Modjo
| Modjo | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Paris, France |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1998–2003 |
| Labels | |
| Website | modjo |
| Past members |
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Modjo (pronounced: [mɔdʒo]) was a French house musical duo made up of producer Romain Tranchart (born 9 June 1976) and vocalist Yann Destagnol (a.k.a. Yann Destal, born 14 July 1978). They had major success with their hit single "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)".
Romain Tranchart first moved with his family to Mexico and Algeria, to finally live in Brazil. There, he started learning the guitar, finding inspiration through jazz classics.
At that time, he became a fan of house music, influenced by DJ Sneak, Ian Pooley, and Daft Punk. He released his first house single as Funk Legacy titled "What You're Gonna Do, Baby" on Vertigo Records (FR) in 1998. Later, he decided to enter the American School of Modern Music in Paris, the French division of the Berklee School of Music.
Also Parisian, Yann learned to play flute and clarinet when he was a small child. As he aged he became deeply influenced by the Beatles, the Beach Boys, David Bowie and other pop acts. He started to play drums by emulating them. He also learned to play the piano and the guitar. He later bought himself a four track recording machine and started songwriting and singing. Fascinated more by voices than by charismatic band leaders, he liked bands such as Aerosmith, the Police and Queen and lately became a great fan of R&B divas.
After being a drummer and sometimes-vocalist in a few bands, he met Romain in 1998, and the partnership was born. The two quickly began recording, and from those sessions came "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)". The single got recognition later on in 2000. It is a "French-flavour" house track with heavy pop and disco influences, which featured a sample from Chic's "Soup for One". The track became an instant number-one across Europe, and was followed up by other singles "Chillin'", "What I Mean" and "No More Tears". Their live version of the band was named Modjo Band, which saw the duo being accompanied by guitars, bass and drums.
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