Freschard & Stanley Brinks - Iron Eye [12"]

Artist: Freschard & Stanley Brinks
Title: Iron Eye
Format: 12" album on transparent red vinyl
Cat#: Fika097LP
Release date: 6th October 2023
Bandcamp

Iron Eye is an irresistibly charming collection of late night tales, woozy ballads and uptempo sing-alongs. Clemence Freschard’s beautiful vocal tones lend this a rich, French indiepop/chanteuse vibe, complemented by Stanley’s wistful timbre and characteristic warm instrumentation. Iron Eye follows a succession of collaborative albums in Lion Heart, Tequila Island and Pizza Espresso in recent years.

In West Africa, where the only water you can find is in the Ocean, Stanley Brinks & Freschard put on their best carnival costumes to get to the bottom of every bottle of rum they could find. 
They found a lot.

Stanley Brinks is renowned for his unique anti-folk style: both playful and suggestive, insightful and entertaining. Brinks was born in Paris, France, in 1973. He studied a bit of biology and worked as a nurse for a while. Half Swedish, half Moroccan, strongly inclined to travel the world, he soon began spending most of his life on the road and developed a strong relationship with New York.

By the late 90s he’d become a full time singer-songwriter – André Herman Düne – as part of three piece indie-rock band, Herman Düne alongside his brother, David-Ivar. Several albums and Peel sessions later and after a decade of touring Europe, mostly with American songwriters such as Jeffrey Lewis, Calvin Johnson and early Arcade Fire he settled in Berlin. The early carnival music of Trinidad became a passion, and in the early 21st century he became the unquestioned master of European calypso, changing his name to Stanley Brinks.

Under this moniker he has recorded well in excess of 100 albums, collaborated with the New York Antifolk scene on numerous occasions, recorded and toured with traditional Norwegian musicians, and played a lot with The Wave Pictures.

Freschard grew up in a farm in French Burgundy. Aged 18 she moved to Paris, where she baked pies and cakes in a cafe. There, a local musician and regular customer called Stanley Brinks wrote a few songs for her to sing. Homeless in Paris, she saved up just enough money to get herself a ticket to New York. There she found an old electric guitar and started writing her own songs. In 2004 she moved to Berlin, where she recorded her first LP, "Alien Duck". Her second album, "Click Click", recorded in 2006, features electric guitar by Stanley Brinks. On her third album, she plays the drums herself. On her fourth “Shh...” she also plays the flute, and she breaks out the washboard on her fifth “Boom Biddy Boom”.

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Stanley Brinks & Freschard - Lion Heart [12"]

Artist: Freschard & Stanley Brinks
Title: Lion Heart
Format: 12" album on yellow vinyl
Cat#: Fika091LP
Release date: 8th July 2022
Bandcamp

Stanley Brinks is renowned for his unique anti-folk style: both playful and suggestive, insightful and entertaining. Brinks was born in Paris, France, in 1973. He studied a bit of biology and worked as a nurse for a while. Half Swedish, half Moroccan, strongly inclined to travel the world, he soon began spending most of his life on the road and developed a strong relationship with New York. By the late 90s he’d become a full time singer-songwriter – André Herman Düne – as part of three piece indie-rock band, Herman Düne. Several albums and Peel sessions  later and after a decade of touring Europe, mostly with American songwriters such as Jeffrey Lewis, Calvin Johnson and early Arcade Fire he settled in Berlin. The early carnival music of Trinidad became a passion, and in the early 21st century he became the unquestioned master of European calypso, changing his name to Stanley Brinks. Under this moniker he has recorded more than 100 albums, collaborated with the New York Antifolk scene on several occasions, recorded and toured with traditional Norwegian musicians, and played a lot with The Wave Pictures.  

Freschard grew up in a farm in French Burgundy. Aged 18 she moved to Paris, where she baked pies and cakes in a cafe. There, a local musician and regular customer called Stanley Brinks wrote a few songs for her to sing. Homeless in Paris, she saved up just enough money to get herself a ticket to New York. There she found an old electric guitar and started writing her own songs. In 2004 she moved to Berlin, where she recorded her first LP, "Alien Duck". Her second album, "Click Click", recorded in 2006, features electric guitar by Stanley Brinks. On her third album, she plays the drums herself. On her fourth “Shh...” she also plays the flute, and she breaks out the washboard on her fifth “Boom Biddy Boom”.

Freschard & Stanley Brinks - Midnight Tequila [12"]

Artist: Freschard & Stanley Brinks
Title: Midnight Tequila
Format: 12" album on pale blue vinyl
Cat#: Fika066
Release date: 29th June 2018
Bandcamp | Spotify

Following on from 2014’s Pizza Espresso, Freschard and Stanley Brinks come together for 12 brand new tracks.

Midnight Tequila is an irresistibly charming collection of late night tales, woozy ballads and uptempo sing-alongs. 

Clemence Freschard’s beautiful vocal tones lend this a rich, French indiepop/chanteuse vibe, complemented by Stan’s wistful timbre and characteristic warm instrumentation. Perfect accompaniment for that late night tequila.

Stanley Brinks is renowned for his unique anti-folk style: both playful and suggestive, insightful and entertaining. Brinks was born in Paris, France, in 1973. He studied a bit of biology and worked as a nurse for a while. Half Swedish, half Moroccan, strongly inclined to travel the world, he soon began spending most of his life on the road and developed a strong relationship with New York. By the late 90s he’d become a full time singer-songwriter – André Herman Düne – as part of three piece indie-rock band, Herman Düne. Several albums and Peel sessions  later and after a decade of touring Europe, mostly with American songwriters such as Jeffrey Lewis, Calvin Johnson and early Arcade Fire he settled in Berlin. The early carnival music of Trinidad became a passion, and in the early 21st century he became the unquestioned master of European calypso, changing his name to Stanley Brinks. Under this moniker he has recorded more than 100 albums, collaborated with the New York Antifolk scene on several occasions, recorded and toured with traditional Norwegian musicians, and played a lot with The Wave Pictures.  

Freschard grew up in a farm in French Burgundy. Aged 18 she moved to Paris, where she baked pies and cakes in a cafe. There, a local musician and regular customer called Stanley Brinks wrote a few songs for her to sing. Homeless in Paris, she saved up just enough money to get herself a ticket to New York. There she found an old electric guitar and started writing her own songs. In 2004 she moved to Berlin, where she recorded her first LP, "Alien Duck". Her second album, "Click Click", recorded in 2006, features electric guitar by Stanley Brinks. On her third album, she plays the drums herself. On her fourth “Shh...” she also plays the flute, and she breaks out the washboard on her fifth “Boom Biddy Boom”. On Midnight Tequila, Freschard brings it back to just drums and vocals.

Freschard & Stanley Brinks “Going to the Bar” video

We’ve got a new video from Freschard & Stanley Brinks for their track Going to the Bar, taken from the forthcoming LP Midnight Tequila.

“Clemence Freschard’s beautiful vocal tones lend this a rich, French indiepop/chanteuse vibe, complemented by Stan’s wistful timbre and characteristic warm instrumentation. A perfect accompaniment for that late night tequila.” Folk Radio premiere

“They craft a blend of playful indiepop and folk that fans of either genre will find endearing; they even manage to capture that playful air in their performance in the video for this single” Austin Town Hall

Buy Midnight Tequila on pale blue vinyl or digitally from our shop.

Pre-order: Freschard & Stanley Brinks "Midnight Tequila"

In June we're putting out the latest album from Freschard & Stanley Brinks! Just like the long since sold out Pizza Espresso, this will be a super limited vinyl run - and once again we're delighted to be working alongside WIAIWYA on it. Listen to Success from the LP now and remember to order your copy before they're all gone...

Stanley Brinks and Freschard tour dates

November 4th MARSEILLE, France - La Machine a CoudreNovember 5th ARLES, France - Le Magasin de jouets November 23rd METZ, France – Bar 7/7 November 24th TBA November 25th NANCY, France - Home sweet home festival #4 November 26th REIMS, France - TBC November 27th REIMS, France – Quartier libre (tbc) November 28th PARIS, France – L'Olympic Cafe November 29th ZÜRICH, Switzerland – New Zitrone December 1st FREIBURG, Germany – White Rabbit December 2nd MANNHEIM, Germany - Altes Volksbad December 3rd WAIBLINGEN, Germany – Fidel's Fitz at Kulturhaus Schwanen December 4th BAERENBACH,Germany – Shorty's

Stanley Brinks & Freschard

Following their two 7" singles on Fika Recordings (this year's Commuter Love, and last year's Hey Sailor Boy!), Cosines finally release their debut album Oscillations at the end of July. Be quick if you want a copy - neither track feature on the album so this is your only chance!

Out Of The Fire is a sneak peak - think repetitive synth riffs, pulsating rhythm and crunchy guitars, which reveal a song which perfectly encapsulates the band and sets the tone for the rest of the album. We'll be revealing more from the album over the next couple of weeks... In the meantime, you can pre-order a copy here, on 12" black vinyl, handmade CDR or as a download.

Having already released 2 of the best albums of 2014 (Gin on Fika Recordings, and Boom Biddy Boom on wiaiwya) Stanley Brinks and Freschard are releasing Pizza Espresso - an album of duets, and a collaboration between both labels – at the end of August.

Pizza Espresso is an album of love songs about drinking and drinking songs about love. Picture Emmylou and Gram relocated to Berlin with a guitar, a pennywhistle and a washboard and writing ten gorgeous duets to be sung on lazy summer evenings.

Stanley Brinks & The Wave Pictures with Freschard August 26th @ The Shacklewell Arms, London Tickets available here

Stanley Brinks & The Wave Pictures

We're thrilled to announce that Stanley Brinks & The Wave Pictures will be playing at The Shacklewell Arms on Tuesday 27th August! Support on the night comes from Freschard. This show is a sneak preview of their upcoming album, out on Fika Recordings early 2014 and tickets are now available to purchase from WeGotTickets. We're happy to have the capable hands of Scared To Dance joining us on promotional duties for the show too!

Stanley Brinks is the current identity of André Herman Düne, formerly of the French folk rock band Herman Düne. He has recorded and played shows in Europe, the UK and the US under various other names such Ben Dope, Ben Haschish, Klaus Bong, John Trawling, Lord Stanislas.

Since leaving Herman Düne in December 2006 he has been championed by the likes of Jeffrey Lewis (who wrote a song about how Herman Düne were better when André was still in them) and in 2012 he collaborated with The Wave Pictures for their debut joint release. The follow up album is due to come out on Fika Recordings next year.

Stanley Brinks will be joined by The Wave Pictures as his backing band for this show. The Wave Pictures are David Tattersall, Franic Rozycki and Jonny “Huddersfield” Helm. Formed in 1998 when Franic and David lived in a village called Wymeswold, the band played with several drummers until Jonny became a permanent member in 2003 replacing Hugh J Noble. In the beginning the band learned to play together by covering Jonathan Richman songs.

They have released a twelve studio albums to critical acclaim and played numerous sessions on BBC 6 Music, Radio 1 and Xfm. Their new album, City Forgiveness, will be out in October on the Moshi Moshi label.

Freschard is the musical vehicle for the solo artist Clemence Freschard. She writes songs deftly combining folk music, urban daydreams, acoustic sounds and electronic programming.

Growing up in a farm in French Burgundy, she moved to Paris at the age of 18 where she baked pies and cakes in a café. There, a local musician and regular customer called André Herman Düne wrote a few songs for her to sing.

In 2004 she moved to Berlin, where she recorded her first LP Alien Duck with a mix of electronic and acoustic sounds. Her second album Click Click, recorded in 2006, features a drummer (Leo Bear Creek) and electric guitars by Stanley Brinks. On her third album, Moonstone she plays the drums herself. She works as a sound engineer and records her friends’ music. She also has a calypso cover band with Stanley Brinks, called Kreuzberg Museum.