Touche Pas!

Desir (Desire) - the word that started Dennis and Marie on their journey into the sexy world of cabaret and burlesque on one hot autumn night in Paris. The aptly-titled show, which they witnessed together at Le Crazy Horse, left them both visually stunned as the combination of raunchy choreography, eclectic music and visual extravaganza transported them for a few hours into a world where women are fabulous and the honky tonk piano can shred just as hard as an electric guitar. Several days after the show while strolling through the majestic gardens of the Versailles palace in France and still under the impression of what they had witnessed, they decided to form an electronica band. Though, this would be no ordinary electronica duo, as their mission was to combine the sexiness of a burlesque performance with the energy of a cabaret show, all performed to the tune of an eclectic mix of electronic beats and grooves mixed with parlor-inspired instrumental arrangements.

Definitely not what you would call your typical run-of-the-mill indie electronica act! Of course, the band name had to reflect the raunchiness and tongue-in-cheek nature of burlesque and soon enough fate threw into their laps a name that perfectly captures the essence of all of the elements that their concept represents - Touche Pas! - which can be loosely translated from French as “No Touching!”.

And who better to front a burlesque-inspired electronica act than a seductive mademoiselle who worked in the lingerie industry and is no stranger to corsets. One who knows here way around the hottest night spots in Paris and who, for several years, has moonlighted on the Moscow restaurant and bar circuit soothing listeners’ ears with retro French and Italian songs. As for the musical Mad Hatter responsible for Touche Pas!’s retro-futuristic parlor hits, he is a man no less eclectic than the music he creates. Raised on three different continents, he studied piano at Russia’s foremost music academy as a kid and, later as an adult, quit his job on the edge of the world to pursue his one true passion – music. His musical influences range from jazz to new wave, to metal and everything in between. Ladies and gents, please prepare your eardrums and eyeballs for an aural and visual extravaganza!