Les Tambours du Bronx

LES TAMBOURS DU BRONX are a French industrial percussion group.

Les TAMBOURS DU BRONX have 17 musicians on stage surrounded by synthetic sounds, samples, and singing, all in time with the powerful rhythm. They built their reputation reviving drums from rough energetic music; a mixture of indus, afrobeat, drum'n'bass, hip-hop, rock, metal, hardcore and techno.

Born 20 years ago, les TAMBOURS DU BRONX , with their music and their know-how, have bewitched crowds and generations, thanks to a controlled and powerful rhythmical choreography.

With Repetitive gesture, gothic voices, and quirky dances, their drums create an apocalyptic universe, an « end of the world » music, with disconcerting accuracy. This subtle blend led them to become the universal reference in experimental percussions and industrial music.

Summary

Les TAMBOURS DU BRONX were born in 1987 in Varennes-Vauzelles, parish of Nevers, Nievre, France. Their name comes from a Varennes-Vauzelles district called « The Bronx » because of its square patterned streets, and lines of identical dark houses. This district was primarily inhabited, by SNCF (French trains society) workers, where the first drums used by les TDB are from.

Their first performance was a simple happening as part of the « Nevers a Vif » festival, in 1987 . What began like a joke between friends became the urban percussion's international reference.

20 years later, they've played through the U.S.A., Brasil, Arabics, Morocco, Tunisia, Greece, Reunion Island, Djibouti, Slovenia...and all around western Europe, on big events such as the bicentenary French revolution on the Champs-Elysee for Jean-Paul Goude defile in 1989, the opening of Johnny Hallyday 40 years career under the Eiffel Tower, a 6 week tour across the U.S.A. in 2000, the opening of KoЯn on Sziget Festival in Budapest in 2005, the Rockslide Festival for the opening of Jimmy Page and Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin in Denmark in 1992 and 1995, the French Stadium in 2006...

1000 concerts, 15000 squashed drums and 100000 split beetles stake the route of this atypical band out, who had more than 100 musicians in 20 years of life.

More than a rock band, this real musician company chose the autoproduction via the SARL TAMBOURS DU BRONX PRODUCTIONS. They are distributed by the independent French label Naïve Records, who released their first DVD out in March 2006.

Frequent Questions

From the beginning, the musicians used 225 liters « MONOSTRESS » drums, chosen for their resonance and softness. The drums arrive raw by trailer, then are painted by les TAMBOURS DU BRONX in their own designs . One drum is used for two concerts, one for each face. The drums are given away every second show then end up, most of the time, in a warm and cosy living room, under a TV or as a sideboard...

The beetles are made in beech wood and are 40 cm with a diameter of 3 cm. Each musician breaks about 2 pairs per concert. Back in time, they were pieces of picksticks. They're now delivered on pallets.

There are 14 drums on stage, 2 musicians on sample stands, and 1 on electronic machines. 1 singer, or even 2, perform for a few songs. The drums circle arc is divided in 3 parts called « basics », « middles » and « rhythmics ».

The electronic sounds, set off by the metal pipe stands, appeared in the mid-nineties. Before this time, concerts were acoustic, with up to 25 musicians on stage. The actual set is still preserving straight drum's compositions. Occasionally the band will still play a 20 minutes acoustic set, instead of the complete 1h30 usual one.

The developed sound layer, as well as the melodies of varied instruments, arrived in 2003, with the album « STEREOSTRESS REMIXES ». This permitted to the band to explore other musical influences whilst keeping its industrial roots. An additional musician, dedicated to this complicated machine, appeared in their live show at this time.

Anecdotes

* Les TAMBOURS DU BRONX appear in the video game SimCity
* Les TAMBOURS DU BRONX appear in the party game Trivial Pursuit
* Les TAMBOURS DU BRONX are the credits of La semaine des guignols on Canal+ (TV channel) since 1997
* Les TAMBOURS DU BRONX played 10 times to the Szene (Vienna, Austria)
* Les TAMBOURS DU BRONX played in many unusual places such as a chapel, an ice ring, the Dubaï desert, in a swimming pool, under the Eiffel Tower, in a quarry, on a building roof, on the water, in the snow, in the forest, on the beach, on the top of buses, on a barge, in Roman amphitheatres, and other fortresses or medieval citadels....
* 3 members from les TAMBOURS DU BRONX (Dom, Sid and Cece) have founded a Metal-hardcore band BENSOUSSAN, with an external drummer.

Actual Team

* General Manager: Yvan DOIRIEUX
* Manager: Ludovic LE MAPIHAN (Map)
* Technical rider: Dominique GAUDEAUX (Dom)
* Booking: FOLLOW ME
* Front sound: Sébastien GUICHARD (La Fraise)
* Monitors sound: Jérôme CARTIER (Djé)
* Lights: François HIBON
* Samples & Electro: Yann LAVOCAT
* Musicians: Cécé, Dédé, Nono, Nini, Franky, Romi, Sid, Dom, Chris, Luc, Jean-Marc, Thierry, Julien, Kouskous, Johnny, Podz
* Sponsors: KANABEACH, RUSSELL ATHLETIC, GLOBE

Discography

* Ca sonne pas beau un bidon? (1989)
* Monostress 225L (1992)
* Grandmix (1992)
* Silence (November 1999)
* Live (October 2001)
* Stereostress Remixes (april 2003)
* DVD Live (March 2006)
* BRONX Live (November 2006)

From Wikipedia