Demians is a French alternative rock band started by Nicolas Chapel in 2007.

Background

Chapel's inspiration for the name Demians came from the novel ''

Demian ''Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth'' is a Bildungsroman by Hermann Hesse, first published in 1919; a prologue was added in 1960. ''Demian'' was first published under the pseudonym "Emil Sinclair", the name of the narrator of the stor ...

'' by author

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include ''Demian'', '' Steppenwolf'', '' Siddhartha'', and '' The Glass Bead Game'', each of which explores an individual' ...

, and his musical inspiration came from a variety of artists and sources, ranging from Radiohead to

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

ambient music Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. It may lack net composition, beat, or structured melody.The Ambient Century by Mark Prendergast, Bloomsbury, London, 2003. It ...

. Chapel plays all instruments and performs all vocals on the studio albums, though he performs live with a full band. All Demians releases have been self-produced and recorded in Chapel's home studios, the locations of which have changed from album to album.

''Building an Empire''

Demians' first studio album ''Building an Empire'' was released on May 19, 2008, self-produced and released under license by InsideOut, to positive reviews. The success of ''Building an Empire'' led Chapel to assemble a live band with Gaël Hallier (drums) and Antoine Pohu (bass), and they subsequently were granted opening slots for several well-known rock and metal bands, including Porcupine Tree,

Anathema Anathema, in common usage, is something or someone detested or shunned. In its other main usage, it is a formal excommunication. The latter meaning, its ecclesiastical sense, is based on New Testament usage. In the Old Testament, anathema was a ...

Marillion Marillion are a British rock band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becoming the mos ...

Steven Wilson Steven John Wilson (born 3 November 1967) is an English musician. He is the founder, guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Porcupine Tree, as well as being a member of several other bands, including Blackfield, Storm Corro ...

Aviv Geffen Aviv Geffen ( he, אביב גפן, born 10 May 1973) is an Israeli rock musician, singer, songwriter and the son of writer and poet Yehonatan Geffen and Nurit Makover, brother of actress Shira Geffen, and an alumnus of Rimon School of Jazz and ...

, and

Jonathan Davis Jonathan Howsmon Davis (born January 18, 1971), also known as JD or JDevil, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman of nu metal band Korn, who are considered a pioneering act of the nu ...

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream. Originally formed in 1993 b ...

. They toured throughout Europe, playing more than 40 shows in more than 12 countries.

''Mute''

The follow-up entitled "Mute" came out on June 28, 2010 in Europe and August 10, 2010 in the US. Completely self-produced, it is licensed to Inside Out Music / Century Media, distributed by EMI Music. Chapel once again performed all instruments and vocals on the album, with two guests, Gaël Hallier playing drum duets with Chapel on "Swing Of The Airwaves" and "Hesitation Waltz", and Lepolair playing electronics on the song "Porcelain".
Very different from its predecessor, the album once again gathered excellent reviews worldwide, and brought the band's music to a wider audience.
Fred Mariolle officially joined Demians as a guitar player after the release of "Mute". The band announced on their Facebook page in March 2013 that they had been on hiatus since 2011 and had no plans for a new album. More recently, on 3 June 2014, Nicholas Chapel announced via the Demians Facebook page that he had started working on a new Demians album and would keep fans informed on its progress.

''Mercury''

On 9 October 2014, Nicolas Chapel announced on the band's official website and Facebook page that the new album "Mercury" would come out on 17 December on CD, LP and MP3, and that the album would be exclusively available from the band's website. Extremely well received by the rock press and fans alike (the album being album of the month in December's issue of Rock Hard magazine), its sound ranges from raw

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

("Mercury", "White Chalk") to

post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation ...

("Water and a Sigh", "Spellbound Lily"), and even blues ("Circles and Stars", "Little Invisible"). Chapel once again plays all the instruments and sings all parts on the album, producing, mixing and mastering the record as well.

Discography

*'' Building an Empire'' (2008) *'' Mute'' (2010) *'' Mercury'' (2014) *'' Battles'' (2016)

Band members

*Nicolas Chapel -

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

, and all instruments on studio recordings

Former live band members

*Antoine Pohu -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

*Fred Mariolle -

guitars The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

*Gaël Hallier -

References

External links

Demians on Facebook
{{Authority control Musical groups from Normandy French alternative rock groups