ABOUT THE ENGLISH VERSION OF MY BOOK:
Writing about Bristol’s music and art scene, my goal was to write a sort of parallel history of British culture, from an underground and unorthodox origin. From Saint Pauls to Knowle West and Bedminster, Bristol epitomizes another side of England, less known, more diverse, more mixed, more authentic, much more humorous and more rebellious!
The book should be out late in 2018 or early in 2019 in the UK - and the USA.
I spent 18 months coming to Bristol, interviewing its musicians, artists and other local actors - and first and foremost the brilliant and talented Robert Del Naja of Massive Attack – a real artist, incredibly open, curious and aware of our world’s challenges, but also Neil Davidge and Euan Dickinson, Mark Stewart and his Pop Group, the legendary graffiti artist Inkie, Adrian Thaws aka Tricky, Adrian Utley of Portishead, Jabulani Ngozi from Black Roots, Kinsman aka Chris ‘Krissy Kriss’ Johnson, Edson Burton, Steve Lazarides, Andy Spaceland of Alpha, Sean Cook, Mike Crawford, Janine Rainsforth, Photographer Beezer, Producer Paul Horlick, Lecturer Annie McGann, Former DJ and writer Gill Loats, Congolese musician Jupiter, Italian artist Giancarlo Neri… And many more 
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The book also mentions today's music scene in Bristol, from Lady Nade to Young Echo, and of course Massive Attack’s latest E.Ps and the return of the Pop Group! Meanwhile, it also describes 3D’s artistic evolution as well as his close friends and collaborators, from Bansky to United Visual Artists.
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MORE DETAILS
Named in English 'Out of the Comfort Zone', this book retells the story behind a rare group of politically aware bands and artists from the UK, who produced a revolutionary sound & art, and always tried to bring consciousness in their discourse.
The book is inspired by Massive Attack's first album, the remarkable and inimitable Blue Lines, and goes back to their first influences. This includes their very own hometown’s history, from the 12th century… Bristol, as a port city, has been enriched by the colonies in America, the sugar and the slave trade in the eighteenth century. That very history also provoked counter reactions and a sense of rebellion in its inhabitants, who fought against slavery a few decades later and rioted against unfair political decisions, inequalities, big corporations, etc.
This sense of rebellion materialized in the city's culture from the 1960s and mainly the 1970s, when the Caribbean population imported their very own reggae music in the city's homes and clubs just before Bristol gave birth to its own punk and post-punk movement.
Then started Bristol's homegrown sound with the unforgettable band The Pop Group - and friends like Nick Sheppard and his band, The Cortinas, Maximum Joy, the Glaxo Babies, etc.
From then started a new cultural movement.
A few years later, early 1980s, hip-hop and electronic music started to pour into Bristol's record shops and nightclubs. And a new generation of DJs began to bloom. From that trend came to life the now legendary Wild Bunch, a collective that changed the game and gave to Bristol its gateway into the history of music. The Wild Bunch was originally an informal posse composed of the joined efforts of two young Black DJs, Miles Johnson, known as DJ Milo, and Grantley Marshall, nicknamed Daddy G. They were quickly joined by Nellee Hooper, a massive fan of punk and funk music, who acted as a sort of producer / manager.
The Wild Bunch in Bristol around 1986
The Wild Bunch were quickly enriched from 1983 by a couple of MCs and by the first blooming and generally admired graffiti artist in the city, nicknamed 3D, aka in real life Robert Del Naja, by then, an 18 year-old music junkie.
After years of adventures that this book retells, Grant and 3D formed Massive Attack in 1988 with their young friend DJ Mushroom and their talent soon outburst everywhere else in the UK when they released their first album in 1991.
Following their path came to form a large number of other bands, producers and DJs, including the well known Tricky and fabulous Portishead. A few years later, the graffiti movement 3D invigorated and revolutionised also took off in a wider scale.
The rest is history. And a very rich and fascinating history, which took them around the world, from Japan to America, Mexico and Turkey, Lebanon and the Congo… Revolutionising their stage show from 1998 and even more from 2003, Massive Attack became one of the most talented but also the most vocal, relevant and socially aware bands in our era…
Massive Attack in Hyde Park's BST Festival, in July 2016 - picture by myself
MORE SOON !
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Details in French:
En dehors de la zone de confort : De Massive Attack à Banksy, l'histoire d'un groupe d'artistes, de leur ville, Bristol, et de leurs révolutions (French) Paperback– 6 Oct 2016
Marquée par une fortune précoce liée à l'ouverture de l'Angleterre vers l'Amérique, Bristol est devenue un carrefour de créativité dans les deux dernière décennie du 20e siècle.
Avant cela, elle fut un des points névralgiques du commerce triangulaire. C'est justement cette histoire qui va nourrir, de manière inédite et radicale, la génération d'artistes éclose à Bristol à partir de la fin des années 1970.
Tout prend forme lorsque qu'un jeune graffeur anglo-italien du nom de Robert Del Naja signe du pseudonyme " 3D " sa première œuvre de rue sur un mur de la ville en 1983. Avant de fonder le groupe Massive Attack en 1988 avec les DJs noirs Grantley Marshall et Andrew Vowles, il rencontre les pionniers du post-punk de Londres et Bristol, les passionnées de reggae antillais du quartier de Saint Pauls, puis la chanteuse Neneh Cherry et le rappeur Tricky.
Creuset inattendu mêlant hip-pop, reggae, soul et guitares rebelles, le premier album de Massive Attack, Blue Lines, sort en 1991 et provoque une révolution dans la culture populaire britannique. Massive Attack devient l'incarnation du succès d'un métissage à la britannique, et parviendra à toujours se renouveler, tenter de nouvelles révolutions et durer au-delà de nombreux mouvements musicaux et artistiques des années 1990 et 2000, telles la Brit Pop, l'electronica, le drum and bass et même le street art.
Dans le sillage de cette créativité débridée mêlant musique, art et implication sociale profonde, naissent aussi les groupes Portishead et Roni Size, les mouvements nommés trip-hop et dubstep, et le génial Banksy, inspiré dès son plus jeune âge par les graffitis de Robert Del Naja. Depuis, la profondeur artistique de ces artistes et leur engagement n'ont fait que se renforcer, tout comme leur lien avec leur ville.
Ce lien va devenir le tremplin qui les porte jusqu'à l'autre bout du monde, de l'Amérique à Gaza. Il pousse aussi très tôt Robert Del Naja à se mobiliser – contre la guerre d'Irak, pour les droits des Palestiniens ou, plus récemment, pour l'accueil des réfugiés jetés sur les routes européennes.
Rébellion, art, musique, engagement, Bristol synthétise ainsi une autre histoire du Royaume-Uni. Une histoire qui amène au sommet des charts et sur le devant de la scène de parfaits autodidactes, et la part plurielle et afro-antillaise de la culture britannique.
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