Behind this codename is Tom DARNAL, sound and image researcher on civvy street, band leader on stage and (well) accompanied by a plethora of contributing artists in general. Tom begins his musical adventure in 1982 with the totally forgotten band GPS whose track "Quand revient l'été" nevertheless remains in Les Inrockuptibles' top 10 French punk singles of all time!!
In parallel, he diverts into graphic art and soon becomes creative director and designer for Mano Negra's iconography before joining the band on keyboards.
The last days of Mano coincide with the first steps of P18 in Patchanka's basement in the heart of the 18th district of Paris with the recordings of Drum & Bass inspired Electro musicians. Their first album Urban Cuban is released in 1999 and gives birth to one of the first electro and world music fusions, an experience which owes its authenticity to the collusion with Barbaro Teuntor, a Cuban trumpeter which he met during Mano Negra's South American tour in a cargo ship, and his family who dunked Tom into the traditional repertoire of music from Havana.
A group consisting of musicians and dancers, both French and Cuban, is created before Tom & P18 set out on a series of tours taking the band across the planet from Europe to Cuba to the USA and China. P18's music was at the time widely used as soundtracks for mainstream Hollywood films such as the Yard, Maid in Manhattan, Chilli con Carne… and was to contribute to the band's growing reputation.
In 2002 "ELECTROPICA" was released and received unanimous acclaim from the critics. Tom pushes on with the electronic experiment whilst remaining at the service of traditional sounds. Other tours follow, "Never mind how long the road is, we'll go round the world"… until 2004.
Then there is a break period where Tom works on a diversity of projects, as director (Dvd Mano Negra) or composer (soundtracks for films and documentaries).
Active collaboration with Thomas Martinez leads to sowing the seeds of "Viva P18", the band's new opus. Tom returns to a more traditional concept in the treatment of the Afro-Cuban repertoire, characterised by the funky trademark that constitutes one of the key elements of his style. A reunion with Sylvano Matadin, Urban Dance Squad's bassist, sets up a new live combo.
The tone is more detached after a period of dilettante activism, Tom has returned to a more personal vision of the world, an attitude he illustrates by the formula "anarchy is the key, latin is the melody".
Singers :
Thomas Darnal
Tomas Martinez
Niovis Ramos Teuntor
Yamilka Cardoso Reynoldes
Esther Teuntor Garcia
Xiomara Teuntor Garcia
Barbaro Teuntor Garcia
Danilo Garcia Despaigne
Nuris Fuentes Aladama
Carlos Miguel Ramos Teuntor
Amado Dedeus Garcia
Neneh
Raul Henriquez Serrano
Orwin Cecilio Galan Ruiz
Felipe Molina Perez
Hylda Gbenou
Yaïté Ramos
Progs & Electro set :
Brice Bertrand
Christian Lechevretel
Thomas Darnal
Yohann Mallet
Morvan Jamet
Percussions :
Philippe Mas
Carlos Miguel Ramos Teuntor
Amado Dedeus Garcia
Raymondo Sosa Reynoldes
Abraham Mansfarroll
Drums :
Pierre Caquard
Phillipe Teboul
Bass :
Gilles Rodriguez
Silvano Matadin
Keybords :
Jaqueline Rodriguez
Brice Bertrand
Thomas Darnal
Pierre Acourt
Christian Lechevretel
Horns :
Barbaro Teuntor Garcia
Jean Marc Labbé
Pierre Gauthé
Christian Lechevrete
Nicolas Auriault
François Sabin
Guitars :
David Bourguignon
Daniel Jamet
Thomas Darnal