First up, there’s the nameThree words, in French, often punctuated by an exclamation mark. ‘Vive La Fête’ translates as ‘Long Live The Party’ (as in celebration, festivity, bash, all-nighter, not as in some political wing). It’s a statement of positivism, a declaration of intent: music and people, dancing and romancing as a life-force, a big no to anything conformist and square.Of course, the fact any decent party should include the proverbial promise of sex and drugs and rock ‘n roll also accounts for the choice of the name of this band… Next, there’s their native countryVive La Fête are from Belgium, Europe and quite proud to be so. Patriotism might be the least likely characteristic attributed to the Belgians, except when it comes to the musical heritage their small country can attest to. Since the eighties, Belgium’s musical brood has played an important role in the development of techno, electronic body music, new wave and New Beat. Ask any clued-up DJ. You might have to force him/ her into a confession, but once that’s done with, you’ll hear it from a connoisseur: once inside a recording studio, Belgians rock. And now for some history… and a love storyWhen Danny Mommens, bass player with renowned Belgian art-rock band dEUS, met blond bombshell Els Pynoo in 1997, 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. Originally intended as (ahum) bedroom material, those tracks nevertheless got released on a small independent label (Paris EP, Kinky Star Records, 1998, featuring their first single Je Ne Veux Pas). 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!). They literally looked and sounded like no-one else on the scene. 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. Els, dressed in vixen-ish mini-skirts and knee-length leather boots, strikingly flaunting her femininity with class and authority, singing in her distinctive, seductive voice about love, friendship and inner turmoil.We always wanted to make that kind of music for ourselves, and for all the homosexuals, bisexuals, lesbians and other modern people like you and me. And then have a party together” -Danny Mommens – i-D MagazineWhat better recipe for overnight success, right?Um…no. Despite them calling their music ‘kitsch pop’, Danny and Els didn’t quite manage to set the pop charts alight. Much had to do with the overall perception of Vive La Fête: most critics labelled them ‘retro’ or ‘novelty’ (again, those were the late nineties, when admitting to owning a synthesiser and a stack of make-up was considered a right crime). So Danny and Els defiantly took to the stage, proving their songs could hold up live as well, and released a second album (Attaque Surprise, Surprise, 2000). Apart from being a killer album in it’s own right, Attaque Surprise offered an honest and detailed insight into The World of Vive La Fête: sex and erotica, but doubt and heartbreak too; exuberance and trash, interspersed with contemplation and self-analysis; goofiness and good old fun, with the right dose of discipline.Funnily enough, after this release no-one dared to call them a ‘joke act’ anymore…“At odds with everything and anyone, playful, confrontational and…sexy” – Crash Magazine on Vive La Fête2001/ 2002: when quite a few things changed for Vive La Fête.First, there was scandal. Rethinking her stage gear, Els decided to make a bra out of thick black duct tape. Neatly combining it with stiletto’s and a mini-skirt, she took the stage at the Belgian summer festival Beach Rock. True to say, quite some flash bulbs went off during the Vive slot. Less expectedly, the day after the gig the papers called her ‘a very bad example for little girls’…2001 also saw the release of Vive La Fête’s third album République Populaire (Surprise), preceded by a 12-inch (Tokyo, Surprise). Taking in hard-edged electro, cinematic synth pop, gentle torch ballads and wigged-out rock-outs, République Populaire proved to be both diverse and highly personal. Again the songs were recorded in Vive’s little home studio, this time with the members of their live band (Jeroen Swinnen, synths, Dirk Cant, bass and Jules De Borgher, drums).Then, in a weird turn of fate, a fashion rollercoaster swiftly took Vive La Fête around the world. In the past, the band already had been favoured by the fashion scene (Antwerp-based designer Walter Van Beirendonck, one of the original Antwerp Six, and French designer Christophe Lemaire, now creative consultant for Lacoste, both played Vive-tracks during previous catwalk shows, and the luxury house Louis Vuitton once chose a selection of Vive-records to be used as pre-show music). But from 2001 on, the fashion connection took shape in a more rewarding way. Parisian DJ Michel Gaubert included Vive La Fête on a cd for Parisian fashion superstore Colette and passed on Vive’s back catalogue to Karl Lagerfeld, head designer for Chanel. The latter played the entire République Populaire album during his Chanel Couture presentation in July 2001. Months later Vive were invited to provide the live soundtrack for a Comme des Garçons catwalk show held in Antwerp, during Landed/Geland 2001, a prestigious fashion project cum happening. 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 20-page photo shoot to the Belgian beauty, and both American Vogue and Vogue Paris followed duly. New York avant-garde magazine V got Vive to pose on its glossy pages ànd 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.“Sound and style. Music and fashion. The connection is clear” – V MagazineOh, so Vive La Fête are just another fashion-endorsed nouveau electro so-hip-it-hurts kinda combo then?Wrong. They were doing electropop before the word was invented. They never had, and never will have, personal stylists and make-up artists. They don’t consider fashion parties their natural hunting grounds ( but if the drinks are free, well…) They don’t do ‘ironic’ robot dances. They’re not jumping on the I Love The Eighties bandwagon for the sake of it. Why should they? They had it all sorted out years ago, and have the back catalogue to prove it.“We don’t put on an act. Despite the flashlights and the synthesisers and the electric guitars and the make-up and the high heels, we are true to ourselves” – Els Pynoo – i-D Magazine2003: 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). After an extensive tour in Belgium, France and Switzerland, Danny and Els holed up in their home studio once again, determined to prove their worth to their new-found fan base. Several months in the making, Nuit Blanche is easily their best release to date. 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 chançons) but it’s obvious the scope has widened. First single from the record is ‘Touche Pas’, a deliriously catchy pop song.