When Phoenix first hit hip American indie audiences, they were already tight with Beck and the French band Air. Hailing from the Parisian suburbs, Phoenix began putting their act together like any other suburban band--in the garage. Vocalist Tomas Mars let the early incarnation of the Phoenix jam in his parents' garage. The band then comprised Mars, Deck D'Arcy on bass and Christian Mazzalai on guitar (his older brother Branco joined them in 1995). They cut their teeth playing cover songs by Hank Williams and Prince in various bars to inebriated party crowds before deciding to call themselves Phoenix and releasing a seven-inch single on their own label, Ghettoblaster Records. The limited edition of 500 pressings boasted two amazing sounds: side A had a punk rock song and the B-side had a Krautrock song. It wasn't until their first album that they really began to lay down R&B-influenced grooves with 1980s-inspired synth pop to create their trademark Phoenix sound.
