Debout Sur Le Zinc is a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 music band.

After their first 1999 self-titled album, their subsequent album L’homme à tue-tête released in May 2001 gained them media acclaim and public popularity. By the time their 2004 album Des singes et les moutons enhanced their repertoire, they were selling out venues such as La Cigale

La Cigale

La Cigale is a theater at 120, boulevard de Rochechouart near Place Pigalle, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. The theatre is part of a complex that is connected to Le Trabendo and the Boule Noire. The hall can accommodate 1389 people or 954 people...

 and touring internationally. Songs from their latest album Les Promesses were featured in their first concert at the oldest music hall in Paris, the Olympia, where they played to a full house on May 16, 2006.

The band acknowledges influences from traditional French music

French folk music

As Europe experienced a wave of roots revivals in the 1950s and 60s, France found its regional culture reviving traditional music. Brittany, Limousin, Gascony, Corsica and Auvergne were among the regions that experienced a notable resurgence in the popularity of folk music...

 and Irish music, rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

, klezmer

Klezmer

Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...

, and many styles that are considered dance hall music, such as gypsy jazz

Gypsy jazz

Gypsy jazz is an idiom often said to have been started by guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt in the 1930s. Because its origins are largely in France it is often called by the French name, "Jazz manouche," or alternatively, "manouche jazz," even in English language sources...

, tango

Tango music

Tango is a style of ballroom dance music in 2/4 or 4/4 time that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay . It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica, which includes two violins, piano, double bass, and two bandoneons...

, waltz

Waltz

The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...

.

Background

Debout Sur Le Zinc members have described themselves as an Irish folk group synthesized with a rock band. Simon Mimoun and Olivier Sulpice met Christophe Bastien and Cédric “Momo” Ermolieff in high school. Simon met Fred Trisson at university, and Fred introduced the band to his childhood friend Romain Sassigneux. They began performing together in bars and on the street and with groups such as Garçons Bouchers and Les Ogres de Barback under the name Debout Sur Le Zinc as of 1996. William Lotvi joined as their bass player in 1998.

The idea for the name Debout Sur Le Zinc, literally “standing on the zinc,” originally came after a concert in which Christophe, guitarist/singer was standing on the bar counter playing the accordion. The discovery that the bar or zinc--the material bar countertops were once made of--used to serve as a stage for people to recite poems, sing or make political speeches, and the expression also being in a poem by Jacques Prévert further reinforced the name.

Group members

• Christophe Bastien: guitar, vocals
• Cédric (Momo) Ermolieff: drums, percussion, xylophone, backup vocals
• William Lovti: double bass, bass
• Simon Mimoun: vocals, violin, trumpet
• Romain Sassigneux: clarinet, vocals, guitar
• Olivier Sulpice: banjo, mandola, backup vocals
• Fred Trisson/Triska: accordion

Discography

• Debout Sur Le Zinc : First Album (October 1999)

1. La Pantomime
2. La Valse Misère
3. Dialogue De Sourds
4. Emilie
5. Au Comptoir
6. L'abbé Chamel
7. Le Grand Chemin
8. Yvonne
9. ?
10. Ma Petite Chérie
11. L'ambition
12. La Jeunesse
    • L'Homme à Tue-Tête : Second Album (May 2001)
13. Plein Comme Une Barrique
14. L'homme à Tue-tête
15. Les Manigances
16. Les Petites Envies De Meurtre
17. 2 X Oui - Intro
18. 2 X Oui
19. Le Roi Du Monde
20. Dans Le Métro
21. Désert
22. Slawek
23. Me Laissez Pas Seul
24. La Rengaine
25. Ton Petit Cirque
26. Un Jour De Moins
27. Où Est L'histoire
28. Les Sens Interdits
    • Des Singes et Des Moutons : Third Album (May 2004)
29. Les Moutons
30. Le Bleu Du Miroir
31. Elle M'ennuie
32. Chut...
33. Elle
34. Les Mots D'amour
35. Comme Un Ange
36. Si L'idée Nous Enchante
37. Les Voisins
38. Les Angles
39. Marée Noire
40. Hop Là!
    • Les Promesses : Fourth Album (April 2006)
41. Des Larmes Sur Ma Manche
42. Rester Debout
43. Un Jour Ou L'autre
44. Comme S'il En Pleuvait
45. Te Promettre La Lune
46. Les Tontons
47. Fallait Pas
48. La Déclaration
49. La Lettre Perdue
50. Mieux Que Rien
51. De Fil En Aiguilles
52. Un Défaut De Toi
53. Anita
54. La Pantomime 2

External links

• Band's website
• Information page (in French)
• Bureau Export