The Dø

The dø /ðə doʊ/ is a Finnish-French indie pop band founded in Paris in 2005. The band is composed of Olivia Merilahti (singer and musician) and Dan Levy (multi-instrumentalist). The duo has been backed on stage by three different drummers: Jérémie Pontier (2007–08), José Joyette (2008–09), and Pierre Belleville (since 2009). Their first studio album A Mouthful topped the French charts in 2008, making them the first French act singing in English to reach that position.

The dø
The Dø performing at the Paléo Festival in 2008.
Background information
OriginParis, France
GenresFolk rock, indie rock
Years active2007–present
LabelsGet DOwn!
Cinq7 (France)
Six Degrees (US)
Ministry of Sound (Germany)
Rockhopper Music (Finland)
Border Music (Sweden)
Shock Records (Australia)
Bang Music (Belgium)
WebsiteOfficial website
MembersDan Levy
Olivia Bouyssou Merilahti

Biography

Formation and first years (2005–07)

Olivia Merilahti and Dan Levy met in 2005 while recording the music for the French film Empire of the Wolves directed by Chris Nahon and produced by Gaumont.

They released their first piece under the name The dø a few months later: a three-track EP including "The Bridge Is Broken" for a contemporary dance ballet titled Scène d'amour by Finnish choreographer Juha-Pekka Marsalo. They kept on working for cinema (The Passenger, awarded at the Festival d'Angers and the Festival d'Aubagne; Wild Camp; and Darling), dance (Prologue, Perle and Cinderella by Juha-Pekka Marsalo, as well as poetry lectures by Carolyn Carlson) and theatre (Laure by Colette Peignot).

They used their free time to write the songs that would feature on their first album, A Mouthful. The band's Myspace page was opened in 2007. The first four songs released online ("The Bridge is Broken", "At Last", "On My Shoulders" and "Playground Hustle") quickly created a buzz that brought them to play a series of sold-out concerts in Paris. In December 2007, they opened the festival Les Transmusicales de Rennes.

Meanwhile, they signed on the indie label Cinq/7, and the song "On My Shoulders" was their first single, also used in an Oxford-notepads commercial.

The band's name is derived from the first note of the solfège scale, and is pronounced as the English word "dough", with a long "o" sound. It is written with the letter Ø (slashed o), and the "D" often in lower-case to resemble a half note.

A Mouthful (2008–10)

A Mouthful was released in France in January 2008. It was released in the rest of Europe and Australia later that year. It was very well received by critics and the public, ranking No. 1 on the French albums chart in the first week. It was acclaimed as an eclectic record, drawing inspiration from various genres as pop, folk, rock and hip hop, while maintaining integrity and an original approach.

The first single from the album was "On My Shoulders", followed by "At Last" and "Stay (Just a Little Bit More)". The music video for "At Last" was directed by Belgian choreographer Wim Vandekeybus.

The band went on tour in Europe and Australia for over 200 shows. They spent summer 2008 playing at most of the biggest festivals in Europe (Eurockéennes de Belfort, Paleo, Provinssirock, Vieilles Charrues, Roskilde, Main Square Festival, Pukkelpop...), flew to Australia for the V Festival in spring 2009, and spent two weeks in America, playing from Mexico to Canada, New York City to Los Angeles, in September 2009.

In 2009 The dø won an EBBA Award. Every year the European Border Breakers Awards (EBBA) recognize the success of ten emerging artists or groups who reached audiences outside their own countries with their first internationally released album in the past year.

A Mouthful was officially released in the US in April 2010 on Six Degrees Records, including three bonus tracks.

Both Ways Open Jaws (2011)

In December 2010, the band released a video for the first promotional single "Dust It Off". Their second album entitled Both Ways Open Jaws was released in some parts of Europe on Monday, 7 March 2011, and in France on Wednesday, 9 March 2011. Beginning late October and ending in mid-November, the album was released worldwide.

Shake Shook Shaken (2014–15)

On 14 May the band shared the track "Keep Your Lips Sealed". This was followed up in July with the announcement of the band's third album Shake Shook Shaken, released on 29 September in France, Benelux, Switzerland and Andorra. A few days after this announcement the duo also shared a second track from the album, "Miracles (Back in Time)". 18 August saw the release of the third single from the album "Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy", which was followed up with a music video on 21 October premiered online by The Fader. The album was then made available in rest of the world in late 2014/early 2015.

Shake Shook Shaken went to No. 7 on the overall French chart in its week of release, charting at No. 1 in the digital chart. It also received a nomination for IMPALA's European Independent Album of the Year Award.[1]

The album was awarded Rock Album of the Year at the Victoires de la Musique in February 2015.[2]

Discography

Albums
Studio albums
Year Album Peak chart positions Sales
FRA
[3]		 BEL
(Fl)
[4]		 BEL
(Wa)
[5]		 FIN
[6]		 SWI
[7]
2008 A Mouthful 1 — 49 39 52
  • FRA: 150,000 [8]
2011 Both Ways Open Jaws 14 — 55 — 34
  • FRA: 45,000 [9]
2014 Shake Shook Shaken 7 169 24 — 29
Live albums
Year Album
2012 Both Ways Open Jaws Extended
2017 Live at l'Olympia, Paris
Soundtracks

EPs
  • 2010: Dust It Off

Singles
Year Single Peak chart positions Album
FRA
[12]
2007 "On My Shoulders" — A Mouthful
2008 "At Last!" —
2011 "Too Insistent" 83 Both Ways Open Jaws
"Dust It Off" —
2014 "Keep Your Lips Sealed" 75 Shake Shook Shaken
"Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy" 58
"Trustful Hands" 88
"Anita No!" 70
"Miracles (Back in Time)" 176
"On My Shoulders" (re-release) 160 A Mouthful
2015 "Sparks" 120 Shake Shook Shaken

Awards and nominations
Year Award Result
2009 EBBA Awards Won
2015 Rock Album of the Year at the Victoires de la Musique Won

References
  1. "23 albums up for European Independent Album of the Year Award". IMPALA. 29 January 2015.
  2. "Rock Album of the Year 2015".
  3. "The Do". lescharts.com. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  4. "The Do". ultratop.be./nl/. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  5. "The Do". ultratop.be./fr/. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  6. "The Do". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  7. "The Do". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  8. Pichevin, Aymeric (9 January 2010). "The Do the Dø". Billboard. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  9. "VIDEO. En fait-on trop avec "The Dø" ?". L’obs. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  10. Hamard, Jonathan (4 June 2015). "Musique de la pub Caisse d'Épargne "Génération en marche" : qui chante le titre "Sparks" ?". Charts in France. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  11. "L'Empire Des Loups". Amazon.fr. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  12. "French peaks". Lescharts.com. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
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