About this artist
Phase Fatale is the pseudonym of New York-born, Berlin-based producer and DJ Hayden Payne. Growing up on a diet of classic post-punk, goth rock, and shoegaze, Payne originally played guitar and sang in the New York group Dream Affair before merging the band’s cold-wave sound with his love of EBM, industrial, and techno. Payne’s first release under the Phase Fatale moniker appeared on Italian label, Avant! in 2014, with the Skyscraper EP signaling the arrival of his new beat- and EBM-referencing brand of techno. That same year saw him remixing Ghost Actor for the Berlin-based label aufnahme + wiedergabe, which in turn released his second EP, Grain, the following year. 2016 saw Payne delivering two EPs — Issue No. Ten and Issue No. Fifteen — for James Ruskin, Juan Mendez, and Karl O'Connor’s Jealous God label. Not only becoming a draw on the DJ and live circuit across Europe and the U.S., Payne was also hit up for remix work, taking on projects for the likes of the Soft Moon, P.E.A.R.L., and Schwefelgelb. The following year saw him drop the harsher-sounding Anubis EP for Ostgut Ton’s offshoot label Unterton before teaming up with Dominic Fernow’s Hospital Productions for the release of his debut album Redeemer. ~ Rich Wilson