Bass, backing vocals
Fabrice started music by playing in small bands in his hometown when he was 12-13 years old. This is when he created a small band with a pal around Créteil (in the Paris suburbs). When he turned 17 he decided to do nothing but music and left regular school to join a musical one (the American school) where he stayed for 3 years. He then becomes a pro musician and spends a little time with the band Planète Zen. To make it short he struggled to make a living out of his music and considered moving to London where the style of music he likes is getting more respect than in France. On the verge of the moving he met Valérie and Olivier Durand and created Autour de Lucie with them.
The way they met is funny enough to deserve being told. Fabrice contributed a track to an independant tape pop compilation done by a guy from the french city of Brest. Valérie also contributed a song done with Olivier Durand (it was _Ce que l'on taît_ since released on AdL's first album, its title then was _La place_). They liked each other's music and the person responsible for the tape urged them to make contact. Valérie did the first step by sending her demos to Fabrice and the rest is history.
Besides being a member of Autour de Lucie, Fabrice also plays in the experimental combo Télépopmusik which is published by the Village Vert too.
Playlist :
Mainly old stuff, classical and jazz music. He wants to play things completly different from the style of music he plays so that he is not influenced by what he hears while writing for the third album. In classical music he listens now mostly to 20th century composers (Bernstein, Ravel, Prokofiev) and in jazz Chet Baker and Herbie Hancock.
Guitar
Jean-Pierre's musical path is a lot like Fabrice's. He also started by playing in small bands in the area of Toulouse where he is from and went to Paris when he decided to live on his music. He then started a band with peoples who later funded the band Ivy (the band was called Les domi's Dominique being the singer's first name). As a side note he is in the credits of their new (and excellent) album _Appartment life_. To earn money he worked as a sound engineer, a job he didn't like at all. When he was ready to give up and go to London, just to change of life, he went to the audition organized to replace Olivier Durand and joined the band.
Playlist :
Gong greatest hits, Nine Inch Nails, Nick Drake, Chet Baker, the new Sonic Youth (_A thousand leaves_).
Voice, guitare
Valérie, the founding member of the band, started to play music while working full time jobs to fill a life she felt empty in a way. She simply bought a guitar and learned to play it alone by trying to reproduce what she heard on her favourite records. The next logical step was to compose her own songs that she used as the primary vector to share what she felt inside but couldn't say aloud. This is when she reached the limit of being a single musician, so she decided to create a band. This is how she first met Olivier Durand and then Fabrice, the core of the first version of Autour de Lucie.
During this period when they were making demos Frédéric Monvoisin went to record companies with them. He got either polite refusals or really weird proposals (like to have Valérie sing old soul anthems in a mini-skirt). That's when they decided to go to self-publishing and created the village vert record company.
Playlist :
Like Fabrice, not a lot of music so as not to be influenced while writing new songs. Mainly old stuff, from the Velvet Underground to Frank Sinatra and a lot of film soundtracks especially from a french composer of the 70's François Deroubaix ("a weird Morricone"). For exemple he composed the music of two famous french movies, _Le vieux fusil_ and _Les aventuriers_ (check the internet movie database for more details). She also likes the latest Alain Bashung album _Fantaisie militaire_. On a general note, what she listens depend a lot on on her mood of the moment.
Drums and percussion
Sébastien's musical path looks a lot like Jean-Pierre and Fabrice's. After playing in several small bands he decided to go to paris to earn his living with his music. After little jobs in various bands he joined Autour de Lucie last april after an audition.
Playlist :
Various kinds of music: Brel, Brassens, Portishead, the latest Bashung album, Sonic Youth. Rock'n roll, funk music, jungle.