William Pears

Thierry Dubois (vocals, guitar), Marc Pontet (bass) and Pierre Gildas Perot (guitar) met in Paris in 1992. They were joined by Eric Phélippeau on drums, and signed to label Le Village Vert. An EP, From a chocolate box, was released the following year (three Télérama keys, single of the month in Best). The first album, Elephant in china shop, came out in 1994. The band performed, either on their own or as support acts for the Cranberries, World Party, Boo Radleys, Marc Almond. The next step was to be an album sung in French. Recording began in 1996, but was considerably delayed. The band found a label in U.S.: Permanent Press Records, which released a first CD entitled William Pears in 1998. The band performed at the Poptopia festival in Los Angeles in February and returned to the U.S. in July for the International Pop Overthrow festival, attracting considerable interest from the US music press. In France, their new CD Déçu par l'an 2000 was released by XIII Bis Records in 1999. An English-language version of the same album was recorded and released in the U.S. by Permanent Press in 2001. Demos for a third album were recorded, but it remains unreleased to this day. William Pears last performed at Liverpool's Cavern, as part of the International Pop Overthrow festival in 2003 and 2005.
In 2025, the tapes of the third "lost" album are recovered and fully remixed for official release in Automn 2025. Now the band's complete discography is made available on music platforms.