Nemo -

Nemo was a French funk-rock band behind the 1973/74 Agave albums Nemo and Doin’ Nuthin’.

Members: François Bréant (keyboards, vocal), Marc Perru (guitar, vocal), Pascal Arroyo (bass, piano), Clément Bailly (drums), Emmanuel Lacordaire (percussion, guitar), Ronnie James (trumpet), Albert Marcœur (alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet), Claude Samard (dobro), Arthur Young (trumpet), José Bartel (tumbas, gong)

Background

Nemo formed in 1972 in Paris when keyboardist-vocalist François Bréant and bassist-vocalist Pascal Arroyo teamed with guitarist-vocalist Marc Perru and drummer Clément Bailly. Photographer Emmanuel Lacordaire joined the group in the rehearsal period as percussionist and second guitarist.

Bréant and Perru hailed from Cruciferius, which backed Ronnie Bird on a 1968 French tour and recorded the album A Nice Way of Life. Arroyo studied piano and solfège at the Conservatoire de Rouen. He played saxophone with Beatsounds and Analogon, then switched to bass with the Lake’s Men. Perru joined Ergo Sum in the early seventies, while Bailly drummed with Blue Steel Feet and Triptyque.

In 1970, Bréant and Arroyo formed Kapak at Le Fidelaire with guitarist Patrice Tison and drummer Albert Marcœur. Kapak became the resident group at Jacques Denjean’s Studio Frémontel, where the musicians cut an unreleased album in free studio hours. In 1971, Bréant and Arroyo took Kapak recordings to the United States in search of a contract. They spent most of the next year in New York, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, where they presented the material to record-industry contacts. Their trip ended with a 1972 return to Paris.

Nemo developed an English-language repertoire in the cellar of an artists’ commune in Saint-Ouen, where Lacordaire lived. Lacordaire initially ran the sound system and added second guitar, percussion, and effects. He joined Nemo as a full member by the end of the rehearsal period. José Bartel signed Nemo to his Agave label under a Sonopresse distribution arrangement. In 1973, Nemo recorded the self-titled debut at Studio B in the Château d’Hérouville with engineer Dominique Blanc-Francard.

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