Philippe Zdar

Bio

Philippe Cerboneschi (AKA Zdar) was a French musician, producer, and engineer. He was born in 1967 in Aix-les-Bains and grew up in the Savoie region of the Western Alps.

He moved to Paris in the late 1980s and became an intern at Studio Marcadet, owned by French producer and engineer Dominique Blanc-Francard. In the early 90’s he collaborated with rapper MC Solaar alongside Hubert Blanc-Francard (AKA Boom Bass).

In 1994, Philippe and Hubert released two EPs of house, techno, hip-hop, and breakbeat as La Funk Mob, then they renamed their duo Cassius. Zdar also formed the act Motorbass with Étienne de Crécy, which helped define a sample-heavy, filtered take on house that would become known as the “French touch”.

In 1999, Philippe met the band Phoenix and helped them finish their debut album ‘United’. A decade later, he co-produced the group’s breakout album ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix’, which won the 2010 Grammy award for Best Alternative Album.

Aside from his notable work with Phoenix, Zdar released five albums of original material under Cassius and engineered on a string of projects by Franz Ferdinand, Beastie Boys, Hot Chip, Justice, The Rapture, Two Door Cinema Club, Sébastien Tellier, Cat Power, and Fatboy Slim.

He owned and worked from Motorbass studio in Paris until his passing in 2019.