Phase Fatale

Hayden Payne operates as Phase Fatale from his Berlin base, channeling intricate sound design and elaborate synthesis methods into dystopian techno productions. Rooted in a cold-wave foundation, his approach incorporates shadowy ambient textures, industrial moods, and meticulous compositional structures evident on the 2017 debut Redeemer along with later works such as the 2023 EP Nailed to the Net.

New York served as Payne’s formative environment, where exposure to classic post-punk, goth rock, and shoegaze shaped his early years. He initially handled guitar and vocals in Dream Affair, later fusing that outfit’s cold-wave palette with his affinity for industrial and techno forms. The Skyscraper EP marked his first Phase Fatale outing when it surfaced on the Italian imprint Avant! in 2014, establishing a beat-driven, EBM-inflected strain of techno. During the same period he delivered a Ghost Actor remix for Berlin’s aufnahme + wiedergabe, the label that subsequently issued his follow-up Grain EP in 2015. Two further EPs, Issue No. Ten and Issue No. Fifteen, appeared on the Jealous God imprint run by James Ruskin, Juan Mendez, and Karl O’Connor throughout 2016.

Payne soon emerged as a sought-after presence on DJ and live stages spanning Europe and the United States while fielding remix requests from artists including the Soft Moon, P.E.A.R.L., and Schwefelgelb. The ensuing year brought the more abrasive Anubis EP on Unterton, Ostgut Ton’s subsidiary, before a partnership with Dominic Fernow’s Hospital Productions yielded the debut album Redeemer. Launching his own BITE label in 2018 provided a platform for Soft Crash, the joint venture with Pablo Bozzi. The second Phase Fatale full-length, Scanning Backwards, followed in 2020 via Ostgut Ton and extended Payne’s shadowy reworkings of four-on-the-floor techno. Burning the Rural District arrived as the third album in 2022, succeeded by assorted remixes, independent cuts, and the 2023 EP Nailed to the Net that included Rrose’s version of “Desecrating Vows.”