Psykosonik was an American

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...

music group. The band had four ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' charted

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

hit singles on the

Dance Club Songs Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

chart. ''Psykosonik'' was featured on the '' Mortal Kombat: Annihilation'' soundtrack. The band's lyrics include

cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyber ...

and extropian themes that allude to

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...

, AI,

cybernetics Cybernetics is a wide-ranging field concerned with circular causality, such as feedback, in regulatory and purposive systems. Cybernetics is named after an example of circular causal feedback, that of steering a ship, where the helmsperson m ...

life extension Life extension is the concept of extending the human life expectancy, lifespan, either modestly through improvements in medicine or dramatically by increasing the maximum lifespan beyond its generally-settled oldest people, limit of 125 years. S ...

, and general science.

History

Psykosonik included musicians

Paul Sebastien Paul Sebastien, born Paul Sebastien Skrowaczewski, is an American musician, producer, composer, marketing officer and businessman. He is best known for the being the frontman of the techno group Psykosonik, where he has been involved with singing ...

Theodore Beale Theodore Robert Beale (born August 21, 1968), also known as Vox Day, is an American far-right activist, writer, publisher, and video game designer. He has been described as a white supremacist, a misogynist, and part of the alt-right. ''The Wal ...

, Daniel Lenz, and Michael Larson. In 1987 Theodore Beale was playing in a cover band called NoBoys. He first met Paul Sebastian at The Underground in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

and the two men put together a band with Beale on keyboards and Sebastian on guitar and vocals. They found a drummer Michael Larson and a production engineer Daniel Lenz. The band Psykosonik began recording electronic music at Sebastian's apartment where he had a recording studio, and later found performance opportunities in local clubs including First Avenue,

7th Street Entry First Avenue & 7th St Entry are two historic music venues housed in the same landmark building in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. The nightclub sits on the corner of First Avenue North and 7th Street North, from which the venues get their names. ...

, and

Glam Slam "Glam Slam" is a song by American musician Prince, and the second single from his 1988 album, ''Lovesexy''. The song has sexual overtones with a spiritual undertone and fits the ''Lovesexy'' theme of integrating God and sex. The song is complex mu ...

. Their first successful song was "Sex Me Up", which they used as a demo to sign with

Wax Trax! Records Wax Trax! Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago. It began as a record shop in Denver, Colorado, opened by life partners Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher, who sold the store in 1978 and moved to Chicago. In November of that y ...

and

TVT Records TVT Records (Tee-Vee Tunes) was an American record label founded by Steve Gottlieb. Over the course of its 24-year history, the label released 25 Gold, Platinum and Multi-Platinum releases. Its roster included Nine Inch Nails, Ja Rule, Lil Jon, ...

. Their first album, ''Psykosonik'', was released in 1993. Their second album, ''Unlearn'', was released in 1995. The hit singles from these albums included "Silicon Jesus" in September 1993, "Welcome to My Mind" in February 1994, "Unlearn" (1995) and "It Has Begun" (1996). The members also appeared in video productions. The band's third album was titled ''Spiritual Machine''. It was completed by 1997 but was never released by the band's label, Wax Trax! Records, which was at this time owned by TVT Records. Because of disagreements with their label, Psykosonik then disbanded. Daniel Lenz went on to produce a single album with vocalist Brent Daniels titled ''Searching for the End'' under the band name Hednoize. In 2001 Lenz launched a short lived project called PsykoHed on MP3.com. He released his debut solo album, ''Stuck in a Dream'', in 2008, featuring guest appearances by Brent Daniels, as well as Paul Sebastien of Psykosonik. Paul Sebastien went on to work as a composer at

Thomas Dolby Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher. Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me ...

's audio technology company

Beatnik Beatniks were members of a social movement in the 1950s that subscribed to an anti-materialistic lifestyle. History In 1948, Jack Kerouac introduced the phrase "Beat Generation", generalizing from his social circle to characterize the undergr ...

, composing several tracks for its Headspace Music Library before leaving in 1998 to pursue other technology interests. In 2003, Sebastien teamed up with Caesar Filori to release two singles under the name Basic Pleasure Model, titled ''Sunyata'' and ''How to Live.'' Larson went on to become the audio director for

Epic Games Epic Games, Inc. is an American video game and software developer and publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney as Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, originally located in his parents' house in Potomac, M ...

and produced the soundtracks for the ''

Gears of War ''Gears of War'' is a media franchise centered on a series of video games created by Epic Games, developed and managed by The Coalition, and owned and published by Xbox Game Studios. The franchise is best known for its third-person shooter vide ...

'' series. Beale, also known as

Vox Day Theodore Robert Beale (born August 21, 1968), also known as Vox Day, is an American far-right activist, writer, publisher, and video game designer. He has been described as a white supremacist, a misogynist, and part of the alt-right. ''The Wall ...

, left the field of music.

Personnel

(1992–1997) –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...

, mixing,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

*Daniel Lenz (1992–1997) – composition, engineering, lyrics, mixing, production *

(1992–1994) – composition, lyrics *Michael Larson (1992–1994) – samples, percussion

Discography

Albums

Singles

Movie and game soundtracks

References

External links

* {{Authority control TVT Records artists American techno music groups Cyberpunk music Wax Trax! Records artists