Front 242

Front 242 were formed in Aarschot, Belgium, by Daniel Bressanutti and Dirk Bergen in 1981. Together they produced the first single "U.Men / Ethics" (released April 1982) and on Front 242. Richard Jonckheere (Richard 23) was not yet an official member of the group but already had a small singing part in the song "U.Men". The first album "Geography" followed in December 1982. Richard 23 was increasingly integrated into the group, especially because of his presence on stage. In contrast, Richard criticized the lack of this imposing presence in Dirk. Dirk then took over management but then left the band in April 1983. With this line-up, the band released many albums of EBM, gaining more popularity with every release.

EBM stands for Electronic Body Music, a term first used on their album "Various - This Is Electronic Body Music in 1987/1988. Sometimes the term itself is also credited to Kraftwerk from an interview in 1978, but according to Wegener the Kraftwerk reference wasn’t known at that time neither to him nor Front 242.

They also established a solid live reputation with an energetic show in para-military outfits. The year 1993 brought a radical change in style, with guest musicians, the disappearance of their military look and the exploration of both harder (guitar samples) and softer (female vocals, ambient) sounds. After many years of silence, except for a few live/remix albums, Front 242 re-appeared in the spotlight in the late nineties with their "RE:BOOT" tour bringing modern, techno-like cover versions of their own songs. In 2003, they took a step back towards their EBM roots with the release of "Still & Raw".

Before Front 242, the were already involved in other projects, like Richard 23).