* En anglais uniquement
Channeling a continuum of influences spanning from
Neil Young to
Sonic Youth to
Pavement, French anti-folk band
Herman Düne earned an international cult following that included the influential BBC radio personality
John Peel. Featuring sibling singers/guitarists
André and
David-Ivar Herman Düne and drummer
Omé, the group issued a series of self-released cassettes and CD-Rs and toured the U.S. and Europe before releasing its first "official" LP, Turn Off the Light, on the Prohibited label in mid-2000. That September,
Peel extended an invitation to cut a BBC radio session, and was so impressed that he summoned the trio to his home for a live Christmas broadcast. Upon relocating to Paris,
Herman Düne recorded 2001's
They Go to the Woods for the noted Amerindie label Shrimper.
Omé exited the lineup soon after, and with new drummer Néman Herman Dune, they resurfaced later that year with a second full-length, Switzerland Heritage. After a 2002 split release with U.S. emo outfit
Cerberus Shoal, The Whys and the Hows of Herman Düne & Cerberus Shoal, the trio backed Canadian singer/songwriter
Julie Doiron on a French tour. Two new LPs, the Track & Field release Mas Cambios and the Shrimper release Mash Concrete Metal Mushrooms, followed in 2003. After a series of self-released solo efforts,
André and
David-Ivar reconvened
Herman Düne for 2005's Not on Top, which featured
Doiron on bass and vocals. Their Source Etc. label debut,
Giant, hit stores in 2006; late that year, André Herman Dune departed the band and pursued a solo career as Stanley Brinks. Now a duo, Herman Dune removed the umlaut from its name for the 2008 album Next Year in Zion. After taking a break and starting their own record label, Herman Dune returned in 2011 with an album named after their label, Strange Moosic. The label also released the band's music for the film Mariage á Mendoza in 2013. Around this time,
David-Ivar began working on his solo project, Black Yaya. ~ Jason Ankeny