Outlines

Outlines are long-time friends Jerome, Irfane and Jay1. Although the paths of life led the three members to interact - Jerome and Irfane went to school together - it is hip-hop culture that is responsible for their union. Indeed, while, in the early nineties, Jerome was breakdancing, both Irfane and Jay1 were writing graffiti. Jay1 has since then established himself as one of the finest French writers, collaborating with fashion designers (agnes b., 55 DSL, Maharishi, Takeo Kikuchi) and exhibiting in galleries from Berlin and Tokyo to London and NYC, either alone or with his crew, BadBC (Skki, Ash). After a few unpleasant experiences with police authorities, Irfane decided to trade-in his spray cans for records, and explored another one of hip-hop paths, dee-jaying. This eventually led him into musical production.

When they were still in their late teens, Jerome and Irfane linked up with New York MCs Shabazz the Disciple and the Arsonists. The two homies organized a European tour for the acts, and soon found themselves doing studio sessions with them and a few other European bands. After working for a year with Daft Punk's management, Jerome eventually got into executive production (Blue Note Revisited, RZA, French Connection...) while Irfane continued to make beats (Shabazz the disciple, Shurik'n, Afrob, Gentleman...).

Today, the three loco brothers are preparing their first LP for Berlin-based label Sonar Kollektiv. The band has gained critical acclaim with its first single, "Just a lil' lovin'", which has been played and playlisted by the likes of Gilles Peterson, Mr. Scruff, King Britt, Kyoto Jazz Massive, Peter Kruder, Pedro Winter, Laurent Garnier and Josh Wink - a little name-dropping can't hurt... Jerome and Irfane still find time to spin records in clubs around the world, from your local hip-hop pit-stop to high-end clubs like Lotus in NYC and Neo(club) in Paris. On stage, Outlines is joined by a quartet, adding the "jam element" to their complex programming. The crew has recently collaborated with director Thibaut de Longeville to create the soundtrack for his documentary on the sneaker culture, "Just for Kicks", which was selected for the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year. Outlines' debut LP is due this autumn.