Digitalism (band)

For other uses, see Digitalism.
Digitalism

Digitalism performing at Melt! 2007
Background information
Origin Hamburg, Germany
Genres Electro house, electronic rock, dance-punk, alternative dance, indietronica, complextro, Synthwave
Years active 2004–present
Labels Virgin, Kitsuné, Astralwerks, V2, PIAS Cooperative
Website www.thedigitalism.com
Members Jens "Jence" Moelle
İsmail "Isi" Tüfekçi

Digitalism are a German electronic music duo formed in Hamburg in 2004, consisting of Jens "Jence" Moelle and İsmail "Isi" Tüfekçi.[1] The duo are signed to French label Kitsuné, as well as Virgin Records and Astralwerks in other parts of the world.

Digitalism have remixed tracks for The Presets, Tom Vek, The Futureheads, Daft Punk, Tiga, Klaxons, The White Stripes, Monk, Depeche Mode, Cut Copy and many others, including a re-edit of "Fire in Cairo" by The Cure (entitled "Digitalism in Cairo"). Their tracks and remixes are played by DJs such as Erol Alkan, Soulwax, Boys Noize and Justice.

Digitalism have made appearances at festivals such as Coachella, Lollapalooza, South by Southwest, Rhythm and Vines, Electric Picnic and Ultra Music Festival as well as various clubs worldwide.

Moelle has two solo releases on Kitsuné; "I Ragazzi Del 1982" as Palermo Disko Machine and "Wired" as Jence. He has since released "Vesuvia/Theme of Palermo Disko Machine" as Palermo Disko Machine on Vulture Music.

Band history

Formation, Idealism and I Love You Dude (2004–11)

Jens Moelle and İsmail Tüfekçi in 2012

Moelle and Tüfekçi met at a record store in Hamburg and became friends. Later, the store's owner asked them to DJ a party, and they then began mixing and recording. According to Moelle, they record their music in a World War II bunker they own in Hamburg.[2]

Digitalism's debut album, Idealism, was released in Japan on 9 May 2007 by Toshiba EMI, in France on 21 May 2007 by Kitsuné, in North America by Astralwerks, and in Australia and New Zealand by etcetc and Virgin Records. The album includes re-edits of the previously released singles "Jupiter Room" and "Zdarlight" as well as their "Digitalism in Cairo" original re-edit of a track by The Cure.

The Pogo EP was released as a single in support of the album in May, with two alternate versions of the track.

Digitalism released their EP Blitz under Kitsuné on 8 November 2010.

On 7 April 2011 they announced a new album, I Love You Dude, which was released on 20 June 2011. On 18 June, they played at the Hurricane Festival.

DJ-Kicks and singles (2012–13)

Over the course of almost two years—early 2012 to the end 2013—Digitalism released 13 original tracks on 5 separate international dance labels from America to England, Germany to the Netherlands with sub-releases of these singles in Japan, Australia and France. These releases also featured 3 Digitalism remixes of their peers and a mix album that released on International Record label Studio !K7 featuring all but a few of tracks. The DJ-Kicks album[3] debuted the band in the German and UK Albums sales charts. The majority of the music was written and recorded in Los Angeles during the Winter and early spring months from 2012 to 2013. During this time the band toured both as DJs and a live act, playing all of these dance-oriented releases as well as material from the first and second albums in Europe, Japan, Australia, America, Canada, South America and the United Kingdom.

"Fahrenheit 32" and "Wolves" (2014–15)

In January 2014, Digitalism released Fahrenheit 32[4] exclusively on their Soundcloud profile and announcement of a tour in the US and period of recording. The release of "Fahrenheit 32" was an immediate success for Digitalism, featuring on BBC Radio, KCRW and Sirius Radio in the US.

During the Winter of 2014, the band once more relocated from Hamburg, Germany to Los Angeles, United States to record new material. In May 2014 the band released "Wolves" featuring US indie act Youngblood Hawke,[5] debuting in Germany and receiving radio playlist support in the US on KCRW and Sirius XM. The release of "Wolves" was backed by the international telecommunications company Vodafone, who used the record in a national campaign for a period of eight months, employing Digitalism to front the campaign with DJ shows and interviews.

Mirage (2016–present)

On 4 March 2016 the duo announced their first album in five years entitled Mirage, released on 13 May, along with promotional singles "Utopia" and "Battlecry". On 7 March 2016, the band announced the Mirage world tour in support of the album, including dates in France, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, and more. The first official video for the Mirage campaign was for "Utopia", and it was premiered on KALTBLUT Magazine on 19 March 2016.[6]

Influences

Digitalism cite Daft Punk[7] and film soundtracks as influences, as well as computer game music, Ennio Morricone, The Strokes, Stewart Price and Roule Records. The song "Zdarlight" is not named after Philippe Zdar of Cassius, as commonly thought. Rather, it is named after the word "starlight", but with a slightly different spelling.

Live act

To mirror the influence of Digitalism second studio album I Love You Dude, the band rebuilt their live show and incorporated more modular synthesisers, which they would play live—this involved adding a live drummer. As a live act they shared the stage with many acts including as Queens of the Stone Age, DJ Shadow, Moderat, and Justice. At the same time as DJs they developed a following with house and techno sets.

Following the run of live shows, Digitalism started recording dance oriented records and releasing "singles" on labels that demanded fast turn-around for both recordings and release commitment. These stringent time constraints forced the Digitalism to craft ever more progressive and current musical sound, which furthered the status as musical pioneers of modern dance music.

In order to promote the release of these albums Digitalism have toured every major territory as both a live act and as DJ’s. These tours have included almost every International festival on the circuit and won Digitalism the award for best international live act of 2012 in the Deutsche National Music Awards.

Highlights of these tours have included Fuji Rock in Japan, Roskilde in Denmark, EDC Festival and Hard Summer Festival in Los Angeles and Las Vegas in the US, Melt Festival in Germany, Leeds and Reading in the UK, Tomorrowland Festival in the Netherlands, Parklife Festival and Tour in Australia, PukkelPop Festival in Belgium,[8] Hurricane and Southside Festival and MTV Day Festival in Germany, Summer Sonic Festival in Japan, Jazz Festival in Montreux, Exit Festival in Serbia, I love Techno Festival in France, Global Gathering in the UK, Bennicassim Festival in Spain, Ultra Festival, Holy Ship, SXSW Festival in the US, Groovin The Moo Festival in Australia, Dour Festival in Belgium, T in the Park Festival in the UK, Oxygen Festival in Ireland, Paradiso Festival in Washington, Eurockeennes Festival in France, Emaboda Festival in Sweden, Fusion Festival in Germany, Gurten Festival in Switzerland, Balaton Sound Festival in Hungry, Daft Punk Festival Istanbul, Sonar Festival in Spain, Norht Cost Festival, Lollapalooza Festival and Coachella Festival in the US, FreeFrom Festival in Poland, Wireless O2 Festival in the UK, Inrockutpibles Festival Session de Printemps in France, Mx Beat Festival in Mexico, Murcia Festival in Spain, Loveparade in Germay, Rockness Festival in Scotland, Arras Festival in France, Super Bock Festival in Portugal, Optimus Festival in Portugal.

Discography

Video games

The 2007 single "Pogo" was widely utilized in various forms of media, including in the official soundtracks of Electronic Arts video games Need for Speed: ProStreet and FIFA 08.

The track "Idealistic" was used in the first trailer for Rockstar Games' title Midnight Club: Los Angeles; it has also been used in THQ's Saints Row: The Third as well as Just Dance 2 for Nintendo Wii.

A remix of "Zdarlight" was also used in the trailer for Nadeo's TrackMania Nations Forever released in early 2008.[9]

The song "Blitz" is featured in SSX, released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in early 2012. The song "Circles" is part of FIFA 12's soundtrack.

The song "Encore" was part of the soundtrack of Forza Horizon.

The RAC remix of the song "Wolves (featuring Youngblood Hawke) is a part of the Forza Horizon 2 soundtrack.

The song "Go Time" is part of the Forza Horizon 3 soundtrack.

The song "Shangri-La" is part of FIFA 17, the video game by EA Sports.

Television and films

In addition to its significant placements in video games, "Pogo" was also featured on television in a Canadian Virgin Mobile advertisement and on Sky Sports live football coverage as the pre-halftime break highlight clip music. Additionally, it appeared in the first episode of the 5th season of the British TV series Misfits, and a remix of the song was also used in a Pontiac advertisement in 2007.

The British television program MasterChef featured various Digitalism songs in the semi finals.

The song "Miami Showdown" was featured in episode 10 of season 3 of Person of Interest entitled "The Devil's Share".

"Zdarlight" was used in a commercial for BMW X1,[10]

Other

"2 Hearts" was the official anthem of Melt! Festival 2011.

References

  1. ↑ "Digitalism Bio, Music, News & Shows". DJZ.com. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
  2. ↑ Interview, DCist.com
  3. ↑ Pitchfork, Pitchfork. "Pitchfork DJ Kicks". Pitchfork. Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  4. ↑ Dancing Astronaut, Dancing Astronaut. "Dancing Astronaut Digitalism". Dancing Astronaut. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  5. ↑ Clash Magazine, Clash Magazine. "Clash Magazine 'Wolves' feature". Clash Magazine. Clash Magazine. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  6. ↑ "Video Premiere: Digitalism - 'Utopia' | KALTBLUT Magazine". KALTBLUT Magazine. Retrieved 2016-04-03.
  7. ↑ Higher Frequency interview
  8. ↑ RA, RA. "RA digi". RA.
  9. ↑ Trailer for TrackMania Nations Forever , contains remix of "Zdarlight"
  10. ↑ BMW X1 Commercial
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