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
Boys Noize,
T. Raumschmiere,
Laurent Garnier, and
Tiësto. In the wake of their arrival on the international scene, The Subs made several remixes for artists like
Alex Gopher, 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 in
Zénith de Lille (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. As a result, the band was invited to Australia to play the
Future Music Festival, 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 (dEUS) and
Selah Sue. In 2013, The Subs released an EP called “Collaborations” where they worked with producers
Étienne de Crécy,
Zombie Nation,
Alex Gopher,
Shinichi Osawa,
John Roman, Blatan and Hoshina Anniversary.
New alliances: Hologram On their third studio album,
Hologram, released in 2014, The Subs surprised fans and critics alike. Multi-instrumentalist Hadrien Lavogez replaced producer Stefan Bracke, making the band shift towards a more melodic sound. "Concorde", featuring the voice of French actor Jean-Pierre Castaldi, was the first single off this new album to hit the radio waves. The track exemplified a shift in sound with a new, soulful layer added to the band's trademark electropunk sound. Other guests starring on Hologram include Selah Sue, house music legend Colonel Abrams and Jay Brown. In April 2014, Trapped (featuring Colonel Abrams) was the second single to be released from the album. Later on that year, Cling To Love (featuring Jay Brown) followed suit. ==Live on stage==