Alec Empire

Alec Empire (born Alexander Wilke-Steinhof on 2 May 1972) 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. 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. 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."

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. 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.