Alek Száhala
Encyclopedia
Alek Száhala is a Finnish
electronic music producer. He's works in the Freeform Hardcore
/NRG
scene. His music often clocks over 180 BPM.
under such nicks as BwD, Apofis, Apokala and Apofish. His tracks during early 90's were mainly humorous stuff with lots of samples from various cartoons. He also made lots of co-operations with jazz musician Teemu Vehkala.
He continued to produce music until 2003, where he was noticed by various Finnish
harddance DJ's and promoters. Later that year, he performed his first live set at Säde club, and signed his first record contract from Electronica Exposed. He consistently continued to increase his reputation, through vinyl releases by Camel Records, Finrg and EE. His hit tracks, "Ngarnuuk" and "Man eaten", also appeared on one of DJ Proteus
' mixtapes "The Hellfire Club" released by Teflon Bullet. Alongside with Carbon Based
, Re-form, Epilim and Pain on Creation, he became one of the key members in the development of Finnish hard dance
sound. His music varies from very melodic trance to dark, fast and evil freeform. He has performed at such events as Godspeed and Utopia (Sydney
), Mayhem 2005, 2006 and 2007 (Brisbane
), Pharmacy (Melbourne
), Logic (London
), NRGetic Romancer (Tokyo
), Koneisto and Konemetsä
, Finland's leading electronic music festivals.
Alek currently studies computational linguistics
and computer science
at the University of Helsinki.
running Microsoft Windows
and one deck as a backup. He uses Reason
to play synths and various other software to play synced loops over the tracks. Alek's black skirt he wears at his gigs has become one of his trademarks.
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
electronic music producer. He's works in the Freeform Hardcore
Freeform Hardcore
Freeform Hardcore is a term used to describe a subgenre of Happy Hardcore UK Hardcore. The genre developed gradually as conventional Hardcore slowly became more influenced by trance. The music is generally more instrumental, being known for its 4/4 beat, prominent acid lines, and often rolling bass...
/NRG
Hard NRG
Hard NRG is an electronic music genre similar in structure to UK hard house. The main difference is in the musical/thematic content of each style....
scene. His music often clocks over 180 BPM.
Biography
Alek started producing music in 1993 using PC-running trackers. First of his tracks were uploaded into various BBSesBulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
under such nicks as BwD, Apofis, Apokala and Apofish. His tracks during early 90's were mainly humorous stuff with lots of samples from various cartoons. He also made lots of co-operations with jazz musician Teemu Vehkala.
He continued to produce music until 2003, where he was noticed by various Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
harddance DJ's and promoters. Later that year, he performed his first live set at Säde club, and signed his first record contract from Electronica Exposed. He consistently continued to increase his reputation, through vinyl releases by Camel Records, Finrg and EE. His hit tracks, "Ngarnuuk" and "Man eaten", also appeared on one of DJ Proteus
DJ Proteus
DJ Proteus, also known as Harri Andersson, , is a Finnish hard dance DJ. Proteus has gained the respect to be called Finland's most known Hard Dance DJ and has become one of the key players of the global hard dance scene. Proteus has been DJ'ing for 12 years and producing music about 7 years...
' mixtapes "The Hellfire Club" released by Teflon Bullet. Alongside with Carbon Based
Carbon Based
Carbon Based is a hard dance and freeform hardcore band from Finland. The band was formed in 1996 and has been experimenting with different styles of electronica. The group is one of the pioneers of unique Finnish freeform sound often referred to as FINRG. The group includes four members: Toni...
, Re-form, Epilim and Pain on Creation, he became one of the key members in the development of Finnish hard dance
Hard dance
Hard Dance is an umbrella term that refers to a group of Hard electronic dance genres which aren't hard enough to be classified as hardcore. The term usually includes genres such as Hard House, Hard NRG, Hard Trance, and Hardstyle...
sound. His music varies from very melodic trance to dark, fast and evil freeform. He has performed at such events as Godspeed and Utopia (Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
), Mayhem 2005, 2006 and 2007 (Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
), Pharmacy (Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
), Logic (London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
), NRGetic Romancer (Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
), Koneisto and Konemetsä
Konemetsä
Konemetsä - Open Air Forest Festival is an electronic music festival held in South West of Finland in the village of Ollila in Marttila county. The festival have always been arranged in July. The characteristic aspect of the festival is that the music is played continuously 24 hours / day...
, Finland's leading electronic music festivals.
Alek currently studies computational linguistics
Computational linguistics
Computational linguistics is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the statistical or rule-based modeling of natural language from a computational perspective....
and computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
at the University of Helsinki.
Performing live
When performing live, Alek uses a laptopLaptop
A laptop, also called a notebook, is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit...
running Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
and one deck as a backup. He uses Reason
Reason (program)
Reason is a music software program developed by Swedish software developers Propellerhead Software. It emulates a rack of hardware synthesizers, samplers, signal processors, sequencers, and mixers, all of which can be freely interconnected in an arbitrary manner...
to play synths and various other software to play synced loops over the tracks. Alek's black skirt he wears at his gigs has become one of his trademarks.
External links
- Official Site
- Alek Száhala at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- Alek Száhala discography