OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY
The band was formed in 1995 by Pascal-Angelo Fioramore (author and singer) and Pascal Desjardins (composer and keyboardist) specifically for a poetry reading at the Café Porté Disparu on Mount-Royal Avenue. The project was in itself a reaction to the seriousness of certain artistic manifestations. Thus, equipped with flashy costumes and prefabricated music supporting Dadaist texts, the Abdigradationnistes entered the Montreal cultural scene.
While they only expected to give this single performance, their first show knew an unhoped-for conclusion : at the end of their fifth song (then covering their whole repertory), the public was so enthusiastic they had to repeat completely their performance. From then on, the invitations to play multiplied themselves and they had no other choice than to continue.
So, from October 1995 to November 1998, the duet presented more than about fifty shows among which the performances within the following events :
- The Trois-Rivières International Poetry Festival 1997
- The Youth Litterature Festival 1997 at the Bibliothèque
Nationale du Québec
- The UQÀM ‘Jeudis Déchaînés’ Gala 1998 at
the Monument National in Montréal
- The ‘Rencontres Francophones de Spectacle’ 1998 in Paris and Nemours
(France)
In December 1998, two new members join the group to enrich its musical texture : Warner Alexander Roche, violinist, with his shreaking chords, and Simon Paquet, alias DJ DLT, with his burlesque samplings. They perform mainly in musical venues but also in literary soirées and charity events.
In July 1999, they produced their first album "Vierges, mais expérimentées" under the Indica Records label and distributed more than 1000 copies. It was warmly welcomed by the Montreal music critics.
Since 1999, they have performed in a great deal of musical events, for example :
- ‘Karnaval Kabaret Kérozen’ for the Francofolies de
Montréal 2000 at the Spectrum de Montréal
- ‘Festival Juste pour Rire’ 1999 at the Café Chaos
- The’Festival International de Musique Incroyable’ 2000 in
Saint-Fortunat
- The Mimi’s Gala 2000 and 2001 at the Spectrum de Montréal
- Slam Poésie during the Symfolium 2000
- Exterior show for ‘Nuits Blanches sur Tableau Noir’ 2000 in
Montréal
- Anti-OGM Soirée 2001 at the Lion d’or
- S.O.S. Humanity 2001 at the Montréal Medley
- Book launch ‘Impure. The theory, practice and oral history of spoken
word in Montreal’ 2001 at the Sala Rossa
- Exterior shows for the ‘Festival de Théâtre de Rue de
Shawinigan’ 2003, 2005, 2006
- ‘Festival de Musique Émergente de Rouyn-Noranda’ 2005
- Exterior show at the Francofolies de Montréal 2005
In March 2001, with always the same incisive spirit, the Abdigradationnistes attacked the production of their second album, "L’amour au fond de la gorge", under their home label Les Disques Rodrigol, launched on November 21st 2001 at the Théâtre National in Montréal. After more than a hundred shows and multiple radio and television appearances, the group exceeds now the simple performative product of their debut to develop itself as an independant musical phenomena on the Montreal cultural scene.
In collaboration with the label ‘La Tribu’, they published in 2004 the album "Puissance et gloire", a pastiche of the main commercial musical styles of the hour (techno, dancehall, coldwave, ballads…).
Back to their classic duet formation, with Pascal-Angelo Fioramore as the author and singer and Warner Alexander Roche as the composer and orchestra, they are presently concocting a new album which will certainly be launched in the fall of 2009.
Contacts :
- Pascal-Angelo Fioramore (514) 278-8662
- Warner Alexander Roche (514) 273-1986