Perc

Ali Wells, recording and performing as Perc, first explored music while growing up in Hertfordshire within the Home Counties. At thirteen he played in indie groups drawing from Ned’s Atomic Dustbin and the Wonder Stuff, identifying as an indie devotee until he turned sixteen. Exposure to the expanding nineties rave culture, introduced by his older brother, prompted him to abandon guitars, start DJing, and purchase a Roland TR626 drum machine the day after receiving his GCSE results. At eighteen he departed the southeast for a sound-engineering program at Newcastle University, where he began crafting techno shaped by Carl Cox and Jeff Mills. There he partnered with another student to form DriveSpace, his initial electronic project. Upon completing his degree he relocated to London and adopted the Perc alias for subsequent performances and recordings.

His first single, “I Make Nuclear,” appeared on Easy Space in 2002, followed by two 12-inch releases on Premier Sounds in 2003. In 2004 he launched Perc Trax, which between that year and 2012 issued material from Sawf, Truss, Forward Strategy Group, Ekoplekz, and Perc himself. Throughout the later 2000s the label cultivated a reputation for dark, hypnotic expressions of driving techno and deep tech grooves. Perc characterized his approach as “Droney, industrial-tinged techno. A mixture of 4/4 and broken beat stuff,” while citing early industrial and post-punk among his strongest influences, particularly Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle.

Ovum issued “Throb” and CLR released “Submit” in 2009, yet it was the 2010 outing “Monad V” on Stroboscopic Artefacts that drew widespread attention from techno listeners. Already established on the European and international techno circuit for bold DJ performances and his live presentation, he delivered his debut album, Wicker & Steel, in 2011. The record merged occult and pagan themes along with references to seventies British horror films into relentless, fragmented, drum-heavy techno; Guardian writer Tony Naylor called it “a bleak audio montage of modern Britain.” It earned placements on numerous year-end lists. The track “My Head Is Slowly Exploding” received remixes from Throbbing Gristle’s Chris Carter and Ancient Methods, further positioning Perc as a leading figure in contemporary techno.

Further singles and EPs surfaced on Perc Trax, Sleaze Records, and Stroboscopic Artefacts—including a split 12-inch with Xhin—in 2012. The following year he joined Adam X, known for Traversable Wormhole, as AX&P; their Ampere&Ohm EP appeared on the identically titled label. He also issued Spiker, the first in a series of joint projects with Truss, and Interpretations, an EP of his reworkings of Einstürzende Neubauten material. His second album, The Power & the Glory, followed in 2014 and received extensive critical praise. Additional 12-inch releases emerged on Perc Trax and Stroboscopic Artefacts alongside collaborations with Randomer, Passarella Death Squad, and continued work with Truss and Adam X. Bitter Music, his third full-length, arrived in 2017.