Alec Empire (born Alexander Wilke-Steinhof on 2 May 1972)https://www.alec-empire.com/ae Alec Empire official website biography is a German experimental electronic musician who is best known as a founding member of the band Atari Teenage Riot, as well as a solo artist, producer and DJ. He has released many albums, EPs and singles, some under aliases, and remixed over seventy tracks for various artists including Björk. He was also the driving force behind the creation of the digital hardcore genre, and founded the record labels Digital Hardcore Recordings and Eat Your Heart Out Records.
Biography Wilke's father was a working-class socialist, himself the son of a radical activist who perished in the Nazi concentration camps of World War II.Alec Empire – 2008 – II [Video interview], FaceCulture, 2008-03-05, retrieved 21 March 2008.Catherine Yates, "King of Pain" (p15-18), Kerrang!, 6 April 2002. His maternal grandfather, Karl Steinhof, was a self-made millionaire who patented the first domestic hand-knitting appliance during the economic boom in Germany in the 1950s.
Wilke grew up during the Cold War near the Berlin Wall, which he passed every day on his way to school. The frequent sight of patrol guards with guns influenced his outlook on life from an early age.Alec Empire [Video interview], OC-TV.net, retrieved 22 July 2007. He describes Berlin at the time as: "Probably the most left radical place in Germany in the 70s, terrorists, a lot of demonstrations, and probably the first address to hear the latest American music, because of the radio shows the US soldiers brought to Berlin."Interview – The definitive Alec Empire Interview , Digital Hardcore Recordings, retrieved 30 January 2007.
Early influences and career At the age of ten, Wilke's love of hip hop led to a vogueing career on the streets of Berlin.David Day, "Riotous Empire", Pitch Weekly, 28 August – 3 September 1997. AlecEmpireFansite.com .Alec Empire , Drowned in Sound, last accessed 4 August 2006. Later disillusioned by that genre becoming increasingly commercial, he left it behind in favour of a completely different form of musical expression. He had played guitar since the age of eight which coupled with his politically charged upbringing eventually led him to punk music; he formed his first band, Die Kinder (The Kids), at age twelve.
By sixteen, however, Wilke came to believe that the punk movement was "dead" (though the anti-establishment punk attitude would figure significantly in his subsequent output). After leaving Die Kinder, he began listening to classical music and experimenting with electronic instruments.Biba Kopf, "Daft Punk", The Wire, Issue 166, December 1997. . He eventually became fascinated by the rave scene, and, following German reunification, frequented underground raves in East Berlin, believing his native West Berlin scene to be too commercialised. Known earlier in his career as LX Empire he produced a great deal of what he refers to as "faceless DJ music".Force Inc. Music Works , AlecEmpireFansite.com, retrieved 22 January 2007. In 1991, while DJing on a beach in France with his friend Hanin Elias, he caught the attention of Ian Pooley, which led to the release of a number of 12" records on the Force Inc. label.
Although Empire was a prolific producer and DJ at this time,The Destroyer/Digital Hard-core , AlecEmpireFansite.com, last accessed 4 August 2006. and made a comfortable enough living, he nevertheless saw the rave scene as decadent and selfish. This angered him, as he and his friends lived in a city embroiled in politics, and the demise of communist-led governments had given rise to increased conservatism in Germany, whilst few people cared. The German neo-Nazi movement had invaded the scene, declaring trance techno "true German music".
Empire retaliated by utilising samples of 1960s and 1970s funk – a predominantly black style of music – in his solo work. In order to further spread the message, he gathered like-minded individuals Hanin Elias (also a former punk) and Carl Crack (a Swazi MC) to form a band. In 1992, the trio became known as Atari Teenage Riot (ATR).
Atari Teenage Riot and Digital Hardcore Recordings
In Empire's words, Atari Teenage Riot's complex musical style was intended to "destroy" the "simulated harmony" of the mainstream electronic music, and that, besides their protest lyrics, "riot sound produce riots". Empire, who is straight edge, also stated that it was a reaction to both the fashion-victimized and drug-fueled nihilism of the rave scene of the 1990s, once saying that "You can't read or do anything else while listening to our music."
ATR signed a record deal with Phonogram, a major UK label, in 1993. The two parted ways after only a couple of single releases, due to the band's refusal to play by the label's rules.Todd Hansen, Interview: Atari Teenage Riot , The A.V. Club, 7 July 1997, last accessed 12 December 2006Alec Empire Interview: "People Are Organized But Political Music Is Not Really Being Made.", Indymedia Ireland, 28 December 2006, retrieved 23 January 2007. In 1994, using the non-refundable cash advance from the deal, Empire started an independent record label that allowed its artists the freedom of expression Phonogram were unlikely to give. He named it Digital Hardcore Recordings (DHR); the direction his sound had taken came to be known as "digital hardcore". That year, DHR released EPs by EC8OR, Sonic Subjunkies, and Empire himself.
While working with ATR, Empire continued steadily with his solo output. He recorded for Force Inc. under several pseudonyms, including the Detroit techno-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 on Ice, which he recorded entirely on his laptop during a three-day tour of Iceland with ATR. In 1995, ATR released their first proper album, Delete Yourself!, on DHR, and, in 1996, Empire released his first solo album for DHR, The Destroyer. In that year, Empire and Mike D signed a deal to release a number of DHR's recordings on the Beastie Boys' Grand Royal record label in the United States.
ATR spent the next few years touring the world with artists such as Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Beck, Rage Against the Machine, the Wu-Tang Clan and Ministry, as well as headlining shows as the Digital Hardcore festival at CBGB's in New York City in 1998, and the Queen Elizabeth Hall show in London in 1999 at the request of fan John Peel.Keeping It Peel – 19 March 1999, BBC Radio 1, last accessed 14 December 2006. During this time they introduced Nic Endo to their ranks as a fourth member.
All of the members found some comfort in their solo work – Empire's output at this time would include his sole release as Nintendo Teenage Robots, and the bootleg recording Alec Empire vs. Elvis Presley, as well as remixes for the likes of The Mad Capsule Markets, Mogwai and Thurston Moore. However, ATR's problems worsened. Onstage at one show in Seattle in 1999, Empire slashed his forearms with a razor. At another show that year in London, in which ATR supported Nine Inch Nails, the band dispensed with the usual song-based formula and delivered one long barrage of what could only be described as "noise"; this would later be released as Live at Brixton Academy.
By the end of 1999, Empire was mentally exhausted, Elias was pregnant and Crack was suffering from psychosis induced by prolonged drug use. The band was put on hiatus; its future was made even more doubtful following Crack's death in 2001,Corey Moss, Atari Teenage Riot Cofounder Dead At 30, MTV, 24 September 2001, retrieved 3 February 2007. and Elias' decision to leave DHR and create Fatal Recordings.
After ATR
Empire rebounded in 2001 when he, with assistance from Endo, recorded Intelligence and Sacrifice. The album contained two discs: the first retained the ATR formula, yet exhibited a more polished production style and lyrics of an unusually introspective nature;Alec Empire (int) , Gothtronic, retrieved 22 July 2007. the second disc was an electronic instrumental album, and in contrast was more experimental. He used an all-star lineup in his first live "Alec Empire" show at the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan: Charlie Clouser (ex-Nine Inch Nails) played synths, Masami "Merzbow" Akita and Gabe Serbian (The Locust) both played drums, and Endo played synths and keyboards.Alec Empire Live at FujiRock Festival , Digital Hardcore Recordings, last accessed 24 December 2006.
Empire's next lineup would include a guitarist, Robbie Furze, who would later record for DHR with Panic DHH. Empire also played a series of live shows performing material from the second disc of Intelligence and Sacrifice; one of these was released as The CD2 Sessions in 2003. He returned in 2005 with Futurist, which was less electronic than its predecessor and had more of a raw punk-rock sound, albeit assisted by drum machines and some processing.Alec Empire a new Messiah? (Interview) , Gothtronic, retrieved 20 March 2007.
Empire began 2006 by DJing at industrial pioneers Throbbing Gristle's New Year's Eve party.Alec Empire spins at Throbbing Gristle New Years Eve party in Berlin! , Digital Hardcore Recordings, retrieved 21 January 2007. During that year he remixed fellow Germans Rammstein (whom he once said were "successful for all the wrong reasons", MTV, 9 November 1998, retrieved 3 February 2007.) and New York hardcore band Most Precious Blood. He also recorded a cover version of The Monks' "Monk Time" for a tribute album with that band's singer Gary Burger, and Russell Simins of Blues Explosion.HOT NEWS: Alec starts collaborating with Russell Simins (drummer with Jon Spencer Blues Explosion) and Gary Burger (original member of The Monks)! , Digital Hardcore Recordings, retrieved 21 January 2007. Atari Teenage Riot: 1992-2000, a retrospective album, was released by DHR on 3 July 2006.
After DHR
In 2007, Empire announced that DHR would henceforth assume a more "underground" role,Blog: Dead or Alive?, Alec Empire's official MySpace, 28 April 2007, retrieved 22 July 2007. as his focus turned to a new label, Eat Your Heart Out Records,Hugh Platt, Interview: Alec Empire bites back, Music Towers, 24 April 2007, last accessed 15 August 2007. which he describes as "the sound of New Berlin".Interview: Alec Empire , This is Fake DIY, retrieved 25 February 2008. The label's first release was his 12" single "Robot L.O.V.E.", followed by an album, The Golden Foretaste of Heaven, recorded with his new production team and touring band The Hellish Vortex, released in Japan on 28 November 2007 and in Europe on 21 January 2008.Blog: Getting Ready for Singapore!, Alec Empire's official MySpace, 18 September 2007, retrieved 19 September 2007. The second single release, the On Fire EP, was released on 7 December.Alec Empire On Fire 4 track EP out 7th Dec! , Digital Hardcore Recordings, retrieved 19 November 2007. Sixteen Years of Video Material, a DVD featuring rare footage of Empire and ATR was released on German video label Monitorpop in July 2008.News: Atari Teenage Riot and Alec Empire DVD coming , Eat Your Heart Out, last accessed 25 February 2008."Alec Empire (DE) Interview". Trilogy Rock. [12 May 2007]. (Archived at TrilogyRock.com)
In February 2017 Empire released an original soundtrack album for the German sci-fi thriller Volt.Atari Teenage Riot’s Alec Empire’s ‘Volt’ Soundtrack to Be Released, Film Music Reporter, retrieved 27 July 2017.
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