Music Podcast Interview Series

Podcast

EPM.190 comes from Science Cult boss, Syrte. Syrte is Italian born Stefan Weise, currently residing in Colorado, US. As Syrte, Stefan has performed live and as a DJ all over the US and Europe. He is currently co- owner & co-founder of Electro and IDM label Science Cult and the host of Blue Industries on Proton Radio, which just celebrated 20 years. His DJ sets, as captured in this mix for EPM that twists DJ Stingray 313 into Blawan and Galaxian into Lord Jalapeños are high energy, 150bpm+, IDM laden affairs that have left many a listener in a daze afterwards.

The name was inspired by the French comic book Valerian & Laureline Volume 1 where "Syrte" is described as the capital of the "Empire of a Thousand Planets". Growing up in Italy and Germany, Stefan was exposed to electronic and dance music from an early age. His father, a former Discoteque DJ, maintained a healthy collection of Italo Disco records, while his mother, always on the hunt for new music, introduced him to many of the early electronic pioneers including Kraftwerk and Jean-Michel Jarre amongst many others. In 1989, during a brief stint residing in the UK, Stefan was introduced to Acid House by managing to gain access to a local dance club every night for over a month. He was only 13 at the time.

Over the years, his passion for futuristic music evolved and after migrating to the US, Stefan began DJing at age 17 in Dallas, TX. This eventually led to him producing his own music a few years later using a severely underpowered Macintosh computer and a copy of Rebirth RB-338 that his friends bought him as a birthday gift. With time, Stefan honed his sound and began gathering more studio equipment. His influences have always been Autechre, Aphex Twin and the sound of Tom Middleton & Mark Prichard aka The Jedi Knights.

Stefan wanted to explore as many musical avenues as possible and first gained attention as Progressive Breaks artist "Stefan Anion" with his bootleg remix of Gary Jules' cover of "Mad World". This led to him becoming an influential producer in that genre. Eventually Stefan turned his attention back to his first love:

Techno and began producing under his real name. Having appeared on labels such as Gem Records, King Street Sounds and Credo, he became known for his unique and futuristic dub techno sound. Having always been at peace with musical experimentation and sound design, Stefan eventually turned to Electro and IDM under his new alias Syrte which can best be described as IDM meets Electro.

Stefan's ethos for Syrte is sound experimentation over conformity, no matter the end result. As part of his process, Stefan often employs obsolete software and computer hardware, home-made synths and Reaktor ensembles, field recordings from his surroundings in the Rocky Mountains and travels as well as found

sounds, or anything audible emitted from electronics. This plus years of experience working across multiple genres and many intensive sound design sessions.

Stefan has been a steady consumer of Science Fiction since childhood. In addition to being a self-described "huge science nerd", he aims for exploring the deeper relationships that humans have with machines and the moral implications that arise through his music as Syrte.

Coming soon on Science Cult

SC048 - Manta (includes a Syrte remix)

SC049 - Aserrin

SCV14 - Roel Funcken & exm Vinyl LP

EPM Podcast 190 – Track list

01. Matthias Schubert - Transition [TPG Recordings]

02. Manta - Untitled 4 [Science Cult]

03. Freddy Fresh & Venechor - Electroex [Liquid Sky]

04. Machine Emotion - Viral Doctrine [Detroit Underground]

05. Galaxian - Daisy Cutter [shipwrec]

06. Lord Jalapeños - Q-Switching [Ethos Records]

07. LDS - zipp prompt [Tresor]