Scenario Rock @ Fleche D'Or

Scenario Rock, obviously. Behind this generic name are two artists from the suburbs, Mehdi Pinson and Ludovic Therrault. Mehdi sings, writes lyrics and music, produces and plays guitar, while Ludovic writes music, plays bass and co-produces. Although smart noise is their ongoing obsession, they have a wide range of roots. Two very unorthodox activists, they already have a past, a history In the mid-90s, the pair formed a group called Heb Frueman, a recreational project that attracted interest in hardcore circles. In the heat of the moment, these skateboarders - who dont take themselves too seriously - shared the bill with No FX or Burning Heads, but refused the literal-mindedness of other groups in the movement, preferring to have their fun in complete artistic freedom. Joined by DJ Pone, in a logical step, they eventually launched Scnario Rock, a concept that was more receptive to other urban genres and a certain idea of rock. Put like that, it all seems simple. Actually, it was nothing of the sort. The group were short on material resources, so their first demos were confused and dense, packed with recorded loops and hip-hop reminiscences. But there was a sound, a freshness in the background mess, Mehdi remembers. Already, the influences were apparent: Beastie Boys, MixMaster Mike, turntablism In 1997, they met Bertil David and things really began to move. In just a few weeks, Scnario Rock found themselves on the Source Rock compilation with a song improvised in the studio. The group recorded at Faster Jays in 1999 and began to take a more organic approach. Concentrating on his career as a DJ, Pone distanced himself from the project and the duo set out to capture new emotions in their songwriting. During the summer of 2002, they locked themselves away in the studio to demo new tracks. We could satisfy all our fantasies there, remembers Mehdi, who, for the occasion, began to focus more on singing. We dusted off the vintage keyboards and concentrated on writing mainly pop-rock songs. The SR story turned into a kind of rock fairy tale when the group met David Corcos, 25, a Brazilian wunderkind producer living in the USA. In France to work on various projects, he heard Scnario Rocks demos. Fascinated by their sound, he invited the group to go and record in Los Angeles where he would co-produce the album they were preparing. Scenario Rock needed no urging: they arrived in Los Angeles in February 2003 and stayed until April. They recorded at New King Sound Studios, a converted villa, with a family of musicians including bassist Koool G Murder (Eels, Everlast) and drummer and percussionist Alfredo Ortiz (Beastie Boys). Mehdi: We kept most of the takes and used a big sound, optimising the tracks. When we got back to France, we worked on three new tracks, Endless Season (which would become the albums title song), Cruisin and Hard Task. So what are Scnario Rocksreferences? Simply the sum total of what the two artists have absorbed over the last 20 years, from The Cure to Police, The Pixies, punk, funk and soul, all with an openly rock attitude. My idea of rock n roll attitude is a certain daring in the way you make music. Thats what weve tried to have since we started out, Mehdi explains. Weve combined all our influences using this same process, a bit like The Clash and The Beatles managed to do. The results of all these years of sweeping experimentation are to be found on Endless Season, a album that mirrors its makers. A recurrent theme in our approach is the demystification of clichs we see as necessary, coming as we do from a world as eclectic as skateboarding: theyre paradoxes and anecdotes that define our tradition. These details, this combination of genres, ensure our identity. We like blends. No codes, no staging: Scnario Rock keep it real. Scnario Rock are anything but a purely studio group. From the start, we wanted an album with music that could be played live, without electronic tinkering, Ludo confirms. The proof is Endless Season itself, a resolutely rock album, receptive to the rest of the musical world and charged with an honesty and energy that spill from every track, from Modern Epicureans to Time Is Up. Godard said that cinema was the truth 24 times a second. Scnario Rock turn music into truth at 33 revolutions a minute.