Ronan Ronan (France)
with Charles du Cane
» Mata & Must / Class A - Alley Cat, The, Sat, December 6
» Class A (Vic) with Mata & Must - Alley Cat, The, Sat, December 6
'Ronan Ronan is a magic trick in himself”
La Nouvelle Republique
“in the pursuit of bubbling genius”
La Nouvelle Republique
BIOGRAPHY
Banjo player and singer of “Fils de Teuhpu” since their start, Ronan decided to go solo in 2003 to follow his heart and make his creative dreams come true…
On the stage Ronan creates his music completely live as he goes which adds a ‘spectacular’ element to his performances, where the audience find themselves singing along to Ronan’s catchy melodies.
Ronan is surrounded by an array of different acoustic instruments and a loop pedal, creating political but poetic, light hearted yet heavy, haphazard songs. With a playful approach of juxtaposition and superimposition, Ronan delivers his song, gathering sounds and songs, gradually building and creating his moving and funny universe.
His performance is visually amazing, teetering on the edge of comedy and with no limit of theatrics onstage. Ronan experiments with sounds, fiddling with things, keeping himself busy and creating his own universe – amusing, entertaining and poetic all at the same time.
Behind him, in a joyous bric-a-brac of colour lay turntable decks, wedged between various children’s toys (musical of course) and a box full of treasures. This gives the concert a comic-like feel, and the musician soon loses control, overwhelmed by his own technology, taking off on an adventure and becoming a character lost in a musical mayhem.
Armed with this electronic cacophony and with perfect musical precision, Ronan records two bars of accordion, the hit of a cymbal, the strum of a banjo – all this becomes the soundtrack to Ronan’s comic, enchantingly composed for the public under their noses.
He then begins to sing his surrealist poetry and lyrics, interspersed with many jokes.
With his warm smile, a cheeky look and a loaded shelf, Ronanronan, the true one man orchestra, alone on stage, will wind you up like a clock.
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Ronan’s Instrumentation includes : Plastic train, metal whistle, wooden guitar, concertina, voice, banjo, ‘moo’ box, turntable, ukulele, hand-saw and log of wood, double bass , wood block, accordion, tongue clicking, the ‘music star’ toy, trumpet, aspirin, cymbals, ‘squawk’ box harmonica, tambourine, beer swallowing, beer-bottle whistle & de-capping, burp, laugh, hoots and squeals, whistle, small bells, door slamming, rustling of plastic bags, finger clicking…..
Myspace.com/ronanronan
www.ronanronan.free.fr
REVIEW
“The orchestra man is an oddity in the music world, someone who carries his universe on his shoulders, from town to town.
Ronan has a few good stories to tell, life stories, fables, of travelling from Paris to Montreuil, sitting in his garden, counting planes, riding his banjo while picking up his next sound in his library of instruments.
Armed with his beloved banjo, accordeon, ukulele, toy beat box and diy double bass, Ronan builds the sound jewelry box for his songs that quickly turn into images hoping into your head innocently.
His edifice is in equilibrium, unstable but working, rocking, just like a vehicle gone crazy but going the right direction in a magic landscape.
It was meant to be simple, but then Ronan/Ronan songs fascinate, interrogate, evoke, escape and return with a trivial strength, the one that expresses an ironic yet powerful truth, the one from the heart. “
Cedric Sarret
The Letter F
September 2008
