Early influences and career

Empire was also influenced by music from an early age - his love of rap led to him becoming one of Berlin's best breakdancers at the age of ten ^[2]. He became disillusioned by the fact that that particular genre was becoming increasingly commercialised, causing him to leave it behind. He had been playing guitar since the age of eight, and that, coupled with his dislike of pretty much everything, caused him to become a punk, and to form his first band, Die Kinder, at age twelve. By age sixteen however, Empire came to realise that punk, as a movement rather than a genre, was dead, yet the anti-establishment punk attitude would play a part in his later output. After leaving Die Kinder he became fascinated by the rave scene, and after German reunification frequented underground raves in East Berlin rather than the more commercialised scene in his native West Berlin. During this time, he made a lot of what he refers to as "faceless DJ music"^[3] In 1991, while DJing on a beach in France with friend Hanin Elias, he caught the attention of Ian Pooley, which led to him recording and releasing a series of 12" records on the Force Inc. label.

ATR (1992-2000)

ATR's sound was characterised by the use of breakbeats (again using sampled funk and hip-hop beats, but at in excess of twice the speed), heavy guitars, and the shouting of political lyrics and slogans by any or all three members. Their early singles led to a record deal with Phonogram, a major UK label. ATR released some singles through the label, who expected them to sound more commercially friendly. Since this was not in their nature, the deal with Phonogram fell through. In 1994, using the cash advance from the Phonogram deal, Empire started an independent record label which would allow its artists to express themselves more freely. He named it Digital Hardcore Recordings, and digital hardcore would become a generic term for the direction his sound had taken. That year, DHR released EPs by Empire himself, EC8OR and Sonic Subjunkies.

After ATR (2001-present)

Empire rebounded in 2001 when he, with assistance from Endo, recorded Intelligence and Sacrifice. This album contained two discs: the first retained the ATR formula, yet exhibited more polished production techniques and more personal lyrics on Empire's part; the second disc was entirely electronic and contained no vocals. He used an all-star lineup in his first live 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. The Japanese audience's reaction was a positive one, and this encouraged Empire to take Intelligence and Sacrifice on the road. His subsequent band 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 I&S CD², one of which was released as The CD2 Sessions in 2003. Empire returned in 2005 with Futurist which was less electronic than its predecessor and had more of a raw punk/metal sound.

Discography

Main article: Alec Empire discography

For recordings credited to Atari Teenage Riot, see Atari Teenage Riot discography.

Notes

References

• Alec Empire at All Music Guide
• Atari Teenage Riot at All Music Guide
• Alec Empire video interview at OC-TV