Pepe Deluxé is a Finnish

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

-oriented band, formed in 1996 by DJ Slow (Vellu Maurola) JA-Jazz (Tomi Castrén, formerly Paajanen) and James Spectrum (Jari Salo) in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. They started to experiment with sounds of

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

big beat Big beat is an electronic music genre that usually uses heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns – common to acid house/techno. The term has been used by the British music industry to describe music by artists such as the ...

breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that uses drum breaks, often sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as Florida breaks, hip-hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat ...

and

downtempo Downtempo (or downbeat) is a broad label for electronic music that features an atmospheric sound and slower beats than would typically be found in dance music. Closely related to ambient music but with greater emphasis on rhythm, the style may ...

. With the 2007 release Spare Time Machine the band gave up on sampling and concentrated on vintage music styles including psychedelia, baroque pop and surf rock. DJ Slow left the band in 2001 to pursue solo projects. JA-Jazz has been off-duty since 2008. Multi-instrumentalist Paul Malmström became an official member of the band in 2008. The Pepe Deluxé live line-up consists of Mirkka Paajanen (vocals), Miikka Paatelainen (guitar, theremin), Markku Reinikainen (drums), Ville Riippa (keyboards), James Spectrum (mixing, percussion) and Edward Greendanger (VJ).

History

The band's first release was a song called "Call Me Goldfinger". It was released in 1997 on the "Return of the DJ, Vol. II" scratch-DJ compilation album by Bomb Hip-Hop Records. After the release, the band continued making new Pepe Deluxé -music and also remixes for Finnish dance music artists. The band's first EP, ''Three Times a Player'', 1998, was actually a demo released under an imaginary record label Tiger. It was still chosen as the downtempo album of the month by ''

Muzik ''Muzik'' was a British dance music magazine published by IPC Media from June 1995 to August 2003. ''Muzik'' was created by two former ''Melody Maker'' journalists, Push and Ben Turner. Push was the editor of ''Muzik'' from its launch until he ...

'' magazine in the UK. This led to a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

with

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

's Catskills Records. The band's first album, ''Super Sound'', was released 1999. Due to clearance problems (the tracks were heavily

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: * Sample (graphics), an intersection of a color channel and a pixel * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of something * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample ...

), they had to do a new version of the album with many of the tracks re-created with cleared samples or with live instruments. The new version of the album was released subsequently in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

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Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The album was selected as an "Album of the Month" by several magazines. Super Sound was noticed by Paul Malmström from

Fallon Worldwide Fallon is a full-service advertising agency headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with affiliate offices in London, Detroit, and Tokyo. It is a subsidiary of Publicis. History Fallon was founded in 1981 as Fallon McElligott Rice in 1981 by Patr ...

advertising agency in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, and the band was asked to write music for an upcoming

Lee Jeans Lee is an American brand of denim jeans, first produced in 1889 in Salina, Kansas. The company is owned by Kontoor Brands, a spin-off of VF Corporation's Jeanswear Division. Since 2019 its headquarters has been in Greensboro, North Carolina, r ...

advertisement campaign. Later on, Pepe Deluxé's sound was also noted by another jeans company,

Levi's Levi Strauss & Co. ( ) is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's ( ) brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, ...

, which chose the track "Before You Leave" (based heavily on an original composition by

Tony Hatch Anthony Peter Hatch (born 30 June 1939) is an English composer for musical theatre and television. He is also a songwriter, pianist, arranger and producer. Early life and early career Hatch was born in Pinner, Middlesex. Encouraged by his mu ...

) for their worldwide advertising campaign in 2001, subsequently winning the Gold Lion for best use of music in

Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (formerly the International Advertising Festival) is a global event for those working in creative communications, advertising, and related fields. It is considered the largest gathering of the ...

. The track reached No. 20 in the UK Singles Chart the same year, and it was also used on the end credits for the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

comedy quiz show, '' Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong''. During this time, Pepe Deluxé undertook several remixes for acts such as

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer *Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...

The Cardigans The Cardigans are a Swedish rock band formed in Jönköping, Sweden in 1992. The main lineup of the band consisted of guitarist Peter Svensson, bassist Magnus Sveningsson, drummer Bengt Lagerberg, keyboardist Lars-Olof Johansson and lead sing ...

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

and

Jacknife Lee Garret "Jacknife" Lee is an Irish music producer and mixer. He has worked with a variety of artists, including the Cars, U2, R.E.M., the Killers, Robbie Williams, Snow Patrol, Bloc Party, Two Door Cinema Club, AFI, the Hives, Weezer, One Direc ...

. In 2003, the band returned with their first

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

"Salami Fever" from their second album ''Beatitude''. It was composed together with Paul Malmström and it was their first collaboration. They also created a

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

for the single (showing a master training an apprentice in martial arts using salami and bacon), which was chosen as 'Video of the Decade' by '' Bizarre'' magazine. "Salami Fever" was sampled by

The Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboardist, and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured Rapping, MC and vocalist Maxim (musician), Maxim, dancer and occasi ...

on their songs "

Take Me to the Hospital "Take Me to the Hospital" is the twenty-first single released by the British electronic band the Prodigy. released on 31 August 2009, the CD single includes the Sub Focus remix and the 12" single also includes a Rusko remix. Liam also collaborate ...

" in 2009 as well as " Get Your Fight On" in 2015. That same year, their song "Everybody Pass Me By" was featured in the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

film ''

Holes A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...

''. In spring 2007, they released the first single, "Pussy Cat Rock", from their third album '' Spare Time Machine'', the latter of which was released in June 2007. Further singles "Mischief Of Cloud 6" (August) and "Go For Blue" (September) followed. In October 2007, "Mischief Of Cloud 6" was used at the beginning of an episode of the ABC drama '' Private Practice'', entitled " In Which Addison Finds the Magic". In October 2011,

Asthmatic Kitty Asthmatic Kitty Records is an American independent record label founded in 1999 by a community of musicians from Holland, Michigan led by Sufjan Stevens and his stepfather Lowell Brams. Some were Holland natives, and others had come to attend lo ...

announced that they would be releasing the fourth Pepe Deluxé album in conjunction with Catskills. The esoteric pop opera in three parts was titled '' Queen of the Wave''. It was released in January 2012. Pepe Deluxé composed the soundtrack for the Angry Birds Go! racing game released in December, 2013. In 2019 Pepe Deluxé issued the single "The Surrealist Woman", a one-off release designed to soundtrack the graphic novel adaptation of the un-made film collaboration between

The Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act known for their anarchic humor, rapid-fire wordplay, and visual gags. They achieved success in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in 14 motion pictures. The core group consisted of brothers Chic ...

and

Salvador Dali Salvador, meaning "salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ( ...

, " Giraffes on Horseback Salad", which was released on a strictly limited 7 inch single. ''Phantom Cabinet Vol. 1'', the follow-up to ''Queen of the Wave'', was released on Catskills Records worldwide on October 22, 2021. The album continued Pepe Deluxé's endless search for rare, unused or forgotten instruments from around the world, including

Boardwalk Hall Auditorium Organ The Boardwalk Hall Auditorium Organ, also known as the Midmer-Losh and the Poseidon, is the pipe organ in the Main Auditorium of the landmark Boardwalk Hall (formerly known as Convention Hall) in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The musically versatile ...

, the Sexophone and The World's Largest Cowbell to name but a few of the weird and wonderful instruments employed for the album. Pepe Deluxé's latest album, ''Comix Sonix'', is scheduled for release on June 21, 2024.

Discography

Albums

* ''Super Sound'' (Catskills Records/

Emperor Norton Joshua Abraham Norton (February 4, 1818 – January 8, 1880) was a resident of San Francisco, California, who in 1859 declared himself "Emperor of these United States" in a proclamation that he signed "Norton I., Emperor of the United States" ...

, 1999) * ''Beatitude'' (Catskills Records/Emperor Norton, 2003) * '' Spare Time Machine'' (Catskills Records, 2007) * '' Queen of the Wave'' (Catskills Records/

, 2012) * ''Phantom Cabinet Vol. 1'' (Catskills Records, 2021) * ''Comix Sonix'' (Catskills Records, 2024)

Singles

Remixes

the Cardigans The Cardigans are a Swedish rock band formed in Jönköping, Sweden in 1992. The main lineup of the band consisted of guitarist Peter Svensson, bassist Magnus Sveningsson, drummer Bengt Lagerberg, keyboardist Lars-Olof Johansson and lead sing ...

- "

Burning Down the House "Burning Down the House" is a song by American rock band Talking Heads, released in July 1983 as the first single from their fifth studio album ''Speaking in Tongues''. Inspiration and composition "Burning Down the House" is a new wave, funk ...

(Pepe Deluxé Mix)" (1999) *

- "Bursting off the Backbeat (Pepe Deluxé Mix)" (1999) *

Bad Meets Evil Bad Meets Evil is an American Hip hop music, hip hop Supergroup (music), super duo composed of Detroit-based rappers Royce da 5′9″ ("bad") and Eminem ("evil"). Formed in 1997, the duo's name comes from the namesake song from Eminem's ''The ...

- "Nuttin' to Do (Pepe Deluxé Dub)" (2001) * Oiling Boiling - "Cyclops Dance (Pepe Deluxé Remix)" (2001) * Giant Robot – Helsinki Rock City (Interstellar Overdrive Mix) Remix – Pepe Deluxé (2002) * Black Grass - "Going Home (Pepe Deluxé Remix)" (2004) * Don Johnson Big Band - "Busy Relaxin' (Pepe Deluxé Refix)" (2006)

References

External links

Official website
*
Interview with TinyMixTapes.com (March 2009)PopMatters article (October 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pepe Deluxe Finnish electronic music groups Club DJs Remixers Finnish rock music groups Experimental musical groups Asthmatic Kitty artists