Moriarty (band)
Encyclopedia
History
Moriarty is made up of five artists of French, American, and Swiss origin. The members were mainly born in France to American parents. The group was named Moriarty in reference to Dean Moriarty, the hero of On the RoadOn the Road
On the Road is a novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, written in April 1951, and published by Viking Press in 1957. It is a largely autobiographical work that was based on the spontaneous road trips of Kerouac and his friends across mid-century America. It is often considered a defining work of...
by Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
.
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.
After a show in 2005, the group met theatre directors Jerome Deschamps and Macha Makeïeff, 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
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...
theatre in Paris, and the album sold more than 50,000 copies in a few months, making the disc go gold one year after its release. 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. 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
Folk music of Ireland
The folk music of Ireland is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres in Ireland.-History:...
, country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
and the blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, 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
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
Enjoy the Silence
Enjoy the Silence
"Enjoy the Silence" is Depeche Mode's twenty-fourth UK single, released on 16 January 1990, and the second single from the then upcoming album Violator....
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
Prix Constantin
The Prix Constantin is an annual French music prize awarded to the best album of an artist who has come to prominence during the course of the past year. It was inaugurated in 2002, following the example of the Mercury Music Prize, as an attempt to bring to light artists who have not had major...
, 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
Emily Loizeau
Emily Loizeau is a French author, composer, and singer. Her debut album, released in 2006, was titled L'autre bout du monde .- Biography :...
second release, and were amongst the artists involved in The Fitzcarraldo Sessions project, 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)".
Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
n/French musician Akim el Sikameya mentioned Moriarty in an interview with al-Jazeera
Members
- Rosemary Standley aka Rosemary Moriarty : vocals, xylophoneXylophoneThe xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
, kazooKazooThe kazoo is a wind instrument which adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. The kazoo is a type of mirliton, which is a membranophone, a device which modifies the sound of a person's voice by way of a vibrating membrane."Kazoo" was the name given by... - Thomas Puéchavy alias Tom Moriarty : harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
- Arthur B. Gillette alias Arthur Moriarty : guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, percussion - Stephan Zimmerli alias Zim Moriarty : double bassDouble bassThe 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...
, guitar - Charles Carmignac, alias Charles Moriarty : dobroDobroDobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
, guitar, xylophone - Vincent Talpaert and Éric Tafani : drum kitDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
and percussion in concert - Gilbert Moriarty, mascot of the group
- Colette Moriarty, along with Gilbert, Colette appears at Moriarty's concerts.
Discography
- Gee Whiz But This Is A Lonesome Town (2007, Naïve RecordsNaïve RecordsNaïve Records is a French independent record label based in Paris, specializing in electronic music, pop music, jazz and classical music. It was founded in 1997 by Patrick Zelnik, Gilles Paires and Eric Tong Cuong.-Artists:* Aṣa* Asian Dub Foundation...
) - La Musique de Paris Dernière - compilation appearance (2008, Naïve RecordsNaïve RecordsNaïve Records is a French independent record label based in Paris, specializing in electronic music, pop music, jazz and classical music. It was founded in 1997 by Patrick Zelnik, Gilles Paires and Eric Tong Cuong.-Artists:* Aṣa* Asian Dub Foundation...
) - The Missing Room (2011, Autre)