Biography
B(if)tek ranked among Australia’s most inventive electronic outfits. Within the Clan Analogue collective that also featured Itch-E & Scratch-E, Dark Network, and Infusion, the pair fashioned experimental tracks simultaneously futuristic and retro. The group comprised Kate Crawford, known as k8, and Nicole Skeltys, known as single-cell, who labeled themselves the Daphne and Velma of electronica. Their mischievous, lighthearted approach shaped the performances; audiences saw them in odd costumes, erupting in laughter, and sipping champagne onstage. They also secured funding from the Arts Council of Australia to examine how low frequencies affect listeners, an inquiry they pursued by issuing a double album of minimalist dance music.
In 1996 the two technology enthusiasts issued their debut album Sub-Vocal Theme Park, recorded in a Canberra garage and issued via the aptly titled independent label Geekgirl. Soon afterward the partners relocated in opposite directions, with Crawford moving north to Sydney and Skeltys heading south to Melbourne, yet they kept working together by exchanging DAT tapes through the post. That process yielded the follow-up album 2020, which appeared on the Sony subsidiary Murmur in 2000. They selected the title 2020 because they anticipated a crewed flight to Mars by then and imagined the record as possible listening material for such astronauts. One track reworked Cliff Richard’s “Wired for Sound” and featured guest vocals from Julee Cruise. In 2008 Crawford received an invitation to the Australia 2020 Summit, where she contributed in her role as associate professor of journalism and media research.
Between 2000 and 2003 the duo operated under the name B(if)tek Corporation and bestowed the WINK Awards on subversive electronic projects. Their own subversive gesture involved directing their arts-council grant toward the 2003 double album Frequencies Will Move Together, released on their own Subvocal imprint. The opening disc featured exclusively low-frequency material built from found-sound elements such as cats purring and helicopter rotors turning. During one of two sold-out shows at the Sydney Opera House they played an eleven-minute sub-bass piece that reportedly relieved a listener’s tinnitus. The second disc offered remixes of the first by artists including Architecture in Helsinki and Monolake. Once the Frequencies Will Move Together tour concluded, Crawford and Skeltys parted ways; Crawford joined the electronic group Clone while advancing her scholarly work, and Skeltys continued releasing electronica as Artificial before shifting direction to join the country/folk band Dust.
In 1996 the two technology enthusiasts issued their debut album Sub-Vocal Theme Park, recorded in a Canberra garage and issued via the aptly titled independent label Geekgirl. Soon afterward the partners relocated in opposite directions, with Crawford moving north to Sydney and Skeltys heading south to Melbourne, yet they kept working together by exchanging DAT tapes through the post. That process yielded the follow-up album 2020, which appeared on the Sony subsidiary Murmur in 2000. They selected the title 2020 because they anticipated a crewed flight to Mars by then and imagined the record as possible listening material for such astronauts. One track reworked Cliff Richard’s “Wired for Sound” and featured guest vocals from Julee Cruise. In 2008 Crawford received an invitation to the Australia 2020 Summit, where she contributed in her role as associate professor of journalism and media research.
Between 2000 and 2003 the duo operated under the name B(if)tek Corporation and bestowed the WINK Awards on subversive electronic projects. Their own subversive gesture involved directing their arts-council grant toward the 2003 double album Frequencies Will Move Together, released on their own Subvocal imprint. The opening disc featured exclusively low-frequency material built from found-sound elements such as cats purring and helicopter rotors turning. During one of two sold-out shows at the Sydney Opera House they played an eleven-minute sub-bass piece that reportedly relieved a listener’s tinnitus. The second disc offered remixes of the first by artists including Architecture in Helsinki and Monolake. Once the Frequencies Will Move Together tour concluded, Crawford and Skeltys parted ways; Crawford joined the electronic group Clone while advancing her scholarly work, and Skeltys continued releasing electronica as Artificial before shifting direction to join the country/folk band Dust.
Albums
