Alec Empire (born Alexander Wilke-Steinhof on 2 May 1972)[1] 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.

[10] In 1991, while DJing on a beach in France with his friend Hanin Elias, he caught the attention of Ian Pooley, which led to the release of a number of 12" records on the Force Inc.

This angered him, as he and his friends lived in a city embroiled in politics, and the demise of communist-led governments had given rise to increased conservatism in Germany, whilst few people cared.

In order to further spread the message, he gathered like-minded individuals Hanin Elias (also a former punk) and Carl Crack (a Swazi MC) to form a band.

[13][14] In 1994, using the non-refundable cash advance from the deal, Empire started an independent record label that allowed its artists the freedom of expression Phonogram were unlikely to give.

[3] At another show that year in London, in which ATR supported Nine Inch Nails, the band dispensed with the usual song-based formula and delivered one long barrage of what could only be described as "noise"; this would later be released as Live at Brixton Academy.

[15] The band was put on hiatus; its future was made even more doubtful following Crack's death in 2001,[17] and Elias' decision to leave DHR and create Fatal Recordings.

In 2007, Empire announced that DHR would henceforth assume a more "underground" role,[24] as his focus turned to a new label, Eat Your Heart Out Records,[25] which he describes as "the sound of New Berlin".

", followed by an album, The Golden Foretaste of Heaven, recorded with his new production team and touring band The Hellish Vortex, released in Japan on 28 November 2007 and in Europe on 21 January 2008.

His earlier releases for Force Inc. were influenced by the rave scene in his native Berlin, and included acid house, techno, hardcore, punk and breakbeat (all of which are evident on the SuEcide EPs and the Limited Editions 1990-1994 compilation).

On creating DHR his solo recordings for that label consisted largely of the digital hardcore staples of breakcore (as heard on The Destroyer album and EPs) and later experimental noise (as heard on Miss Black America), while his work during the same period for Mille Plateaux saw him experimenting with minimal techno (Pulse Code), ambient (Low on Ice) and musique concrète (Les Étoiles des Filles Mortes).

His alter-egos for various labels provided outlets for dabbling in other genres such as drum and bass/jungle (DJ Mowgly), Detroit techno (Jaguar) and even chiptune music (Nintendo Teenage Robots).

[citation needed] After the demise of Atari Teenage Riot, Empire's major releases for DHR sought to continue in the guitar-based, punk-influenced vein of the band.