Beast (Canadian Band)

Beast was a Canadian electronic music duo based out of Montreal. Its members were vocalist and lyricist Béatrice Bonifassi and composer/producer Jean-Philippe Goncalves. Bonifassi was the main songwriter for the band and the music was composed and produced by Goncalves.

Beast was described as "an experimental hip hop project filled with psychedelic trip hop-style electronica, aggressive guitars and loud drum beats," or (as Bonifassi describes it) " trip rock".Leijon, Erik, "Beast Emerge From The Champion Camp", ''CHARTattack'', Apr 9, 2008
Retrieved Nov 5, 2008

History

Bonifassi and Goncalves, both originally from France, were active members in the Montreal music scene, and had each been making music for about 20 years by the time they began collaborating musically.Sasseville, Andreanne, "Beast", ''Urban Male Magazine'', 2008
Retrieved Nov 5, 2008: Bonifassi had previously worked with such local musicians as composer and saxophonist, François D'Amours,Bonifassi’s interview with Monique Giroux of Radio-Canada, Sep 13, 2004
French text and audio) Retrieved Nov 5, 2008 DJ/techno musician Champion,“Oscar nominee headlines M For Montreal”, ''NME news'', Oct 31, 2006
Retrieved Nov 5, 2008 and yet another French expat rock musician, Deweare. Jean-Phi Goncalves, a percussionist and record producer, had produced albums for Quebec musicians such as Pierre Lapointe, Jean-Pierre Ferland, Ariane Moffatt and Daniel Bélanger as well as American recording artist Lauryn Hill. He also played percussion for the singer Dumas and for Montreal bands Afrodizz and Plaster.Charpentier, Lorraine, “Bêtes de scène >> Montreal’s Beast pairs a famous singer with a beatsmith to the stars”, ''Montreal Mirror'', Mar 13 - Mar 19, 2008, Vol. 23 No. 38
Retrieved Nov 5, 2008

The pair first worked together in 2006 on a project for the video game company Ubisoft in 2006. The resulting sound was angrier than either artist was used to: "The angry message is about letting the beast out that's inside, because in society you're not allowed to be emotive or sensitive. The feelings of the moment when we were writing were mostly sadness and anger," said Bonifassi in an interview with Canadian music news magazine, ''Chart''.

Their first performance was on March 1, 2008, at the after-party for the Montreal International Music Initiative Awards, or MIMI Awards.The official website of the 2008 MIMI Awards
Retrieved Nov 8, 2008. They also performed at two separate venues during the 2008 NXNE festival in Toronto; the Canadian news magazine ''Chart'' gave Beast "highest marks" for their performances at the festival.Harper, Kate, "Royal Wood And Beast Get Highest NXNE Marks", ''Chart'', June 17, 2008
Retrieved Nov 9, 2008 In late 2008 the duo toured with British Columbia dance-punk band You Say Party! We Say Die!Benson, Denise, "Oct. 16-22 party picks", ''Eye Weekly'', Oct 15, 2008
Retrieved Nov 9, 2008

Beast's self-titled debut album was made available internationally on iTunes on November 4, 2008, and their first single, "Mr. Hurricane", was offered for free on iTunes as the Single of the Week in 6 major markets including the US, the UK, France and Australia.Baron, Zach, "Another Free iTunes Single of the Week: Beast's "'Mr. Hurricane'", ''The Village Voice'', Nov 4, 2008
Retrieved Nov 8, 2008 Bonifassi's vocal stylings on the album leaned towards rap and spoken-word. Canadian singer-songwriter Simon Wilcox also assisted Bonifassi (whose native language is French) with ''Beasts lyrics, which are all performed in English. "Simon really understood my dark side and the sadness of the moment," says Bonifassi. "I really wanted to sing something lyrically rich and powerful."

In 2010, the video for the single "Mr. Hurricane" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Music Video but lost to The Black Eyed Peas.

In 2010, the song "Satan" played during the closing credits of an episode of the HBO show ''Hung''. In 2011, the song "Mr. Hurricane" was used in the closing credits of "In Sickness", an episode of the television series ''The Good Wife''. "Satan" was used in two episodes of ''The Good Wife'' in 2013.

Dissolution

At the end of 2010 Bonifassi and Goncalves announced that they would be taking an indefinite break from the Beast project. Goncalves stated that the split was not due to any sort of quarrel, but due to lagging album sales, frustration with the record industry, the tiresome effects of touring, and family commitments.Coudé-Lord, Michelle. "Beast prend une pause de plusieurs mois", ''Canoe.ca'', Nov 24, 2010
French text) Retrieved May 6, 2011 Léveillée, Antoine. "À la prochaine, si Dieu le veut", ''Voir'', Dec 9, 2010
(French text) Retrieved May 6, 2011

Goncalves returned to Plaster. In 2011 Bonifassi performed at the ''Festival Montréal en lumière'' in February,Rhéaume, Julie. "Montréal en lumière: Carole Bouquet, coprésidente d'honneur", ''Branchez-Vous'', Dec 1, 2010
(French text) Retrieved May 6, 2011Rezzonico, Philippe. "Le laboratoire de Béatrice Bonifassi", ''Rue Frontenac'', Feb 17, 2011
(French text) Retrieved May 6, 2011 and she held two performances at the 2011 Les FrancoFolies de Montréal music festival on June 17 and 18.Cyr, Jean-François. "Béatrice Bonifassi: charmant délire à la française", ''Canoe.ca'', Sep 9, 2011
(French text) Retrieved Sep 12, 2011

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

MySpace profile

Beast on iTunes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beast (Band)
Canadian electronic music groups
Electronic music duos
Musical groups from Montreal
Musical groups established in 2006
Canadian musical duos
2006 establishments in Quebec
Male–female musical duos