Happening Band—Phoenix - rock group - Brief Article

Interview, Oct, 2001 by Patrick Thevenin

JUST WHEN NO ONE EXPECTED THEM

There was something strange about it last year, when we French people found ourselves dancing to hits by Phoenix. Their music is filled with cliches that Europeans might have about the lifestyle in, say, Miami: Jeeps, palm trees and porn stars, rather than images appropriate to the 300 days of rain and 60-degree weather we're used to in Paris. Their first album, United (Astralwerks), was like a blast of sunlight and fresh citrus coming out of our stereo speakers. The four members of Phoenix, along with other young Parisian musicians, graphic designers, skaters and promoters from Versailles, are part of a loose collective centered around Daft Punk.

Their first single, "Heatwave," was a perfect mix of pop and house; you could sing it and dance it with equal ease. So it was a surprise that United was so resolutely rock. "It's a balance that takes time to settle," says lead singer Thomas Mars, clearly not wanting to deny the influence of the Parisian techno world from which Phoenix sprang. "We have a dual approach: one sound that's more commercial and another sound that's more elaborate. Trying to make those two sounds meet is not very common in France. It's why groups like Daft Punk succeeded in being played both in Paris dance clubs and in the Walkmen of major musicians around the world."

Phoenix are the perfect example of 'Made in France" pop. It's music that flows in your ears like honey, and yet is deeper than what it seems to be. And it's a vision of French music we haven't heard since the '80s.

Patrick Thevenin is a writer based in Paris. Above (from left): Laurent "Branco" Brancowitz, Deck D'Arcy, Thomas Mars and christian Mazzalai. D'Arcy wears a sweater by CALVIN KLEIN.