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Whoever would come up with the idea of fusing traditional Celtic folk melodies with modern rap beats? A young trio by the name of Manau, that's who! Manau surprised everyone by rocketing to the top of the charts this spring with their debut single "La Tribu de Dana". The group, who have managed to irritate traditional music purists with their innovative new fusion sound, are currently being sued by French folk star Alan Stivell (who has accused them of 'ripping off' one of his 70's folk hits). Let no-one say that Manau and their Celtic rap fusion have failed to cause a major stir !
Manau - the group's name was inspired by the old Gaelic term for the Isle of Man - are a three-piece outfit, made up of Martial Tricoche (lead singer and songwriter), Cédric Soubiron (DJ) and R.V. (aka Hervé) Lardic (the group's composer and multi-instrumental musician). All three members of Manau are currently based in Paris, but Martial, Cédric and Hervé all trace their roots back to Brittany, a region stepped in Celtic tradition.
Martial, who was born in 1969, grew up in the tough, aggressive world of the Paris suburbs, so his teenage music tastes understandably veered towards rap and hip hop rather than Celtic folk music. Around 1988 Martial became involved with a local FM radio station, run by a community association. Martial and his DJ friend Cédric (who was born in 1973) soon found themselves in charge of a regular show on the station, Martial presenting the programme and 'tchatching' in between the music, while Cédric spun the records and scratched away in the background. The show lasted two years and built up a regular following of fans. When the programme came to an end Cédric managed to score himself a job on the well-known Paris station Skyrock.
One day, while he was DJ-aying at Skyrock, Cédric met up with R.V., a young musician who had come into the studios to perform a live session with his group Mean While. R.V. (born in 1974) had spent seven years studying at the prestigious Paris Conservatoire, and he had gone on to become a talented multi-instrumentalist, capable of switching between the accordion, bass, guitar or keyboards. Cédric and R.V. hit it off immediately and the pair soon began to talk about working on a project together.
While Cédric had been busy launching a career as a DJ, Martial had become interested in songwriting. Indeed, he had already penned an impressive amount of lyrics. What's more, one of his brother's friends had introduced young Martial to the joys of Celtic culture and he had gone on to discover the work of famous Breton folk stars such as Dan Ar Braz, Yann-Fanch Kemener and the group Tri Yann. Martial's first songs were also greatly influenced by Jean Markale's novel "l'Epopée celte" (a fantastical account of ancient Celtic folklore, peopled with Druids and Celtic warlords).
Shortly after Cédric and R.V. met at Skyrock, they teamed up with Martial to form the trio Manau. The threesome began experimenting with an innovative fusion of rap and Celtic folk and they soon went into the studio to record a series of demo tapes. One of these would eventually land on the desk of the creative director at Polydor. Impressed by Manau's highly original new sound, he promptly called the trio in for a meeting and offered them a recording contract. Manau returned to the studio and immediately set to work on their debut single "La Tribu de Dana". Released in May of this year, the single proved to be an instant hit, invading the French airwaves and rocketing to the top of the charts within weeks of its release.
French music fans were soon walking around humming the catchy chorus line to "La Tribu de Dana" - a melody which sounded strangely familiar to many older music fans. And well it might! The chorus of Manau's single was actually a cover of the melody line from Alan Stivell's famous 70's folk hit "Tri Martolod". Manau had originally asked the legendary French folk bard if they could sample the chorus from his hit, but Stivell had steadfastly refused. Manau had thus decided to recreate their own version of the melody in the studio. However, Stivell still reacted badly to what he considered to be a wilful act of 'plagiary' - and promptly attempted to sue the group!
Celtic Panic !
Law suits notwithstanding, Manau's single "la Tribu de Dana" went on to prove phenomenally successful - selling a cool 1.5 million copies in just a few months! Encouraged by this early success, marketing directors at Polydor called the trio into the studio and asked them to start work on a debut album. Manau were given an extremely tight deadline, but the trio willingly accepted the challenge, locking themselves away in the studio to begin work on their first opus.
Manau enlisted the help of Loïc Taillebrest, a well-known folk musician renowned for his performances on the bagpipes and the bombarde (a traditional Breton wind instrument). And they went on to deliver their debut album, "Panique celtique", after just a few weeks' work in the studio. "Panique celtique" was released in July and it came as no surprise to anyone when it soared to the top of the French album charts. ("Panique celtique" has sold a staggering 500,000 copies to date!)
Manau were soon much in demand. Indeed, the trio would suddenly find themselves inundated with invitations to appear at a number of major music festivals. This summer the 'Celtic rap' trio brought the house down at the famous Francofolies festival in la Rochelle, and then went on to give a memorable performance at the annual music festival in Marseilles. One of the highlights of the group's recent career, however, was when they performed with the legendary French folk group Tri Yann at the Saint-Renan festival in Brittany.
The group embarked upon a major national tour at the beginning of 1999 and, right in the midst of the tour, surprised everyone by triumphing at the 'Victoires de la Musique' (the annual French Music Awards) held in Paris in February. Manau carried off the award for Best Rap/Groove Album of the Year. Shortly after this new triumph, Hervé decided to leave the group and Manau were transformed from a chart-topping trio to a chart-topping duo. But this change in line-up did not appear to affect the popularity of the group. When Manau performed at the legendary Olympia in Paris on March 8 fans greeted Martial and Cédric with rapturous applause. What's more, in July the group received a diamond disc when sales of their album "Panique celtique" topped the 1 million mark!
New Musical Horizons
Manau came storming back into the French music news in the autumn of 2000 with an accomplished second album entitled "Fest Noz de Paname". Manau spent a year in the studio perfecting their sound and, after eight months of practically non-stop touring, their sound had matured considerably. Moving away from the 'Celtic rap fusion' style which had made their name, the group began experimenting with new genres and working with different artists. In fact, their new album includes two 'duets' with Maurane and Dee Dee Bridgewater.
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