Chromeo Biography

Chromeo is a Canadian electrofunk duo formed in 2002 in Montreal by David Macklovitch and Patrick Gemayel.

History

The duo met in the mid-1990s at Collège Stanislas in Montreal. Considering their backgrounds, the two childhood friends jokingly describe themselves as "the only successful Arab/Jewish partnership since the dawn of human culture". Around the time when they were both 15, Macklovitch joined Gemayel's band. During this time, Macklovitch's younger brother A-Trak (of Duck Sauce) started winning the Disco Mix Club Championships, becoming World Champion in 1997. After the band, Dave 1 and P-Thugg started to produce hip hop together. Also, at this time Tiga was working with Dave 1 at a record store and asked Dave 1 to work on a project for his label, Turbo. Dave 1 and P-Thugg signed as Chromeo and started creating music together.

Their debut album, She's in Control, released in 2004, defined Chromeo and started their music career. Reviews were mostly favorable, comparing the sound to 1980s groups like Hall & Oates, Klymaxx and Sylvester. "Needy Girl" became a world wide club hit. According to Dave 1, "She's in Control didn't blow up. But we had "Needy Girl", and "Needy Girl" was like a musical passport. That song went all around the world and DJs played it everywhere". In 2005, Chromeo released a mix CD of funky dance tracks on Eskimo Belgium records entitled Un Joli Mix Pour Toi (French for: A Nice Mix for You). In 2006, the group was featured in DJ Mehdi's song "I Am Somebody". During early 2007, Chromeo supported indie rock group Bloc Party on their British tour.

After a three year break, they released a second album, Fancy Footwork, which was also positively reviewed. Chromeo and Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates teamed up in the Summer of 2008 for a jam session on Live from Daryl's House. They would team up once again for a live performance at the 2010 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, TN. Chromeo released their third studio album entitled Business Casual to critical acclaim on September 14, 2010. In the time since the release, the music video for "Night by Night" has received over 4 million views on YouTube, the band has appeared on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic, been on the cover of Future Magazine, and sold out The Forum in London.

At the beginning of March 2011, Chromeo sent out notice that they had recorded the "world's smallest album", entitled Drive Time, which consists of 55 songs in only 183 seconds. About a week later, it was revealed that Drive Time is actually a free musical Nokia Own Voice satellite navigation pack for Ovi Maps, made for usage with Nokia's compatible cell phones. A red vinyl 5" single consisting of regular, instrumental and a cappella versions of "Turn Left" and "Follow" was released to promote it, with a sticker on the shrink wrap saying that it was a numbered limited edition of 40 copies.

Early September 2013, the group announced their fourth album White Women with a trailer video featuring the track "Over Your Shoulder". It will be released May 9, 2014, in Ireland and May 12 elsewhere.
Members

Dave 1 (real name David Macklovitch, born June 7, 1978) on guitar and lead vocals. Macklovitch earned his Ph.D. in French Literature from Columbia University and is currently appointed as lecturer in French at Barnard College.

P-Thugg (real name Patrick Gemayel, born in Lebanon on July 31, 1979) on keyboards, synthesizers and talk box. Moved to Canada at the age of 8.