Front 242
Distorted Retrospect
Venal Flesh
w/ DJ Neska (Elektroschock)
ALL AGES
Front 242’s entire history was clearly defined from the start when, in 1981, Daniel B. laid out his ideas on the first single : Body to Body. Following the recruitment of Patrick Codenys-keyboards, and Jean-Luc De Meyer-vocals in 1982 for the first album GEOGRAPHY. In 1983, Richard 23 joins and completes the band as stage performer and vocalist.
A year later, the project / band developed and quickly reached a specialised audience in Europe. Successive tours and records are logical conclusions of the same concept of electro induced energy music. At the same time, the band already provided for it’s needs by having their own recording and graphic units. Wax Trax from Chicago is interested in Front242; they sign what will be their first US release : the EP “Take One” (1984)
In 1985, the band played for the first time in large European festivals and flew to the US for some dates. They were soon tagged as a very powerful live group, and this form of music continues to spread across Europe under the monitor of “Electronic Body Music” which is the term Front 242 used to described the music they have invented. It is a collage, a synthesis of music and sound, recycled from the media or TV; and Front’s own interpretation of other artistic disciplines.
1988 saw the release of “ Front By Front ” (including HeadHunter and Welcome to Paradise) which placed the band onto most of the covers of the European rock press, and made Front 242 a well-known name in the United States via the Wax Trax! record label.
Front’s vision continued toward fuller maturity. The world drastically changed since 1991’s “ Tyranny For You“ album, and the members of the group moved with it. The two albums, “ 06:21:03:11 Up Evil “ and “05:22:09:12 OFF “ broke through the classical Front formula to bring in new vocalists, live guitars and drums. Andy Wallace (Nirvana, Sonic Youth) was called in to mix the album in Front’s studio. Released in 1993, the project showed the scope of radical invention and attitude, that goes hand in hand with Front 242’s music. These releases also allowed them to enjoy the wider reaches a major label could offer, including a summer on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour.
Taking a two year sabbatical didn’t stop Front from moving. It enabled them to realize two attractive CD’s: “Live Code”, recorded during their last world tour, brings to the forefront the power of the group’s live performance and sound and “Mut@ge – Mix@ge”.
The compilation-album “Mut@ge-Mix@ge” proposed The Prodigy, The Orb, Underworld, Rico Conning, and Front 242 all on the same record. More than a “remix” album, all the tracks, enriched by the innovative mixes of the other artists involved, and each dealing with different levels of technology, have been reedited in a specific order by Front 242 to provide a successful continuity of enveloping atmospheres and rhythms.
After a long absence, they releasesd the EP “Still & Raw” and the Album “Pulse”. Based on an aesthetic from the 70’s and 80’s, when the roots of todays electronic music were influenced by German bands , Front242 re-invented their original sound that was at the center of their art and enriched by 20 years of experience.
Analogue technologies and vintage machines pulsing into deconstructed tracks where emotion and research leads to a purely electronic attitude.
The band toured the states in 2005 before disappearing from the US… until the legendary Wax Trax Retrospectacle concert brought them back in 2011.
Now, after several side projects and European tours, Front 242 are spending the year performing all over the world for their “CIRCLING OVERLAND 2017 TOUR, including the 12-date North American leg in September and October.
Front242, an unpredictable band, surprises the old and new audiences – while continuing to make the link with today’s music… with no concessions to their integrity.
