Alec Empire

File:Alecempirepromo.jpg

Alec Empire
Photo by Miron Zownir, 2005

Alec Empire (born May 2, 1972) is a German musician. He is best known for his time as the leader of the band Atari Teenage Riot, but has also generated respect for his solo work.

Born in West Berlin as Alexander Wilke, Empire grew up near the Berlin Wall in a place where rich and poor neighbourhoods sat next to each other. His mother was the daughter of the inventor of the first domestic knitting machine, a self-made millionaire until his company went bankrupt upon his death. His father was a working-class socialist and the son of a Jewish man who died in the concentration camps of the Second World War. He therefore developed a social conscience at a relatively early age.

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. 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-estblishment 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." 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.

Although Empire was a prolific producer and DJ at this time and was able to make a comfortable living, he nevertheless saw the rave scene as decadent and selfish. This infuriated him because he and his friends were living in a city surrounded by politics, and the demise of Communist-led governments had led to increased Conservatism in Germany, yet few people seemed to care. The German neo-nazi movement invaded the scene, declaring trance techno as 'true German music'. Empire retaliated by sampling 60s and 70s funk (a predominantly black style of music) and using it in his solo output. When he felt that this was not quite enough to get the message across, he decided to gather like-minded individuals Hanin Elias (like himself a former punk) and Carl Crack (a black Swazi MC) to form a band. In 1992, the trio became Atari Teenage Riot.

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 himself, EC8OR, DJ Bleed and Sonic Subjunkies.

While working with ATR, Empire continued to work tirelessly on his solo output. He continued to record for Force Inc. under several pseudonyms, including the Detroit-techno inspired Jaguar. He also recorded several albums for Force Inc.'s experimental sublabel Mille Plateaux, including Generation Star Wars (considered his first real solo album), and Low On Ice (recorded entirely on his laptop during a three day tour of Iceland with ATR). Also, in 1995, ATR released their first album, Delete Yourself, on DHR, and in 1996 Empire released his first album for DHR, The Destroyer. In that year, Empire and Mike Diamond signed a deal to release a number of DHR's recordings on the Beastie Boys' Grand Royal record label in the United States. The label also invited DHR artists to tour the US. This would lead to recognition by MTV and alternative radio stations.

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 such memorable 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. During this time they introduced a fourth member to their ranks, Nic Endo, a Japanese-American noise artist. Audience opinion was often divided on this very new type of sound, and this along with other factors began to take its toll on ATR. 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, the cracks were beginning to show. Onstage at one ATR 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 their song-based formula and delivered one long barrage of what can only be described as noise, which 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 made even more doubtful following Crack's death in 2001 and Elias' decision to leave DHR and create Fatal Recordings.

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.

Empire currently lives in the former East Berlin, where his studio is located. He continues to tour with his band and frequently performs DJ sets. He recently remixed fellow Germans Rammstein, and collaborated with Russell Simins of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Gary Burger of The Monks to record a new version of The Monks' "Black Monk Time" for a documentary about the band. He will release Atari Teenage Riot (1992-2000), a retrospective album, on DHR on July 3 2006.

Selected discography

• Limited Editions 1990-1994 (Mille Plateaux 1994)
• Generation Star Wars (Mille Plateaux 1995)
• Low On Ice (The Iceland Sessions) (Mille Plateaux 1995)
• The Destroyer (DHR 1996)
• Les Etoiles Des Filles Mortes (Mille Plateaux 1996)
• Hypermodern Jazz 2000.5 (Mille Plateaux 1996)
• Squeeze the Trigger (DHR 1997)
• Curse of the Golden Vampire (with Techno Animal) (DHR 1998)
• We Punk Einheit! (as Nintendo Teenage Robots) (DHR 1999)
• Miss Black America (DHR 1999)
• Alec Empire vs. Elvis Presley (El Turco Loco 1999)
• Les Étoiles Des Filles Mortes (Geist 2000)
• Shards of Pol-Pottery (EP) (with El-P) (DHR 2001)
• Intelligence and Sacrifice (DHR 2001)
• Death Favours the Enemy: Live (DVD) (DHR 2002)
• Live CBGB's NYC 1998 (Alec Empire vs Merzbow) (DHR 2003)
• The CD2 Sessions: Live In London 7-12-2002 (DHR 2003)
• Futurist (DHR 2005)

Sources

• Yates, Catherine (April 6, 2002) "King of Pain". Kerrang! p.15-18

External links

• Alec Empire's official fansite
• Alec Empire at DigitalHardcore.com
• Alec Empire at MySpace
• Detailed Alec Empire discography (up to 2001) at DigitalHardcore.com
• Alec Empire at Discogs.com
• Alec Empire at Drowned In Sound
• Alec Empire at All Music Guide
• Atari Teenage Riot at All Music Guide
• Atari Teenage Riot at Scaruffi.com