Deep Forest
Encyclopedia
Deep Forest is a musical group consisting of two French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

 musicians, Michel Sanchez
Michel Sanchez
Michel Sanchez . He spent much of this youth studying music . Sanchez is the co-founder of the band Deep Forest. He won a Grammy Award in 1995, and a World Award for best world music album....

 and Eric Mouquet
Eric Mouquet
Eric Mouquet , is the co-founder of the band Deep Forest. He won a Grammy Award in 1995, and a World Award for best world music album....

. They compose a style of world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...

, sometimes called ethnic electronica
Ethnic electronica
Ethnic Electronica combines elements of Electronic and World Music and was developed in the 1990s. The term Ethnic Electronica appears in music zines, in online music-related forums and blogs, and also in a title of a 2003 compilation "Another Life: A Journey Into Ethnic Electronica"...

, mixing ethnic with electronic sounds and dance beats
Electronic dance music
Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...

 or chillout beats. Their sound has been described as an "ethno-introspective ambient world music." They were nominated for a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

 in 1994 for Best World Music Album
Grammy Award for Best World Music Album
The Grammy Award for Best World Music Album was an honor presented for twelve years to recording artists for quality albums in the world music genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards...

, and in 1995 they won the Award for the album Boheme. The group also became World Music Awards Winner - French group with the highest 1995 world sales. Their albums have sold over 10 million copies.

History

Michel Sanchez came up with the idea of mixing the native Baka
Baka (Cameroon and Gabon)
The Baka, known in the Congo as Bayaka , are an ethnic group inhabiting the southeastern rainforests of Cameroon, northern Republic of Congo, northern Gabon, and southwestern Central African Republic. They are sometimes called a subgroup of the Twa, but the two peoples are not closely related...

 pygmy spoken word with modern music after hearing on-site recordings of these tribes conversing. Along with Eric Mouquet
Eric Mouquet
Eric Mouquet , is the co-founder of the band Deep Forest. He won a Grammy Award in 1995, and a World Award for best world music album....

 they created the project Deep Forest. Their first self-titled album (nominated for a Grammy) was released in 1992, with "Sweet Lullaby" being the smash single which would put Deep Forest on the musical map (UK Top 10 hit). The song "Sweet Lullaby
Sweet Lullaby
"Sweet Lullaby" is a world music/ethnic electronica song by Deep Forest which originally appeared on their eponymous album. The song gained popularity in 1992 and 1993 where it was released as a single, becoming a top 30 hit in many European and Oceanian countries...

" is adapted from a traditional song from the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...

. The album Deep Forest was dance-driven and the samples were heavily digitised and edited. It was re-released as a limited edition in 1994 under the name World Mix.

For their second album Boheme, Eric and Michel left behind the sounds of the forest and ventured into Eastern Europe bringing tender, lonesome Hungarian and Gypsy chants with upbeat, yet sad, music. Due to this shift, Dan Lacksman (from Telex
Telex (band)
The Belgian synth-pop group Telex was formed in 1978 by Marc Moulin, Dan Lacksman, and Michel Moers, with the intention of "Making something really European, different from rock, without guitar — and the idea was electronic music." Mixing the aesthetics of disco, punk and experimental electronic...

, producer and sound-engineer of the first album) decided to go his separate way and continued working on other projects like Pangea
Pangea Recordings
Pangea Recordings is an electronic music record label that has featured releases from artists such as Joshua Collins, Chris Lake, Andy Moor, Mick Wilson, Nine Below Zero, and Subsky. They currently have two sublabels, 1 Shot Recordings and Pangea UK....

. The chants were no longer brief, instead extended phrases had been sampled from Hungarian, Russian and Romanian sample, Márta Sebestyén
Márta Sebestyén
Márta Sebestyén is a Hungarian folk vocalist, as well as a composer and actress.Sebestyén's mother is a composer, and was a music student of Zoltán Kodály. Her father was an economist and author. When Sebestyén was seven years old, her father, returning from a trip to the U.S...

 and Kate Petrova performed on this album.
The duo also performed and produced the remixes for the Youssou N'Dour
Youssou N'Dour
Youssou N'Dour is a Senegalese singer, percussionist and occasional actor. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, in Senegal and much of Africa, "perhaps the most famous singer alive." He helped develop a style of popular music in Senegal, known in the Serer language as mbalax, a type of music...

 single "Undecided" in 1994, with guest vocals by Neneh Cherry (who featured on n'Dour's break-through single "Seven Seconds"). That same year Deep Forest made remixes for Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson is an English singer-songwriter and musician best known as the former lead vocalist in the progressive rock band Yes...

's "Deseo", Apollo 440
Apollo 440
Apollo 440 are an English band formed in Liverpool in 1990. Apollo 440 have written, recorded and produced four albums, collaborated with and produced other artists, remixed as Apollo 440 and as ambient cinematic alter-ego Stealth Sonic Orchestra, and created music for film, television,...

's "Liquid Cool" and Cesária Évora
Cesária Évora
Cesária Évora is a Cape Verdean popular singer. Nicknamed the "barefoot diva" for performing without shoes, Évora is perhaps the best internationally known practitioner of "morna."-Early life:...

's "My Fatigue is Endless". In 1996 Deep Forest collaborated with Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...

 on the song "While the Earth Sleeps" which was written for the film Strange Days
Strange Days (film)
Strange Days is a 1995 cyberpunk science fiction film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and produced and co-written by James Cameron and Jay Cocks, starring Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Michael Wincott and Vincent D'Onofrio. Despite positive reviews, the film was a...

.

The follow-up third album, Comparsa, contained Spanish chants and sounds. The music is often upbeat and celebratory. The last song from the album Media Luna, which was also released as a single, features a duet of Syrian and Spanish singers Abed Azrei and Ana Torroja
Ana Torroja
Ana Torroja is a Grammy Award-nominated Spaniard singer. She is the lead singer of the pop trio Mecano, considered one of the most popular pop bands from Spain during the 1980s and 1990s. Mecano split in 1998 and she embarked on a solo career.-Biography:Ana Torroja met José María Cano while...

.The duo collaborated with Joe Zawinul
Joe Zawinul
Josef Erich Zawinul was an Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer.First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with trumpeter Miles Davis, and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, an innovative musical genre that combined jazz with...

 on the song Deep Weather during the recording of the album.
Also Jorge Reyes (late Mexican Musician), collaborated in this album with percussion, vocals and the flute.

A recording of their live concert in Japan was also released on a CD called Made in Japan. Although all the songs featured in the show are from the previous three albums, they have new often-longer arrangements and all the chants are performed and reinterpreted by live performers.

In 1999 Deep Forest worked with Cheb Mami
Cheb Mami
Ahmed Khelifati Mohamed better known by his stage name Cheb Mami , is an Algerian-born raï singer...

 and Catherine Lara on the song "L'Enfant Fleur" which had been composed for Sol En Si (a French charity which helps HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

 families).

In 2000, Deep Forest released their fourth album, Pacifique. This album was composed to support the movie "Le prince du PAcifique" It mixes pacific and island beats with electronic music.

Music Detected was the title of their fifth much-anticipated official Deep Forest album which saw the duo turn its attention to the Far East and the Orient for inspiration. It also signalled a change in musical style for Deep Forest, from dance to a more rock-influence.

In 2003 Deep Forest released a compilation album Essence of the Forest, with some remastered tracks.
In 2004 Eric Mouquet collaborated with Josh Groban, he composed and produced 2 songs on the album Closer.
In 2006 Eric Mouquet and Josh Groban collaborated on the Josh's album Awake.
In 2008 Eric Mouquet released the album Deep Brasil, a collaboration with Brazilian artist Flavio Dell Isola.
During 2009, 2010 Eric Mouquet went with a new band formula on stage, and Deep Forest performed in different countries,(China, Africa, USA, Japan, France...)

Music for films

Deep Forest has two tracks on the soundtrack for the 1995 movie Strange Days
Strange Days (film)
Strange Days is a 1995 cyberpunk science fiction film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and produced and co-written by James Cameron and Jay Cocks, starring Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Michael Wincott and Vincent D'Onofrio. Despite positive reviews, the film was a...

: "Coral Lounge" and "While the Earth Sleeps
While the Earth Sleeps
"While the Earth Sleeps" is a song written by Eric Mouquet and Michel Sanchez of Deep Forest and Peter Gabriel. The song was performed by Deep Forest with Peter Gabriel and appeared on the soundtrack for the film Strange Days and is played over the film's end credits...

" (featuring Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...

).

One of Deep Forest songs, "Night Bird", was used in the 1996 film version of The Island of Dr. Moreau
The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996 film)
The Island of Dr. Moreau is a 1996 science fiction horror film, the third major movie version of the H. G. Wells novel The Island of Doctor Moreau about a scientist who attempts to convert animals into people...

.

In December 2000, Deep Forest composed a soundtrack for the French film Le Prince du Pacifique. The album, entitled Pacifique, is a return to a more ambient and melancholy sound, with piano themes riding above moody synth textures, Pacific Island chants, scratchy synth-leads and electronic drumming.

In 2004 the duo composed a soundtrack for the Japanese film Kusa No Ran. A remix of "Sweet Lullaby" was also used for the viral hit "Where the Hell is Matt?"

Side projects

Both Sanchez and Mouquet have worked over a variety of side-projects and solo albums. Sanchez has two solo albums out and produced Wes' successful debut album; while Mouquet created the group Dao Dezi, collaborated with Catherine Lara and arranged Thorgal, he composed and produced songs for Ana Torroja (Mecano), Jean Sebastien Lavoie, and composed and produced songs for Josh Groban. Mouquet is now preparing three albums in the Deep Forest first album style, Deep Brasil, Deep Africa and Deep China. All these albums are grouped under the generic name of Deep Projects.

Live performances

Deep Forest had their first live concert in 1996 at the G7 Summit in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....

, France. They continued from there on to the Deep Forest 96' world tour. During the 1996 tour, Deep Forest performed a number of shows in France, Hungary, Greece, Australia, Japan, Poland and US. After the completion of Comparsa there was a 98' world tour. Since 98' there have been numerous live performances, including the Image Concerts. The 'Image' concerts took place in Japan. The concerts were based around the 'Image' album (similar to Pure Moods), and featured a number of famous Japanese artists, also including Deep Forest.

Controversy

Deep Forest received widespread criticism after their single ‘Sweet Lullaby’ used vocals from UNESCO Musical Sources collection. The vocals, a lullaby named “Rorogwela” sung by Afunakwa, a Northern Malaita woman, were recorded by the ethnomusicologist Hugo Zemp. Deep Forest’s subsequent claim that the track had UNESCO’s approval was found to be invalid.

Legal successors of a Hungarian Gypsy amateur performer, Károly Rostás claimed some financial compensation for the song performed on the Boheme (album)
Boheme (album)
Boheme is the Grammy Award Winning second album of the French duo Deep Forest, released in 35 countries. It mainly sampled Eastern European gypsy songs with electronic music. Hit singles included "Marta's Song" and "Freedom Cry"...

. Hungarian director András Salamon shot a documentary on their travel to Paris (Huttyán) in 1996. The Gypsy relatives did succeed to some extent to get money from Deep Forest.

Donations

A percentage of proceeds from Deep Forest's debut album sales went to the Pygmy Fund, set up to aid Zaire's pygmies in the transition from nomadic to agrarian subsistence, and to provide appropriate health care.
A portion of the proceeds from 'Boheme' go to the Gyoörgy Martin Foundation, which aids in protecting the Rromany (Gypsy) culture of Hungary.
Deep Forest also actively supports the Sana Madagascar Association starting with 'Comparsa'. "The aim of the Sana Madagascar Association is to contribute protecting the environment, to collect instruments and precious recordings in order to allow the Malagasy man to save his culture, his nature and his traditional music."

Nominations in France and the US

  • 1993: Grammy Awards Best Album - World Music
  • 1993: MTV Awards Best Video - Sweet Lullaby
  • 1993: Victoires de la Musique Best Album - World Music
  • 1993: Victoires de la Musique Best Group of the Year
  • 1995: World Music Awards Winner - French group with the highest 1995 world sales
  • 1995: Grammy Awards Winner - Best Album - World Music
  • 1996: Victoires de la Musique - Best Group of the Year
  • 1996: Victoires de la Musique - Best Album - World Music

Albums

  • 1992 – Deep Forest
    Deep Forest (Deep Forest album)
    Deep Forest is the first and eponymous album by the musical group Deep Forest: French duo Eric Mouquet and Michel Sanchez. The album mixes New Age electronics with UNESCO field recordings of music from Zaire, the Solomon Islands, Burundi, Tibesti and the Sahel.A percentage of the profits from...

    (over 3 millions album sales)
  • 1994 – World Mix
    World Mix (album)
    World mix is a 1994 re-release version of the Deep Forest eponymous album, originally released in 1992.- Track listing :# "Deep Forest" – 5:34# "Sweet Lullaby" – 3:54# "Hunting" – 3:27# "Night Bird" – 4:18# "The First Twilight" – 3:18...

    (re-release of 1992 album)
  • 1995 – Boheme
    Boheme (album)
    Boheme is the Grammy Award Winning second album of the French duo Deep Forest, released in 35 countries. It mainly sampled Eastern European gypsy songs with electronic music. Hit singles included "Marta's Song" and "Freedom Cry"...

    (over 4 million album sales)
  • 1998 – Comparsa
    Comparsa (album)
    Comparsa is the third studio release by the musical group Deep Forest. This album mixes world music and ethnic sounds, including Cuban rhythms, mixed with electronic instruments. After the release of the album Deep Forest arranged a highly successful world tour...

    (over 1 million album sales)
  • 1999 – Made in Japan
    Made in Japan (Deep Forest album)
    Made in Japan is a live album by French group Deep Forest, released in 1999.The recording took place on 9 September 1998, during Deep Forest's tour in Japan, with nine musicians joining the group on the stage. The band placed an emphasis on improvisation and playing the songs differently from the...

    (live album, 150 000 copies sold)
  • 2000 – Pacifique
    Pacifique (album)
    Pacifique is the 4th studio album and soundtrack by the group Deep Forest released in 2000 by Sony Music / St George label. It mixes Pacific and island beats with electronic music. The music was written for the French film Le Prince du Pacifique, directed by Alain Corneau...

    (soundtrack album)
  • 2002 – Music Detected
    Music Detected (album)
    Music Detected is the sixth album by the musical group Deep Forest. On this album their trademark samples are nowhere to be heard; the group have worked in live conditions, giving priority to lyrics, David Fall's solid drum work and raging guitars. While their powerful electro world-beat is still...

  • 2003 – Essence of Deep Forest (best of, released only in Japan)
  • 2004 – Essence of the Forest (best of, three different editions)
  • 2004 – Kusa no Ran (soundtrack album, released only in Japan)
  • 2008 – Deep Brasil (album)

Singles

  • 1992 – "Deep Forest" / UK
    UK Singles Chart
    The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

     #20
  • 1992 – "Sweet Lullaby
    Sweet Lullaby
    "Sweet Lullaby" is a world music/ethnic electronica song by Deep Forest which originally appeared on their eponymous album. The song gained popularity in 1992 and 1993 where it was released as a single, becoming a top 30 hit in many European and Oceanian countries...

    " /UK #10, U.S. #78 - over 1 million copies sold
  • 1992 – "White Whisper"
  • 1993 – "Forest Hymn"
  • 1994 – "Savana Dance" / UK #28
  • 1994 – "Undecided" (collaboration with Youssou N'dour
    Youssou N'Dour
    Youssou N'Dour is a Senegalese singer, percussionist and occasional actor. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, in Senegal and much of Africa, "perhaps the most famous singer alive." He helped develop a style of popular music in Senegal, known in the Serer language as mbalax, a type of music...

    )
  • 1995 – "Boheme"
  • 1995 – "Boheme" (the remixes)
  • 1995 – "Marta's Song" / UK #26 (collaboration with Márta Sebestyén
    Márta Sebestyén
    Márta Sebestyén is a Hungarian folk vocalist, as well as a composer and actress.Sebestyén's mother is a composer, and was a music student of Zoltán Kodály. Her father was an economist and author. When Sebestyén was seven years old, her father, returning from a trip to the U.S...

    )
  • 1995 – "Marta's Song" (the remixes)
  • 1996 – "While the Earth Sleeps" (collaboration with Peter Gabriel
    Peter Gabriel
    Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...

    )
  • 1996 – "Bohemian Ballet" (promo)
  • 1997 – "Freedom Cry"
  • 1997 – "Madazulu"
  • 1998 – "Media Luna"
  • 1998 – "Noonday Sun"
  • 1999 – "Hunting" (Live)
  • 1999 – "Sweet Lullaby" (live)
  • 2000 – "Pacifique"
  • 2002 – "Endangered Species"
  • 2002 – "Malo Korrigan
    Malo Korrigan
    Malo Korrigan is a French animated television series with 26 episodes, created by Arthur Qwak and Norman J. LeBlanc of Futurikon. It is a Futurikon - Tooncan - M6 Métropole Télévision - Canal J co-production and distributed by M6 Métropole Télévision...

    "
  • 2002 – "Will You Be Ready" (promo)

External links

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