Phoenix (band)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other things named Phoenix, see Phoenix (disambiguation).
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 A promotional photograph of the band, shot by Roman Coppola. |
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| Origin | Versailles, France |
| Years active | 1999– |
| Genres | Rock, Alternative rock, Indie rock |
| Labels | EMI, Source, Astralwerks |
| Members | Thomas Mars (vocals) Deck D'Arcy (bass) Laurent Brancowitz (guitar) Christian Mazzalai (guitar) |
| Website(s) | Official site |
Phoenix are a French indietronica-pop band who perform songs in the English language.
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[edit] History
Formed in 1999 in the semi-affluent Parisian suburb of Versailles, in the same culture that produced late-90s phenomena such as Air and Daft Punk, Phoenix started as the backing band for a remix of Air's "Kelly Watch the Stars" single. Phoenix quickly became an underground hit with the loungy, mellow and unpretentious sound heard on their 2000 debut album United.
Their biggest hit, "Too Young," which was featured in the Farrelly brothers' 2001 movie Shallow Hal, and later in Sofia Coppola's 2003 movie Lost in Translation, propelled the album to enough success to grant the band a contract for a second album, Alphabetical, released in 2004, which saw the band reach moderate mainstream success, with the singles "Everything is Everything" and "Run Run Run" reaching some alternative pop charts. Hedi Slimane used a remix of their song "Victim of the Crime" as a soundtrack to one if his runway shows for Dior Homme.
Following Alphabetical, the band went on a world tour playing 150 dates across 3 continents. This tour was followed up with a live album, Live! Thirty Days Ago, unusual in being released 30 days after the end of the tour. At the culmination of their tour, Phoenix set out for Berlin in the summer of 2005, settling down at Planet Roc studios, in former East Germany, to produce their third album, It's Never Been Like That.
To promote the release of It's Never Been Like That, Phoenix set out of a massive US/European Tour in April 2006. The Fall 2006 US leg of the tour will reportedly be called the Sometimes in the Fall Tour.
On Tuesday, November 28, 2006, Thomas Mars's girlfriend, Sofia Coppola, gave birth to their first child, a girl named Romy. They named her after Sofia's brother, Roman Coppola. Mars and Coppola met during the production of The Virgin Suicides, when Mars helped mix a song for the band Air which was used in the movie. Mars can be seen on the film during the homecoming dance scene.
[edit] Members
- Thomas Mars - Vocals b. 1977
- Laurent Brancowitz - Guitar, b. October 19, 1974
- Deck D'Arcy - Bass, b. 1977
- Christian Mazzalai - Guitar, b. 1977
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
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[edit] Live albums
[edit] Singles
- "Party Time" (1999)
- "Heatwave" (2 August 1999)
- "Too Young" (22 May 2000)
- "If I Ever Feel Better" (22 January 2001)
- "Everything is Everything" (EU release: 22 March 2004, UK release: 12 July 2004)
- "Run Run Run" (19 April 2004)
- "Long Distance Call" (8 May 2006)
- "Consolation Prizes" (11 September 2006)
