It so often starts out like that: a gang of friends who kick around together for years each get into music on their own instruments. In this case, it was Hugues on the violin, Arnaud on the guitar, and Charles on the double bass. They had a shared love for manouche jazz played in its natural setting—the smoky bars of Paris—and relatively serious musical tastes with a Zeitgeist twist: they also listened to electro, house, dub and hip-hop.

What triggered it all was an order to do the soundtrack to a silent erotic film from the early 20th century. The enthusiastic feedback persuaded them to drop their individual projects and come up with a repertoire of their own.

It took them an entire year to conceptualize the project in 2005. Upon booking their first gigs, they surfed the emerging social networks to recruit fellow musicians. Two months later, the troop had been mustered: Chapi (clarinet), Toustou (trombone and synthetizers), Paul-Marie (vibraphone and piano) and, last but not least, petulant vocalist Colotis Zoé. Among the three pioneers, Hugues, the crazy one, has revealed a talent for frenzied scat while Arnaud and Charles double up their instruments thanks to programming. All together, they found their groove. Caravan Palace was born.

Get to know Caravan Palace in their own words:

Our sound in five words or less: Future, vintage, robot, dance.

Best part of making this video: Letting the directors do their thing.

What inspires your art: Mostly everything.

Explain the concept of the song in one sentence: An ode to the middle of the night.

Instagram, Twitter, or Snapchat?: Instagram, our singer handles it: @CaravanPalace

Favorite emoji: I^_^I

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/caravan-palace-official

Watch their video on REVOLT TV the week of February 20th, and let us know your thoughts by tweeting @RevoltTV and using the hashtag #SpotlightOnREVOLT