Louis Warynski (born 6 January 1984), better known by his stage name Chapelier Fou (

Mad Hatter The Hatter (called Hatta in ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and its 1871 sequel ''Through the Looking-Glass''. He is often referred to as The Mad Hatter ...

) is a French electronic musician from

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

. Since 2008, he has released five EPs and nine studio albums, all through the independent record label Ici, d'ailleurs...

Life and career

Louis Warynski was born on 6 January 1984, in the French city of

. He entered the local conservatory at the age of six and went on to learn multiple instruments, including the violin and

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

. After graduating from high school, Warynski obtained a master's degree in

musicology Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, ...

. He began working with electronic music, sampled lines by

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...

, and adopted the moniker as his stage name. In 2008, Chapelier Fou performed at

Printemps de Bourges Le Printemps de Bourges is an annual music festival that is held in Bourges, France, over the course of five days. It is now a major event in France and Europe. History The festival was created in 1977 (by , , and ). With its span of 35 years, ...

, in the "Electro Discoveries" section. In 2009, the Nancy-based independent label Ici, d'ailleurs... released his first EP, ''Darling, Darling, Darling...'' That year, his performance at

Eurockéennes de Belfort The Eurockéennes de Belfort (; ) is one of France's largest rock music, rock music festivals. The Eurockéennes, a play on words involving ''rock'' (rock music) and ''européennes'' (Europeans), is a festival based in a nature reserve beside Lac ...

won him the Fabrice Ragris prize, awarded for young talent. His next EP, titled ''Scandale!'', was released in November 2009. In 2010, the artist appeared at

Les Francofolies de La Rochelle Les Francofolies () is the annual music festival founded in 1985 in La Rochelle, Poitou-Charentes, France as an initiative of Jean-Louis Foulquier. It is usually held annually in July and aims at promoting French-language music. Number of tho ...

and later travelled to Hungary to perform at

Sziget Festival Sziget Festival (, ) is one of the largest music and cultural festivals in Europe. It is held every August in northern Budapest, Hungary, on Óbudai-sziget ("Old Buda Island"), a leafy 108-hectare (266-acre) island on the Danube. More than 1,0 ...

, in Budapest. His debut full-length album, titled ''613'', came out in 2010. In 2011, Chapelier Fou held a series of performances at the Centre Pompidou-Metz and later released the EP ''Al Abama''. In 2012, he took part in the

Celtic Connections The Celtic Connections festival started in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, and has since been held every January. Featuring over 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of trad ...

music festival in Glasgow, Scotland. The same year, he travelled to Australia and New Zealand to play at

WOMAD WOMAD ( ; World of Music, Arts and Dance) is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance. History WOMAD was founded in 1980 by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, w ...

. His second studio album, ''Invisible'', was released in March 2012. He promoted it with a number of shows across Europe, including at a

Nuit Blanche Nuit Blanche () (White Night) is an annual all-night or night-time arts festival of a city. A Nuit Blanche typically has museums, private and public art galleries, and other cultural institutions open and free of charge, with the centre of the ...

in Paris. He returned to Australia for more performances the same year. Chapelier Fou has since published the EPs ''Protest'' (2014) and ''Fuses'' (2015) as well as the full-length albums ''Deltas'' (2014), ''Kalia'' (2016), ''Muance'' (2017), ''!'' (2017), ''Méridiens'' (2020), and ''Parallèles'' (2020). Between 2014 and 2019, he performed with a group of musicians, including Maxime François (viola, synthesizers), Maxime Tisserand (clarinets, electronics), and Camille Momper (cello), before returning to a solo format in 2020. In 2021, he formed the acoustic group Ensemb7e, which included Grégory Wagenheim (piano), Nicolas Stroebel (drums), Maxime Tisserand (clarinets), Camille Momper (cello), Maxime François (viola), and Marie Lambert (violin ). In 2021, Claire Moret replaced Momper. In 2022, the group released an eponymous studio album.

Musical style

Chapelier Fou's compositions are mostly instrumental, combining acoustic instruments, including guitar and violin, with electronic instruments, synthesizers, and samplers. He began by sampling classical and

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

, moving on to the use of acoustic instruments.

Discography

Studio albums * ''613'' (2010) * ''Invisible'' (2012) * ''Deltas'' (2014) * ''Kalia'' (2016) * ''Muance'' (2017) * ''!'' (2017) * ''Méridiens'' (2020) * ''Parallèles'' (2020) * ''Ensemb7e'' (2022) EPs * ''Darling, Darling, Darling… (2009) * ''Scandale!'' (2009) * ''Al Abama'' (2011) * ''Protest'' (2014) * ''Fuses'' (2015)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1984 births Living people French electronic musicians French multi-instrumentalists