Alice Gift and Oberst Panizza met 2005 in Strasbourg, France. Having been fed up with classic rock bands, they shared a common interest in drum machines and the sounds of the Cold-Wave genre. To overcome their musical frustration and escape their small town melancholy, they decided to form the band VELVET CONDOM.

In the beginning the band rehearsed in Oberst’s 10m2 room. Here is where ‘Kalter Lippenstift’, the band’s first song, was actually written and recorded. At the time they were far from guessing the track would end up being a fan-favorite and dancefloor hit within a few years.

The two pals decided to move in together, so their flat would become the rehearsal and recording studio for their debut EP ‚VC’ (feat. Kalter Lippenstift) and the following album ‚Safe and Elegant’ (feat. Collapse In Slow Motion).

VELVET CONDOM pioneered the revival of Synth-Wave, and they’ve created a very unique mélange of Shoegaze guitars and electronics. Their sound has accompanied a rebirth of the Minimal-Synth genre and influenced many new bands all over Europe.
Out of the ashes of so-called ‚Electro-Clash’ and alongside the return of the forgotten 80’s Underground scene, VELVET CONDOM took part in the beginning of a new movement.

The band got a lot of attention in Germany which initiated a relocation to Berlin in 2008.

Berlin offered the band a whole new inspiration and sound aesthetic that would result in their second album ‚Stadtgeil’ (feat. Samt und Stein) - an ode to the city itself. The band also started to tour heavily by then and played over 200 shows all over Europe and the US.

This golden age of VELVET CONDOM’s career climaxed with the release of their Box Set ‚Vanity and Revolt’ in 2013. This became the final touch of a decade of an intense band history, and in 2014 Alice and Oberst finally decided to give the band a well-deserved break.

Even though VELVET CONDOM was on hold, the two Frenchmen have decided to continue doing music together, which led them to their side project LISTE NOIRE in 2015. They met their new Swedish collaborator Kalle Fagerberg, at the same club (Madame Claude) where VELVET CONDOM had its first Berlin live appearance back in 2008. As a new 3-piece band they’ve released an EP ‚Afire Afire’ and the full length album ‚Brace’.

After 3 productive years and a successful US tour, the 3 members decided to put an end to LISTE NOIRE in order to work on their solo careers that can be followed under their respective pseudonyms: ALICE GIFT and OBERST PANIZZA both releasing their debut albums during the 'pandemic' years 2020 and 2021.

Having achieved cult status and being respected for its total DIY ethic, VELVET CONDOM’s repertoire is honoured to be re-released and played in many clubs around the globe and to appear in commercials and renowned films such as ‘B-Movie – Lust & Sound in West Berlin’, ‘Desire Will Set You Free’, and the Netflix Series ‘ELITE’.

The art world also paid tribute to the band when Berlin artist Gregor Hildebrandt named 2 of his works after his song 'Samt und Stein' as part of his recent exhibition ‘Im Sturz durch Raum und Zeit’ at the Mies van der Rohe Haus.