Steph Honde is a French singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Honde is most famous for being the frontman and songwriter of the American hard rocksupergroup, Hollywood Monsters which he founded in 2013. Before Hollywood Monsters, Honde was the guitarist of the French rock band :fr:Cafe Bertrand|Café Bertrand from 2004 to 2010, when he resigned from the band and joined Paul Di'Anno band as the guitarist on tour across France.
Early life
Steph Honde's love for music developed in his early years. His first musical instrument was the drums and later he started to play guitar in order to achieve his goal to become a songwriter. Honde started his music career as the frontman with the French band Mamooth.
Music career
Café Bertrand
Honde achieved great success in France as a guitarist. He garnered a well-deserved reputation as a guitar virtuoso when playing in the French hard rock band :fr:Café Bertrand|Café Bertrand in 2004-2010. In 2006 Café Bertrand was chosen to be the opening band for the Deep Purple European leg of the Rapture of the Deep tour which included 36 dates across Europe in October and November 2006 and another 12 dates in France in March 2007. Café Bertrand played at giant stadiums such as Stade de France, with an audience capacity in excess of 80,000. In 2009 Café Bertrand was the support band for two AC/DC shows in France during the Black Ice World Tour: on 9 June 2009 at Stade Vélodrome in Marseille and on 12 June 2009 at Stade de France in Paris. In July 2009 Café Bertrand played at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Honde left Café Bertrand in 2010.
Paul Di'Anno and The Stars
In 2010, after leaving the band Café Bertrand, Steph Honde toured with Paul Di'Anno and The Stars across France. Later in 2014, Di'Anno made a guest appearance on the album Big Trouble by Hollywood Monsters on bonus track "Fuck You All". Di'Anno chose the song himself from the number of songs suggested to him by Steph Honde.
Hollywood Monsters
In 2012 Steph Honde emigrated to California, U.S. and started working on his own project, the band Hollywood Monsters which features legendary guest musicians. Steph Honde created the project in 2013 and is the only songwriter of the project, including the band's debut album Big Trouble. The band members are: Steph Honde, Don Airey , Vinny Appice , Tim Bogert . Steph Honde met Don Airey in 2006 when Honde's then-current band :fr:Café Bertrand|Café Bertrand was the opening band for the Deep Purple European leg of the Rapture of the Deep tour. Tim Bogert appreciated the demo recordings suggested to him by Steph Honde and agreed to play on three tracks of the album despite the fact he had been in retirement for several years prior to the recording of the album Big Trouble. Vinny Appice plays drums on most of the tracks on the album. Steph Honde wrote the song "Village Of The Damned" as an homage to Vinny Appice before even meeting him.
Style and influences
The music genre of Steph Honde is commonly referred to as hard rock reminiscent of the 1970s, yet his songwriting was also inspired by progressive rock and heavy metal. Honde listed among his influences Iron Maiden, along with Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, The Who, Deep Purple, Marillion, Led Zeppelin. Steph Honde's expressive vocals and guitar playing style have become Hollywood Monsters' most distinctive feature, as well as his melodic and versatile approach to songwriting which adds lush and modern touch to the classic hard rock sound. In his songs Honde fuses elements of hard rock, progressive rock and metal, and employs different arranging techniques. Honde's songwriting is highly appreciated by many of the legendary rock musicians: those who participate in his project Hollywood Monsters and those who have expressed their willingness to record on the upcoming album.
In February 2015 Steph Honde made a guest appearance as a guitarist on the song "Ole Blood & Guts" by the American metal bandAge of Liberty. The song also features Darren Crisp on vocals, Tony Franklin on bass and Vinny Appice on drums.
Honde also appeared on the single Streets of Anger by AraPacis on their album System Deceive in 2015, and on the single Translucidity by AraPacis from their album Obsolete Continuum in 2017. The song also features Vinny Appice on drums. He also appears on the same band's song Paradox of Denial from the 2019 album with the same title.
In April 2019, Honde collaborated with Micki Milosevic under the band name of "Unprotected Innocence" creating an approved cover of a Spanish version of "Rock You Like a Hurricane" by the hard rock band Scorpions for the opening scene and soundtrack CD of the 2019 movie Hellboy, elevating Honde as an instrumental and vocal soundtrack artist.
Discography
Café Bertrand
* Les Airs Empruntés * :fr:L'Art délicat du Rock'N'Roll|L'Art délicat du Rock'N'Roll.
