Rone (born Erwan Castex, 20 June 1980) is a French electronic music producer and artist.

Early career

Erwan Castex was born in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. He grew up in Paris. His first EP, "Bora", came out in 2008 on the French label InFiné.[1] French DJ/Producer Agoria selected the track for his mix compilation "At the Controls",[2] attracting support from the UK (Massive Attack's 3D, Sasha and London's Fabric resident DJ Lee Burridge).[3]

2009–2010: Debut album Spanish Breakfast

In 2009, Rone released a new maxi, entitled "La Dame Blanche". The track was later remixed by LCD Soundsystem's bass player Tyler Pope and Austrian electronic music artist Clara Moto. The same year he brought out his first album Spanish Breakfast, also on Infiné. Electronic Beats ranked him in their top 25 Best Albums of 2009.[4]

2011–2012: Berlin, new inspiration, new album

In 2011, in search of new inspiration, Rone left his hometown of Paris for Berlin.[5] This led in the spring of 2011 to the release of the EP So So So. A second album entitled Tohu Bohu (Biblical Hebrew expression meaning chaos) followed in October 2012, likewise on Infiné.[6] The album featured the single "Let's Go", with vocals by US rapper High Priest from New York's Antipop Consortium[7] Resident Advisor gave the album 4 out of 5[8] and Rone won three 2012 Trax Magazine awards: Best French Artist, Best Album and Best Music Video.

Tohu Bohu gave rise to three singles: "Parade", "Bye Bye Macadam" and "Let's Go". All three singles were promoted by videos, the most successful, "Bye Bye Macadam", having been viewed more than 40 million times on YouTube and been shown on Cartoon Network in Adult Swim's Off the Air episode "Worship".[9]

2013: Tohu Bohu Tour, collaborations and Tohu Bonus

Early in 2013, the US indie band The National asked Rone to add some electronic sequences to their new album Trouble Will Find Me on 4AD. The National's lead singer Matt Berninger said in an interview, "Rone's work has brought something fresh to our sound, I’m not saying we re-invented ourselves as a band, but we’ve opened new doors".[10]

The same year, Gabriel & Dresden,[11] Juan Atkins,[12] Clark (musician)[13] and Dominik Eulberg remixed respectively the tracks "Bye Bye Macadam", "Let's Go", and "Parade". Jean-Michel Jarre[14] selected two of his tracks to feature on the compilation "Infiné by JMJ".[15] The album Tohu Bohu was later re-released with a bonus disc with 6 unreleased tracks; one of them features John Stanier on drums.[16]

2014: Apache EP – North American tour

2014 saw the release of the Apache EP, in April.[17] Simultaneously Rone toured North America for the first time, finishing with an appearance at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival's The Do LaB Stage.[18][19] In the same year, Rone made remixes for French pop singer Etienne Daho[20] and the band Breton.[21]

Testing new technologies

Rone also collaborated with sound engineers from Radio France on binaural versions of the tracks "Apache", "Quitter la ville" and "Acid Reflux", reproducing an audio 3D effect.[22]

2015 : Third album: Creatures

After tours around the world, Rone returned to Paris and released his third album, Creatures, on 9 February 2015. Various artists collaborated on this album: Étienne Daho, François Marry (leader of pop group Frànçois and The Atlas Mountains), cellist Gaspar Claus, Bryce Dessner (co-leader of the group The National, and trumpet player Toshinori Kondo.

Rone also released a 360° virtual reality project, Quitter La Ville, in collaboration with La Blogothèque. The video was one of the first digital simulation clips, making him a pioneer in the Virtual Reality field.[23]

2017: La Philharmonie de Paris / Fourth album: Mirapolis

On 14 January 2017, Rone performed a bespoke piece at the Philharmonie de Paris for which he invited various guest artists: the drummer John Stanier of the group Battles, the science-fiction writer Alain Damasio, and the leader of Frànçois and The Atlas Mountains François Marry.[24]

On 23 March 2017, Castex received the French honorary decoration of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.[25][26]

On 3 November 2017, Rone released his fourth album Mirapolis. The title was inspired by his childhood memories at the Mirapolis theme park, which closed in 1991. For Mirapolis, Castex pushed further his collaborative work, working alongside film director Michel Gondry who illustrated the album cover. His fourth album also includes various international collaborators: John Stanier, the drummer of the Battles, Kazu Makino from the vocal trio Blonde Redhead, Bryce Dessner, the guitarist of The National, and Baxter Dury.

2020: Room With A View

Invited by Ruth Mackenzie, the artistic director of Théâtre du Châtelet, Rone received a carte blanche for 9 performances, from March 5 to 14. Rone decided to collaborate with the collective (La)Horde for Room With A View. This project was both a musical and choreographic piece, performed by 18 dancers from the Ballet national de Marseille.[27] This creative project mainly addresses the messages of climate change. Simultaneously, Room With A View became the artist's fifth album.

In 2020, Rone composed the original soundtrack for the feature film Night Ride.[28] The score led to him being awarded the prize for best original soundtrack at the Festival International du film de Saint- Jean-de Luzz and at the Festival de La Baule.[29] Rone also took home the 2021 César Award for Best Original Music.

2021: Rone & Friends - L(oo)ping

After previous projects being held back due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Rone decided to produce a collaborative album with his vocalists Odezenne, Georgia, Jehnny Beth, Dominique A, Laura Etchgoyhen, Alain Damasio, Mood, Flavien Berger, Yael Naim, Malibu, Camélia Jordana, Casper Clausen, Melissa Laveaux and Roya Arab.[30]

On 25 and 26 June 2021, Rone released L(oo)ping, an electro-classic concert, held at the Auditorium Maurice-Ravel, accompanied by 81 musicians from the Orchestre national de Lyon, the pianist Vanessa Wagner and the choir Bostgehio, under the direction of the Belgian conductor Dirk Brossé.[31]

Discography

Studio albums

Year Title Label
2009 Spanish Breakfast InFiné
2012 Tohu Bohu InFiné
2013 Tohu Bonus InFiné
2015 Creatures InFiné
2017 Mirapolis[32] InFiné
2020 Room With A View InFiné
2020 La Nuit Venue (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) InFiné
2021 Rone & Friends InFiné Collaborative album — Dominique A, Yael Naim, Camélia Jordana, Georgia, Casper Clausen...
2021 Les Olympiades (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) InFiné

Live albums

Year Title Label
2023 L(oo)ping Live with Orchestre national de Lyon InFiné

Extended plays

Year Title Label
2008 Bora InFiné
2009 La Dame Blanche InFiné
2011 So So So InFiné
2012 Parade InFiné
2013 Bye Bye Macadam InFiné
Let's Go
2014 Apache InFiné
2016 Vood(oo) InFiné
2019 Motion InFiné
2022 Ghosts InFiné

Remixes

Year Artist Track Label
2008 Sie Sublimes Time has changed Records
Carl-Johan Elger Kattguld Lo-FiSoul
2010 Ripperton & Minz Crack Suruba X
SinnerDC The Medium Is The Message Ai Records
2011 Arandel In D#3 InFiné
Dominik Eulberg Der Tanz der Gluehwuermchen Traum Schallplatten
2012 Max Cooper (electronica musician) Simplexity Traum Schallplatten
2014 Breton (band) 15 minutes Believe
Etienne Daho En Surface Polydor/Universal Music France
2015 Yael Naim Coward Tôt ou tard
Aufgang Summer Blue Note/Universal Music France
2018 Jabberwocky Fog Polydor/Universal Music France
Blonde Redhead Where Your Mind Wants To Go Asa Wa Kuru/Ponderose
Gaspar Claus, Gasper Clausen The Machine Les Disques Du Festival Permanent
2019 Johnny Hostile Work Pop Noire
2021 GoGo Penguin F Maj Pixie Decca Records France
Agnes Obel Can't Be Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Strange Harvest Limited
Jehnny Beth French Countryside 20L07

Collaborations

Year Artist Title Label
2007 Lucy & Rone Chocolate Broque
Lucy & Rone Continuity Theory Curle
2009 Lucy & Rone Crack ProgCity Deep Trax
Lucy & Rone Great Heron
2013 The National Trouble Will Find Me 4AD
2016 Jean-Michel Jarre The Heart Of Noise Pt. 1 Sony Music

Filmography

Choreographic pieces

Distinctions

References

  1. ^ Interview_Rone, BeatsandBeyond Crew, Beats and Beyond, 8 December 2012.
  2. ^ "Agoria - At The Controls". Discogs.com. 5 October 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  3. ^ Rone talks inspiration, Dj Pangburn, Death and Taxes, Nov. 3, 2012.
  4. ^ Electronic Beats The Top 25 Records of 2009, EB team, Electronic Beats, Jan. 4, 2010.
  5. ^ Interview Rone, Leo Pollock, The Burlington Project
  6. ^ The Genesis of Rone, Nathan Reese, Interview (magazine)
  7. ^ X Rone & High Priest, Cécilia Leniaud, WAD (magazine), Nov. 8, 2012.
  8. ^ Rone - Tohu Bohu review, Stephane Girard, Resident Advisor, Nov. 2012.
  9. ^ YouTube: Rone - Bye Bye Macadam (Official Video), March 20, 2017
  10. ^ The National: un nouvel album plein de légèreté, Jérôme Provençal, Les Inrockuptibles, June 5, 2013
  11. ^ "Gabriel & Dresden, Rone New Releases: Bye Bye Macadam (Gabriel & Dresden Remix) on Beatport". Archived from the original on 2015-12-09. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
  12. ^ Hear Detroit Techno Godfather Juan Atkins' Throbbing Remix of Rone's "Bye Bye Macadam, Philip Sherburne, Spin, April 19, 2013
  13. ^ Radio Vinyle #37 Archived 2014-07-21 at the Wayback Machine, Marie Richeux, Radio France, March 20, 2014
  14. ^ ELECTRONIC MUSIC PIONEER JEAN MICHEL JARRE RELEASES NEW COMPILATION FOR INFINÉ, Fact (UK magazine), Jan. 15, 2013
  15. ^ Jean Michel Jarre: Metamorphosis, Aaron Coultate, Resident Advisor, March 4, 2013
  16. ^ Rone "Pool" [ft. John Stanier], Nick Neyland, Pitchfork, July 2, 2013.
  17. ^ Rone - Bachi-Bouzouk, Larry Fitzmaurice, Pitchfork, March 24, 2014
  18. ^ Listen to Rone's 'Apache' EP for InFiné, Melkorka Licea, xlr8r, April 2, 2014.
  19. ^ "The Do LaB's 2014 Coachella Stage Lineup". Thedolab.com. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  20. ^ Rone remix "En Surface" d'Etienne Daho, Louis Lepron, Konbini, June 5, 2014.
  21. ^ Exclusive Rone remix for Breton, Carhartt, March 18, 2014.
  22. ^ "Un titre de Rone en binaural : faites l'expérience !", Guillaume Ledit, Mouv, 28 mars 2014.
  23. ^ 1ers-clips-360-degres-rone.html "Réalité virtuelle : 1ers clips à 360° pour Björk et Rone", Romain Heuillard, Clubic, 8 juin 2015.
  24. ^ "La Philharmonie de Paris". www.france.tv (in French). Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  25. ^ ""Nomination dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres hiver 2017"". Ministère de la Culture (in French).
  26. ^ Helenecw. "Portrait de Rone, le chevalier de l'électro française". Beware! (in French). Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  27. ^ "Rone en carte blanche au Théâtre du Châtelet pour une série de neuf concerts!". Info (in French). Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  28. ^ "Night Ride". IMDb.
  29. ^ "La Nuit Venue" (in French).
  30. ^ ""Rone & Friends", l'album de confinement collaboratif d'un artiste touche-à-tout". franceinfo:culture (in French).
  31. ^ "RONE AVEC L'ORCHESTRE NATIONAL DE LYON". auditorium-lyon.com (in French). Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  32. ^ "Rone reveals new album, Mirapolis · News RA". Residentadvisor.com.
  33. ^ "La femme à cordes". collections.forumdesimages.fr. Retrieved 2016-10-16..
  34. ^ "La bête". collections.forumdesimages.fr. Retrieved 2016-10-16..
  35. ^ "Festival Européen du Film Fantastique de Strasbourg". strasbourgfestival.com. Retrieved 2016-10-16..
  36. ^ "Room With A View—2020". Chatelet.

External links