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Mike Lévy (; born 24 June 1987), known professionally as Gesaffelstein (), is a French music programmer, DJ, songwriter and record producer from Lyon. He has worked alongside artists such as The Weeknd,
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 ...
, Kanye West,
A$AP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper, music producer and record executive. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a membe ...
, Electric Youth, Haim, Miss Kittin, The Hacker, Jean-Michel Jarre and
Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...
.


Name

Gesaffelstein is a portmanteau of Gesamtkunstwerk ("total artwork" in German, also title of an album by the American electro group
Dopplereffekt Dopplereffekt is an electronic music act from Detroit which has been active since 1995, and whose main member is Gerald Donald. While the musical style and the act's image changed radically during a non-release period from 1999 to 2003, two stead ...
) and Albert Einstein.


Career

Mike Lévy was born in Lyon, France, in June 1987. He started producing music at the age of sixteen when he first played an analog synthesizer.. He released his first EP in 2008 through the label OD Records. In 2009, he founded with The Hacker, Alex Reynaud and David Rimokh, the independent label Zone. In July 2012, Gesaffelstein made the cover of DJ Mag with
Brodinski Louis Rogé, known professionally as Brodinski, is a French composer, producer and DJ from Reims.Stéphanie Binet« Qui a dit que la "french touch" battait de l'aile ? » ''Le Monde'', 22 décembre 2011. Biography 2007–2011 He started to ...
.. The same year, his track "Viol" was used by
Citroën Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired ...
and Givenchy advertisings.. He co-produced two tracks on '' Yeezus'', the sixth album of American rapper Kanye West, including the lead single " Black Skinhead" and "
Send It Up "Send It Up" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Kanye West, from his sixth studio album ''Yeezus'' (2013). It was produced by West, Daft Punk, Gesaffelstein, Brodinski, Arca and Mike Dean. Like other songs on the album, it feature ...
", both tracks produced with Kanye West,
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 ...
, Brodinski and Mike Dean. On 28 October 2013, Gesaffelstein released his debut album ''
Aleph Aleph (or alef or alif, transliterated ʾ) is the first letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician , Hebrew , Aramaic , Syriac , Arabic ʾ and North Arabian 𐪑. It also appears as South Arabian 𐩱 and Ge'ez . These letter ...
'' under Parlophone Records and OWSLA (in North America only), which had been recorded since 2011. His remix of "Shockwave" by The Hacker is featured in the 2013 video game ''
Grand Theft Auto V ''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...
'', on the Soulwax FM radio station. In 2015, Gesaffelstein released the single "Conquistador" in collaboration with Jean-Michel Jarre, which is present on the album '' Electronica 1: The Time Machine''. He also produced the soundtrack for the French-Belgian 2015 film '' Maryland'', directed by
Alice Winocour Alice Winocour (born 13 January 1976) is a French screenwriter and director. Life and career Winocour was born in Paris, France, to a Jewish family. After studying screenwriting at La Fémis, Winocour made three short films and wrote the script ...
. In early 2018, he produced the tracks "I Was Never There" and "Hurt You" from The Weeknd's ''
My Dear Melancholy, ''My Dear Melancholy'' (stylized as ''My Dear Melancholy,'') is the first extended play by Canadian singer the Weeknd. It was released on March 30, 2018, through XO and Republic Records. Primarily produced by Frank Dukes, who serves as an execut ...
'' EP. Gesaffelstein signed to
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
in November 2018, with whom he released the lead single "Reset" from his second studio album ''
Hyperion Hyperion may refer to: Greek mythology * Hyperion (Titan), one of the twelve Titans * ''Hyperion'', a byname of the Sun, Helios * Hyperion of Troy or Yperion, son of King Priam Science * Hyperion (moon), a moon of the planet Saturn * ''Hyp ...
'' in the same month. In January 2019, he released a collaboration with The Weeknd titled " Lost in the Fire" as the second single from ''Hyperion'', and later in March 2019 released another collaboration with Pharrell Williams titled "Blast Off". ''Hyperion'' was released on 8 March 2019, to mixed reviews. On 3 October 2019, Gesaffelstein announced his surprise EP ''Novo Sonic System'', consisting of 6 tracks, which was released the following day. For Apple's October 2021 event, his track "Orck" was used as the pre-intro and outro theme music. Gesaffelstein announced a collaboration with fellow Kanye West collaborator
KayCyy Mark Makora Mbogo (born September 23, 1997), known professionally as KayCyy or KayCyy Pluto, is a Kenyan-American rapper, singer and songwriter. Born in Kenya, Mbogo moved with his family to St. Paul, Minnesota at an early age. Throughout his ...
. ''TW20 50'', an EP containing 3 collaborative songs between the two of them, released on 11 March 2022.


Musical style

Mixmag describes Gesaffelstein's style as being a "dark and threatening techno, though enchanting"; The Inrocks see it as "black, ultra-violent music, hichrevives the techno fundamentals, the intransigence of Underground Resistance, the mental and obsessive structures of Drexciya, the contemporary power and more". Megan Buerger from the Washington Post describes his style as a mixture of dark and underground music, and notes that a specialty of the artist is his use of silences to create a "tension" before a "raucous explosion of bass and percussion". '' Rolling Stone'' magazine sees his music as being "a little more aggressive and punk-rock than normal"..


Influences

Gesaffelstein cites
Dopplereffekt Dopplereffekt is an electronic music act from Detroit which has been active since 1995, and whose main member is Gerald Donald. While the musical style and the act's image changed radically during a non-release period from 1999 to 2003, two stead ...
,
Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...
, and new wave formations from the 80s such as D.A.F. or
Nitzer Ebb Nitzer Ebb () are a British EBM group formed in 1982 by Essex school friends Vaughan "Bon" Harris (programming, synthesizers, drums, vocals), Douglas McCarthy (vocals), and David Gooday (drums). History Initial releases (1983–1987) The g ...
all as references. He has also said Joy Division and The Hacker influenced his work.


Discography


Studio albums


Extended plays


Soundtracks


Singles


As lead artist


As featured artist


Other charted songs


Other appearances


Songwriting, production and technical credits


Remixes


Notes


References


External links

* * {{Gesaffelstein 1987 births Living people French DJs French electronic musicians French songwriters Male songwriters Columbia Records artists Owsla artists Parlophone artists Warner Music Sweden artists