Antoine Becks | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Antoine Toupin |
Born | Montreal, Quebec, Canada | 28 June 1981
Genres | Alternative, electronic, dance, house, synthpop, new wave |
Occupation(s) | Musician, DJ, singer, producer, actor |
Years active | 1999–present |
Labels | Vandit, System, Mute, Ultra, Transmission, Mad Decent, Radikal |
Website | antoinebecks |
Antoine Becks (born Antoine Toupin; 28 June 1981) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, former singer of the live act duo Second Sun, and frontman of the alternative band CB7.
Becks was born in Montreal, but lived in New York City in the first four years of his life. He is French Canadian on his father's side and American on his mother's side. His parents are both artists, which is why they've supported his desire to be a musician since the beginning. [1] In an interview during one of his visits to Kyiv he told the story of, "When I was 5 years old, I was obsessed with The Beatles. I made myself a cardboard guitar, sat everyone around and pretended that I was one of The Beatles. I had my first real guitar at the age of 7. I sang and played, and I never stopped",. [2] At 8 years old, besides the guitar, he already played bass, drums and the piano.[ citation needed ]
As a teenager, Becksne played in many garage bands but he left them eventually. Being a fan of raves, [3] he used things like Nintendo gloves and pants from the bubble polyethylen, [4] and went to the clubs, whose music he always felt in his heart. [5]
At 12 years old, Becks started on a Canadian TV series called Le Retour and a teen drama called ZAP and a cameo appearance in the Canadian court show Les grands procès. [6] [7] At the age of 20, after he got his first record deal with Vandit records, Antoine gave up acting to focus on his electronic live act Second Sun.
In early 2000, Becks met Adam White, who worked at a music store at the time. "I came in the store to buy something and it all ended up with me asking Adam to join me", he recalls. They later became known as Second Sun.
Antoine was new to producing electronic dance music so it was a learning process, but after six months of trying to create his first track, Antoine gave a CD to Paul Van Dyk, asking him what he thought about it. A week later, Paul offered to sign Second Sun to Vandit Records and they took the chance. From then on, the requests for Second Sun shows went off the scale. [8]
Their debut album Inside Out was expected to be trance, but the duet surprised everyone with a variety of sounds and acoustic instruments. "We love the airy feeling of trance music, but at the same time we wanted to be more varied and incorporate proper songs, not just dancefloor bangers. At the time it was rare to hear a rock-driven male vocal on a dance track", said Antoine, and it was ultimately reflected in their single "Doing It Well" with Paul Harris of Dirty Vegas. [9] Second Sun also collaborated with Paul Van Dyk on the hit single "Crush", which was on Paul Van Dyk's Grammy-nominated album Reflections. Second Sun also collaborated with Grammy-winner Cedric Gervais on a number of house singles (including a remix of Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust" (appearing as "The Miami Project") and Antoine's voice was featured on Sharam's hit single "P.A.T.T. (Party All The Time)".
Labels releasing this music were Ultra Records, System Recordings, Ministry of Sound, Positiva/EMI, Universal and Mute. In late 2010, Antoine posted on his official Facebook that Second Sun would no longer be making music due to wanting to pursue his upcoming band, CB7.
Official group members
Albums: Inside Out – 19 April 2005
Tracks:
Uncovered EP – 21 February 2006
Tracks:
The lost weekend – 31 August 2010Tracks:
Sun king EP – 22 March 2011Tracks:
Singles:
CB7 started with the meeting of Becks and Shannon Leto, drummer of the popular American band Thirty Seconds to Mars. They met at a party in Miami at the end of 2009. [10]
In spring 2010, Shannon mentioned CB7 for the first time in an interview: [11]
Finally, I can share it with all of you. This is what I've been working at for several years... It's CB7.
.
Together with his cousin and drummer Matt Becks, bass player Noah Luger and guitarist Adam White, [12] who was also a member of Second Sun, the band released four demo-tracks and toured as the opening band for Thirty Seconds to Mars in the North American leg of their "Closer to the Edge" tour.[ citation needed ]
In January 2011, Becks announced that the current group members were his cousin Matt and himself. Later Chelsea Davis, Frankie Sizr and Jamie Reed joined the group, after meeting them in L.A. and Montreal through friends, as live members. Chelsea has her own band called Annabelle vs the Villain and Jamie is a friend of Jared Leto, Shannon's younger brother and singer of Thirty Seconds to Mars. After Shannon and Antoine broke up their live act, Shannon said via Twitter he will no longer manage CB7. On 15 March 2014, Antoine stated he will no longer pursue working on CB7 due to him working on his own solo music.
Former group members
Online releases:
The duo Shannon Leto & Antoine Becks was created in 2011, originally as an after-party for a Thirty Seconds to Mars project. However it charmed the world's dance stages, and the duo became independent and toured all over the world. [13]
According to Shannon and Antoine, their project is "when two artists get together to wreak havoc in the night clubs all over the world".
In summer 2012 the official website, YouTube and Twitter were removed; this led the fans of the group to believe they broke up.[ citation needed ]
Official project members
Besides being a member of Second Sun, Antoine was playing in the clubs all over the world on his own. Presently, Antoine recorded the single "Life of the Wild", which was released 28 January 2013. [14] and on iTunes [15] 17 February 2013.
Just a week after the release, "Life of the Wild" took the 22nd place in the dance chart on TwitMusic. [16] He also had a release on Diplo's label Mad Decent.
Mixes:
Singles:
• Higher (with Maestro Harrell feat. Sherry St-Germain)
Antoine Becks' music has also appeared in movies and TV commercials such as Michael Bay's blockbuster "Pain And Gain", and ads for Coca-Cola and the NHL Network. In 2016, he co-produced the David Guetta & Cedric Gervais feat. Chris Willis collaboration "Would I Lie To You". Other co-productions with Cedric Gervais include a collaboration with Grammy-winning Latin Rock artist Juanes for "Este Amor", a remix of Odesza's "Say My Name", which got 13 Million Spotify plays since its release and a remix of Clean Bandit's "Tears". Along with doing more production for TV and film, Antoine Becks is now developing his new project under the name Vesper.
Jared Joseph Leto is an American actor and musician. Known for his method acting in a variety of roles, he has received numerous accolades over a career spanning three decades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Additionally, he is recognized for his musicianship and eccentric stage persona as frontman of the rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars.
Thirty Seconds to Mars is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1998. The band consists of brothers Jared Leto and Shannon Leto. During the course of its existence, it has undergone various line-up changes with the Leto brothers being the only consistent members.
30 Seconds to Mars is the debut studio album by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars. It was first released on August 27, 2002, by Immortal Records and distributed by Virgin Records. The album was produced by Bob Ezrin, Brian Virtue, and Thirty Seconds to Mars, and was recorded in rural Wyoming during 2001 and early 2002. It had been in the works for a couple of years, with lead vocalist Jared Leto writing the majority of the songs.
Shannon Leto is an American musician best known as the drummer of rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars. He co-founded the group in 1998 in Los Angeles, California, with his younger brother Jared. Their debut album, 30 Seconds to Mars (2002), was released to positive reviews but only to limited success. The band achieved worldwide fame with the release of their second album A Beautiful Lie (2005). Their following releases, This Is War (2009) and Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams (2013), received further critical and commercial success. As of September 2014, the band has sold over 15 million albums worldwide.
Matthew Walter "Matt" Wachter is an American musician best known for playing bass in the alternative rock bands Thirty Seconds to Mars and Angels & Airwaves.
Tomislav "Tomo" Miličević is a Bosnian-American musician and record producer. He was the lead guitarist of the rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars from 2003 to 2018. Born in Sarajevo but raised in the United States, Miličević moved to Troy, Michigan, in the early 1980s, where he became active in the local heavy metal scene and played in a number of bands, co-founding Morphic. In 2003, he joined Thirty Seconds to Mars, with whom he achieved worldwide recognition in the mid-2000s after recording the band's second album A Beautiful Lie (2005). Its full-length follow-ups, This Is War (2009) and Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams (2013), received further critical and commercial success.
"From Yesterday" is a song by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, and the third single released from their second album A Beautiful Lie. The song impacted radio on October 17, 2006. The music video for the song is believed to be the first ever American music video shot in the People's Republic of China in its entirety. The music video is also the last video by the band to feature bass player Matt Wachter. The song won the Kerrang! Award for Best Single.
"The Kill" (written "The Kill (Bury Me)" on the single and music video) is a song by American band Thirty Seconds to Mars. The song was released on January 24, 2006 as the second single from their second album, A Beautiful Lie. It was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and peaked at number 65 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Capricorn (A Brand New Name)" is the debut song by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars. The song was released by Immortal Records on July 23, 2002, as the lead single from the band's self-titled debut album. The song was written by Jared Leto and was produced by Bob Ezrin, Brian Virtue and 30 Seconds to Mars. According to Jared Leto, the song is about a desire for renewal. "Capricorn (A Brand New Name)" first appearance was on the compilation Rock Tune Up #249 released by The Album Network on April 5, 2002.
"Edge of the Earth" is a song by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars. The song was released through Immortal and Virgin on March 3, 2003, as the second single from the band's self-titled debut album. The song was written by Jared Leto and was produced by Bob Ezrin, Brian Virtue and 30 Seconds to Mars.
"A Beautiful Lie" is a song by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars. The song was released as the fourth single from their second album A Beautiful Lie. It was not released in the United Kingdom as a single.
"Kings and Queens" is a song by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, featured on their third studio album This Is War (2009). Written by lead vocalist Jared Leto across the United States and South Africa, the track was produced by Flood, Steve Lillywhite and Thirty Seconds to Mars. According to Leto, the lyrics of "Kings and Queens" explore the triumphant feeling of human possibilities. The melody of the song contains several qualities similar to that of 1980s adult contemporary musical works and is imbued with elements of progressive rock. The song was released as the lead single from This Is War on October 13, 2009.
"Night of the Hunter" is a song by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, featured on their third studio album This Is War. Written by lead vocalist Jared Leto, the song was released as the fifth and final single from the album in 2011. The track was produced by Flood, Steve Lillywhite and 30 Seconds to Mars, and was inspired by Jared and his brother Shannon's youth in Louisiana.
Artifact is a 2012 American documentary film directed by Jared Leto under the pseudonym of Bartholomew Cubbins. It was produced by Leto and Emma Ludbrook through their production company Sisyphus. Artifact chronicles the modern music business as it charts the legal dispute between Leto's rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars and record label EMI, which filed a $30 million breach of contract lawsuit against them in 2008, after the band tried to exit its contract over a royalties dispute. Thirty Seconds to Mars is shown working with producer Flood to create the 2009 album This Is War, meeting with lawyers between recording sessions.
"Molly" is a song by French-American DJ Cedric Gervais, first announced by Gervais through his YouTube channel on 9 April 2012. The song was released as a single in the United States and Canada on 3 July 2012 through Big Beat Records, and as an EP in the United Kingdom on 22 July, and then worldwide on 21 August 2012 through Spinnin' Records and 3 Beat Productions, including remixes. It was written and produced by Cedric Gervais and Carlos Cid. The song was used in the 2013 film Pain & Gain.
"City of Angels" is a song by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, featured on their fourth studio album Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams (2013). Written by lead vocalist Jared Leto, who co-produced the song with Steve Lillywhite, "City of Angels" was inspired by Leto's experience of living in Los Angeles with his family and was influenced by the city's culture. Imbued with elements of synthrock as well as music from the 1980s, the track was cited as an example of the album's variety and experimentation. It was one of the first songs to be written for Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams, but required a long period of time to record.
"Do or Die" is a song by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, featured on their fourth studio album Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams (2013). Written and produced by lead vocalist Jared Leto, "Do or Die" explores the feeling of standing up and living one's dreams using ironic undertones. The song is styled in electronic rock and imbued with elements of arena rock. It was serviced to mainstream radio in July 2013 in Europe, and was released as a promotional single in the United States in March 2014. A version of the song remixed by Dutch music producer Afrojack was digitally released in March 2014 and later included on the deluxe edition of Afrojack's debut studio album Forget the World (2014).
"Conquistador" is a song by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, featured on their fourth studio album Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams (2013). Written by lead vocalist Jared Leto, who also produced the song with Steve Lillywhite, "Conquistador" features combative lyrics and call-and-response verses. Described as the "wild child" of the album, it is an alternative rock song with influences and elements from electronica. Thirty Seconds to Mars premiered the song on Vevo on May 2, 2013, two weeks before the album's release.
"Dangerous Night" is a song recorded by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, featured on their fifth studio album America. It was written by Stevie Aiello and Jared Leto, who also produced the song with Zedd. "Dangerous Night" was described as a personal and uplifting song characterized by an anthemic and euphoric nature. It marked a strong departure from much of the band's previous work as it incorporates a softer sound as well as elements from electronic dance music. The song is imbued with influences from arena rock and ambient music.