The Subs

Explosive and unpredictable stage energy has long marked Belgian dance outfit the Subs, whose high-voltage club tracks merge electro, rave, punk, and trance. Formed in Ghent during 2006, the group scored their first Belgian chart placement in 2008 through breakthrough single “Kiss My Trance,” included on debut album Subculture. A 2011 collaboration with Selah Sue and dEUS’ Tom Barman yielded the chart-topping cover “Zanna,” prompting a shift toward a more soulful, U.K. bass-oriented direction on third album Hologram in 2014. The compilation A Decade of Dance 2006-2016 appeared next, followed by standalone singles “I Want to Dance Again” in 2020 and “Rave Cloud” in 2021. UNDEAD, an EP devoted chiefly to covers, surfaced in 2023, while The Pulse EP, recorded with Amber Broos, arrived in 2024.

Songwriter, frontman, and producer Jeroen de Pessemier launched the Subs alongside DJ and producer Wiebe Loccufier in 2006; subsequent members have rotated through the lineup ever since. The Sub-Mission EP marked their introduction and quickly led to a deal with Lektroluv, which released “Substracktion.” Both “Fuck That Shit” and “Kiss My Trance” emerged in 2007, the latter embraced by DJs from Boys Noize to Tiësto and ultimately peaking at number 18 on the Belgian charts. Full-length debut Subculture followed in 2009, gathering earlier singles alongside a cover of key influence the Prodigy’s “Breathe.” The band appeared at London club Fabric’s tenth anniversary event, for which they contributed the track “Mitsubitchi.” Early 2010 brought the joint single “The Pope of Dope” with Party Harders, which logged twenty weeks on the Belgian charts and earned gold certification. Vomit in Style EP came next, its title drawn from an onstage incident in which de Pessemier vomited while the Subs supported the Prodigy in France. A further collaboration, the single “My Body,” paired the group with Les Petits Pilous.

Second album Decontrol arrived in March 2011, featuring two tracks co-produced with Luca di Ferdinando and the remainder with Stefan Bracke. It reached number 12 in Belgium, propelled by lead single “The Face of the Planet,” the band’s first Top Ten hit and second gold-certified release. Later that year the Subs joined singer/songwriter Selah Sue and Tom Barman of dEUS for Music for Life 2011, delivering a cover of “Zanna,” originally written and performed by Luc van Acker (Revolting Cocks, Mussolini Headkick) and Anna Domino in 1984. The recording held the Belgian summit for four weeks and received gold status. “Hypsteria” appeared in 2012, followed in 2013 by the two-part Collaborations EP that enlisted Étienne de Crécy, Alex Gopher, and Zombie Nation. After de Pessemier relocated to London, the Subs folded additional house and U.K. garage influences into 2014’s Hologram. French actor Jean-Pierre Castaldi featured on lead single “Concorde,” Colonel Abrams lent his voice to a rework of his 1985 hit “Trapped,” and several tracks showcased singer/songwriter Jay Brown, younger sister of V V Brown.

Jeroen de Pessemier subsequently founded the underground techno imprint OTB Records and began issuing white-label 12" singles under the One Track Brain alias. The Subs stayed active, issuing the house single “Close to Faith” (featuring Friends in Paris) in 2015 and “Longest Night” in 2016; both cuts appeared on the singles compilation A Decade of Dance 2006-2016. Further collaborative releases followed on their own label, among them 2017’s “Revolution” (with Josh Caffe), 2018’s “UFO” (with Yves Paquet), and 2019’s “Flesh & Bones” (with Tsar B). Ogenn joined for the 2020 pandemic single “I Want to Dance Again” and the 2021 track “Warrior of Love.” The hard trance-flavored “Do we dream under the same sky?” arrived via a partnership with Neon Shadow, while “Rave Cloud” (with Yves Deruyter) became the Subs’ first outing on Tomorrowland Music, the label tied to EDM festival Tomorrowland. “Lick It” surfaced in 2022, succeeded in 2023 by “Freak” and “Multiply” (with Murdock). UNDEAD, containing covers of songs by Bauhaus, Massive Attack, Fischerspooner, and Queens of the Stone Age, also appeared that year. In 2024 Tomorrowland issued The Pulse EP, a joint project with Amber Broos. A “Bright Version” of the Subs’ trance rendition of Massive Attack’s “Teardrop” (featuring vocalist gala dragot) was subsequently licensed to Universal.