biographical info
Chinatown’s official lineup took shape in 2007, at a time when Pierre-Alain Faucon (vocals/keyboards) had been writing songs with his old friend Félix Dyotte (vocals/guitar) for quite some time. The duo decided to put a band together and recruited Toby Cayouette (bass) Gabriel Rousseau (drums) and expat Frenchman Julien Fargo (guitar/vocals).
The Montreal quintet, stealing its name from Roman Polanski’s noir classic, sees its first signs of success when their song Retour à Véga, performed by fellow Montrealers The Stills, climbs onto the American college radio charts. Despite being sung in French, the song is released by Atlantic Records and reaches considerable success in the United States, as well as an impressive amount of downloads via the Web. Retour à Véga also appears on the official soundtrack to Wicker Park (remake of French film L’appartement).
2008 is a decisive year for Chinatown; the young band is offered a tour in Asia – 8000 spectators in 12 shows in China and Taiwan. It’s also in 2008 that the band self-produces and self-releases its first EP, L'amour, le rêve et le whisky. The catchy Pénélope will even reach the pole position of the CISM and CIBL charts. Thanks to this EP, the band attracts record label attention and eventually sign with Tacca Musique.
For their first album Cité d’or, The band decides to work with producer Gus Van Go (The Stills, Priestess, Vulgaires Machins, Xavier Caféine) and his partner Werner F.
After a few weeks of pre-production work in Montreal, the band relocates to New York City for 2 months. Working in the heart of Williamsburgh, in Brooklyn, and still under the spell of China, the 5 boys assimilate these multiple influences into their universe and develop a unique sound with no precedent on the French airwaves. Cité d'Or lives on the threshold between frivolous catchy pop and ambitious and precise composition work.