Soulwax

Behind the name Soulwax are brothers David and Stephen Dewaele, musicians from Ghent, Belgium, initially associated with an independent rock scene before gradually pivoting toward electronic music. Formed in the mid-1990s as a band rooted in indie rock and power pop, Soulwax released its debut album, "Leave the Story Untold," in 1996, followed by "Much Against Everyone’s Advice" in 1998, marked by a more direct, melodic sound. From the mid-2000s onward, Soulwax shifted its center of gravity toward an aesthetic that melds electro, rock, and club culture, with "Any Minute Now" in 2004 and its electronic reimagining "Nite Versions" in 2005, which firmly positioned the group in an ongoing dialogue between the live stage and the dancefloor. In parallel, the Dewaele brothers developed the DJ project 2manydjs and the Radio Soulwax universe, blurring the boundaries between remixes, edits, mashup culture, and original compositions. Soulwax continued this hybrid approach with "From Deewee" in 2017, recorded in an almost-live, single-take configuration, and "Essential" in 2018, inspired by a session for the BBC. On stage, Soulwax typically appears as a duo at its core, surrounded by additional musicians, with a pronounced rhythmic sensibility and a prominent role for synths and percussive textures, at the crossroads of electro, rock, and house.