Most music I listen to is actually very different to my own . Right now I listen to Mendelssohn and Jaron Lanier a lot .
How would you describe the progression of the ATR sound since the first single to the Reset album ? Has the change in line up affected it and if so , how ?
ATR ’ s DNA never changes , but every song is unique because of its message . Some people want to understand or judge Atari Teenage Riot by applying outdated comparisons . One thing people need to understand : The music is programmed on an Atari 1040ST computer so the music doesn ’ t just randomly happen . It is very different to punk . The chaos is programmed and no accident because some people were in the same room together . We actually never spent that much time making music together . Not in 1992 and not now . Everyone works in isolation on their parts . This also explains why Atari Teenage Riot sounds like it does . Every individual member of Atari Teenage Riot brought something unique to the table . It doesn ’ t make sense to compare CX Kidtronik to Carl Crack or MC Destroy . Or Hanin Elias to Nic Endo . Because they are all very different artists . A good start to seeing that is to listen to what each member does solo .
Speaking of which , your solo work predates the band and has been ongoing . For you , what parts in your life do the two projects fulfill ?
It ’ s easy to answer … I just spontaneously decide what I want to do . Nic Endo feels the same . We never focus on just Atari Teenage Riot or our solo works . We make music all the time .
You also do remixes and soundtracks / scores . How did you get into that sort of work ? Was it something you always thought of doing ?
When I started releasing music , all these offers kept coming in . Every remix I have done so far , happened because another artist loved my music and asked me for a remix . From Björk to Primal Scream . I always loved music and film and how they work together . So I decided early on that I would score a film when I liked it . I am a huge fan of strange movies . The history of electronic music wouldn ’ t be what it is today without film scores . From John Carpenter to Vangelis . Films like Logan ’ s Run from the 70s or The Thing are good examples .
ATR split back in 2001 but you and Nic ( Endo ) were always still working together in one way or another .
Was starting ATR up again always on the cards ?
We didn ’ t want to bring back Atari Teenage Riot in 2010 . We were on a very different path . I was doing film scores and produced artists like Patrick Wolf and remixed Gary Numan and IAMX . I had released an Alec Empire solo album called “ Shivers ” and it was very different from Atari Teenage Riot and Digital Hardcore . First we only planned to play one show in London and then move on . But then the political climate changed after the financial crisis , Occupy was about to start , hacker activism also had a huge impact . A lot of young people were inspired by ATR ’ s message . Suddenly it felt like we had to write new songs about what was going on . Steve Aoki offered us a deal for his label Dim Mak Records . EDM was just about to take off and it all felt right but we were only thinking 3 months ahead . We still do . We can stop any day if we want to .
Although Digital Hardcore is quite a niche genre , ATR as a band and yourself as an artist manage to satisfy drum n bass , metal , punk and rave fans alike . While touring the world , where do you have the biggest fan base and / or tend to get the best reception ?
That always changes . Timing is often very important here . Fans usually react very similarly to our live shows . They participate in it . We play all kinds of shows . From big festivals where we perform in front of 30.000 people to small punk rock venues with 400 people or so . We love every type of venue . Last summer we played in Colombia in front of 80.000 people and there was a giant moshpit . It was a great night . But when we played Tel Aviv which was far smaller of course , we loved that too . I think as a musician you must be able to adapt to your audience . If you just repeat the same thing , it will not work . We come from the underground in the 90s , so we can play to a small crowd and it doesn ’ t feel like the stage is too small for us . But of course on the big stages , that ’ s where Atari Teenage Riot becomes another experience . One is not better or worse , it ’ s just different .
Besides the musical style , your political views and social commentary has always been an important factor . How affective a tool do you think the medium of music is for getting one ' s message across ?
Music is a very effective tool . It is the only medium that can reach people emotionally first before the mind starts to understand it . We keep saying that music is a weapon . We believe that . Over the decades we have
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