Biography

Inspired by the wilderness frontiers, itsa folk-rock resonating with Dante and dust, infused by every imaginable sound experiment, VALPARAISO has staked its life on an ideal: to be a dream factory where sad music dances, interwines, and untangles into so many tiny movies of the mind.

A group of travelling players by calling, VALPARAISO owes its very existence to collaborations. Its core group of five musicians emerged from the indie-folk scene flourishing after the year 200. Their remarkable and prolific credits include the Fitzcarraldo Sessions, Jack the Ripper, Les Hurleurs and the Amor Belhom duo. All bands with critically noted albums. At heart, a group of singers and performers with strong connections to independent European, American and British musicians with whom they have collaborated short- and lon-term-, VALPARAISO also has a life of its own through cinematic soundtracks, film concerts, musical readings (and more).

Hervé and Thierry Mazurel, two of VALPARAISO's musicians, were the founding dreamers behing the Fitzcarraldo Sessions, a record forged out of collaborations with Stuart A. Staples from Tindersticks, Craig Walker from Archive, Joey Burns from Calexico, Rosemary Standley from Moriarty, Dominique A and many other fellow travellers.

In the winter of 2014, the musicians of VALPARAISO released their sequel to this project: a new album recorded, mixed and produced by John Parish (PJ Harvey, Sixteen Horsepower, Sparklehorse...). It will follow on from the 'WINTER SESSIONS', stories of an encounter between VALPARAISO and the Australian singer Phoebe Killdeer.