Phoenix is a French alternative rock band founded by Thomas Mars, Deck D’Arcy, Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz in the suburb of Versailles, in the same culture that produced late-’90s bands such as Air and Daft Punk. Vocalist Thomas Mars, bassist Deck d’Arcy, and guitarist Christian Mazzalai started as a garage band based out of Mars’ house in the suburbs of Paris. In 1995, Laurent Brancowitz, Mazzalai’s older brother, permanently joined the band on guitar after the end of the short-lived band Darlin’ he formed with Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. The group got their touring start on the French bar circuit doing Hank Williams and Prince covers.

In early 2009, it was announced that the band were returning with a new album titled Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, which was released on May 25, 2009. The album was recorded in Paris by Cassius’s Philippe Zdar who co-produced and mixed the album. The track “1901″, a tribute to early Paris, was released on February 23, 2009, as a free download prior to the release of the first single, and aired for the first time on Australian radio station Triple J.

Their track “1901″ was used for the theatrical trailer of the film New York, I Love You and has been featured in commercials for the 2010 Cadillac SRX. “Lisztomania” was used for a Where The Wild Things Are trailer, the season premiere of Cougar Town, an episode from the first season of USA Network’s Royal Pains, and was also featured in the season six finale of HBO’s Entourage. An excerpt from “Love Like a Sunset” can be heard in the Ghost Town episode of the tenth CSI:Crime Scene Investigation season.

To promote the album with live performances, Phoenix performed “Lisztomania”, “1901″, and “Too Young” on Saturday Night Live on April 4.. They also performed “Lisztomania” on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, “Girlfriend” on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and “1901″ on The Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.

On December 2nd, 2009 nominations for the 2009 Grammy Awards were released with Phoenix receiving a nomination for the album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix for Best Alternative Music Album. On January 31, 2010 Phoenix won the Grammy Award in this category.

Other Information

• Origin : Versailles, France
• Genres : Alternative rock, Indie rock
• Years active : 1999–present
• Labels : V2, Glassnote, Ghettoblaster, Loyauté, Source, Astralwerks, Arts & Crafts, EMI
• Associated acts : Daft Punk, Tahiti 80, Air
• Website : wearephoenix.com

Members

1. Thomas Mars – vocals
2. Deck D’Arcy  – bass
3. Laurent Brancowitz – guitars
4. Christian Mazzalai – guitars

Session members

1. Thomas Hedlund – drums
2. Robin Coudert – keyboards

Discography

Studio albums

• 2000 : United
• 2004 : Alphabetical
• 2006 : It’s Never Been Like That
• 2009 : Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Live albums

• 2004 : Live! Thirty Days Ago

Tags: alternative rock band, French, grammy awards, Phoenix