Bio
Stefan Weise/Syrte was born in northern Italy in the town of Bolzano before moving to Germany at age 6. He spent his early years listening to underground electronic music, Funk, Soul, Motown, Disco and Acid House. In the late 80’s, while on a trip to the UK, he spent nearly every night at a local club listening to Acid House. This forged the path that would soon become his passion.
Stefan started DJing at the tender age of 17 playing a variety of early Techno and Dub Techno from labels such as Prime, Basic Channel, Planet Rhythm, H-Productions and more. 2 years later began experimenting with production, but having only limited tools, he made do with what he had: a demo copy of Propellerhead’s Rebirth RB-338 and the worst Macintosh ever made, a Performa 6300. Nevertheless, he kept writing and recording music using a book to keep track of song settings before the 30 minute Rebirth demo period ran out. His friends eventually all pitched in enough money to purchase him a full version of Rebirth as a gift. He remembers this time as “writing the most amount of terrible tracks ever”, but it was also how he learned to program drums and synths, put together a track and refine his process. Over time and many odd jobs later, Stefan managed to save up enough money to purchase a better computer and a few pieces of gear.
At this time, Stefan began performing live at various Dallas venues and co-ran a local artist collective known as “AI Collective”. Being surrounded by highly experienced and talented producers, he learned to hone his production skills as well as find what would become his own sound.
Over the next 7 years he experimented with various genres until he stumbled across the cinematic breakbeat sound of UK band Hybrid. During the short-lived “Progressive Breaks” era, his most notable contributions included a bootleg remix of Gary Jules’ “Mad World” cover and eventually a remix for Hybrid themselves that he and Starfire worked on together. In 2010 Stefan bid farewell to the aging progressive sound to return to his original passion: Techno. Stefan cites as his biggest influences Aphex Twin, Autechre, Plastikman, Steve Rachmad, Maurizio and more.
Since redefining his identity and sound, Stefan has been publishing original productions at an increasing pace. Stefan has been the host of the monthly “Blue Industries” show on Proton Radio since 2005. In 2019, Stefan alongside James Freer started Electro/IDM label Science Cult, which has been steadily publishing Vinyl and Digital releases.