Altern-8

Altern-8 is a British rave duo, featuring Mark Archer and Chris Peat. Best known in the early 1990s, their trademark was loud electronic tracks with a heavy bass line. On stage and in music videos, such as that for "Evapor-8", Altern-8's members wore facemasks and chemical warfare suits. The band was signed to Network Records based in Stratford House, Birmingham, England.

History

Altern-8 was formed in Stafford in 1990, as a side project to the already successful Nexus 21 (a name chosen because of its "futuristic house sound"), when both members were aged 21. From the outset, the band's objective was to develop their style which was influenced by the musical elements of Detroit techno artists Derrick May, Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson, as well as the Chicago house music sound of Phuture and early electronic heroes Kraftwerk, although the claim that they were led by American artists at the time is completely at odds with the text tribute found in the inlay of their first album which actually credits Manchester-based British techno pioneers 808 State by thanking them for starting the UK rave scene. Nexus 21 produced one album, The Rhythm of Life.

Altern-8 tunes influenced many artists, with their mixture of the sounds of the Roland TB-303, 808 and 909 with break-beats and familiar samples. At the time in the UK, outdoor rave events were legal, and Altern-8 had a reputation for turning up to play at major unofficial events. They helped to define harder house tracks relying more heavily on bass and volume. The use of more bass and eclectic noises gradually evolved Altern-8's music away from the earlier house music style. The duo, dressed in chemical warfare suits and dancing "like electrified monkeys", took part in a large number of live performances.

Notable Altern-8 tracks included "Activ-8", "E-vapor-8", "Frequency", "Brutal-8-E", "Armageddon", "Move My Body", "Hypnotic St-8" and "Infiltrate 202". The band released an album on the Network Records label in 1992, called Full On... Mask Hysteria. In 1991, the band did a live PA in the car park outside the then-famous Shelley's night club in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent (near to their home town of Stafford), which can be seen in their "Activ-8 (Come With Me)" video.

However, when hardcore-styled rave music faded away in 2001, they started to get involved in the development of commercial house music. In 1992, Peat stood as a candidate for the Stafford constituency in the General Election representing the Hardcore (Altern8-ive) party. He received 158 votes and finished in fourth place.

In 1993, Archer began producing billed as Slo-Moshun, responsible for the hits "Bells of NY" and "Help My Friend".^[1]

In 1994, Peat and Archer parted ways. Archer continued to DJ under the name Altern-8 until Peat declined permission to use the Altern-8 name and trademarks.^[2]

The 2001 DJ mix album Old Skool Euphoria, part of the Euphoria series of albums, was mixed by Archer using the Altern-8 pseudonym, although, as the album's mixing is simply credited to Altern-8, this is only speculation. Nonetheless, the album's list of shout outs in the liner notes are credited as being shout outs from "Mark Archer Altern 8". The album itself is a double album of various "old skool" acid house and rave music produced in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The album includes two Altern-8 songs.

Altern 8 under Mark Archer briefly started doing Old School Hardcore reunion events in the late 2000's. During the Hipster period of the early to mid 2010's, they have enjoyed a new resurgence in the mainstream under a new audience consisting mainly of 20 somethings who revived the original music.

In 2013, a campaign was launched on Facebook and Twitter to get Altern-8's 1991 song "Activ-8 (Come With Me)" to number 1 in the chart for Christmas. It ultimately ended up charting at number 33.^[3]

Quotation

From Andrew Harrison of Select magazine as printed in the Infiltr-8 America ep:

IS IT POSSIBLE TO TAKE ALTERN-8 SERIOUSLY? It's impossible not to. Because behind the rave pantomime and the giant robots and the mask hysteria, this is music for a different generation. These people never wasted their lives waiting for the next punk to arrive. 1988 was their Year Zero. And it's still here. All you have to do is close your eyes.

This is about people with Kraftwerk and Pierre, Transmat and WARP, 808, 909 and 303 encoded in their DNA. This is a live transmission of the beat you can't defeat, sampled over and over and hideously mutated. If you don't understand it, you don't deserve to. This is the phuture, right now, and THIS is the sound of Altern-8.

Discography

For the duo's career as Nexus 21, see Nexus 21#Discography.

Studio albums

DJ mix albums

• Old Skool Euphoria (2001) (Telstar Records/BMG)

Extended plays

Singles

References

External links

• Mask Hysteria - discography, future events, forums & group contact.
• Discogs: Altern 8
• Altern 8's first United States appearance
• Russian Fan Site
• Altern-8 discography at MusicBrainz
• Mark Archer (Altern 8) interview @ Kmag