About Alec Empire: German Musicians (1972-)
Alec Empire (born Alexander Wilke-Steinhof May 2, 1972 in Charlottenburg, West Berlin) is a German experimental electronic musician best known as a founding member of the band Atari Teenage Riot, as well as a prolific and distinguished solo artist, producer and DJ. He has released many albums, EPs and singles, some under pseudonyms, and has remixed over 70 tracks for various artists including Björk. He was also a driving force in the digital hardcore genre and founded the record labels Digital Hardcore Recordings and Eat Your Heart Out Records.
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Wilk’s father, a working-class socialist, was himself the son of a radical activist who was killed in Nazi concentration camps in World War II. His maternal grandfather, Karl Steinhof, was a self-made millionaire who patented the first domestic hand-knitting machine during Germany’s economic boom in the 1950s.
Wilke grew up near the Berlin Wall during the Cold War, and he passed it every day on his way to school. Often seeing patrolling guards with guns affected his outlook on life from an early age. He described Berlin at the time as: “Probably the most radical leftist place in Germany in the 1970s, terrorists, mass demonstrations, and probably the first address to hear the latest American music, because of the radio show Berlin brought by American soldiers.”
Early Impact and Career
At the age of ten, Wilke’s love of rap led to a fashion career on the streets of Berlin. Disappointed that the genre was becoming increasingly commercialized, he left it behind in favor of a completely different form of musical expression. He started playing guitar at the age of eight, and his political upbringing eventually led him to punk music. He formed his first band, dead kinder (children), twelve years old.
By the age of 16, however, Wilke came to believe that the punk movement was “dead” (though anti-establishment punk attitudes featured prominently in his subsequent work). After leaving Die Kinder, he started listening to classical music and experimenting with electronic instruments. He eventually became fascinated by the rave scene, and after German reunification he frequented the underground rave in East Berlin, believing the scene in his native West Berlin was too commercial.known early in his career LX Empire He’s created a lot of what he calls “faceless DJ music”. In 1991, he caught the attention of Ian Pooley while DJing on a French beach with friend Hanin Elias, which led to the release of a number of 12-inch records on the Force Inc. record label.
While Empire was a prolific producer and DJ at this point and lived a comfortable enough life, he still thought the rave scene was decadent and selfish. This angered him, because he and his friends lived in a city embroiled in politics, and the demise of the Communist-led government led to a rise in conservatism in Germany that few cared about. The German neo-Nazi movement has invaded the scene, declaring that trance techno is “true German music”.
In retaliation, Empire used 1960s and 1970s funk—a predominantly black musical style—in his solo work. To spread the message further, he assembled like-minded people Hanin Elias (also ex-punk) and Carl Crack (Swaziland MC) to form a band. In 1992, the trio became known as Atari Teenage Riot (ATR).
Atari teen riots and digital hardcore recordings
Atari Teenage Riot’s sound is characterized by the use of breakbeats (again sampled from funk and rap, but replayed at twice the speed), heavy guitar riffs, and band members chanting politically-driven lyrics and chants (and as sampled dialogue). Empire provided most of the musical direction, and with late input from Japanese-American noise musician Nic Endo, the ATR sound took on a more chaotic, arrhythmic character, characterized by rough sequencing, improvisational mixing, and extended ” Noise Feast”. In his words, the sophisticated style was designed to “destroy” the “analog harmony” of mainstream electronic music, with the exception of their protest lyrics, “the sound of riots begets riots”. The straight-forward Empire also said it was a reaction to the fashion victimization and drug-fueled nihilism of the 1990s rave scene, saying “you can’t listen to our music at the same time.”
ATR signed a recording contract with Phonogram, a major UK label, in 1993. The two parted ways after releasing only a few singles, as the band refused to abide by the label’s rules. In 1994, Empire used the non-refundable cash advance from the deal to set up an independent record label, allowing its artists to express freedoms that Phonogram was unlikely to grant. He named it Digital Hardcore Recordings (DHR); the direction his sound took was called “Digital Hardcore”. That year, DHR released EC8OR, Sonic Subjunkies and Empire’s own EP.
Empire continues to deliver steady personal output during its partnership with ATR.He recorded under several aliases of Force Inc., including a Detroit tech-inspired Jaguar. He also recorded several albums for Force Inc.’s experimental sub-label Mille Plateaux, including generation star wars (his first full solo album) and low ice, which he recorded entirely on his laptop during his three-day trip to Iceland with ATR. In 1995, ATR released their first regular album, delete yourself!on DHR, and in 1996 Empire released his first solo album for DHR, spoilerDuring that year, Empire and Mike D signed a deal to release some of DHR’s recordings on the Beastie Boys’ Grand Royal label in the US. The label also invited DHR artists to tour the United States, gaining recognition from MTV and other radio stations.
Over the next few years, ATR toured around the world with artists such as Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Beck, Rage Against the Machine, Wu-Tang Clan, and Ministry, and performed at exciting events such as the Digital Hardcore Festival at CBGB in New York. Memorable shows starred City in 1998 and performed at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1999 at the request of fan John Peel. During this time, they introduced Nic Endo to their ranks as the fourth member. Audience opinions were often divided on the new sound ATR that was later incorporated, and this, along with other factors, started to put pressure on the band.
All members find some solace in their solo work – Empire’s output at this time will include him as the only version Nintendo Teen Robotand pirated recordings Alec Empire and Elvis, and remixes for the likes of The Mad Capsule Markets, Mogwai, and Thurston Moore. However, ATR’s problems worsened. In 1999, during a show in Seattle, Empire slashed his forearm with a razor. At another show in London that year, ATR backed Nine Inch Nails, the band ditched their usual song-based formula and delivered a long list of what could only be described as “noise”.This will be published later as Live at Brixton College.
By the end of 1999, Empire was mentally exhausted, Elias was pregnant, and Crack was mentally ill from chronic drug use. The band was on hiatus; after Crack’s death in 2001 and Elias’ decision to leave DHR and create Fatal Recordings, its future became more doubtful.
After ATR
On January 13, 2007, Alec Empire performed live in Prato, Italy.
Empire bounced back in 2001 when he recorded with Endo’s help Wisdom and sacrificeThe album consists of two records: the first retains the ATR formula, but exhibits a more refined production style and unusually introspective lyrics; the second, an electronic instrumental album, is more experimental in comparison. He used an all-star lineup for his first live “Alec Empire” gig at Fuji Rock in Japan: Charlie Clouser (Front Nine Inch Nails) on synths, Masami “Merzbow” Akita and Gabe Serian (The Locust) both playing Drums, Endo plays synths and keyboards.
Empire’s next lineup will include guitarist Robbie Furze, who later recorded for DHR with Panic DHH.Empire also aired a series of live performances featuring material from the second album of Wisdom and Sacrifice; one of them was released as CD2 Conference In 2003, he returned in 2005 Futuristsit’s less electronic than its predecessor, and has more of a raw punk rock sound, albeit with the help of a drum machine and some processing.
In 2006, Empire began DJing at industrial pioneer Throbbing Gristle’s New Year’s Eve party. During that year, he remixed fellow German Rammstein (he once said “successful for all the wrong reasons”) and New York hardcore Most Precious Blood. He also recorded a cover version of The Monks’ “Monk Time” with the band’s singers Gary Burger and Blues Explosion’s Russell Simins. Atari Teen Riots: 1992-2000Retrospective album, released July 3, 2006 by DHR.
after DHR
In 2007, Empire announced that DHR would play a more “underground” role in the future, as his attention turned to a new label, Eat Your Heart Out Records, which he described as “the new Berlin sound”. The label’s debut album was his 12″ single “Robot LOVE”, followed by an album, golden foretaste of heavenrecording with his new production team and touring band hell vortex, was released in Japan on November 28, 2007 and in Europe on January 21, 2008.Second single released On Fire EPpublished on December 7. Sixteen years of video footageIn July 2008, German video label Monitorpop released a DVD featuring rare Empire and ATR footage.
In February 2017, Empire released the soundtrack album of the German sci-fi thriller volt.
style
Alec Empire’s work spans a range of electronic (and traditionally less electronic) styles.His early releases at Force Inc. were influenced by the rave scene in his native Berlin, including acid house, techno, hardcore, punk, and breakbeat (all of which are in suicide EP and Limited Edition 1990-1994 compilation).When creating DHR, his solo recordings for the label consisted mainly of breakcore’s digital hardcore hits (as in spoiler albums and EPs) and later experimental noises (as in Miss Black America), while his work for Mille Plateaux of the same period sees him experimenting with minimal techniques (pulse code), surrounding(low ice) and specific music (Les Étoiles des Filles Mortes). He has given various record label alternative identities access to other genres such as drums and bass/jungle (DJ Mowgly), Detroit Tech (Jaguar) and even chip music (Nintendo Teenage Robots).
After the Atari Teenage Riot disbanded, Empire’s major release for DHR attempted to continue the guitar-based, punk-influenced style of the band. Wisdom and sacrifice Use live…
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