The original concept for mellow came from founder Patrick Woodcock, a multi-instrumentalist, who had befriended

Nicolas Godin Nicolas Godin (born 25 December 1969) is a French musician best known for being half of the music duo Air. Early life Godin was born in Paris, Île-de-France, France, and studied architecture at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture ...

(

Air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

) while they were getting their architecture degree in Versailles. They were brought together by their shared passion for 1960s and 1970s vintage instruments, such as the

mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

, the moog, and other old organs and drum machines, which they both subsequently incorporated in their music. After a short stint with Godin during

's first incarnation, collaborating on '' Premiers Symptômes'' as a musician and arranger, as well as on ''

Moon Safari ''Moon Safari'' is the debut studio album by French electronic music duo Air, released on 16 January 1998 by Source and Virgin Records. ''Moon Safari'' was re-released on 14 April 2008 to mark the album's 10th anniversary, including a bound book ...

'', and co-writing '"Ce Matin-Là"', Woodcock felt he needed to form his own band. He called on his old friend Pierre Bégon-Lours, then a sound engineer who had access to a

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

near Paris where they recorded their first demos in 1997. Another sound engineer, enlisted by Bégon-Lours, joined the band for a couple of years. Their first concert took place in Brighton, in 1998. Soon after, they were signed by French

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

, Atmosphériques. In 1998, mellow joined forces with

and

Sean Lennon is an American–British musician, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and half-brother to Julian Lennon. Over the course of his career, he has been a member of the bands Cibo Matto, The G ...

for their first French tour. The first album, ''Another Mellow Winter'', was released worldwide in 1999. They contacted the director,

Roman Coppola Roman François Coppola (born April 22, 1965) is an American director, screenwriter, producer and the son of Francis Ford Coppola and Eleanor Coppola. For the 2012 film ''Moonrise Kingdom'', he and co-writer Wes Anderson were nominated for the A ...

, to shoot the

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

for the single "Another Mellow Winter". In 2000, Coppola asked mellow to score his 1960s-sci-fi debut feature '' CQ''. At the same time, mellow scored the title track to ''

Novocaine Procaine is a local anesthetic drug of the amino ester group. It is most commonly used in dental procedures to numb the area around a tooth and is also used to reduce the pain of intramuscular injection of penicillin. Owing to the ubiquity of ...

'', a dark comedy by David Atkins, starring

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominated ...

and

Helena Bonham Carter Helena Bonham Carter (born 26 May 1966) is an English actress. Known for her roles in blockbusters and independent films, particularly period dramas, she has received various awards and nominations, including a British Academy Film Award a ...

. That year, mellow toured in Japan, the UK and the US. The soundtrack for ''CQ'' was released as mellow's second album in 2001. In between albums, mellow continued to work on other people's music, lending their hand to bands such as Major Deluxe, Nice Hashimoto, The Free Design,

Philippe Katerine Philippe Blanchard (; born 8 December 1968), known professionally as Philippe Katerine, is a French singer-songwriter, actor, director and writer who began his career in 1991. Some of his popular singles include "Mon cœur balance", "Je vous em ...

and Bridge & Tunnel. They also scored TV commercials (Gauloise cigarettes, EDF,

Tommy Hilfiger Thomas Jacob Hilfiger ( /hɪlˈfɪgər/; born March 24, 1951) is an American fashion designer and the founder of Tommy Hilfiger Corporation. After starting his career by co-founding a chain of jeans/fashion stores called People's Place in upst ...

and

Johnson and Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...

). In 2004, their third album ''Perfect Colors'' was released. Woodcock and Bégon-Lours toured with fellow French band

Syd Matters Syd Matters is a French band fronted by composer Jonathan Morali. The other band members are Jean-Yves Lozac'h, Olivier Marguerit, Remi Alexandre and Clement Carle. The name Syd Matters comes from the slight modification of the names of two Pi ...

. Their band included Lionel Rault (Flairs), Mark Kerr (

Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United St ...

Rita Mitsouko Les Rita Mitsouko (, translation: ''The Rita Mitsukos'') were a French pop rock group formed by Fred Chichin and Catherine Ringer. The duo first performed as Rita Mitsouko at Gibus Club in Paris in 1980. They went on to become one of the most a ...

) and Laurent Bauer (Venus Paradise). They designed their own recording studio in Saint-Cloud, Mellow Workshop, where they could switch roles and produce other artists. Since then, Woodcock and Bégon-Lours have been working on their fourth album, with guest musicians such as Bent (

Das Pop Das Pop was a Belgian band founded in Ghent by school friends Reinhard Vanbergen, Niek Meul, Lieven Moors and Bent Van Looy. Biography Das Pop was initially called Things to Come, but the band changed its name to Das Pop when Tom Kestens joi ...

), Rémi Alexandre (

) and Samy Osta (Domingo), Julien Galner (Chateau Marmont). The next album is slated to be released later in 2015.

Discography

Albums

*1999: ''Another Mellow Winter'' *2001: ''Dragonfly'' (a soundtrack to the motion picture ''CQ'') *2001: ''Another Mellow Spring'' (Reissue of "Another Mellow Winter") *2002: ''Another Mellow Summer'' (Reissue of "Another Mellow Winter") *2004: ''Perfect Colors''

EPs

*2014: ''City Lights'' (7" vinyl)

References

Allmusic.com

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mellow (band) French musical groups Musical groups established in 1997 1997 establishments in France