- Moriarty (band)
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Moriarty (band) 
Moriarty members at the Eurockéennes de Belfort 2011Background information Origin France, USA, Switzerland Genres Country, Blues Years active 1995 – present Labels Naïve Records Website moriartyland.com Members Charles Carmignac
Arthur Gillette
Thomas Puéchavy
Rosemary Standley
Stephan ZimmerliPast members Charlène Dupuy
Médéric de Vanssay
Davide WoodsMoriarty is a French-American musical group formed in 1995.
Contents
History
Moriarty is made up of five artists of French, American, and Swiss origin. The members were mainly born in France to American parents.[1] The group was named Moriarty in reference to Dean Moriarty, the hero of On the Road by Jack Kerouac.
Initially, the group consisted of eight members: singer Charlène Dupuy, drummer Médéric de Vanssay, and saxophonist Davide Woods have since left the group. Rosemary Standley joined in 1999. Moriarty went from performing traditional blues to rock'n'roll. Successive departures from the group reduced them to five members (Rosemary, Arthur, Thomas, Charles and Stephan), and forced them to play acoustically.
This radical change opened up new musical territories for the band, giving them greater freedom in sound experimentation, and allowing them straightforward, stripped-down performances in places such as a prison in Normandy, a mental institution in central France, a ruined castle in Tuscany, and the streets of Paris and Dublin.[2]
After a show in 2005, the group met theatre directors Jerome Deschamps and Macha Makeïeff,[1] who went on to co-produce their first album on the naive label. At the same time, they also won the City of Paris prize for emerging talents. The group performed live at the Printemps de Bourges Festival in 2006, and again in 2007. After launching Jimmy, their first single, they released their first album Gee Whiz But This Is a Lonesome Town in October of that year. Their phenomenal success allowed them to play a sold-out concert at La Cigale theatre in Paris, and the album sold more than 50,000 copies in a few months,[3] making the disc go gold one year after its release.[4] The group then began a long French tour which started in April 2008, followed by concerts in Switzerland, Canada, Spain, Germany and England.
In 2008, Moriarty played for a second time at the Solidays festival where they had already played three years before thanks to the City of Paris emerging talents prize.[5] This same year, they also gave concerts at the Eurockéennes festival in Belfort, Francofolies at La Rochelle, Montreux Jazz Festival, Festival Internacional de Benicassim and the Festival of the Humanities. They also performed in October 2008 at the Olympia theatre in Paris, to a sold-out audience.
Moriarty draws its inspiration from traditional Irish music, country music and the blues, using instruments like the double bass, harmonica and kazoo, while adding in original sounds from typewriters, hotel bells and other sounds. The group sometimes plays huddled around only one microphone on stage, a practice started in their earlier concerts, resulting in an organic quality of mixing and a close acoustic and physical connection between the musicians.
In March 2008, Moriarty recorded a cover of Depeche Mode's Enjoy the Silence for a compilation. Moriarty had previously recorded a cover of this song and performed it while on tour. Moriarty's urgent performance of the song, simple and stripped down, was played shortly after its release on Radio Nova. In 2008, Moriarty was one of the 10 artists nominated for the Prix Constantin, and shortly after the band was also nominated for best emerging live act at the Victoires de la Musique awards.
After a French tour with more than 170 concerts which saw them performing at both larger festivals and smaller theatres, the Franco-American quintet went on the road in 2009, starting on January 10 in New York, USA, and then touring the United States, Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, England, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia and India. On December 24, 2009, in Mumbai, India, they played the final show of that tour, which spanned 18 countries through 100 concerts. By that time their debut album had sold about 150 000 copies worldwide. Meanwhile the members of Moriarty have also appeared as guests on Franco-English singer Emily Loizeau's second release, and were amongst the artists involved in The Fitzcarraldo Sessions project,[6] initiated by members of french rock band Jack the Ripper, with which they co-wrote the single "Alice and Lewis (Soon will come too soon)".
Algerian/French musician Akim el Sikameya mentioned Moriarty in an interview with al-Jazeera[7]
Members
- Rosemary Standley aka Rosemary Moriarty : vocals, xylophone, kazoo
- Thomas Puéchavy alias Tom Moriarty : harmonica
- Arthur B. Gillette alias Arthur Moriarty : guitar, piano, percussion
- Stephan Zimmerli alias Zim Moriarty : double bass, guitar
- Charles Carmignac, alias Charles Moriarty : dobro, guitar, xylophone
- Vincent Talpaert and Éric Tafani : drum kit and percussion in concert
- Gilbert Moriarty, mascot of the group
- Colette Moriarty, along with Gilbert, Colette appears at Moriarty's concerts.
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Rosemary Standley
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Stephan Zimmerli
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Thomas Puéchavy
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Charles Carmignac
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Arthur B. Gillette
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Vincent Talpaert
Discography
- Gee Whiz But This Is A Lonesome Town (2007, Naïve Records)
- La Musique de Paris Dernière - compilation appearance (2008, Naïve Records)
- The Missing Room (2011, Autre)
Original soundtrack
- The True Story of Puss'N Boots (2009)
Notes and references
- ^ a b [1] Interview par Liveinmarseille.com, May 16, 2008
- ^ New band of the day - No 383: Moriarty dans The Guardian on September 4, 2008.
- ^ Le rock français parle anglais dans Le Monde on April 12, 2008.
- ^ Moriarty folks me tender at the site Elle
- ^ Interview par Envrak.fr, May 1, 2008
- ^ The Fitzcarraldo Sessions
- ^ al-Jazeera's Playlist Series 1, Episode 10, December 15, 2008
External links
Categories:- American instrumental musical groups
- French instrumental groups
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