Empirion

Empirion originated in 1993 when Jamie Smart, then the resident DJ at a club in Essex, connected with reformed industrialist Bob Glennie and rock & roller Oz. Smart had earlier shared shifts at a car wash with Liam Howlett of the Prodigy, and the three musicians promptly launched Wanted Records. Their initial recording, the acid-trance rocker “Narcotic Influence,” was finished in two days and later placed by Mixmag among the 100 greatest dance singles ever. Departing from the Prodigy model, Smart, Glennie, and Oz divided all studio work and label duties equally. Follow-up tracks “Quark” and “Ciao” reinforced the trio’s image as forward-thinking dance hooligans, while Smart’s DJ appearances on Prodigy bills further raised their profile and prompted Beggars Banquet to sign them to a major-label deal. The resulting debut album, Advanced Technology, appeared in early 1997.