Imaginary French bends and imagines musical styles: their music has been described as an unpredictable blend of psychedelic folk-rock with elements of pop, navigating the path between the worldly realm and spaces beyond, whilst having a lot of fun.

In the late summer of 2014 in Berlin, Tarynn O was on her way to meet an old friend from South Africa at John C Judd’s atelier. While riding her bicycle there, Tarynn was in conversation with herself and daydreamed about meeting someone who would complement her musical expressions. At the studio, John encouraged Tarynn to pick up a guitar and play one of her songs and the two soon made a connection based on a mutual appreciation of each other’s musical expressions.

At around the same time, the pair became a trio with the addition of Julika Brockhaus: John was intrigued by the sight of her sitting on the street and asked her if he could take her photograph and discovered that she too was a singer of songs. The three enjoyed a period of great creativity which came to an end with a bitter-sweet goodbye as the band was put on hold while Tarynn went off to say farewell to her previous life in the USA and Julika finished high school. 

John continued his solo projects anticipating the band’s reunion. A year later, Tarynn was passing through Berlin on her way to Cape Town when they met Thomas Ghazi, who was at an art show that John and Tarynn played at. Thomas spontaneously joined the band on keyboard that evening and both John and Tarynn were struck by the immediate affinity he had for their songs.

It was during a demo recording session in Cape Town with the initial trio that Imaginary French found its name: ‘friends’ was already taken, and so it was rather the friendly language that became imaginary.

During a collaborative performance at a gallery, Felix Ritz was in the audience and he expressed an interest in drumming for the band. He was then invited to play the drums in a music video shoot and he has been the drummer from then on.

While Will Dewar was walking down the street one night with a mutual friend, he was introduced to the band and it was agreed that they should all jam together sometime. Will was then invited to play violin and tabla for the same music video shoot and the fun has continued ever since.

Lovers

Candy

Funny Money

Moon

Vitamin D

Inside Energy

Captain

Shark

Amanda

Join us ! 

The Berlin-based band  present an
unpredictable blend of adventurous folk-rock with
elements of pop. The live shows are particularly energetic&
amusing, breaking the wall that can exist between audience&performer.
Community participation is encouraged . 

The establishing members, Tarynn O, from South
Africa, and John C Judd, from France, met by
magical co-incidence in Berlin in 2014 and began a
collaboration. Since the initial incarnation there have been rotating contributing members . 

The debut album : sooner or later features: Thomas Ghazi - keys; Felix Ritz
- drums & percussion; Will Dewar - violin; Rodeo -
bass; Julika Brockhaus - vocals; John C Judd - lead
guitar & vocals; Tarynn O - guitar & vocals