Richard BodinA couple of years ago, while riding a nostalgic wave on a certain famous music streaming service, I was exploring a playlist of tracks by the iconic ’90s French hip hop band IAM when I stumbled upon a song I didn’t know: “À L’Heure Où.” The words were powerful, the chorus hit home, and something about it stuck. Turns out, the track was a collaboration with a band I’d never heard of before: Deluxe. IAM’s impeccable flow blended perfectly with Deluxe’s music and vocals — and I was instantly intrigued.
Pretty quickly, I dived into Deluxe’s discography and discovered what would become my new French favourite (even though most of their lyrics are in English). With six members and just as many musical influences, Deluxe blend funk, jazz, rock, pop, and hip-hop into something uniquely their own. And their visual identity is just as distinctive — bold, colourful, and always centred on one quirky emblem: the moustache. A moustache is bold, eccentric, fancy… just like Deluxe.
Earlier this year, the band released their seventh album, Ça Fait Plaisir — their first to be entirely self-produced. Despite a packed calendar of touring and preparations for their own Super Moustache Festival, we managed to catch up with lead vocalist Liliboy. We had very interesting conversation about the evolution of the band from busking to managing their own festival, and the impact of parenthood on the Deluxe extended family life. She offered a joyful and thoughtful insight into the world of Deluxe — and even revealed her dream vacation destination (spoiler: it’s Ireland).
Introducing Deluxe
For Irish readers who might be discovering you for the first time, how would you introduce Deluxe and your music?
Deluxe is a band from the south of France. We started busking in the streets. I would say our music is mainly a mix of soul, funk and hip hop and very poppy. And since there’s six members in our band and the six of us have lots of different ideas, we honour each idea. We don’t really squeeze into a genre.
Our albums are full of different musics and genres. Every song is a different style. Our seventh album, Ca Fait Plaisir, came out on the 25th of April, 2025. My personal opinion is it took me 15 years to write songs that actually really mean something to me. It’s talking about our relationship as a band as we’re still together to present it after 15 years of playing together.
How did the story start?
When I met the guys, I was babysitting on the Cours Mirabeau in Aix-en-Provence —a fancy city— and they were busking in the streets, playing songs like that really sounded like the track “All Over The Country” on our latest album — instrumental, very high BPM funk. At the time they were singing choruses together — more like screaming. I met them at the bar and I said, “Hey, I can sing too!” I actually really wanted to date one of the guys, so I sort of harassed him and didn’t let go (laughs). Six months later I was in the band, and it’s been 15 years.
Kilo, Kaya, Pepe, Pietre, Soubri, Liliboy… where did you get these names ?
It came pretty naturally. They decided their superhero name when they were teenagers (laughs). Piètre comes from a Corsican beer called Pietra. Kaya is basically his last name spelled in a cooler fashion —it sounds like weed (laughs). Kilo was called like that because of how heavy he stomps his drums. He is the one who started calling me Liliboy. Now I realised it kinda sounds like Little Boy, the first atomic bomb. It’s pretty violent, but I like it, it kinda gives my name a powerful touch (laughs).
Fifteen years together, countless collaborations, from busking to managing your own festival… When you look back, what makes you the most proud? And is there anything you’d consider a regret or lesson learned?
The guys always had the sense for business, long before we became ‘intermittent du spectacle’ — which is a special regime for artists in France to tour and get money to eat when they are not touring. The guys had decided long ago that music would be how they would earn their crust. They would do whatever it takes to make it work.
We made money busking in the streets, playing at weddings and selling a DJ set right after. We got signed by an independent label, Chinese Man Records, and that’s how we learned how the music business works. Just like them we started our own independent label: Nanana Productions. We weren’t getting a lot of radio or TV coverage so we thought that by signing with a major label like Universal / Polydor it would help and we would get broader coverage. But that was around 2020. The game drastically changed when we signed Universal in 2019 for Boys And Girls. Covid hit just before, we were supposed to go on tour with a big show.
We tried all these business management recipes, and we learned a lot. Today it’s the first time we’re not signed as in a license deal and we are managing directly with every different player to diffuse our music. Deluxe is an independent enterprise now.
Musical fusion and collaborations
You’ve consistently brought in a wide range of collaborators on each album. While many artists feature occasional guests, Deluxe really leans into it. What draws you to this approach?
Every artist we collaborate with is a window that we’re opening —Like the song “Windows Open”— where we’re going to explore a language. We did a collab with La Rue Kétanou, for me to sing in French, for example. And here we have an artist a Brazilian artist —ed: Luizga on “Windows Open”— so we’re singing Portuguese. I need a teacher, right? I need someone to show me the way and to give me the confidence to do it. I would not do it on my own. Every featuring opens a door or a window to our music and we dare doing things that we would not otherwise.
A lot of these collab are with artists we met touring on festivals. Some of them we’ve listened to so much growing up. It’s really cool to tour — we get to meet people and discover new musics. It’s the best way to meet artists.
What would be your dream collaboration?
I would love to do a song with Adi Oasis. We had her on our festival last year and it was unbelievable. She’s an incredible bassist and soul singer and writer. She’s really badass on stage. I realize how little references I have of really badass women musician. I know a few bassists, it’s really the coolest of instruments. And before that, our dream was to play with Bill Withers. (she starts humming “Lovely Day”).
Is there any Irish artist you would like to collaborate with?
I love Biig Piig. She’s Irish I think, born in Cork. She sings in Spanish as well.
Actually, you didn’t ask me about my dream vacation, but with my mates, I would love to go busk in the streets of Ireland. Busking is a big part of our story. We went to busk in the big cities of France, to present our new album and just to ensure ourselves, we know how to play our new music with very little instruments, with one instrument per person. No computers, no DJ-ing, just organic instruments. It would be such a dream to just go in Ireland with our raincoats and our instruments and busk in the streets, and go and drink lots of beer in the pubs (laughs). It would be my dreamed holiday.
The Aesthetic and the Iconic Moustache
Another core facet of Deluxe is obviously… The Moustache. It is everywhere: on every cover, every face, and dare I say in the music itself. When did it start and how ?
One of these five guys I would see busking in the streets when I was babysitting all had beards except for one. He only had a moustache growing and no facial or body hair. So for him not to be alone, they all adopted the majestic moustache as in solidarity friendship. It’s the symbol of friendship.
He is the one who drew the logo for our first album coverl. You will see there’s a little split — it looks like a butt. It’s a moustache, but it’s also a butt! That’s the special feature of the deluxe moustache. Never forget! really important. It stayed as a lucky charm, and I actually wore it as a skirt for years before. I am allowed not to wear a mustache.
But nobody’s waxing this one (she shows the space above her upper lip). Every time someone tries to wax it, I say: “No, I cannot wax my moustache. It is illegal for me.” It’s a friendship symbol and I really like how we can see the different albums with the same logo.
Ça Fait Plaisir is the first cover to only feature the iconic moustache — no band name, no album title?
It’s art. I love it because I find that this album talks about, our contradictions, and paradoxes! That is why we have a tow-phased moustache: a ball of fire and a watery wave. We’re all very different people now, but we’re still managing to make music together.
Personally, I have very mixed feelings — like the biological clock you mentioned in your review, or all this eco-anxiety. I feel really helpless and hyper-connected at the same time. I’m happy to share my life and tour life on social media, but at the same time I’m constantly bombarded with news that the world is absolutely not fine. It feels like it’s no time to be making The Baby — because there is No Future…
All those emotions, they’re totally contradictory. And I think that’s exactly what the fire-and-water moustache represents. It symbolises all of it.
You’ve always had a bold aesthetic on stage — coordinated outfits, visual flair. How important is the balance between style and substance?
We love artists who really give a show —like Prince, Bruno Mars, or James Brown. These guys don’t walk on stage in their joggings, or sweatpants. You go on that stage, you put on something uncomfortable that shines — please. The less comfortable, the more fashionable! (laughs)
For us, it’s about giving a real performance— not too natural and sober. And it’s also a way to be a team. Everyone in the band has a personality that shines, and the costumes reflect that. It’s not just about the singer — everyone’s part of the show.
Our friend, Luana Poncet —from Oie Studio— is the one who made me the moustache-skirt. She designed, sewed and embroidered every curl. It’s really a tortoise-paced effort — a year and a half of work. She was in Art school with Soubri — he is the center of our world: best friend, percussionist, video producer, photographer, community manager. So one day she came over with the moustache-skirt because they had mentioned it around a drink. It’s her fifth collection of costumes for the Deluxe band.
It’s really cool to be able to work with friends and evolve together. I’m so proud to have so many talented artist friends and that we can count on each other after 10 years, to create something. It’s never over.
Roots and Maturity
The new album feels like a turning point. Songs like “Michael” and “Oléga” sound very personal. What changed?
We’ve been growing together for fifteen years. Now three of the guys are fathers. Before, we sacrificed everything — weddings, family time — for the band. But now we’ve had to rearrange our whole rhythm: touring, writing, everything, to make space for new babies and new parenthood.
Instead of a maternity break, I took time to reconnect with my existing family: my sister — who’s a sailor. We sailed across the Pacific Ocean from Tahiti to Chile. It was amazing. And for the first time in fifteen years, I didn’t see the guys. It was like a really long social experiment.
But being away from everything — with no pressure to write or make music — that’s when I wrote most of the album. That’s where the song “Oléga” came from: “I had to get away to miss you”. These guys are my brothers. I love them so much, but when you spend that much time so closely connected, you forget what you have — until it’s gone. Our time together feels more precious than ever now. We don’t see each other every day like we used to, so when we do, we try to make the most of it.
And I think I grew up in my writing, too. I actually feel real things — enough to feel legitimate talking about them. I’m not inventing stories or imagining a world. I’m just expressing what’s happening right now. It’s pretty cathartic, for myself.
After the album dropped, you went busking again. What was that like now that you draw bigger crowds?
There was about 2000 people at every city. But we got we got kicked out of Place Pompidou in Paris. We had to go to plan B, and did like a scavenger hunt on social media for people to find us. We tried getting clearance to do these show, and didn’t always get it but we did it anyway. So we thought “Oh well, we might get a fine, but if we can reach 2000 people and have them listen to our new album for the first time, it is worth it”.
It is a very punk attitude, I like that!
(Laughs). So in Paris, where we got kicked out, we played only with a djembe, guitar, bass and the shaker. People were talking about this concert as if it was something amazing — we were almost a capella. It was pure energy. It was really reassuring and gave us the confidence to really focus our live show around this new album, not to be afraid of doing something new because the energy can make it magic. Whatever the playlist is, even if we’re not playing the classics like “Flowers” and “Tum Rakkak” . And the audience is not throwing tomatoes at this new live show. So It’s okay! (smiles)
« La Tournée qui fait plaisir » seems to be a bang of a show with even a firing sax, but is a full schedule, almost every night lately – how is it going, how are you coping ?
We have between one to three concerts per week up until the end of the year. It’s not easy, quite draining. But I’m happy. Being on tour is like being on jet lag. Every concert, you have to adapt to a new setting, to a new audience, to a new timetable. So you’re over adapting every day, and you gotta make sure that your body health and mental health are okay.
Right now, I’m sick because I couldn’t go to sleep before 4:00 AM because I’m too excited after a gig. After a show, there is a lot of adrenaline that needs to come down, that’s how we stay up late, partying, and I get a bit cranky. The guys that are father have no problem going to bed and are getting as much sleep as they can —when they’re back home, they’re not sleeping anymore.
A good way to cope with that extra energy is to digest it on stage and then the rest of the time just be chill kind to your fellow band mates. We actually have such a loving team.
Let’s talk about the Super Moustache Festival — your own festival. How do you even manage that on top of everything else?
The Super Moustache Festival is really Kilo’s dream. He’s the most business-minded of us all — such an entrepreneur. He’s always full of big ideas, always thinking about how to turn something artistic into a real project, a plan. It started as his dream, and naturally it became ours too.
The idea was to recreate the best festival experiences we’ve had, but in our hometown. We’ve been to festivals like Boomtown Fair in the UK or Fusion Festival in Germany — those wild, immersive events that are about more than just music. But we don’t have that kind of culture in the south of France. So we wanted to recreate that in our hometown, where we grew up with lots of talented friends. Really hardworking and passionate friends. So it’s also a really good pretext to work with our family and friends.
The first edition was a success — we were super lucky. Now we’re going for more, though maybe we’re biting off more than we can chew (laughs). Keeping a festival afloat is no joke. It’s tough. But it also gives us, as artists, a real sense of what goes on behind the scenes — from programming to booking, logistics, everything. It’s made us more aware of how much is at stake in every role.
We are also passionate about the representation of female artists. I really wanna see more female artists on stage. But the reality is there’s not even 30% of the artists touring are female. That has to change.
Running a festival is chaotic, expensive, and kind of insane — but it’s amazing too. It’s three months of nonstop stress in the lead-up, but when on D-Day — 12th and 13th of September, 2025 — we’ll be running on adrenaline, probably sleep-deprived and totally wired, but also really proud… if it all goes well! (laughs)
This year, we’ve got a beautiful lineup: Santa, La Femme, Zoufris Maracas, L’Entourloop — artists who don’t just perform, but bring a whole show. It’s so powerful to see live music with real instruments, real energy. I think playing music with other souls and making collective magic is something different.
Never Gonna Shave It Off
Jean Rochefort, a famous wise moustachu once said: « To me, shaving off my moustache would be the same as removing my underpants ! » Do you agree ?
Oh yeah definitely. If the guys shaved off their moustaches, it would back to complete anonymity. It is like a Daft Punk helmet of some sort (laughs). One of them, my husband, I’m afraid I wouldn’t recognise him in the street if he shaved his moustache off —he is the one smooth like a dolphin!
Whether they’re lighting up a festival stage, busking in the streets of Paris, or dreaming up new ways to surprise their fans, Deluxe continue to do things their own way — with joy, style, and a lot of heart. With their new album Ça Fait Plaisir and their new tour “La Tournée qui Fait Plaisir” , there is one central word to remember: Plaisir (or pleasure). A fitting mantra for everything they create: music that feels good and connects people, and a moustache that never gets old.
If you haven’t yet joined the Deluxe universe, now’s the perfect time to jump in — and grow the Majestic Moustache.
