Digitalism are a German

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

duo formed in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

in 2004, consisting of Jens "Jence" Moelle and İsmail "Isi" Tüfekçi. The duo are signed to French label Kitsuné, as well as

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

and

Astralwerks Astralwerks is an American record label primarily focused on electronic music owned by Universal Music Group. Its material is distributed via Capitol Music Group in the United States. The label was founded in 1993 and, in its early years, featur ...

in other parts of the world.

Band history

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

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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. ...

they own in Hamburg. Digitalism's debut album, ''

Idealism In philosophy, the term idealism identifies and describes metaphysical perspectives which assert that reality is indistinguishable and inseparable from perception and understanding; that reality is a mental construct closely connected to ide ...

'', was released in Japan on 9 May 2007 by

Toshiba EMI , formerly , was one of Japan's leading music companies. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of British music company EMI Group Ltd. on June 30, 2007, after Toshiba sold off its previous 45% stake. Its CEO and president was Kazuhiko Koike. Whe ...

, in France on 21 May 2007 by Kitsuné, in North America by

, and in Australia and New Zealand by

etcetc Etcetc Music is an independent record label based in Sydney, Australia. It is the label of alternative and electronic bands and artists Pnau, George Maple, Kilter, Paces, San Mei, Luke Million, CLYPSO, Luboku, and the Australian releases of Ja ...

and

. The album includes re-edits of previously released singles "Jupiter Room" and "Zdarlight" as well as their "Digitalism in Cairo" original re-edit of a track by

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...

. 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.

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 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 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 American indie band

Youngblood Hawke ''Youngblood Hawke'' is a 1962 novel by American writer Herman Wouk about the rise and fall of a talented young writer of hardscrabble Kentucky origin who briefly becomes the toast of literary New York City. The plot was suggested by the life o ...

, debuting in Germany and receiving radio playlist support in the US on

KCRW KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programm ...

and

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

. The release of "Wolves" was backed by the international telecommunications company

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...

, 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 A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French ''(se) mirer'', from the Latin ''mirari'', meanin ...

'', 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.

Influences

Digitalism cite

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music history, they achieved popularity in the late 1990s as p ...

and film soundtracks as influences, as well as video game music,

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classica ...

The Strokes The Strokes are an American rock band from New York City. Formed in 1998, the band is composed of lead singer and songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio More ...

Stuart Price Stuart David Price (born 9 September 1977) is an English electronic musician, DJ, songwriter, and record producer known for his work with artists including Madonna, Dua Lipa, The Killers, New Order, Kylie Minogue, DMA's, Example, Take ...

and Roulé Records.

Live act

To mirror the influence of their 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

Queens of the Stone Age Queens of the Stone Age (commonly abbreviated QOTSA) is an American rock band formed in 1996 in Palm Desert, California. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, who has been the only constant member throughout multiple line- ...

DJ Shadow Joshua Paul Davis (born June 29, 1972), better known by his stage name DJ Shadow, is an American DJ, songwriter and record producer. His debut studio album, '' Endtroducing.....'' was released in 1996. Biography Early years (1989–1995) DJ Sha ...

Moderat Moderat is a German electronic music supergroup originating in Berlin between Sascha Ring, also known as Apparat, and Modeselektor members Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary. The band have released four studio albums to date, their most recent ...

, and

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

. At the same time as DJs, they developed a following with house and techno sets. Digitalism have made appearances at festivals such as

Coachella Coachella may refer to: * Coachella, California * Coachella Canal, in California * Coachella (festival), an annual music and arts festival in California * "Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind", a 2017 song by Lana del Rey See also

* Coachell ...

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

Rhythm and Vines Rhythm and Vines (commonly known as R&V, RnV or Rhythm) is an annual music festival held at Waiohika Estate vineyard, northwest of Gisborne, New Zealand. The festival began in 2003 and was held for the one day of New Year's Eve until 2008 wh ...

Electric Picnic Electric Picnic is an annual arts-and-music festival which has been staged since 2004 at Stradbally Hall in Stradbally, County Laois, Ireland. It is organised by Pod Concerts and Festival Republic, who purchased the majority shareholding in ...

, and

Ultra Music Festival Ultra Music Festival (UMF) is an annual outdoor electronic music festival that takes place during March in Miami, Florida, United States. The festival was founded in 1999 by Russell Faibisch and Alex Omes. It was first held on Miami Beach, bu ...

Discography

* ''

'' (2007) * '' I Love You Dude'' (2011) * ''

'' (2016) * ''JPEG'' (2019)

References

External links

* *
Interview
at

Resident Advisor ''Resident Advisor'' (also known as ''RA'') is an online music magazine and community platform dedicated to showcasing electronic music, artists and events across the globe. It was established in 2001. ''RA''s editorial team provides news, musi ...

Interview
at Liberation Frequency {{DEFAULTSORT:Digitalism (Band) Astralwerks artists Club DJs Dance-punk musical groups Electro house musicians Electronic music duos German electronic rock musical groups German dance music groups German electronic music groups Kitsuné artists Musical groups established in 2004 Musical groups from Hamburg Remixers V2 Records artists Virgin Records artists Alternative dance musical groups