Biography

Alice Gift and Oberst Panizza met 2005 in Strasbourg, France. Having been fed up with classic guitar bands, they shared a common interest in drum machines and the sounds of the Cold-Wave genre. To overcome their musical frustration and escape their small town melancholy, they decided to form the band VELVET CONDOM. The two pals decided to move in together, so their flat would become the rehearsal and recording studio for their debut EP ‚VC’ (feat. Kalter Lippenstift) and the following album ‚Safe and Elegant’ (feat. Never Ever). VELVET CONDOM pioneered the revival of Synth-Wave, and they’ve created a very unique mélange of shoegaze guitars and electronics. Their sound has accompanied a rebirth of the Minimal-Synth genre and influenced many new bands all over Europe. Out of the ashes of so-called ‚Electro-Clash’ and alongside the return of the forgotten 80’s Underground scene, VELVET CONDOM took part in the beginning of a new movement. The band got a lot of attention in Germany which initiated a relocation to Berlin in 2008. Berlin offered the band a whole new inspiration and sound aesthetic that would result in their second album ‚Stadtgeil’ (feat. Samt und Stein) - an ode to the city itself. This golden age of VELVET CONDOM’s career climaxed with the release of their Box Set ‚Vanity and Revolt’ in 2013. This became the final touch of a decade of an intense band history, and in 2014 Alice and Oberst finally decided to give the band a well-deserved break.<br>