Intuitive Music

Alec Empire

Born in 1972 in West Berlin, Alec Empire is known as one of the most musically and politically radical techno artists. Alec Empire (Alexander Wilke) used to be a street breakdancer when he was ten. As a teenager he formed a punk band called Die Kinder and during these years he got also influenced from different kinds of music from classical music to electronic music. In the early 90’s, he started to experiment with guitar and electronics and he played his debut gig at Tekknozid in April 1991. A year later, he founded Atari Teenage Riot along with Carl Crack and Hanin Elias where he would play drums, bass, and programming.

At the same time, Empire started a solo career in 1991 with the debut single “Tripmen” on Force Inc label, which was followed a by a number of EP releases in the following years. Some of these recordings were compiled on the album “Limited Editions 1990-94″ (Mille Plateaux, 1994). In 1994, Empire released his debut album “Generation Star Wars” on Mille Plateaux, where he fusioned techno, hip hop and breakbeats.

During the mid 90’s, Alec Empire’s works reflected the influence of early electronic artists, such as kraftwerk, Brian Eno in “Low On Ice” (Mille Plateaux, 1995), and Karlheinz Stockhausen in “Les Etoiles Des Filles Mortes” (Mille Plateaux, 1996). This one which is considered a masterpiece of modern electronic music.

“Hypermodern Jazz 2000.5″ (Mille Plateaux, 96) represented a surprise in his career, moving to a more ambient and dance territories. In 1996, the album The Destroyer on DHR label, where he recycled material from his former EPs, became one of the pioneer works of drill n’ bass.

In 1998, Alec Empire joined techno Animal’s Kevin Martin into a free jazz and electronica project, which gave birth to “The Curse of the Golden Vampire” album. His following albums ” Miss Black America” (DHR, 1999), “In Flames” (DHR, 2000) and Intelligence And Sacrifice (Santeria, 2002) are all characterised by the same feelings of anger, violence and extremism, moving around techno, hardcore, experimental soundscapes and jazz styles.

Apart from his solo works, Alec Empire has also remixed for a number of artists such as Beck, Cibo Matto, and Bjork.