| and now for some history... and a love story in 1997, when danny mommens, at that time bass player with renowned belgian art-rock band deus, met blond bombshell els pynoo, lightning struck and assorted bells started chiming. they soon indulged in the sort of sticky things most newly met lovebirds tend to favour, but they also did the decent thing: to seal their love and lust, they recorded some music in danny’s home studio. calling themselves vive la fête, danny and els initially were treated like an anomaly: they unanimously and publicly vowed allegiance to sleazy glamour, cheeky humour and anything-goes optimism (quite a feat in the irony-ridden late nineties) and made a kind of music that blended the least expected (and at that time, the least favourable) influences and genres into a truly unique sound. danny, ever the human jukebox, shamelessly displayed his love for eighties synth pop, melancholic cold wave and back-to-basics electronica, while els juxtaposed his sparse and rhythmic soundscapes with cooing, breathy vocals and self-penned lyrics, written in french, her way of paying tribute to her heroes (sixties chanteuses like brigitte bardot and jane birkin and suave wordsmiths like jacques dutronc and serge gainsbourg – it should be noted that french isn’t even els’ native tongue!). danny, eyes hidden behind black sunglasses, a fag dangling from his mouth, churning out brutal guitar riffs and explosive electronic beats, giving the middle finger to the weedy rock fraternity of the ‘look at me i’m serious’- type. dressed in vixen-ish mini-skirts and knee-length leather boots, els is strikingly flaunting her femininity with class and authority, singing in her distinctive, seductive voice about love, friendship and inner turmoil.
the real breakthrough came in spring 2002, when karl lagerfeld proclaimed himself vive’s biggest fan and returned the favour by letting them play a live set during the paris presentation of his chanel collection. vive la fête performed in front of the world’s most renowned fashion editors and fashion photographers and made fashion news headlines everywhere. lagerfeld also took the band on board for his subsequent chanel shows in tokyo and las vegas. suddenly, vive’s phone number was in every fashionista’s book and els pynoo was heralded as a new style icon. italia vogue dedicated a 20page photo shoot to the belgian beauty, and both american vogue and vogue paris followed duly. new york avantgarde magazine v got vive to pose on its glossy pages and to play on their exclusive parties while british style bible i-d got into a vive frenzy as well. the band also played at the bal de la rose, the annual celebrity bash in monaco, hosted by the royal family of monaco.
umgeben von viel glamour
2003: the next step... well, basically a new album, their fourth, called nuit blanche (an expression the french use to describe a festive night without sleep). the album is very well received all over europe. sales go well and the album gets a place in several charts worldwide. "i think nuit blanche is about the best electro-pop record ever, and i'm comparing it to some of my own old heroes from the eighties, the human league, depeche mode, indochine, rita mitsouko, ultravox; nuit blanche is just fantastic!!!" – swedish media quote 2004 – the grand breakthrough: vlf conquers the world!!! “hailing from belgium, vive la fête is the most stylish musical duo since serge gainsbourg & jane birkin or debbie harry & chris stein; and they have a perfect electro-sound (they call it ‘kitch pop’) that makes you feel, and look, good... their record is excellent and their live act even better” - v magazine.
2005 - time for a new cult meeting and a new full album! during the cold winter months danny & els withdraw themselves far away from their usual party life at their home studio in a small farm in the middle of nowhere to concentrate on writing new songs. clearly inspired by their outrageous live performances, the ideas came fluently. danny “hitmeister” mommens overlooked the chaos, juggled it around and put everything in place to end up with 15 rough mixes and a big smile on his face! due to both being signed under the same lowlands flag (on different labels), els and danny were bound to meet up with dan lacksman, the moustached cigarman and co-founder of telex. quickly they discovered they were soul mates. it went pretty fast from there on; next thing you know they're all together mixing in dan's synsound studio (one of europe's finest). mr. mommens by his side remodelling the songs till both end up with a huge smile on their face and a great new album in their hands.
2006: new album - grand prix vive la fête's 4th full album grand prix is easily their best release so far. straightforward, booming and confident, the album has a true pop sensibility without it losing its darker edges. all the vive la fête trademarks are here (the couple's call-and-response singing, the simple yet highly effective - and revealing- lyrics by els, the still unique mix of dancefloor electro, bass-heavy punk rock and sixties-style chansons) but it's obvious the scope has widened... |
