Biography
Sven Zalac performs as Codec while Matthias Freund appears as Flexor; together the pair make up the German techno-pop duo Codec & Flexor. Their sound merges forceful, EBM-driven rhythms with vocals shaped by new wave, and they introduced themselves on the 2002 album Tubed. An American edition followed the next year on Emperor Norton, expanded to feature the electroclash-era club track “Time Has Changed.” The duo’s second album, the more pop-oriented Killermachine, appeared in 2006 on Kitty-Yo.
Earlier in the decade, Zalac and Freund had performed together in the indie-rock group Atomic Comic. After the band’s first shows in 1993, Zalac developed a strong interest in electronic music and departed; Freund then took the role of singer in De Luxe. Zalac joined that project during the latter half of the ’90s, and the lineup played multiple German festivals while cutting a demo in 2000. Finding the arrangement no longer viable, the two musicians decided to work independently under the Codec & Flexor name.
They placed their first release, the single “Crazy Girls,” with Christian Morgenstern’s Forte Records in 2001. The following year saw the split 12-inch Eldar, shared with Kompakt co-founder Michael Mayer, which included “Time Has Changed”; that track later received its own remix EP and became one of the duo’s best-known pieces. After issuing Tubed in 2002, Codec & Flexor supplied remixes for John Starlight and Northern Lite before moving to Kitty-Yo for Killermachine. In late 2007 Codec started the Body Function imprint with the duo’s Come a Little Closer EP.
Earlier in the decade, Zalac and Freund had performed together in the indie-rock group Atomic Comic. After the band’s first shows in 1993, Zalac developed a strong interest in electronic music and departed; Freund then took the role of singer in De Luxe. Zalac joined that project during the latter half of the ’90s, and the lineup played multiple German festivals while cutting a demo in 2000. Finding the arrangement no longer viable, the two musicians decided to work independently under the Codec & Flexor name.
They placed their first release, the single “Crazy Girls,” with Christian Morgenstern’s Forte Records in 2001. The following year saw the split 12-inch Eldar, shared with Kompakt co-founder Michael Mayer, which included “Time Has Changed”; that track later received its own remix EP and became one of the duo’s best-known pieces. After issuing Tubed in 2002, Codec & Flexor supplied remixes for John Starlight and Northern Lite before moving to Kitty-Yo for Killermachine. In late 2007 Codec started the Body Function imprint with the duo’s Come a Little Closer EP.
Albums
Singles
