Le Cube - Centre for digital creation

A graphical and musical duo, Gangpol und Mit have worked for seven years on a specific world made up of deviant cartoons and populated with colourful and geometric creatures. In The 1000 People Band, the duo invents characters that are simply some virtual instrumentalists come to make up an outrageously "cartoonish" group including: a Bollywood violin section, an octopus percussionist, a large set of cowbells, Martian choirs, and more. All arrive on stage in the form of animated characters, just like group members come to fight loneliness.

But far from being simple musicians, these characters have histories, identities and personalities: call-centre workers launch into a bureaucratic samba, or supermarket security guards meet at night for a jam in the car park. This concept opens the doors to all sorts of interplay between the on-stage musicians and the virtual characters. And this device, or virtual instrumentarium, is a crucial factor in influencing the nature of the music itself.

Like true technological lab assistants, Gangpol und Mit appear accompanied by their own group of virtual musicians who are lovingly drawn, animated and projected in an audio-visual concert synchronised to a T.

Created in 2011 / Duration: 45 minutes / Music and visuals: Gangpol und Mit / 2D animation assistant: Florient Teyssié / 3D animation assistant: Alexis Dhorme / Additional live tools: Freeka Tet / Lighting: Sébastien Thomas. Co-production: Arcadi, CNC Spedidam, Gaité Lyrique, Stereolux, Le Cube, L'Antipode, Nicéphore Cité

www.gangpol-mit.com