Deep Forest

2025-10-16T01:44:33Z

2A02:A473:FE0C:1:E0E0:876D:A959:F459: Remove link to self

{{short description|French electronic music group}}
{{Other uses}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2008}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| background = group_or_band
| name = Deep Forest
| image = Deep Forest logo.svg
| caption =
| alias =
| origin = France
| genre = {{hlist|[[Electronic music|Electronic]]|[[New-age music|new-age]]|[[Ambient music|ambient]]|[[World music|world]]|[[ethnic electronica]]}}
| years_active = 1992–present
| label =
| website = {{url|deep-forest.fr}}
| current_members = Éric Mouquet
| past_members = [[Michel Sanchez (musician)|Michel Sanchez]]<ref name="Sanchesquit">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQzZtXicnTU |title=Deep Forest Andromeda |publisher=YouTube |date=26 October 2014 |access-date=26 May 2016}}</ref>
}}

'''Deep Forest''' is a French music project that originally began as a duo consisting of [[Michel Sanchez (musician)|Michel Sanchez]] and Éric Mouquet,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.efi-news.com/2012/12/candid-conversation-with-eric-mouquet.html |title=Candid conversation with Eric Mouquet – frontman of Grammy Award winning Deep Forest – EF News International | Music and Culture |access-date=12 December 2012 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502232729/http://www.efi-news.com/2012/12/candid-conversation-with-eric-mouquet.html |archive-date=2 May 2014 }}</ref> who created a style of [[world music]], sometimes called [[ethnic electronica]], mixing ethnic with electronic sounds and [[Electronic dance music|dance]] or [[Chill-out music|chillout beats]]. Deep Forest's sound has been described as an "ethno-introspective ambient world music".<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|url=http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-musicians/deep-forest-biography |title=Deep Forest Biography: Contemporary Musicians |access-date=28 June 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090905155246/http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-musicians/deep-forest-biography |archive-date=5 September 2009 }}</ref>

The project's [[Deep Forest (Deep Forest album)|self-titled debut album]] was nominated in 1994 for the [[Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album|Best World Music Album Grammy]], and in 1996, they won the same award for ''[[Boheme (album)|Boheme]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.efi-news.com/2012/12/Deep-Forest-at-Deep-India-Concert.html |title=Psychedelic evening with Deep Forest at Deep India concert – EF News International | Music and Culture |access-date=17 December 2012 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002131021/http://www.efi-news.com/2012/12/Deep-Forest-at-Deep-India-Concert.html |archive-date=2 October 2013 }}</ref> Deep Forest's albums have sold over ten million copies.{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}} Sanchez left the project in 2005 to focus on a solo career, while Mouquet has continued working under the band's original name. As of 2025, the project has released 13 studio albums as well as a number of live records and several soundtracks and compilations.

==History==
[[File:Eric Mouquet 02.jpg|thumb|right|Éric Mouquet, co-founder of Deep Forest, performing in 2017]]

In 1992, French musician [[Michel Sanchez (musician)|Michel Sanchez]] came up with the idea of combining [[Baka language|Baka-language]] spoken words with modern music after hearing onsite recordings of the tribespeople conversing. Along with his compatriot Eric Mouquet, he created the project Deep Forest. According to Mouquet, the name stems from a combination of [[Deep Purple]] and "[[rainforest]]".<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a0tmj2VpmY&lc=UgjvPMSnuIHSm3gCoAEC.8OIhF-KrkZ38OOxxwKd1AX Reaction of Eric Mouquet] YouTube, 28 January 2017</ref>

The group's debut, [[Deep Forest (Deep Forest album)|self-titled album]] was released in 1992, with the single "[[Sweet Lullaby]]" reaching the [[UK Top 10]] chart.{{Citation needed|date=July 2025}} The track is an adaptation of a traditional song from the [[Solomon Islands]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Turmeric, pygmies and piracy |url=https://ethanzuckerman.com/2004/11/23/turmeric-pygmies-and-piracy/ |website=ethanzuckerman.com |date=23 November 2004 |access-date=6 July 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD9vjEuLQdc|title=Afunakwa – Rorogwela (Solomon Islands Lullaby) 1970|publisher=[[YouTube]]|access-date=14 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiHTh6NnoWo|title=Where the Hell is Afunakwa?|date=2 December 2007 |publisher=[[YouTube]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The "Water drum"| date=4 June 2015 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tJFI0jLpdo|access-date=14 October 2020|publisher=Smithsonian Folkways Recordings}}</ref> The album was [[Electronic dance music|dance]]-driven, and the samples were heavily digitised and edited. It was nominated for the [[Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album|Best World Music Album Grammy]] in 1994<ref>{{cite web|last=Moon |first=Tom |url=http://articles.philly.com/1994-01-07/living/25824842_1_donald-fagen-s-kamakiriad-award-nominations-song-of-the-year-category/8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717144924/http://articles.philly.com/1994-01-07/living/25824842_1_donald-fagen-s-kamakiriad-award-nominations-song-of-the-year-category/8 |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 July 2011 |title=Sting, R.E.M., Houston Grab Grammy Bids Nominations Predictably Conservative; Mariah Carey, Michael Bolton Blocked from Big Awards – philly-archives |website=Articles.philly.com |date=7 January 1994 |access-date=26 May 2016}}</ref> and re-released as a limited edition the same year, under the name ''[[World Mix]]''.

[[File:Deep Forest and OYME 03.jpg|thumb|Deep Forest onstage with the Russian folk group [[Oyme]] after a 2017 concert]]

On their second album, ''[[Boheme (album)|Boheme]]'' (1995), Sanchez and Mouquet ventured into [[Eastern Europe]], sampling [[Hungarian folk music|Hungarian]] and [[Romani music]], with input from Hungarian singer [[Márta Sebestyén]] and the Bulgarian Kate Petrova. The record also includes the track "[[While the Earth Sleeps]]", a collaboration with [[Peter Gabriel]] that was included on the soundtrack to the film ''[[Strange Days (film)|Strange Days]]'', to which Deep Forest also contributed the song "Coral Lounge".<ref>{{cite web|title=Strange Days (Original Soundtrack) |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/strange-days-original-soundtrack-mw0000177150 |website=allmusic.com |access-date=6 July 2025}}</ref>

The project's third album, ''[[Comparsa (album)|Comparsa]]'' (1997), pivots toward [[Music of Latin America|Latin American music]], with the title referencing carnival [[comparsa]]s. It includes contributions from [[Abed Azrie]],{{Citation needed|date=July 2025}} [[Ana Torroja]], [[Joe Zawinul]], and [[Jorge Reyes (musician)|Jorge Reyes]].

In 1999, Deep Forest released their first live album, titled ''[[Made in Japan (Deep Forest album)|Made in Japan]]''. That year, the duo worked with Algerian singer [[Cheb Mami]] and French musician [[Catherine Lara]] on the song "L'Enfant Fleur", which was included on the [[Sol En Si]] charity album ''Solidarité Enfants Sida''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sol En Si – Solidarité Enfants Sida |url=https://www.discogs.com/master/1846597-Sol-En-Si-Solidarit%C3%A9-Enfants-Sida |website=discogs.com |date=1999 |access-date=6 July 2025}}</ref>

''[[Music Detected]]'' was the title of their next album, released in 2002, and it included collaborations with Indonesian-French singer [[Anggun]], American singer-songwriter [[Beverly Jo Scott]], Japanese singer [[Chitose Hajime]], and British singer-songwriter [[Angela McCluskey]].

In 2003, the duo released their first compilation album, titled ''Essence of Deep Forest'', which saw publication only in Japan and was reissued internationally as ''Essence of the Forest'' a year later, with a different tracklist. Also in 2003, Deep Forest appeared on the track "Never Let Go" from [[Josh Groban]]'s album ''[[Closer (Josh Groban album)|Closer]]'', which also included a writing and production credit by Mouquet on "Remember When It Rained". Mouquet worked with Groban once more on the latter's next album, ''[[Awake (Josh Groban album)|Awake]]'', on the track "Machine". In 2005, Sanchez left Deep Forest to focus on a solo career, which he had launched in 1994 with the album ''Windows''.<ref name="Sanchesquit"/>

The next Deep Forest studio album, titled ''Deep Brasil'', saw Mouquet spearheading the project alone for the first time. ''Deep India'', an album-length collaboration with Indian musician [[Rahul Sharma (musician)|Rahul Sharma]], came out in 2013, and the same year, Deep Forest released ''[[Deep Africa]]'', with Mouquet's own name added to the title. The album included contributions from African musicians [[Lokua Kanza]], [[Blick Bassy]], [[Wasis Diop]], [[Olyza Zamati]], and Danny de Mouataba. In 2017, Mouquet contributed to the track "Vsesvit" from the Ukrainian [[Folktronica|electro-folk]] band [[Onuka (band)|Onuka]]'s second album, ''Mozaїka''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Vsesvit (single) |url=https://www.onuka.ua/en/albums/vsesvit |website=onuka.ua |access-date=13 July 2025}}</ref>

In 2015, Deep Forest issued the album ''Evo Devo'', and in 2018, the project worked with Anglo-Italian musician [[Gaudi (musician)|Gaudi]] on ''Epic Circuits''. This was followed in 2020 by ''Deep Symphonic'', an [[orchestra]]l reimagining of nine previously released songs. ''Eponymous'', a re-recording of ''[[Deep Forest (Deep Forest album)|Deep Forest]]'', came out in 2021, and ''Burning'' was issued in 2023. The project's latest release is ''Crystal Clear'', a 2024 collaboration with Olivier Delevingne.<ref>{{cite web|title=Crystal Clear |url=https://deepforest.bandcamp.com/album/crystal-clear |website=deepforest.bandcamp.com |access-date=13 July 2025}}</ref>

==Music for film==
In 1994, Deep Forest contributed the song "Martha" to the soundtrack for [[Robert Altman]]'s ''[[Prêt-à-Porter (film)|Prêt-à-Porter]]''. A year later, the duo was hired to provide a full original score for the movie ''[[Strange Days (film)|Strange Days]]'', after [[Michael Kamen]] had left the project,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://my-blog-of-interviews.webnode.com/|title=My-blog-of-interviews: Allan K. Rosen|website=My-blog-of-interviews.webnode.com|access-date=14 October 2019}}{{Better source needed|reason=provided reference is a personal blog.|date=August 2025}}</ref> and their credit appears on early advertising for the film.{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}} In the end, the project was taken over by [[Graeme Revell]]. Deep Forest contributed two tracks to the soundtrack, however: "Coral Lounge" and "[[While the Earth Sleeps]]", a collaboration with [[Peter Gabriel]] that was later included on their second album, ''Boheme''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Interviews |url=https://www.musicunplugged.in/interviews/interviews_info/31/20 |website=usicunplugged.in |date=16 January 2015 |access-date=3 August 2025}}</ref>

In 2000, Deep Forest composed the soundtrack to the French film ''[[:fr:Le Prince du Pacifique|Le Prince du Pacifique]]'', titled ''[[Pacifique (album)|Pacifique]]''. In 2004, they wrote music for the Japanese film ''Kusa No Ran''. A year later, a version of "Sweet Lullaby" titled "Sweet Lullaby Dancing Remix" began to be used in [[Matt Harding]]'s viral hit "[[Where the Hell is Matt?]]"

==Charity==
A percentage of proceeds from sales of Deep Forest's debut album went to the [[Pygmy Fund]], set up to aid the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|DRC]]'s [[Efé people]] in the transition from [[nomad]]ic to [[Agriculture|agrarian]] subsistence and to provide appropriate health care. However, music of the Efé people was not included on the record.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Mills|first=Sherylle|date=1996|title=Indigenous Music and the Law: An Analysis of National and International Legislation|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/767807|journal=Yearbook for Traditional Music|volume=28|pages=57–86|doi=10.2307/767807|jstor=767807|s2cid=28388431 |issn=0740-1558|url-access=subscription}}</ref> A portion of the proceeds from ''Boheme'' went to the György Martin Foundation, which aids in protecting the [[Roma culture of Hungary]]. Deep Forest has also supported the Sana Madagascar Association, whose goal is to help the [[Malagasy peoples|Malagasy]] protect their environment and save their traditional cultures.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://deepforest.co/faq01.htm%23df_name |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130628093001/http://deepforest.co/faq01.htm%23df_name |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 June 2013 |title=The Artists: What is Deep Forest? |website=Archive.today |access-date=8 April 2020}}</ref>

==Controversy==
Deep Forest's signature song "Sweet Lullaby" centres on an uncredited recording of the ancestral [[Baegu]] lullaby "Rorogwela", from [[Malaita]], sung by a woman named Afunakwa and recorded by ethnomusicologist [[Hugo Zemp]]. The recording was used without authorization from Afunakwa, Zemp, the label UNESCO Discs, or the distributor Auvidis—although Zemp had earlier reluctantly given verbal permission for an unrelated recording to be used.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Feld|first=Steven|date=1 January 2000|title=A Sweet Lullaby for World Music|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/26181|journal=Public Culture|volume=12|issue=1|pages=145–171|doi=10.1215/08992363-12-1-145|s2cid=143663473|issn=1527-8018|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The case has since become a ''[[cause célèbre]]'' as an example of primitivist caricature and [[cultural appropriation]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Agawu|first=V. Kofi|title=African Imagination in Music P|id={{ASIN|0190263210|country=uk}}}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Folk Music and Commercialization in Danubian Trances and Boheme {{!}} Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture|journal=Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture |date=17 May 2015 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=97–115 |url=https://dj.dancecult.net/index.php/dancecult/article/view/509 |last1=Lange |first1=Barbara Rose }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Feld|first=S.|date=2000|title=A Sweet Lullaby for World Music|journal=Public Culture|volume=12|pages=145–171|doi=10.1215/08992363-12-1-145|s2cid=143663473}}</ref>

"Freedom Cry", from the duo's 1995 album, ''Boheme'', caused controversy when it was revealed that the [[Romani people in Hungary|Roma]] singer [[Károly Rostás]] ("Huttyán") never received any monetary compensation, and neither did his family after he died in 1986, though his singing, archived by [[Claude Flagel]], was sampled on the track. Flagel allegedly paid Rostás {{Currency|1500|HUF}} (about {{Currency|30|USD}} in 1986) for the recording. The case was later documented in a movie titled ''[[Huttyán]]'', released in 1996.<ref name="huttyanmovie">{{Cite web|url=https://nda.sztaki.hu/kereso/index.php?a=get&id=2539&pattern=|title=Huttyán (NDA@SZTAKI, Nemzeti Digitális Adattár, National Digital Data Archive)|website=Nda.sztaki.hu|access-date=7 September 2025}}</ref> Rostás's relatives did eventually succeed in obtaining some money from Deep Forest.<ref>Hungarian newspaper articles: [http://www.folkradio.hu/hirek/hir_show.php?id=1751 1],[http://www.szabadfold.hu/cikk?6152 2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111009023859/http://www.szabadfold.hu/cikk?6152 |date=9 October 2011 }}</ref>

==Awards and recognition==
* 1993 [[Victoires de la Musique]] for World Music Album – ''Deep Forest'': nominated
* [[36th Annual Grammy Awards|1994 Grammy Award]] for [[Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album|Best Global Music Album]] – ''Deep Forest'': nominated<ref>{{cite web|title=8ème cérémonie des victoires de la musique |url=https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/index2.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.france2.fr%2Femissions%2Fles-victoires-de-la-musique-varietes%2Fpalmares%2Fannee-1993_154874#federation=archive.wikiwix.com&tab=url |website=france2.fr |access-date=3 August 2025 |language=fr |trans-title=8th Victoires de la Musique ceremony}}</ref>
* [[1994 MTV Video Music Awards]] for [[MTV Video Music Award – Breakthrough Video]] – "Sweet Lullaby": nominated
* 1994 MTV Video Music Awards for [[MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction]] – "Sweet Lullaby": nominated
* 1994 MTV Video Music Awards for [[MTV Video Music Award for Best Editing]] – "Sweet Lullaby": nominated
* 1994 MTV Video Music Awards for [[MTV Video Music Award for Best Cinematography]] – "Sweet Lullaby": nominated
* 1996 [[38th Annual Grammy Awards|Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album]] – ''Boheme'': won
* 1996 Victoires de la Musique for Newcomer Group: nominated

==Discography==
{{columns-start}}
===Albums===
'''Studio albums'''
* 1992: ''[[Deep Forest (Deep Forest album)|Deep Forest]]'' (reissued as ''[[World Mix]]'' the same year)
* 1995: ''[[Boheme (album)|Boheme]]''
* 1997: ''[[Comparsa (album)|Comparsa]]''
* 2002: ''[[Music Detected]]''
* 2008: ''Deep Brasil''
* 2013: ''Deep India'' (with [[Rahul Sharma (musician)|Rahul Sharma]])
* 2013: ''[[Deep Africa]]''
* 2015: ''Evo Devo''
* 2018: ''Epic Circuits'' (with [[Gaudi (musician)|Gaudi]])
* 2020: ''Deep Symphonic''
* 2021: ''Eponymous'' (a re-recording of ''Deep Forest'')
* 2023: ''Burning''
* 2024: ''Crystal Clear'' (with Olivier Delevingne)
* 2025: ''Tree of Tranquility'' (with Rahul Sharma)

'''Live albums'''
* 1999: ''[[Made in Japan (Deep Forest album)|Made in Japan]]''
* 2025: ''Live Machine''

'''Soundtracks'''
* 2000: ''[[Pacifique (album)|Pacifique]]''
* 2004: ''Kusa no Ran'' (released only in Japan)

'''Compilations'''
* 2003: ''Essence of Deep Forest'' (released only in Japan)
* 2004: ''Essence of the Forest''
{{column}}

===Singles===
* 1992 – "Deep Forest" ([[UK Singles Chart|UK]] No. 20) Australia No. 32 <ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book| first= David| last= Roberts| year= 2006| title= British Hit Singles & Albums| edition= 19th| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited| location= London| isbn= 1-904994-10-5| page= 147}}</ref>
* 1992 – "[[Sweet Lullaby]]"
* 1992 – "White Whisper"
* 1993 – "Forest Hymn"
* 1994 – "Savana Dance"
* 1994 – "Undecided" (with [[Youssou N'dour]])
* 1995 – "Boheme"
* 1995 – "Marta's Song" (with [[Márta Sebestyén]])
* 1996 – "[[While the Earth Sleeps]]" (with [[Peter Gabriel]])
* 1996 – "Bohemian Ballet"
* 1997 – "Freedom Cry"
* 1997 – "Madazulu"
* 1998 – "Media Luna"
* 1998 – "Noonday Sun"
* 1999 – "Hunting" (live)
* 1999 – "Sweet Lullaby" (live)
* 2000 – "Pacifique"
* 2002 – "Deep Blue Sea" (with [[Anggun]])
* 2002 – "Endangered Species"
* 2002 – "Will You Be Ready"

===Contributions===
* 2000: [[Catherine Lara]] – ''Aral''
* 2003: [[Josh Groban]] – ''[[Closer (Josh Groban album)|Closer]]''
* 2006: Josh Groban – ''[[Awake (Josh Groban album)|Awake]]''
* 2012: [[The Zawinul Syndicate|The Syndicate]] – ''File under Zawinul''
{{columns-end}}

==See also==
* [[List of ambient music artists]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commonscat}}
* {{official website|deep-forest.fr}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Deep Forest}}

[[Category:French new-age music groups]]
[[Category:French world music groups]]
[[Category:French electronic musicians]]
[[Category:Grammy Award winners]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 1992]]
[[Category:550 Music artists]]

Vero - Wikipedia - User contributions [en]

Deep Forest