Caravan Palace
Encyclopedia
Caravan Palace is a French Electroswing
band based in Paris
. The current band line-up consists of Sonia Fernandez Velasco (vocals
and clarinet
), Arnaud Vial (guitar
), Hugues Payen (violin
), Camille Chapelière (clarinet), Charles Delaporte (double bass
) and Antoine Toustou (electronics and trombone
). The group formed in 2005 after three of the band members were hired by a film production company to provide the soundtrack to silent pornographic movies.
The band's influences include Django Reinhardt
, Vitalic
, Lionel Hampton
and Daft Punk
. The band released their début studio album, Caravan Palace
, on the Wagram
label in October 2008. The record charted in Switzerland, Belgium and France, where it reached a peak position of #11.
.
The band became popular on the internet after releasing a number of demos and promo singles. From 2006 to 2007 they spent a year touring around France, and their first festival
appearance came at the Django Reinhardt Jazz Festival
in 2007. Following this emergence, the group were signed by the Paris-based Wagram Music
record label. They spent the next year recording material for their début studio album.
On 20 October 2008 the self-titled Caravan Palace
was released, preceded by the single "Jolie Coquine". The album received praise for its traditional jazz inclinations, and placed in a number of European album charts. In Switzerland, the album reached #72 and in Belgium it achieved a position of #42. The album performed best in the band's native France where it attained a peak position of #11 in August 2009, and remained on the French albums chart
for 68 consecutive weeks. The band released their second official single, "Suzy", on 24 February 2009.
On 3 October 2011, the band released an EP titled 'Clash', featuring two new songs and four remixes of them.
Electroswing
Electro Swing is a musical genre fusing swing with hip hop and house techniques.Electro Swing is mainly popular in Europe, and electro swing artists incorporate influences such as Tango and Django Reinhardt's Gypsy Swing...
band based in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The current band line-up consists of Sonia Fernandez Velasco (vocals
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
and clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
), Arnaud Vial (guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
), Hugues Payen (violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
), Camille Chapelière (clarinet), Charles Delaporte (double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
) and Antoine Toustou (electronics and trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
). The group formed in 2005 after three of the band members were hired by a film production company to provide the soundtrack to silent pornographic movies.
The band's influences include Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
, Vitalic
Vitalic
Vitalic is an electronic music artist. He was born in France and is of Spanish and Italian descent.-History:His first singles were released in 1996 and 1997, but were confined to the underground electronic music scene...
, Lionel Hampton
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
and Daft Punk
Daft Punk
Daft Punk are an electronic music duo consisting of French musicians Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter . Daft Punk reached significant popularity in the late 1990s house movement in France and met with continued success in the years following, combining elements of house with synthpop...
. The band released their début studio album, Caravan Palace
Caravan Palace (album)
Caravan Palace is the debut album by electroswing group Caravan Palace, released on 20 October 2008. The album performed best in the band's native France where it attained a peak position of No...
, on the Wagram
Wagram Music
Wagram Music is a French independent record label located in Paris. It has a catalog in various music genres such as French Pop, Rock and Hard rock, Pop, World, electronic music, Reggae, Soul, Jazz or Electro-swing. Represented artists include Jessy Matador, Caravan Palace, Corneille, Mass...
label in October 2008. The record charted in Switzerland, Belgium and France, where it reached a peak position of #11.
History
The first meeting of the band members came in 2005 when Vial, Payen and Delaporte were hired by a film production company to provide a soundtrack to silent pornographic films. The band formed as a three-piece soon after, although it was a year before they met music producer Loïc Barrouk, who took an interest in the project and booked the band a recording studio and a series of gigs. More performers were required for the live concerts and the other three current band members were found after searching on MySpaceMySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
.
The band became popular on the internet after releasing a number of demos and promo singles. From 2006 to 2007 they spent a year touring around France, and their first festival
Music festival
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
appearance came at the Django Reinhardt Jazz Festival
Django Reinhardt Jazz Festival
The Festival de Jazz Django Reinhardt is held in Samois-sur-Seine, France since 1968. It has become a yearly event since 1984, and it takes place in the last full weekend in June. The Samois festival is seen amongst the Gypsy Jazz community as being the definitive Django festival with people...
in 2007. Following this emergence, the group were signed by the Paris-based Wagram Music
Wagram Music
Wagram Music is a French independent record label located in Paris. It has a catalog in various music genres such as French Pop, Rock and Hard rock, Pop, World, electronic music, Reggae, Soul, Jazz or Electro-swing. Represented artists include Jessy Matador, Caravan Palace, Corneille, Mass...
record label. They spent the next year recording material for their début studio album.
On 20 October 2008 the self-titled Caravan Palace
Caravan Palace (album)
Caravan Palace is the debut album by electroswing group Caravan Palace, released on 20 October 2008. The album performed best in the band's native France where it attained a peak position of No...
was released, preceded by the single "Jolie Coquine". The album received praise for its traditional jazz inclinations, and placed in a number of European album charts. In Switzerland, the album reached #72 and in Belgium it achieved a position of #42. The album performed best in the band's native France where it attained a peak position of #11 in August 2009, and remained on the French albums chart
Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique
The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry...
for 68 consecutive weeks. The band released their second official single, "Suzy", on 24 February 2009.
On 3 October 2011, the band released an EP titled 'Clash', featuring two new songs and four remixes of them.
Studio albums
- Caravan PalaceCaravan Palace (album)Caravan Palace is the debut album by electroswing group Caravan Palace, released on 20 October 2008. The album performed best in the band's native France where it attained a peak position of No...
(2008) - FRA #11, BEL #42, SWI #72