Henri Scars Struck is a French American music composer, producer and creative director based in New York.  For the last 30 years, he has written, arranged, produced and recorded music for artists, films and dance performances, as well as art installations and corporations. His work is characterized by an unusual versatility of musical styles, spanning classical to hip-hop. Grammy Award winner, Henri has collaborated with artists such as Malcolm McLaren, Thierry Dreyfus, Yves Saint Laurent, The Police, Charles Aznavour, Barry White, De La Soul, Andy Hughes (The Orb), Madonna, Lenny Kravitz, Alicia Keys and Deepak Chopra. 

Early Life

At the age of 4, Struck started to play the piano, demonstrating early on the ability to play and learn by ear. He wrote his first compositions at the age of 15. At 16, he acquired his first computer, an Atari 1040 and started to use Pro24, a precursor to the music software that is known today as Cubase. He wrote and produced demos for many up-and-coming artists. At 18, he studied synthesis and acoustics with professors from IRCAM. 

Career

In the early nineties, Struck wrote music with Zaab, an American singer living in Paris, and accompanied Zaab to London to record his album with legendary American producer Daniel Lazerus (now known as Winter Lazerus), who has worked with artists such as Donald Fagen, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Tom Jones, Joe Cocker and many other artists. During these recordings with Lazerus, Struck worked also with English engineer and music producer Andy Hughes, who was an important mentor to Struck, especially in the realm of synthesis and avant-garde electronic techniques. Soon after, Hughes would become a member of the electronic group, The Orb.

At the same period, Struck starts to work on the soundtracks of numerous fashion shows, notably for designers Franck Sorbier and Jean Charles De Castelbajac. In 1994, Castelbajac introduces him to Malcolm McLaren, an English fashion designer and music manager. Struck will go on to remix McLaren’s unreleased tracks for the upcoming Castelbajac fashion show at the Carousel Du Louvre in Paris. 

Struck then partners with McLaren, going to London to make demos for him, meeting with music industry executives. In 1996, as many artists were sampling McLaren’s early Hip Hop recordings, Struck proposed to McLaren to work on a remix album project of titles such as “Buffalo Gals” (from his Duck Rock Album), “Hey DJ”, “Hobo Scratch”, “Do You Like Scratching”. These recordings were originally produced with Trevor Horn and Stephen Hague and featured pioneering Hip Hop MCs called The World Famous Supreme Team, who in the early 1980s, had their radio shows in New York on WHBI Radio entitled “The World Famous Supreme Team Show”.

In June 1996, Struck moves to New York with McLaren to start production on the Buffalo Gals Back 2 Skool record. He opens Hardboiled Entertainment with Christopher Percival (co-executive producer) from the Ruffnexx Sound System, working with Hip Hop legends like KRS One, De La Soul and Rakim, all of whom feature on the record. The album is an audio textbook of McLaren’s discovery of Hip Hop culture in 1980. It includes the original McLaren classic recordings, as well as remixes and original tracks from established and emerging artists, representing all disciplines of Hip Hop, namely Rapping, DJing, Scratching, Breakdancing, Graffiti (writers) and Knowledge.

In 1997, Struck meets House music DJ Roger Sanchez. He plays keyboards on remixes and collaborated on some of Sanchez’ original work, notably his first album “First Contact” with the worldwide hit “Another Chance”. Struck also worked on many remixes for artists such as No Doubt (Grammy Award 2002), Lenny Kravitz, The Police, Alicia Keys, Madonna, Brand New Heavies, Giorgio Moroder, Simply Red.

Photo Credit - Sandra Fourqui

Selected Music Work

  • - 1998 - Struck was granted access to the original multi-tracks and remixed a Charles Aznavour song, “Les Plaisirs Démodés”. This Hip Hop remix was not released.

  • - 1998 – Worked on and developed the Jungk project with Malcolm McLaren, a Chinese girl band, bringing the Asian culture revolution – a music mix of Hip Hop, Electro and Rock N Roll. The project was signed by Chris Blackwell.

  • - 1999 to 2003 - Wrote the music and produced “The Mango Room” album, featuring poets from Brooklyn.

  • - 2001- Co-wrote and produced “A Simple Love” with iconic House Music singer Barbara Tucker

  • - 2001 - Composed and produced “Place 2 Be”, an ode to the famed Maxim’s de Paris restaurant, featuring Pierre Cardin, then owner of the celebrated institution.

  • - 2004/2005 - Mixed and mastered VP Records’ 25th anniversary live concert DVD with artists such as Elephant Man, Sizzla, Marcia Griffiths. (Reel Factory)

  • - 2005 - Mixed Sizzla’s concert DVD, “Da Real Live Thing”

  • - 2008 Struck produced the first album of Turkish singer songwriter Sinem Saniye. One of her album tracks, “Boom Sheke Nana”, won twice the John Lennon Songwriting Contest in the World music category.

  • - 2019 - Created sonic identity and original music for Deepak Chopra’s “Daily Breath” podcast, which was downloaded 16 million times and went on to win the Webby Award for the “Health & Wellness” category (2020). 

Fashion Work / Luxury

  • - Created the music soundtrack for the master designer Yves Saint Laurent’s last show at Centre Pompidou on 22 January, 2002 – a 40-year retrospective  of iconic and culture changing designs for women. Working with Pierre Bergé and collaborating with Catherine Deneuve and Laetitia Casta as they sang “Ma Plus Belle Histoire D’Amour C’est Vous”, a Classic by French singer Barbara. In homage to the Master in the finale. The widely acclaimed show, orchestrated by artistic director Thierry Dreyfus, ran for 90 minutes and incorporated in excess of 380 unparalleled signature dresses/suits.

  • - Struck created original music and produced original remixes for fashion shows and companies such as KITH, Moncler, Balmain, Balmain Beauty, Capital One, Invesco, Nike, La Mer, Max Mara, Hugo Boss, Jean Charles De Castelbajac, Franck Sorbier, Smythson, Cartier, Kering, Deveaux, Jahnkoy x Puma, Louis XIII Rare Cask, Hermès, to name a few. He has also created the soundtracks of the runway shows of Parsons School of Fashion (Parsons School of Design) for BFA graduates and for MFAs graduates, since the program’s inception in 2009 until 2019. 

Art Installations and Collaborations

  • - 2006 - For Nuit Blanche, at the French National Library in Paris, Struck was commissioned to write music and perform live on piano for Thierry Dreyfus’ installation “Jacob’s Ladder”, along with band Placebo.

  • - 2007 - Creation of a ground-breaking original 24-hour composition exclusively for Le Méridien Hotels (now part of Marriot International) that was played in 120 properties worldwide for 5 years. This program of work earned many awards such as "Best Innovative Concept in Full Service Hotels" at the 2009 Worldwide Hospitality Awards and garnered a lot of press.

  • - 2007 - He created another work for Dreyfus’ installation “Versailles Off” at the Château de Versailles. 

  • - 2010 - For Nuit Blanche, Thierry Dreyfus entrusted Struck yet again to write music for his Installation at Notre Dame de Paris, which attracted 50,000 visitors in 6 hours.

  • - 2011 - “Ocean Inspiration: A Tribute To Jacques Cousteau's 100th Anniversary”

Music composition for dance performance by Pilobulus (dance company) and additional original work entitled “Whales Social Network”.

  • - 2012 - Commissioned to create and produce original work for the launch of Hermès Fragrance “Jour” at Musée D’Orsay.

  • - 2014 - “Nuit De Chine” at Grand Palais (Paris) – Celebration of 50 years of diplomatic relations between France and China. Struck was commissioned by the French government to create a piece of music for this important commemoration – Performed live on piano with Guzheng player, Jungling Wang.

  • - 2016 - Music commission for “Shooting Stars”, an exhibition at LACMA celebrating the photographers Steven Klein, Juergen Teller, Tim Walker and Mario Sorrenti.

  • - 2016 - Commissioned for a rare Salvador Dali sculpture exhibition in Barcelona. Creation of an original score for the exhibition, where visitors listened with headphones, in a music-guided visit, following the order of the sculptures as they appear. 

  • - 2017 - Crow Museum Of Asian Art (Dallas) - “We Know You’ve Got Soul” – Original work co-commissioned by Muriel Quancard for The Dallas Symphony’s SOLUNA International Music & Arts Festival, and Jacqueline Chao for the Crow Museum of Asian Art.

  • - 2020 – Intrepid Museum - “Beyond Me” a multimedia installation with NASA Kepler Mission project scientist (exoplanet finding missions) Dr. Steve B. Howell, now the senior research scientist at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California.

Music for Films

  • - 2013 - “John Of God” - Original score for feature film shot in Congo, DRC. The latter was presented at the Pan African Cannes Film Festival and the African American film festival (NYC).

  • - 2015 - “Danny Says”- Original Score for the documentary about the life and times of Danny Fields, one of the most influential figures in the Punk Rock scene of the 60s and 70s, directed by Brendan Toller and produced by Pamela Lubell. It depicts the story of music journalist and publicist Danny Fields who was pivotal in launching the careers of The Doors, MC5, The Stooges, the Ramones (co-manager) and many others.  Rolling Stones Magazine refers to Danny Fields as "the man who almost undoubtedly helped shape whatever music you are listening now".  This music documentary premiered at South by Southwest (March 2015) with rave reviews (Variety), and was then selected as the opening night film of the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Sound + Vision Festival. Magnolia Pictures acquired the worldwide rights in January 2016.

- 2016 – “The Saving Of Olana, an American treasure” PBS/WMHT – a documentary about the rescue and restoration of Olana State Historic Site (historic house museum and landscape) that was the former estate and home of American landscape painter, Frederic Edwin Church, prominent in the Hudson River School of landscape painting.

  • - 2019 - “Homecoming: A Film By Beyoncé”- Documentary (Netflix) - music production with Julian Klincewicz.

Consultancy – The Other Side Of The Brain

In 2005, Struck and Grace Palmer founded The Other Side Of The Brain, an agency focused on experience design, creating music programs of work, content and events for the lifestyle and fashion industries, and the corporate world.

Struck speaks regularly about bringing emotion, especially with corporate culture and communications. He has been a frequent speaker at the Thunderbird MBA program and Parsons School of Fashion.