Biography:
System:FX is an industrial project from East London, combining ‘old-skool’ 90s industrial with modern EBM sounds.
Initially the brainchild of Steve Alton, he was joined by vocalist Mike and drummer Debs in early 2007. Steve was a successful guitarist for many years, being a founder member of the grindcore band Axegrinder, who were signed to the Peaceville label in the late 1980s and eventually sold in excess of 100,000 albums. Steve’s musical tastes had changed dramatically towards the electronic/industrial over the last decade or so, which culminated in him starting his own industrial project. He brought in Debs and Mike to maintain the live vibe which he felt had been lacking from industrial/electronic music, a view corroborated by the fact that many more bands are appearing with live drummers!
Their first self-released demo, Virus, was an instant dancefloor hit in the legendary Slimelight nightclub, and has also been played in clubs all over the world, including at the 2007 Wave Gotik Treffen launch party.
2008 saw System:FX play the first of several live shows, and have since supported such notable bands as Panzer AG and 32Crash, as well as top UK acts Deviant UK and Skinjob. Their frantic and aggressive live shows have included an imaginative industrial rework of the Depeche Mode classic, ‘Leave In Silence’.
In late 2008 they released their self-financed EP ‘High:Definition:Violence’ which as well as 4 original tracks contains 4 remixes from other UK acts: Uberbyte, Autoclav 1.1, RBN and Moose Hunters. The tracks have been described as “good tracks that balance energy, melody and mild distorted vocals” (www.chaindlk.com/reviews).
"An intriguing mixture of addictive hooks, well developed instrumentation and aggressive but focused male vocals. High:Definition:Violence pumps fresh energy and aggression into a music genre that has become packed with imitators in the past few years." (www.regenmag.com)
The EP is available at the System:FX MySpace and at their live shows
2009 Saw System:FX start the year with a headline show at Gravity in London, opening for History of Guns at an electropunk night, supporting the legendary DAF at the o2 Islington Academy London and touring with Belgian's finest Implant. Mike decided to leave the band after the DAF show with Steve taking over the vacant front man slot. Expect many more new tracks as the band works towards writing a full length album. Also, Steve has been approached by a number of other UK bands to do production/remix work for them, based on the quality of his work on ‘High:Definition:Violence’.
Band members:
Steve Alton: keyboards, programming, backing vocals
Mike Hinchliffe: vocals
Deb Alton: drums