The Subs is a Belgian electro band founded by Jeroen "Papillon" De Pessemier and Wiebe "Tonic" Loccufier.

History

Early days

Following early success with underground club hits like "You Make Me Spill," "Fuck That Shit," and "Substracktion," the raw punktrance track "Kiss My Trance" marked the band's definitive breakthrough in 2008. The song quickly made its way to the top of the commercial charts and got picked up by influential DJs including

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, and

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. In the wake of their arrival on the international scene, The Subs made several remixes for artists like

Alex Gopher Alexis Latrobe (), known professionally as Alex Gopher, is a French mastering engineer, electronic musician and producer. He worked as a sound engineer at Translab Studio, notably for Angèle, Clara Luciani, Lomepal, -M-, Mr. Oizo, Gesaffelst ...

, The Lotterboys, Plump DJs, Telex, and Cassius. By the end of 2008, The Subs released their critically acclaimed debut album ''Subculture'' on the Belgian Lektroluv label. Following "Kiss My Trance," a second single – "Music Is The New Religion" – was released to promote the album. Getting more and more airplay, the band quickly made a name for itself. In May 2009, The Subs were invited by Rob da Bank to make a one-hour mixtape for his show on BBC Radio 1. Several months later, on 16 October 2009, London Club Fabric celebrated its 10-year anniversary. The club management asked The Subs to perform at its birthday party and to record an exclusive give-away anniversary track, "Mitsubitchi."

First gold record: "The Pope of Dope"

In early 2010, The Subs recorded a single, "The Pope of Dope", together with Party Harders. The track became an instant hit with more than 10,000 copies sold. The song earned the band its first gold record in Belgium. Playing as a supporting act to

The Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboardist, and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured Rapping, MC and vocalist Maxim (musician), Maxim, dancer and occasi ...

Zénith de Lille The Zénith de Lille (originally Zénith Arena) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Lille, France. Its ability to seat up to 7,000 people makes it one of the largest venues in Lille. The closest métro station is ''Lille Grand Palais''. Designe ...

(France) later that year, Papillon vomited on stage. The event inspired The Subs to write the track "Vomit in Style", which was released on an EP with the same name. The band topped of a particularly productive year with the release of another EP, Rototom/My Body is Gonna Remember, a collaboration with French DJ duo Les Petits Pilous.

Successful second album: ''Decontrol''

In March 2011, The Subs released their second studio album, ''Decontrol'', again on the Lectroluv label. The first single from this album, "The Face Of The Planet", was exceptionally well received and soon got the band its second gold record. "The Face of the Planet" became a success on the Australian radio station

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

. As a result, the band was invited to Australia to play the

Future Music Festival Future Music Festival was an annual music festival featuring Australian and international artists held in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth in Australia and as of 2012 also Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. The festival was usually held in ...

, a national festival touring five different cities. Upon arrival in Brisbane, Papillon got arrested for filming ‘the journey of their luggage along the luggage conveyor’. He was released with a stern warning. In 2011, The Subs brought home their third gold record with Zanna, a cover of Luc Van Acker's eighties cult classic, featuring

Tom Barman Thomas Andrew Barman (born 1 January 1972), is a Belgian musician, film director and photographer. Early life and education Barman is of Norwegian descent from his father's side. He started his studies at the Sint-Lukas film school in Brusse ...

(dEUS) and

Selah Sue Sanne Greet A. PutseysWensink, Herien (2009)A Flemish singer with a Jamaican soul, NRC, 21 August 2009. Retrieved 3 November 2010 (; born 3 May 1989), known professionally as Selah Sue, is a Belgian musician and songwriter. Her debut album, ''Se ...

. In 2013, The Subs released an EP called “Collaborations” where they worked with producers

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, Zombie Nation,

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Live on stage

After the success of "Kiss My Trance" in 2008, The Subs started to tour with live shows. They soon established a solid stage reputation, as energetic live performances and a raw punk attitude became their trademark. Frontman Papillon's movement on stage is often referred to as that of a mad professor, because of the combination of knob twisting the hi-tech gear and sometimes-crazy climbing habits and risky stage dives. The Subs were invited to play at venues around Europe. Australia, Singapore and Thailand discovered the band shortly thereafter. Extensive touring brought The Subs to a series of clubs, including The Fabric, The Egg, and Audio in London (UK), Button Factory in Dublin (Ireland), Womb in Tokyo (JP),

Space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...

in Ibiza, Social Club and La Machine in Paris (France),

Ancienne Belgique The (''AB'') is a concert hall for contemporary music in Brussels, Belgium. Located in the historic heart of Brussels, it is one of the leading concert venues in Belgium, hosting a wide variety of international and local acts. Some 300,000 pe ...

in Brussels,

Melkweg Melkweg (Dutch for "Milky Way") is a music venue and cultural center on Lijnbaansgracht, near Leidseplein in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is housed in a former dairy and includes four music halls as well as a cinema, a restaurant and an exhibitio ...

and Paradiso in Amsterdam, and the Razzmatazz in Barcelona (Spain). The band's lively live performance quickly made them a fan-favourite on festivals both at home and abroad. Over the past few years, The Subs have featured at

Rock Werchter Rock Werchter is an annual music festival held in the village of Werchter, near Leuven, Belgium, since 1976 and is a large sized rock music festival. The 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012 and 2014 festivals received the Arthur award for ''best festiva ...

Pukkelpop Pukkelpop is an annual music festival that takes place near the city of Hasselt, Belgium in mid- to late August. It is held within a large enclosure of fields and woodland—adjacent to a dual carriageway called ''Kempische Steenweg''—in the v ...

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, I Love Techno, Laundry Day,

Lokerse Feesten The Lokerse Feesten () is a music festival organized annually in Lokeren, Belgium. History The first edition took place on 2, 4 and 6 August 1975. It is now a ten-day festival, with four to eight artists performing on the main stage daily. The ...

, Feest in het Park, Les Ardentes, Couleur Café and 10 Days Off in Belgium, ADE, Lowlands, Solar Festival, Dance Valley, 5 Days Off, Pitch Festival and Kindergarten in the Netherlands, Bestival, Global Gathering, Isle of Wight Festival, Creamfields and Electric Picnic Festival in the UK, and Les Eurockéennes, Printemps de Bourges and Paradis Artificielles in France.

Visuals

The Subs have always paid particular attention to making original visuals to match their music sometimes shooting their own music videos and creating the artwork for their albums.

Music videos

For their video for "My Punk" (featured on the ''Subculture'' album) in 2009, the band drove on three mopeds from their home city Ghent to the Social Club in Paris. The trio filmed each other with cameras attached to their helmets. The result turned out to be quite an unusual road movie, including footage of the band as they got arrested by the police for driving inside a shopping mall. Later that year, the Subs played at the

festival in Belgium. In the run-up to the show, they asked fans to film the song "Fuck That Shit" and send them the footage afterward. The Subs filmed the song from the stage as well, with several cameras attached to their instruments. Later on, the footage was mixed into a new video for the song.

The Famous Videocast

In January 2010 The Subs launched a new concept on YouTube, which they called The Famous Videocast. During three short shows, hosted by The Subs themselves, the band members talk about the music videos they like. Each time they mention a video, you can click through to the video. After each video, you get directed back to the show.

Artwork

The artwork for their second album, ''Decontrol'', was created in an organic way, to highlight the contrast with The Subs’ electronic music. A wooden copy of the band's logo was put in a snowed-under field, after which it was set on fire. A photographer took photos of the whole process, eventually (with Glossy.tv on board) resulting in the artwork for the record sleeve. For "The Face of the Planet", the first single from ''Decontrol'', they approached the artwork in a similar way. Another wooden copy of the band's logo was set on fire, but this time while it was floating on the sea. For ''H0L0GRAM'' they entirely relied on Uber & Kosher to provide the artwork.

Other production work

As a producer, Jeroen ‘Papillon’ De Pessemier worked on ''Here We Go Again'', the 2006 debut album of Lady Linn & Her Magnificent Seven. In 2012, De Pessemier produced Halo, the latest album by Belgian rock band The Van Jets. In 2014 he founded OTB Records (together with Wiebe Loccufier) and started a solo DJ career as techno act One Track Brain. He is (co)-producing all the output of all the artists on OTB records till present. In 2015 he co-produced debut release of Charlotte de Witte “Weltschmerz” on Turbo. From 2014 to 2018 he produced all the output of the elektro hip pop band “Friends in Paris” including the streaming hits “Waiting” and “When your heart is a stranger”. In 2016 to 2018 he produced all the output of electro pop band

Oscar & The Wolf Oscar and the Wolf is the moniker for Belgian solo artist Max Colombie. Life and career Oscar and the Wolf first gained international attention with the single "Orange Sky" in 2013, which got them support slots for the likes of Lou Reed, but ...

including the full album “Infinity” and the hits “The Game” “Breathing” “Fever” In 2018 he produced the debut album “YL” of Warhola including the hit “Promise”

Members

* Songwriter/producer: Jeroen De Pessemier (Papillon) * DJ/producer: Wiebe Loccufier (Tonic) * Songwriter/producer: Martijn Ravesloot (Melawati)

Discography

Albums

Singles

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Other singles

* "You Make Me Spill" - 2006 (Dirty Dancing Recordings) * "You Make Me Spill" - 2006 (Suicide Recordings) * "Substracktion" - 2006 (Lektroluv Recordings) * "Fuck That Shit" - 2007 (Lektroluv Recordings) * "Kiss My Trance" - 2007 (Lektroluv Recordings) * "Papillon" - 2008 (Lektroluv Recordings) * "Music Is the New Religion" - 2008 (Lektroluv Recordings) * "My Punk" - 2008 (Lektroluv Recordings) * "From Dusk Till Dawn" - 2009 (Lektroluv Recordings) * "Mitsubitchi" - 2010 (Lektroluv Recordings) * "The Pope of Dope" (feat. The Party Harders) - 2010 (Lektroluv Recordings) * "Concorde" - 2014 (Lektroluv Recordings)

Remixes

Telex Telex is a telecommunication Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communica ...

- ''How do you dance'' (Virgin Records) * Javelo - ''Spleen'' (Dancing Recordings) * Sharam Jey - ''When the dogs bite'' (King Kong Records) *

dEUS ''Deus'' (, ) is the Latin word for 'God (word), god' or 'deity'. Latin ''deus'' and ''dīvus'' ('divine') are in turn descended from Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo-European *''deiwos'', 'celestial' or 'shining', from the same root ( ...

- ''Bad timing'' (unreleased) * Pacjam - ''Urban minds'' (541 recordings) * Shameboy - ''Wired for sound'' (Sputnik Recordings) * Foxylane - ''Naked to bed'' (Some Like It Hot Records) * The Lotterboys - ''Can't control the boogie'' (Eskimo Recordings) * Acid Jacks - ''Disco Shoes'' (Kerowack) * Mason - ''Quarter'' (Great Stuff Recordings) * Boemklatsch feat. Faberyeyo - ''Spikkeltjes'' (Lektroluv records) *

La Roux La Roux ( ) is an English synth-pop act formed in 2008 by singer Elly Jackson and record producer Ben Langmaid. The act's debut album '' La Roux'' (2009) was a critical and commercial success, winning a Grammy Award and producing hit singles s ...

- ''Colourless Colour'' *

Gotye Wouter André De Backer (; born 21 May 1980), known professionally as Gotye ( , , ), is a Belgian-born Australian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for his 2011 single "Somebody That I Used to Know" (featuring Kimbr ...

- ''Heart's a mess'' (Never officially released)