INFO
When they started,back in 1981,Signal Août 42 (which was simply called SIGNAL) was the project of a bunch of school mates (Jacky Meurisse,Damien and Luc Vandamme)who decided to get on stage to have fun and play improvised gigs…
In fact they didn’t have proper compositions but they were more like audio and vidual performances (industrial noises,chainsaw,metal barrels…played to rhythms generated by drum machines and synthetic sound atmospheres,the whole thing being made in a DIY style,tinkering around with home made or borrowed instruments.
Over the years and performances,and due to many jokes about the name « Signal » (which was also the name of a famous brand of toothpaste),Signal changed its name to Signal Août 42,in connection with the date when the German propaganda publication in the second world war came out,whose front cover we used for the posters announcing our concerts.
With my first salary in 1985,I bought a bit of equipment,including the famous TB303 (Bass Line by Roland) which enabled me to write the first tracks worthy of the name: Pleasure and crime,lovely trees that fortunately were released as 12″ singles by Disco Smash : the maxi single was an immediate hit in underground clubs worldwide !
Pleasure and crime still is a true EBM (Electronic Body Music) classic today.
After the success of the first single,I got back into composing for a new 12″ single « Girls of Vlandereen »,actually it was a nod to my wife who is of Flemish origin.
This maxi single also quickly became a true classic in this genre.
The success of these two records naturally lead to the writing of an album.This first opus was called « Pro patria » and remains as a cult record in the mind of alternative electronic music fans !!!
Being a pioneer in the EBM and New Beat style allowed me to work on several projects such as AMNESIA that were quite successful at the time .
So in 1988 it was a natural move for me to invest in a recording studio and I became a professional musician.Thus I could give myself the means to create new tracks for SA42.The studio was located on 22 rue du Fort in Comines.By the way that’s where I composed the smash hit « Le Dormeur » for one of my side projects that was more charts oriented….Pleasure Game !!
It’s also the place where the second album « Contrast » saw the light of day as well as the 12″ singles « Submarine dance » « To talk nonsense » « The right thing » and « Carnaval » which all became EBM New Beat classic tunes.
At that time Signal Aout 42 was composed of Damien Vandamme who gave constructive ideas and who was in charge of visuals (graphics,record sleeves…) for the band,Jean Luc Szekanecz who took part to the writing of a couple of 12″ singles and to a few gigs,and Luc Vandamme for live percussions.
From 1990 to 1995,I relocated the studio and worked exclusively for Disco Smash-Blackout Records and wrote several successful tracks for side projects (well…had to make a living) like PLEASURE GAME,LE PARK,DJPC,AMNESIA,BORIS…while keeping my passion for SA42 and I released a 3rd album « Conviction ».
In 2008 I eventually did it ,I was surrounded by the Belgian band GRANDCHAOS (Tchlesko Ivanovitch and Olivier T.) to play with me on stage;to my great surprise…the experience was terribly exciting !!!
Today,I think I can be very proud of SA42’s performances,we are very well positioned
in the biggest electronic festivals like the prestigious Wavegothic festival in Leipzig just to mention one.Another terrific experience was our concert in Sao Paulo in September 2009 where we were given the red carpet treatment just like idols !!!
In 2010 "Vae Victis", in 2013 "Inspiration", in 2019 "Insurrestion" completed the discography.
The future still has to be conquered in 2023 with the 8th LP "Ex+Voto" ;)
