The Hacker

Heavily influenced by the electro and new wave music of the ’80s, French producer the Hacker (Michel Amato) jumped to the forefront of the electro-clash and neo-electro scene when he teamed with Miss Kittin for the 2001 hit “Frank Sinatra.” He began his career in the mid-’90s with the Futurist (Benoit Bollini) in the hardcore techno project XMF. As Amato’s interest evolved from Duran Duran to Cabaret Voltaire and on to Jeff Mills and LFO he began making more traditional techno in the classic Detroit style. Beginning in 1995, the Hacker became his moniker for these more minimal releases and when he formed his own label in 1998, he named it GoodLife in honor of the big club hit by Detroit legends Inner City. That year he also began working with the like-minded Miss Kittin when the duo released their debut EP Champagne on DJ Hell’s label, International Deejay Gigolos. By the time GoodLife released the Hacker’s full-length debut, Melodies en Sous-Sol, in 2000 Amato’s interest in Detroit had shifted to the city’s electro-techno projects like Drexciya and Dopplereffekt. The audience for this new electro was growing across Europe so when the Hacker and Miss Kittin released “Frank Sinatra” in 2001 it was an instant dancefloor hit. Their debut full-length, appropriately titled The First Album, arrived that same year and was followed by a worldwide tour in 2002 after which the Hacker returned to solo work. Remixes, 12”s, and live DJ sets kept him busy until 2004, when his second album Reves Mechaniques arrived on GoodLife/Different. He placed classic electro acts like Front 242 and Model 500 next to new artists like Ellen Allien and the Revolving Eyes on his 2006 mix CD The Hacker A.N.D. N.O.W.... ~ David Jeffries