FIFTH

FIFTH is the new joint venture of Brussels underground artists Roman Hiele, Victoria Palacios, Ferre Marnef & Dennis Vanderauwera. Swirling around each other in the Big Bad city, loosely connected through STROOM label, these four different musicians felt the need of adding something extra to their existing projects. Roman Hiele is an electronic moniker sailing under his surname Hiele (Ekster, STROOM, Ultra Eczema, Universal Exports). He is widely known for his hard-to-pinpoint live reputation. Victoria Palacios is a painter and performer, who is also half of the Breton duo Alto Fuero. Her distinct way of singing and talking is one of the most exciting voices on the scene. Ferre Marnef is the front of the post punk band Sergeant (STROOM) where his background as an actor finds peace with grand emotions. Dennis Vanderauwera, also known as Dida, is the internet phenomena (de)constructing playfully electronic music. Due to their shared admiration for the likes of Monk, Lansky, McFerrin … they started a vocal improvisation band. These saliva experiments grew to more musical sessions, adding minimal instrumentation (bass, flute, guitar) to the four voices. Combining the strength of the human voice with a punk attitude, FIFTH is an unpredictable monster that searches for connection and healing. 

The Brussels quartet FIFTH opens the treasures chest of voice, singing, and collective vocal improvisation. Roman Hiele, Victoria Palacios, Ferre Marnef, and Dennis Vanderauwera otherwise operate in the realms of post-punk and electronic avant-garde. As FIFTH, they have reduced their accompanying instrumentation to guitar, bass, and flute in order to free up more space for singing and extemporising together, more space to get lost and find each other again in choirs and canon structures: music in pursuit of the sounds and languages of healing in fragile moments of community.