The Consumer Republic is a rock band based in Geneva, Switzerland and playing cover versions. The band came together in late 2006 as the house band for events at Procter & Gamble in Geneva where we all have day jobs.
Since then, the Republic has stormed the stage with a spicy enchilada of beloved rock classics and alternative hits from the last 4 decades. Anything is fair game provided it rocks - or we can make it rock: from AC/DC to turbo-charged Coldplay, from Led Zeppelin to the Foo Fighters, from Queen to the Police, from the Beatles to U2, from Van Halen to The Hives…
One of our proudest moments so far is that we were the 2008 winners of the 'Fortune' Battle of the Corporate Bands contest; this is a global competition sponsored by Fortune Magazine and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (USA) for bands whose members have day jobs in the same company, and the final is held at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
We treat the songs with lots of love - but little respect: pump 'em up, mash 'em up, segue or abuse 'em in some way, shape, or form - whatever it takes to get people to dance their heads off to it, and keep that "did they just DO that ?" look on their faces.
While we shamelessly stole the Consumer Republic name from P&G's marketing manifesto – we DO believe in it : the Consumer - meaning the audience - is the boss, and the reason why we get up on stage is to give them the time of their lives. No "for-musos-only" obscurities or endless solo noodling here : if it ain't a hit, it ain't in the list.
This is one of the reasons we’ve been a hit with our audiences: in the band's lifetime we have played a wide range of parties and venues including gigs at Geneva’s Bâtiment des Forces-Motrices, and the Studios of Switzerland’s biggest French language TV channel (TSR, Television Suisse Romande). We have also happily accepted invitations to travel further afield to play, and have gigged in London, Paris, and the United States amongst others. More details on our Calendar page.
We’re serious about the music, but we have a good time too. We’re tight, yet spontaneous. We’re gritty, yet polished. We're consumer, yet republic...
We hit the crowd hard – and leave them with a big smile on their faces.
We are the Consumer Republic. Welcome.
Band lineup
Michel Jouveaux - lead vocals. A strange breed of French with Greek and Gipsy roots, it's hard to tell whether he's louder on stage or in his meetings as an Advertising Development Director.
Mike Aldridge - drums & backing vocals. Mike is from the UK and has spent most of his life playing drums in bands before working as a Demand Planner. No wonder everyone moves to the killer beat of his drum.
Daniel Bundy - bass and more bass. Our Swiss German bassman and Legal guy, rock solid grooves and clockwork timing are in Daniel's blood.
Nico Moiré - guitars, backing vocals, and keyboards. Another French man, with his heart in Brazil, Nico works in the glam world of Beauty care - and brings on the glam in spades on stage.
Win Sakdinan - lead guitars and backing vocals. From Canada with roots in Thailand, Win works in External Relations for P&G's detergent brands; he likes his clothes clean - but his sound dirty.
Setlist
We generally play 60 to 90 minute sets which take the crowd through a non-stop rollercoaster of beloved classics and latter day alternative rock hits.
Show highlights include our raw take on The Police's Message in a Bottle; our left-field version of Queen's We Will Rock You colliding with AC/DC's Back In Black; The Who's My Generation crashing into Are You Gonna Be My Girl? (Jet); and U2's Vertigo rushing headlong into a souped-up Clocks (Coldplay). Check out our Audio and Video for some examples.
Other live favorites include hits by the Foo Fighters, the Killers, Oasis, the Hives and the Red Hot Chili Peppers among others. And we don't describe the set as a "rollercoaster" by accident - we do make a point of having highs and lows, light and shade, soft and hard...
Although, mostly, it's hard :-)
