Theryl "House Man" DeClouet

Theryl DeClouet (born September 17, 1951, in Hollygrove, New Orleans, Louisiana), also known as House Man, was the voice of Galactic, appearing on their first five albums (including Coolin' Off and Crazyhorse Mongoose, produced by Fog City's Dan Prothero). This association was just an extension of a friendship started back in 1990, when Robert Mercurio and Jeff Raines met Theryl at the legendary (and now defunct) Benny's nightclub, ' well before the two had started Galactic... before the two had turned 18, actually.

Theryl and Galactic amicably parted company in 2004. Theryl is occasionally gigging, mostly in New Orleans under his own name and as Theryl & the Housewreckas. When in New Orleans, check the local listings...


Here's an interesting tidbit from an excellent article on Galactic:

Theryl deClouet, Galactic's singer, is about two decades senior to his bandmates, and a faded, homemade tattoo on his cheek matches an old-school musical pedigree stretching way back to the 1970 New Orleans vocal group Hollygrove. "I come from the basic Uptown thing," deClouet says. "I went to junior high school with Cyril Neville, and I know Aaron Neville and all his brothers since I was young. They were my inspiration-- they had records out, you know, when I was a little kid! We won the Offbeat best new funk band award, and we're up for the Big Easy best emerging funk band award, but everybody that's been around--they know how long I been around. They laugh, you know: 'How's it feel being the oldest best new artist?' So I just laugh along with it, because it is kind of funny. It's just been peaches and cream for me. I'm just riding the wave."

(courtesy of Tribe Magazine)