Les Elephants Bizarres is a Romanian indie electro synthpop band. Since its inception in 2007, the band’s line-up has included Stefan Matei (vocals). In 2017 they were joined by Alexandru Badea (drums) and in 2018 by Mario Nichiforescu (bass). In 2020 Andrei Petrache (keyboard) and Paul Bonghez (guitar) completed the current band structure.
The band is currently working on new tracks for the next studio album and they are also preparing a bizarre show.
2020
In the pandemic year the band releases one music video “Foc”, filmed in isolation and learns that the actual limitations can be the new creative freedoms.
They manage to perfom on few on-line concets such as Qreator by IQOS, Rockanotherworld and !MPRO. Also their unreleased song “Leap of faith” is featured on Smartbill “The Concert” TV commercial.
2018/2019
The elephants fly to Snowfest in Alps, France. Across the country they play at Street Food festivals, Afterhills, Rocanotherworld.
At the end of 2018 the elephants make a creation session at a mountain cabin for a few days. As a result they release their summer hit “Inima la soare”.
2017
Les Elephants Bizarres launch their 3rd studio album “Seen” and promote their new music all across the country. Awake and LoveIsInTheArt are some of the festivals that they attended.
2016
The band goes touring across the country at festivals like Untold, Green Sensation, Europa FM Live pe Plaja and plays in front of 30.000 people in opening for Maroon 5. They release one of their most loved tracks “Rosu Neon”.
2015
The year begins with the release of the debut single “Girls Gone Wild” produced in collaboration with HaHaHa Productions, a pop tune that introduced the band to a more mainstream audience. The beginning of 2015 was marked by the collaboration with Heineken brand new product, Strongbow cider. Les Elephants Bizarres remade the song Hello! (says the Devil) so it could be used in the Strongbow ad for the Romanian market .
2014
Is the breakthrough year for Les Elephants Bizarres. The launch of their second album, “Zoologic”, gathered hundreds of fans in one of the most popular live music venues in Bucharest and was broadcast live world wide on Deezer.
The band was invited to perform at major live music festivals in Romania (including Jazz In The Park – Cluj and ZileleBucurestiului – Bucharest) and opened for two major artists: Billy Idol (Cluj) and James Blunt (Cluj). World renown brands such as Pepsi, ORANGE, Red Bull, VANS, Touborg, and Grolsch chose to associate their image with Les Elephants Bizarres. “Necunoscut” is featured on the Groslch “The Jar” TV spot.
Les Elephants Bizarres won the 2014 Best Alternative Band Award from the prestigious SUNETE Music Magazine and was elected by an international marketing and trend analists panel to perform at Forbes Cool Brands Gala, thus confirming its position atop Romania’s independent music movement.
2013
Marks the begining of a new era in the band’ s evolution, with an extended formula and an enriched sound. They added new instruments: saxophone, synthesizers and percussion and created accoustic versions of their hit songs.
It is also the year of their first collaboration with a musician outside the alternative scene, Romanian rapper Deliric, for the song “In culori”. With a catchy and energetic tune it captures the essence of the band: camaraderie joyfulness joie de vivre and also capitalizes on drummer Claudiu Stirbei’s hobby, longboarding.
2012/11
The band went on tour across the country and released several singles : “Smile” (2011), “Wish you were here” (2012 – this song was used on the soundtrack of “KIDDO”, the first Romanian interactive film) and “Nu ma opri”.
“Nu ma opri” instantly became a smash hit, being the first alternative song with lyrics in Romanian to stay in the chart of a mainstream Romanian radio (Europa FM) several weeks in a row. It is still the most viewed video on Les Elephants Bizarres’ official youtube channel.
Les Elephants Bizarres opened for Roxette (Cluj, at Cluj Arena) and gave a memorable performance in Bulgaria, at “Spirit of Burgas” festival.
2010
Les Elephants Bizarres took the Romanian alternative music scene by storm with their debut LP, “Hello”. Their first single, “Hello, says the devil!”, reached no 1 in the charts and was used in a commercial campaign for PEPSI.
The fame of Les Elephants Bizarres traveled fast across the border, the group being invited to play at Live Serbia EXIT Festival (the biggest music festival in Serbia).
2009
Les Elephants Bizarres performed at B’ESTFEST (the biggest music festival in Romania), on the same stage as Moby and Motorhead.
Les Elephants Bizarres is a Romanian indie electro synthpop band. Since its inception in 2007, the band’s line-up has included Stefan Matei (vocals). In 2017 they were joined by Alexandru Badea (drums) and in 2018 by Mario Nichiforescu (bass). In 2020 Andrei Petrache (keyboard) and Paul Bonghez (guitar) completed the current band structure.