Arno Hinchens was born on May 21, 1949 in Flemish Belgium, in Ostend.
His mother is a rock and roll lover, his father is a pilot and mechanic in aeronautics, he loved politics and American literature. However, Arno did not take over the hobbies of his parents, because he was partly raised by his grandmother and aunt.
In the 1960s, Arno traveled to Asia and stayed for some time in Kathmandu. Also, his singing could be heard in Saint-Tropez, on the islands of Greece and in Amsterdam.
Arno first appeared on stage during the summer festival in Ostend in 1969. After that, he began performing with the Freckle Face band (from 1972 to 1975), where he also played harmonica. After the first and only album of the group, Arno left the band.
The musician gave preference to no longer a group, but a duet with Paul Decouter called Tjens Couter. As with the Freckle Face group, the repertoire included mostly rhythm and blues compositions.
TC Matic Group
In 1977, Arnaud and Decouter formed the band TC Bland with Ferré Baelen and Rudy Cluet. The team gained relative fame and traveled throughout Europe.
In 1980, Serge Feis joined the group and the name was changed to TC Matic.
The musicians became innovators in European rock of the time. Decooter soon left the group and was replaced by Jean-Marie Aerts. The latter became a close friend to Arno.
Europe has always been happy to see musicians. TC Matic has performed in Scandinavia, England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
In the summer of 1981, the first self-titled album was released.
They then recorded several more albums on the EMI label, including L'Apache in 1982. Some songs such as Elle Adore Le Noir or Putain Putain are still mainstream compositions of the time.
Arno soon launched a solo career, releasing his first album in 1986. The work was recorded with some colleagues from TC Matic and produced entirely by Arno. Mostly Arno sang songs in English.
Of the French songs, only Qu'est-ce que c'est? ("What is this?"). Qu'est-ce que c'est? - the only words that are in the text, Arno repeated 40 times in a few minutes of the song.
Solo career
Over the years of working in various bands, Arno has gained a solid reputation in the music scene. His talent as a performer was already widely recognized.
Regarding his slightly wild and eccentric personality, he is one of the most famous artists in the rock scene. Therefore, on his new solo path, Arno did not experience significant problems, developing more and more.
In 1988 he released his second album Charlatan. Arno's songs were still performed mainly in English. He also recorded Le Bon Dieu - a cover version of the most famous Belgian singer Jacques Brel.
Two years later, after living for some time in Paris, he released the album Ratata. The most memorable composition was Lonesome Zorro - a heady melody combined with the voice of choir singer Beverly Brown.
In 1991 Arnault contributed to his companion Marie-Laure Béraud's album Tout Meise Gual.
Despite his solo career, Arno still periodically worked with various bands. He created the group Charles Et Les Lulus, using his middle name, Charles, for its name.
Surrounding himself with experienced musicians, Arno recorded an eponymous album in 1991.
1994: Arno Et les Subrovnicks
After the group Charles Et Les Lulus in 1994, Arno created a new group, which he called Arno Et Les Subrovnicks. He has worked with colleagues from past bands including Charles Et Les Lulus and TC Matic.
Also in 1994, Arno wrote the music for the film Nobody Loves Me (Personne Ne M'aime) by the Frenchwoman Marion Vernou. The world of cinema is not alien to him, in 1978 in Belgium he already wrote music for the film "Concert of one person".
After over 20 years of a predominantly English-language career, in 1995 Arno released his first album entirely in French.
13 compositions were written jointly with Jean-Marie Aerts. The album actively combined genres: from tango to jazz and blues, to which Arno's voice always gives a special charm.
On December 13, Arno was in Paris, from where he began the tour, crossing France, Switzerland and the United States.
The following year, Arno acted in films. He played a lifeguard in the film "Cosmos Camping" by the Belgian Jan Bukkoy. The live album Arno En Concert (À La Française) was soon released, which included the best moments of his tour.
An English language album was also released in 1997, intended for the US market only.
New team - new style
From Charles Et Les Lulus, Arnaud moved on to Charles and the White Trash Blues. This happened in 1998. The music of the new band was dominated by a style that was between rock and blues.
Now Arno performed more cover versions, which have become an integral part of his work.
At the end of August 1999, a new album, A Poil Commercial, was released, which was recorded in a blues-rock style, this disc once again emphasizes the voice of a gentle and attractive singer. A 170-show tour took place during 2000.
On February 26, 2002, Arno returned with an album that was a combination of the two beginnings of the singer - rock and love.
The Charles Ernest CD contained 15 more acoustic tracks, including a duet with Jane Birkin (Elisa) and a cover version of the Rolling Stones' Mother's Little Helper. He soon began the tour, visiting the Olympia concert hall in Paris on 8 March.
2004: French Bazaar album
In May 2004, Arno released his second album, written in French. French Bazaar was awarded the 2005 Victoire de la Musique for "Best Pop Rock Album of the Year".
Arno left on 23 September 2004 on the Arno Solo Tour and performed until 23 May 2006. Montreal, Quebec, New York, Washington, Moscow, Beirut, Hanoi - Arno traveled the world for almost 1,5 years.
From time to time, he took breaks that allowed him to collaborate with different teams. In particular, he took part in the recording of Nino Ferrer's dedication album Ondirait Nino.
2007: album Jus de Box
Arno's disc was called Jus de Box, "because it's like a jukebox in the sense that each song is different from the next," the singer explained.
French, Flemish, English and Ostend (Arno's native language) - this album of 14 songs gave pride of place to multilingualism.
In March 2008, Arno starred in Samuel Benchetrit's French film I Always Dreamed of Being a Gangster. Here Arno played himself along with Alain Baschung. All scenes are pure improvisation.
A few weeks later, Arnaud recorded the song Ersatz as a duet with Julien Doré for his first album. Julien himself became famous thanks to the television show La Nouvelle Star.
2008: Covers Cocktail album
On April 28, Arno returned to his projects with the release of the Covers Cocktail album. The album cover was 100% created by the singer himself, who was determined to pay tribute to his friends.
Since April, the Flemish singer has toured Luxembourg, Belgium and France, mainly at festivals, to present his latest creation.
2010: Brussld album
The French-speaking bluesman returned with a new album Brussld in March 2010. The disc deals with the cosmopolitanism of Brussels, the city where he lived for 35 years.
Thus, we hear texts in Flemish, French, English, Arabic. Arno has performed songs from the album since spring 2010. He performed June 1 at the Casino de Paris, June 18 in London, and again in Paris on November 8.
That same year, the European bluesman showed he was still in the game when he released a remix of his hit Putain, Putain by Stromae. The two musicians also performed on the same stage several more times during the Victoires de la Musique awards in 2012.
2012: Future Vintage album
Arno is back with a rock record - dark and rough. For this 12th studio album, Arno collaborated with legendary producer John Parish.
The name Future Vintage ironically refers to our time's obsession with things from the past. In several interviews, Arno denounced the conservatism of the rock and roll world.
2016: album Human Incognito
Halfway between blues and romantic rock, I'm Just an Old Motherfucker ("I'm just an old motherfucker"), the opening song of this album, in itself concentrated all of Arno's work. Here you can hear not only the vocals, but also the desperate humor of the Belgian.
