(UTV|COLOMBO) – Philippe Cerboneschi (also known as “Zdar”), one half of French dance duo Cassius, died in Paris on Wednesday, his agent has said.
“He made an accidental fall, through the window of a high floor of a Parisian building,” said Sebastien Farran, without giving further details.
Cerboneschi formed Cassius with Hubert Blanc-Francard (aka Boom Bass) in 1996.
They produced for bands such as Phoenix, Beastie Boys, Franz Ferdinand and French hip hop star MC Solaar.
The two had met a few years earlier, when Cerboneschi was already working as a sound engineer for artists like Serge Gainsbourg and had created Motorbass, a first duet with French DJ Etienne de Crécy.
Their music has been described as their “joyful” and a perfect antidote to electronic dance music, and along with acts such as Daft Punk and Air, gave the French musical scene a new direction, known as the French Touch.
The band’s first album in three years, Dreems, is due to be released on Friday.
Cerboneschi, whose parents ran a hotel in Aix-les-Bains, started out as a singer in a punk band and a speed metal drummer.
He quit his job as a waiter, he told Le Monde, after seeing a picture of UK band Eurythmics recording in a Paris studio and deciding he wanted “to find this magic” (interview in French).
He later got a job at a music studio and, in the 1980s, rubbed shoulders with French stars Serge Gainsbourg, Etienne Daho and Vanessa Paradis.
He worked with high-profile artistic director Dominique Blanc-Francard, who put him in touch with his son Hubert.
Cerboneschi was awarded a 2010 Grammy Award as a mixer and producer for French indie pop band Phoenix’s fourth best-selling album.
He was 50. (BBC)
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