In concert at the Florida Friday night, the duo Hic Svnt Dracones will open for Rudeboy. Meeting with two enthusiasts who sought to rethink rap.
They are brand new to the Lot-et-Garonne musical landscape. Mounir Haouari and Tom Françoise set up their project Hic Svnt (pronounced sunt) Dracones around their passion for rap and video. To their credit, they have two clips exploring human duality: we all have a part of good, and a part of bad. The theme is a metaphor around old world maps. This is where they get their name from. “Where the dragons are” is an expression that referred to dangerous territories on medieval maps.
An atmosphere of fire
“Finding a group name is difficult”, laughs Tom Françoise, on drums and loops. “We didn’t want to take an English name, because we sing in French. And we needed a mysterious name, because of our fascination with mystery”. The representation of unknown territories in cartography is therefore timely to describe their attraction of the unexplored. This dimension of strange, unusual, is found in their sound. “Mounir has a traditional approach to rap and hip-hop,” says Tom. “When we met, we quickly discovered that we spoke the same language. We don’t really like to put a label on a genre. That’s why when we talk about our music, we call it du progressive rap. It is true that with them, rap and hip-hop take on curious jazz nuances tinged with world music, with touches of electric guitar, violin and bandoneon.
But on stage, how to render such an atmosphere? Tom and Mounir have chosen to stay as a duo during their performances; the tapes are therefore recorded and broadcast during the concert.
A music that resembles them
The release of their first album, “Unknown Land”, coincides with their concert in Florida. At a time when music can only be listened to in streaming (or, for the die-hards, in the form of a CD during car journeys), they made a symbolic choice: to also release it in vinyl format !
“Vinyl is a beautiful object, and we are attached to graphic art, and vinyl leaves a trace!”, Launch the two artists. “With Hic Svnt Dracones, we want to have fun. The goal is to make music that looks like us. If people like it, great – and it’s great to have a connection with an audience, otherwise , too bad, we won’t change our tune!”.
They are impatiently awaiting their concert at the Florida on Friday evening, especially since they will open for Rudeboy, nothing less than the original singer of Urban Dance Squad… Between rock, blues, reggae and hip-hop, this Dutch group of the late 80s inspired, among others, Rage Against the Machine. On tour with early DJ DNA, they’ll bring Urban’s most explosive classics to life. And it is an understatement to say that they made noise in Europe, thirty years ago… Initiated or not, you are cordially expected.
To be seen at 8:30 p.m., Friday, September 30. Reservations on site, by phone on 05 53 47 59 54, or by email: juilette@le-florida.org.