Dionysos is a French

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

band that originated in Valence, Drôme, in 1993; their formation took place at their

lycée In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

. The group presents songs in both French and English and has produced six studio albums. They are particularly recognized in France for their surrealism and eccentricity. Their debut album, ''Happening Songs'', was entirely self-produced and featured lyrics exclusively in English. With their subsequent album ''The sun is blue like eggs in Winter'' (also self-produced), Babet joined the band. In 1999, they signed a deal with a major label (the now defunct

Trema Trema may refer to: * a Greek and Latin root meaning ''hole'' * Trema, a term for the two dots (diacritic) ** Tréma, (French), a diaeresis * ''Trema'' (plant), a genus of about 15 species of small evergreen trees * Tréma (record label), a Fr ...

) and released ''Haïku,'' which propelled them into the public eye, largely owing to the success of the single "Coccinelle." The name of the band comes from the ancient Greek god

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...

, which in French is ''Dionysos''.

Influences

There are evident non-musical influences drawn from

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and producer. Known for popularizing Goth subculture, Goth culture in the American film industry, Burton is famous for his Gothic film, gothic horror and dark fantasy films. ...

and

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime Flying ace, fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies ...

. Many of the songs carry a surreal quality, with a significant number featuring nonsense lyrics, such as the track "Surfin Frog." The albums ''Monsters in Love'' and ''La mécanique du cœur'' are situated in a fantastical world teeming with whimsical monsters and other extraordinary characters. This unique setting has been utilized by Mathias Malzieu as the backdrop for two original comic books. The cover art for these comic books, as well as for the two albums, was illustrated by

Joann Sfar Joann Sfar (; born 28 August 1971) is a French comics artist, comic book creator, novelist, and film director. Life and career Sfar was born in Nice, the son of Lilou, a pop singer, who died when he was three, and André Sfar, a lawyer well know ...

. Sfar's distinct and comical style of fantasy fiction, as showcased in the Donjon comic books, seamlessly aligns with the band's humor-infused fantasy albums. The lead singer, Mathias Malzieu, is also working on other projects such as the career of Olivia Ruiz (his partner from 2005 to 2011), and his other hobby : writing (published 4 books in 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2011). His second book is based on the same world as the album '' Monsters in Love'', his third book on the same world as the album '' La mécanique du cœur''. In the same way, there will be connections between his fourth book, ''

Métamorphose en bord du ciel Métamorphose may refer to: * Métamorphose (song), "Métamorphose" (song), a 1989 song by Amanda Lear * Métamorphose (album), ''Métamorphose'' (album), a 1984 album by Sortilège * Métamorphose (renamer), an open source batch renamer See also< ...

'', but not to the same extent as ''La mécanique du cœur''.

Members

* Mathias Malzieu – vocals,

ukulele The ukulele ( ; ); also called a uke (informally), is a member of the lute (ancient guitar) family of instruments. The ukulele is of Portuguese origin and was popularized in Hawaii. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and con ...

, folk guitar,

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone, etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named aft ...

, harmonica,

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( ; or , : bells and : play) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a Musical keyboard, keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the v ...

Mathias is the main songwriter and frontman. He has also written three books – ''38 mini westerns'' (Pimientos, 2003), ''Maintenant qu'il fait tout le temps nuit sur toi'' (Flammarion, 2005) et '' La mécanique du cœur'' (Flammarion, 2007) – with inspiration drawing between the albums and the novels. * Éric Serra Tosio ''Rico'' – drums, percussion,

whistle A whistle is a musical instrument which produces sound from a stream of gas, most commonly air. It is a type of Fipple, fipple flute, and may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a s ...

* Michaël Ponton a.k.a. ''Miky Biky'' – lead guitar,

phonograph A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration Waveform, waveforms are recorded as correspond ...

turntable,

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

, lapsteel,

, programming The Miky Biky co-produced '' La mécanique du cœur'' with Mathias. * Guillaume Garidel a.k.a. ''Guillermo'' – bass guitar,

contrabass Contrabass (from ) refers to several musical instruments of very low pitch—generally one octave below bass register instruments. While the term most commonly refers to the double bass (which is the bass instrument in the orchestral string family ...

, synthesizer * Élisabeth Maistre a.k.a. ''Babet'' – vocals, violin,

keys Key, Keys, The Key or The Keys may refer to: Common uses * Key (cryptography), a piece of information needed to encode or decode a message * Key (instrument), a component of a musical instrument * Key (lock), a device used to operate a lock * ...

(member since 1998) Babet has begun a solo career and released two albums: ''Drôle d'oiseau'' (5 March 2007) and ''Piano Monstre'' (27 September 2010). * Stéphan Bertholio a.k.a. ''Stéphano'' –

, bass,

baritone guitar The baritone guitar is a guitar with a longer scale length, typically a larger body, and heavier internal bracing, so it can be tuned to a lower pitch. Gretsch, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, ESP Guitars, PRS Guitars, Music Man, Danelectro, Sche ...

, lapsteel,

musical saw A musical saw, also called a singing saw, is a hand saw used as a musical instrument. Capable of continuous glissando (portamento), the sound creates an ethereal tone, very similar to the theremin. The musical saw is classified as a plaque frict ...

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usu ...

(backliner, then official member since 2002) Stéphan worked as the band's backliner on tour, but joined officially during the recording of '' Monsters in Love''.

Discography

Studio albums

*''Happening Songs'' (self-produced, 1996) *''The Sun Is Blue Like the Eggs in Winter'' (self-produced, 1998) *''Haïku'' (

, 1999) *'' Western sous la neige'' (

, 2002) *'' Monsters in Love'' (

, 2005) *'' La Mécanique du Cœur'' ( Barclay, 2007) *'' Bird 'n' Roll'' ( Barclay, March 2012) *'' Vampire en pyjama'' (L'Extraordinarium, January 2016) *''Surprisier'' (L'Extraordinarium, February 2020)

Live albums

*''Whatever the Weather – Concert Électrique'' (

, 2003) *''Whatever the Weather – Concert Acoustique'' (

, 2003) *''Monsters in Live'' (2007)

DVDs

*''Whatever the Weather'' (2003) – recorded 30 May 2003 at 'La Laiterie' in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

*''Monsters in Live'' (2007) – recorded 28 October 2006 at

Le Zénith Le Zénith () is the name given to a series of indoor arenas in France. The first arena, the "Zénith Paris" is a rejuvenation of the Pavillon de Paris. In French culture, the word "zénith" has become synonymous with "theater". A zénith is a ...

in Paris with the Synfonietta de Belfort orchestra

Other

*''Yoghurt session'' (1997) – extremely rare vinyl *''Soon, on your radio'' (1998) – a CD featuring Dionysos alongside Mary's Child and Despondents *''Old School Recordings'' (

, 15 May 2001) – a collection of rare recordings *''Eats Music'' ( Barclay, 12 October 2009) – another collection of rare recordings, demos and alternative or live versions of previous released tracks

References

External links

Official website
(in French) – discography, media, and information
Official MySpace

RFI's review of ''Monsters in Love''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dionysos French indie rock groups Musical groups established in 1993 French alternative rock groups Musical groups from Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes French art rock groups English-language musical groups from France