Presenting a brand new, totally unique musical proposition: HOQUETS are an international musical trio who play instruments, also named "hoquets",  personally assembled by hand from wooden boards, broken strings, tin cans and other cast away materials in their workshop in Brussels, Belgium.

Named in reference to both "hockets" (the technique used in Western medieval music, Africa, Bali and elsewhere of sharing a melody line between several voices or instruments) and "hoquets" (pronounced "OK", and the French word for "hiccoughs"), the band make music that's overflowing with energy, heavily percussive and strangely addictive ... inspired by raw-edged indie pop and dancefloor punk-funk as well as the DIY aesthetic of Konono No.1, Staff Benda Bilili and other Congolese groups,  HOQUETS are both without precedent and oddly familiar at the same time.

The builders and players of these unique musical objects are a Frenchman (François Schulz, installation artist and founder of the band Vive le Rouge ! : tenor hoquet), a Belgian (Maxime Lê Hung, instigator of Brussels label Matamore and ex-member of Some Tweetlove: bass hoquet) and an American (McCloud Zicmuse, founder of the Le Ton Mité project as released on K Records, regular collaborator with Maher Shalal Hash Baz and constructor of self-built string instruments since the early nineties : high hoquet).

Within two years, and more than 70 concerts, HOQUETS have garnered a sizable following, thanks to the sonic power of their unusual instruments and some hyper-expressive and colourful live shows, including memorable occasions at Brussels' famous Atomium monument, Sonic City festival curated by Deerhoof and a mobile acoustic performance in which the band played a song in each room of Flemish sound-art space Q-O2, where they held a residency early last year.

On their debut album "Belgotronics" (named in homage to the Congotronics series), HOQUETS pay tribute to specific aspects of their beloved native/adopted country of Belgium. The songs are devoted to remarkable elements of the country's history and culture, from its bizarre linguistic and institutional quirks to its rich culinary traditions: the Battle of Waterloo, multilinguism, the ancient beer-brewing abbey of Orval, the baked Wallonian biscuit know as the "Couque de Dinant"  and many more under-celebrated facets of Belgian life all appear in the lyrics, which are sung in English, French and Flemish ... mostly by an American. More details on these subjects can be found in the Hoquets Holler, the entertaining and informative self-produced newsletter that accompanies the album.

"Belgotronics" was recorded in Brussels with engineers/sound designers Étienne Foyer, Frédéric Alstadt & Aymeric de Tapol, and mixed by Marc Meliá Sobrevias of Lonely Drifter Karen (who also appears as a guest musician), Greg Saunier (Deerhoof) and regular Deerhoof collaborator Etienne Foyer. Other musical guests include Lonely Drifter Karen’s Tanja Frinta, underground Japanese improvisor Naoki Otani (Maher Shalal Hash Baz) and Yann Tambour (Stranded Horse, Encre).

"Belgotronics" has gone on to win an Octave de la Musique (the French speaking Belgian equivilant to a Grammy) for best pop/rock album of 2011.