Boys Noize

Alexander Ridha, operating under the Boys Noize name and running Boysnoize Records, rose to prominence in the electro-house world throughout the 2000s and 2010s by crafting an aggressive fusion of rave energy, hip-hop rhythms, and industrial textures. He first built his reputation through numerous singles and high-octane reworkings for Bloc Party, Depeche Mode, and Feist before issuing his widely praised debut album Oi Oi Oi in 2007. Later full-length efforts including Out of the Black (2012) and Mayday (2016) broadened his sonic palette with contributions from Snoop Dogg, Hudson Mohawke, and Poliça, while FabricLive 72 (2013) showcased his mixing abilities. Beyond his solo output, Ridha maintained frequent partnerships with Skrillex in the Dog Blood project, with Mr. Oizo as Handbraekes, with Chilly Gonzales both as Octave Minds and as producer/co-writer on the 2010 album Ivory Tower, and with Erol Alkan. The album +/- appeared in 2021.

Born in Hamburg, Germany, Ridha relocated to Berlin at age 21. Drawing primary inspiration from Daft Punk, he established himself as a skilled producer in 2004 via the International Deejay Gigolo Records 12-inch “The Bomb!/Boy Neu.” He launched Boysnoize Records in 2005 and placed two Boys Noize 12-inch releases—“Optic/He-Man” and “Volta 82”—on the imprint, which went on to host material by I-Robots, Housemeister, Lady B, Shadow Dancer, and additional artists. Concurrently he issued standalone records on Anthony Rother’s Datapunk label (Are You In?, 2005), Tiga’s Turbo label (Erole Attakk, 2006), and Kitsuné Music (Feel Good [TV=Off], 2007).

Oi Oi Oi (2007) served as Ridha’s first full-length statement under the Boys Noize alias; Last Gang Records handled its North American distribution along with the companion remix collection Oi Oi Oi Remixed. A well-received Boys Noize version of Feist’s “My Moon My Man” appeared as a bonus cut on the album. That track formed part of a series of remixes—most prominently Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus,” Bloc Party’s “Banquet,” and Justice’s “Phantom, Pt. 2”—that helped establish the Boys Noize identity. His initial two mix compilations, Bugged Out! Presents Suck My Deck and I Love Techno 2008, both surfaced in 2008.

The second studio album Power arrived in 2009, followed in 2011 by the double-CD anthology The Remixes 2004-11, which gathered Boys Noize treatments of material by the Chemical Brothers, N.E.R.D., and Daft Punk. Out of the Black landed in 2012, the same year Ridha and Skrillex debuted their Dog Blood collaboration with the single “Middle Finger.” Fabric tapped Ridha for the 72nd installment of its Fabriclive series in 2013. Out of the Black: The Remixes appeared the following year, featuring reinterpretations by Justice, Chromeo, and Jimmy Edgar. Also in 2014, Ridha and Chilly Gonzales issued their debut Octave Minds album, which included a guest spot from Chance the Rapper and the Social Experiment.

Boys Noize returned in 2015 with the stripped-down techno EP Strictly Raw, Vol. 1, containing joint productions involving Tiga, Atom™, and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. Mayday, his fourth studio LP, arrived in May 2016 and featured Benga, Remy Banks, Hudson Mohawke, Spank Rock, and Poliça. As with prior releases, a remix counterpart followed, issued as the paired EPs Mayday Remixes, Pt. 1 & Pt. 2. Strictly Raw, Vol. 2 and the singles “Orange” with Virgil Abloh and “Killer” with Steven A. Clark emerged in 2018. After Dog Blood’s Turn Off the Lights EP in spring 2019, Skrillex and Boys Noize joined Ty Dolla $ign on “Midnight Hour,” which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Recording. Ridha’s collaboration with Francis & the Lights, “Why Not?,” surfaced that autumn. He released the livestreamed album STRICTLY BVNKER, VOL. 1: The Lockdown Sessions in 2020. The full-length +/- appeared in 2021, carrying contributions from ABRA, Kelsey Lu, Chilly Gonzales, and Rico Nasty. In 2022 the Skream collaboration “Trip” and “Let Us Rave” featuring Naeem and Velvet Negroni both surfaced.