Mano Solo

Born to an ecological activist mother (Isabelle Monin) and a left-wing cartoonist father (Cabu), French singer/songwriter Mano Solo is also a maverick artist, taking control away from the big record companies and overseeing every aspect of his music and its packaging himself. He began in the punk group Les Chihuahuas when he was 17, but considered painting as a vocation once he left his teens. He painted under the name Boredom in honor of an early Buzzcocks song. In his late twenties he turned to music again, and by the age of 30 had his debut album when La Marmaille Nue was released in 1993. A reunion of Les Chihuahuas in 1996 took him away from his solo career until a year later, when he returned with the live album Je Sais Pas Trop. By now he was getting more involved with the complete package, designing the album covers and handling production. He soon formed his publishing house and released collections of poetry along with the novel Joseph Sous la Pluie. In 2006 he announced he was leaving the Warner Bros. label and forming his own. His next record would be partially financed by the fans, as Solo offered a subscription service that would offer exclusive new music and videos. Subscribers also received his next album, In the Garden, when it was released in 2007.