostend (CH), Festival Black Movie, Geneva (CH) Hirschneck, Basel (CH)...

French Tour: Festival « Quand dieu s'emmerde... » à l'Olympia, Paris. Cabaret Sauvage, Paris. Bouffes du Nord- Festival La voix est libre, Paris 75, New Morning Paris, Nouveau Casino, Paris. L'Européen, Paris. Festival Bernard Lubat Uzeste (33). L’Hexagone – Scène Nationale, Meylan (38). Bikini, Toulouse (31). Thèâtre de Cornouailles, Quimper (35). Le Channel – Scène Nationale, Calais (62). Festival Europavox, Clermont (63). Festival Paroles et Musiques, St Etienne (42). Festival Les Primeurs, Massy (91). Festival Sons d'Hiver, Vitry (94) Festival Musiques de Rues, Besançon (68). Comedie de Béthune (62). Festival Onze Bouge, Paris. Festival du film insulaire Ile de Groix (44). L'Equinoxe - Scène Nationale, Châteauroux (36) / Festival de Marne, Chevilly la rue (94).) Le Triton Les Lilas (93). Scène Nationale Dieppe (76). GMEA, Albi (81). Festival Musiques de Jazz et d'Ailleurs Amiens (80). La Bouche d'Air Nantes (44). Château Rouge, Annemasse (74). Scène Nationale, Chambery (73)... FANTAZIO and LA TRIPERIE are supported by The DRAC of Ile de France, Ministere de la Culture, ARCADI, ADAMI, SPPF, MONDOMIX, RADIO NOVA

The French Music Review February 2006 "Beats made by beasts"Fantazio / The Sweet Little Mother Fucking Show The Sweet Little Mother Fucking Show is a hard album to review. There’s no use saying it reminds you of so and so as the usual genres and reference points go out the window for this one. The album feels a little bit like a traveling circus or a traveling experiment where anything goes. If the album would be a film it might look something like ‘time of the gypsies’. It’s more of an experience and by the end of it you feel as if you’ve been invited into another realm of possibilities. Central to the sound of the record is of course the double bass of Fantazio himself. Guitar, drums, saxophone, percussion and samples are some of the instruments and sounds which then flesh out the score of this gypsy-like extravaganza. The SLMFS sets out to travel the globe. The voyage begins with the opener 'Seven Days' where the singer wakes up in Rome and then travels further to – among others - Thailand, Japan and London. But the record doesn’t just travel lyrically it also travels musically. In fact some parts of the record sound like an ongoing improvisation. As though the traveling or improvisations are happening as we are listening to them. Perhaps this is what Fantazio is alluding to when he sings on ‘Learn’, “help me to learn day by day how to catch the wind and let it fly away”. This voyage, perhaps like the improvisation, should have no end. It is the voyage itself and not the destination that is important. When you reach the destination you should let it fly away or you’ll never move forward again. This idea gets re-emphasized on track ‘Debarasse Toi’ where Fantazio conveys his point more crudely, “Debarrasse toi de toutes ces idoles et en invente des moins connes et têtue. Débarrasse toi des contractions bien figées et débrouilles toi de continuer un chantier”.There are some great lighter pop moments on this record. ‘Adrie Dreams’ grooves along in a dub reggae kind of way with a twinkle of piano stuck in here and there. ‘El Docteur’ jumps and swings away nicely. It’s the kind of song that could even get mainstream radio play if it weren’t for the fact that the junkie in the song keeps wanting to “fuck his doctor”. It seems that popularity isn’t something that Fantazio is going to give into easily. On ‘La Musique Populaire’ he tells detractors advising him on how to attract more people to his concerts that their “pop and rock festivals” can basically fuck off. There is a real punk sensibility to Fantazio. You feel that he’s created his world on his own terms. Which may be why, on track 15, ‘Punks of London’ he sounds pretty disillusioned with the “official” punk philosophy which has evolved so little since the late 70’s. “Punks of London, they don’t know my name” he seems to shout reproachfully. ‘Sad times’ is a beautiful song which fittingly brings the album towards its end. I could imagine Lotte Lenya singing this. The SLMFS has taken us through the joys and tribulations of life and now this song touchingly brings the voyage to a close and celebrates death as a renewal rather than an end, “when these sweet lips are getting sad and over, another wind is coming right behind”. Fantazio assures us there’s nothing to be worried about since “les anges qui connaissent bien leur métier” will take care of us. The theme is repeated on the final, hidden track. It’s a jaunty and more upbeat song that comes over almost like a Hare Krishna chant. Fantazio sings cheerfully and repeatedly and rhetorically, “are you going to be living or dying” in this world? SLMFS is a debut album but it sounds like it could just as well have been their fifth. This is a band with a cult live following and the danger was always that SLMFS would disappoint and sound tame. Nothing could be further form the truth. Fantazio and his gang sound like they’ve taken ten years of blood, sweat and tears and condensed it into a great 60 minute mother fucking show. posted by Carl Siewertz

MORE PRESS CUTTINGS It’s a musical journey to which we are invited. Fantazio plays without imposing his discourse. The music gives itself conceptual, not the kind of disparate sounds, not that of researched and often hermetic deconstruction, but the kind that doesn’t oblige us to take a pre-designed path.(...) The show leads me into wandering emotions and reflections I am floating in my own universe. Emotions and sensations emerge, develop and surf at the will of the sounds. COMBAT SYNDICALISTE 2010 (...)

«...Far from letting himself be imprisoned in a hermetic box of « experimental musician, almost noisy » Fantazio claims to be « popular music », proven by the efficiency of his last album, where splashes of punk-rock riffs are blazing, saturated tempo cumbia rattle, chirping Japanese, ethopian funk, Balkan rounds, sax free-swing, hip-hop scratches, schizobillies slaps, etc. CQFD 2010. And this language, of these musicians, does not fall under stereotypes of technical tricks. Nowadays a good musician knows how to trigger a particular emotion, he knows how to guide the audience to a point, an emotion, a discourse. But he also knows not to use these techniques, suggesting other ways of listening, at the risk and joy to bring - without controlling - this same audience into territories where only he is the interpreter. Fantazio is part of this second category of musicians. His writing doesn’t look to trigger a concrete emotion, he leaves the listener to his reactions and his own emotions, refusing to use one genre, one style, one culture, one habit. No chorus, or only very little, no melodic phrases to a programmed goal that dictate us which way to follow. Leaving it to us to invent the story, to create an emotional path for us, maybe quite far from his own. Doesn’t matter. COMBAT SYNDICALISTE 2010 Poetic resistance. Fantazio The truly iconoclastic contrabassist and singer Fantazio tries to rediscover social meaning in the music. A couple of days before the release of his second stunning album, he has improvised a street concert to support the illegal workers. The entire artistic combat of Fantazio lies here: being consistent with the people, there where they live. And at the crossroads of Porte des Lilas, it swings. Benjamin Minimum. MONDOMIX

Biographical interview : Fantazio by Lémi (www.Article 11.info). Translation. “I’ll comply to your customs, if you accept my volume”. (Dick Annegarn, “Bébé Éléphant”). Fantazio emerged to Musicdom some day in 1985 or ‘86 – he can’t really remember – near the “Porte Dorée” in Paris (middle-class east end), that’s when he decided that Fabrice (his real name) clashed a bit with his vision of things, and his punk mates… Since then, he has skimmed every Parisian bistrot elsewhere & beyond, and has scrambled throughout Europe with his double bass, always on the move. Today a little wiser, with 2 records under his belt, he tells us of the asperities of his delightful universe.

Fantazio : “What really interests me, are bastard forms” Fantazio is an odd fellow. Fascinating. A tad schizophrenic as well. Seeing him in concert, surrounded by his Gang of musicians, is to enter a delightful and joyful universe, to be tossed around between a million influences, conducive to collective communion. “Fantazio fabricates friends”, as writes Thierry Pelletier (Psychobillly French author and musician). To meet him - on the contrary, is to sound an unsuspected rift, an impromptu existential twinge, skin sensitive. In concert, the named “bashed fingered man” (by violating his cords) howls, growls, roars and simpers. Meeting him for a chat in a Chinese restaurant where red wine is over-flowing, he speaks calmly, with a soft and reflective voice, lingering on his dark side. Two opposites, linked in a wing-it way. A nice puzzle… For those who haven’t yet crossed his path, Fantazio is a rather slight and threadlike bloke, who has wandered for a long time around Paris and Berlin, from squat to squat, pub to pub, street to street, equipped with a mishandled double bass and a wild capacity for imagination. A natural born “Saltimbanque”/ showman who has endlessly searched, questioned and tortured himself, before giving free rein to what he finally has in him, a musical patchwork oscillating between scruffy punk, simpered rap, improvised poetry, whispered Chinese gobbledygook, and explosive “musette” (popular French music played mostly live in the 30’s). An Elvis kind, with an experimental double bass side to him, living his quest for the Grail, his “popular music”, and whose words aren’t strong enough to vilipend those trying to bury it. In his second album, the well named “5 000 years of raw wild dance and large sashay steps” (La Triperie, 2009), he sings as if he were twisting a knife in the wound : “ Popular music, mother of the streets, finds herself forced into a straightjacket, marked and signed, pierced; all her sold children don’t dance anymore, don’t sing; she’s not reacting anymore; the few kisses of life I tempted on her with polluted air just left her dead and naked”.

Autopsy of a nomad pachyderm

A figure appears frequently in Fantazio’s universe, like a messed-up mantra, embedded in his creations, that of an elephant. Elefantazio as he often explains half jokingly, half serious. No question of Babar or Cornélius (characters in French children’s books). Here, the elephantesque side is dark, resembling the one in Dick Annegarn’s song : “Bébé Éléphant”. It mainly comes from David Lynch, who in Elephant man, reveals the pachydermic becoming of mankind (or the contrary, who knows). Deformed, depressive, drifted. A vampire like image, sticking to him, he explains : “Elefantazio comes from Elephant man. The poster of the film traumatized me when I was a kid, at a time when I loved elephants. I imagined myself as a super hero, disguised in an elephant suit, and when I understood that the film was about a deformed man hiding under a sheet, it drove me half mad : I had fits, and didn’t want to leave my house. The symbol affected me because it was linked to deformity, to the fact of being shown and seen as a freak. It’s also linked to a time when my mother was very ill – she died of cancer when I was ten. It was like a mental mix mash, something I was obsessed with. Popay, a graffiti artist, and a good friend helped me to deliver/reveal this pachydermic figure he would represent by graffitis of an elephant eating me up, imprisoning me. That’s how the elephant came to squat my universe.” Pachydermic traumatism or not, Fantazio is first & foremost a mental universe, a reacting madness, spitting out a massive warrior cry to the world, as coarse as sandpaper.

Once upon a time this madness was withdrawn, or egotistical because it was shy. To understand the delightful “becoming” of who he is today, his actual incarnation, it would be impossible to neglect the first mishaps, the ill, but determined development, from 1989 when Fantazio started to roam equipped with his instrument : “I was incapable to play with other people, to adapt. So what I did was just to turn up anywhere, I was obsessed with the idea of unsuspected concerts, and improvisation. It took off in Berlin because people let me play everywhere. I wasn’t making songs, it was more like making rhythms with a little technical twitch, and screams on top. I finally learned other forms from people like Denis Charolles (La Cie Musiques à Ouïr) – he’s someone who really impresses me, he plays everywhere with loads of people, and is physically engaged in everything he does – who put trust in me and encouraged me to open doors. Little by little I re-directed my musical approach by giving up what encumbered me. It’s a very occidental approach to believe that to learn something you have to add up what you know; to think that to become better you have to pile up knowledge. For me on the contrary, to progress is to remove all personal blockages and auto-censorship, to get lighter. Personally, I take this very physically. I move on by getting rid of the superfluous”. Just listening to his two records, you can understand that “bastardness” is his golden rule. It’s quite impossible to make a list of all the different musical styles he tackles, with swords drawn. In concert, he has the same approach, metamorphosis is a drug for him whilst multiplying impromptu collaborations with other musicians. A punk “musette” zouk prince, a devilish unifying factor. No wonder then that Fantazio took so long to make his first record, fearing that this would condemn his music which is free by definition, to captivity. For Fantazio, music is something mobile and sacred, seductive and fleeing. You have to be a bit of a magician, a bit of an artful dodger to tame it, to make it dance on the burning coals. With his double bass quill-pen, a theme pops up regularly, that of “popular music”, he has yet troubles to define : “It’s quite difficult to put words on it, it doesn’t rely on the simple dichotomy underground/commercial. I wrote a text that said : “Popular music is like a whore who has 30 pimps on her back in each neighborhood”. When I left for China for a year in 1992, it affected me deeply. When I came back (to Paris) I found every kind of music to be nourishing. I had “de-rockabilized” myself. So then, my idea of popular music had de-materialized : now, I see it as something invisible that enters the body unexpectedly. It doesn’t belong to anyone, and the more you try to catch it, the more it escapes”. Fantazio can see his popular music wandering away, deserting our sanitized streets. In short, popular music is at stand still : “I have the impression that everything is frozen, motionless, exhausted, that the Big Musical Story has stopped. Everyone is digging into what’s already been done. We are always influenced, whatever questioning you may have is always determined from a position you want to hold. In these conditions, popular music will always fly away because it’s something you can’t catch or grab. It’s there, lying asleep in people’s hearts. I’m amazed by those jazz schools, training people to create a music which is by definition wild and spontaneous. Music festivals are also places I deeply dislike, where even the idea of creation has disappeared, has been decimated”. Dark picture : between loss of impetus and fits of enthusiasm, popular music would be an endangered species, like the Asian Elephant. Fantazio sings it his peculiar way : Ce train d’enfer me ment comme un arracheur de dents”. (Play on words impossible to translate ndt between infernal pace and confinement train: “This infernal pace/train of confinement/ lies to me worse than a mean fiddler/ fibber”. Train of confinement that would be necessary to put off the tracks. Chop chop and with music if you don’t mind.

CONTACT: Lysika / La Triperie

28, rue Kléber - 93100 MONTREUIL - FRANCE

0.33.(0) 148.583.364 [email protected] www.fantazio.org