Russell Haswell

Russell Haswell, who characterizes his practice as that of a "multidisciplinary artist," has produced conceptual artworks, sculptures, and video pieces alongside performances and audio recordings that span from abrasive computer-generated noise and glitch techniques to industrial and experimental techno forms. He has engaged in extensive collaborations with a variety of figures in experimental music and techno scenes, including Florian Hecker, Masami Akita (Merzbow), Regis, and Powell. Additionally, he has taken part in joint endeavors like Consumer Electronics, Senssurround Orchestra, and Gescom, an offshoot of Autechre.

Born in Coventry during 1970, Haswell initially came to prominence in the early 1990s through his engineering work on recordings for Mute, while also making occasional contributions to releases by artists such as Simon Fisher Turner and Holger Hiller. His appearance came on Merzbow's 1997 remix album Scumtron, followed by a collaboration with Akita (joined by Reiko Azuma and Tetsuo Sakaibara) on the 1997 EP Ich Schmitt Mich in Den Finger, put out by the Austrian imprint Mego. Mego issued Haswell's debut full-length CD, Live Salvage 1997-2000, in 2001, earning an Honorable Mention for Digital Musics at the Prix Ars Electronica. In 2002, Warp Records put out Satanstornade, the joint noise album by Haswell and Akita, surprising those anticipating techno or IDM. Throughout much of the decade, Haswell focused on conceptual endeavors, event curation, and partnerships with Florian Hecker, employing Iannis Xenakis' UPIC Music Composing System for their music creation. Several sessions from these efforts saw eventual release via Warner Classics & Jazz (Blackest Ever Black), Warp (UPIC Warp Tracks), and Editions Mego (Kanal Gendyn). Haswell also organized a pair of events for London's All Tomorrow's Parties, showcasing acts including Aphex Twin, Mark Stewart + the Maffia, Robert Hood, among numerous others.

Haswell resumed issuing solo material starting in 2008 with Second Live Salvage on Editions Mego. The next year, that same label put out Wild Tracks, consisting of unaltered captures of insects, airplanes, wind, and further non-musical elements. A double CD featuring experiments along with more raw recordings, titled Value + Bonus, came out on Carlos Giffoni's No Fun Productions in 2010. Both Haswell's acid techno project Acid No!se Synthesis and the multi-channel noise LP/DVD In It (Immersive Live Salvage) appeared on Editions Mego during 2011. Another live compilation, Scandinavian Parts (Immersive Live Salvage Supplement), emerged on Sweden's iDEAL Recordings in 2012. That same year saw three further outputs delving into Haswell's techno and experimental leanings: 5" Vinyl Series LP and Remixed via Downwards, plus Factual from Editions Mego. During 2013, Haswell joined forces with Regis (Karl O'Connor) under the Concrete Fence moniker; their New Release (1) EP on PAN offered a firmer techno structure around Haswell's noise explorations. Convulsive Threshold: Collaborative Work for MP3 Deviations, an LP of live sessions with Japanese glitch pioneer Yasunao Tone, also came out that year on Editions Mego.

Haswell persisted in bridging techno and noise domains across his 2014 outputs. Electroacoustic Sludge Dither Transformation Smear Grind Decomposition nO!se File Exchange Mega Edit, a double CD of dense noise collages crafted by Haswell alongside Japanese artist Pain Jerk, surfaced on Editions Mego, while Bocian Records released the LP Conceptual nO!se. The more techno-oriented yet still abrasive and resolute Double A 12" and 37 Minute Workout LP both emerged on Diagonal. Editions Mego issued Haswell's "Tongue Dancer '85" single in September 2015, and Diagonal released As Sure as Night Follows Day; these placed greater emphasis on beats compared to earlier work, though remaining heavily abstracted, deconstructed takes on techno. Autechre, Powell, and Detroit's DJ Stingray provided contributions to As Sure as Night Follows Day: Remixes, issued by Diagonal toward the close of 2015.