King Electric

Who is King Electric?

King Electric is Chris Isepp and Peter Hartwig. They took their first musical attempts at the end of 1980s / beginning 1990s and first met each other at the upcoming and flourishing Viennese techno scene back in '92. While Hartwig was touring with the well known noise-pop band the Basket Boys, Isepp made first attentions as Electro DJ & Producer.

Due to the new influences the Basket Boys soon split and Hartwig founded BASK with his old band mate Manny Montana; which within a few years opened the way from an Underground live act to an official recording contract. At least since the albums Dark Monkey Moods and World Slow Down, the band finally is counted as pioneers of the Vienna Downtempo School. At the same time, Isepp stopped his own musical career and started as editor the "trailblazing graphic arts / technology magazine" ENVELOPE. The magazine reached, especially in Germany and Japan, cult status and still is regarded as the first German-language print media, which united electronic music, graphic design and multimedia with each other.

In summer 2000, after several studio sessions together, the pair decided to join forces and founded Sultans of Swing. The first single Summerbreeze was surprisingly successful, received reviews in the press and was due to his "charming 1970s MFSB Phillysound" worldwide in club & radio charts represented. It was followed by further releases on the own label, Top10 Records, and various remixes / collaborations...a few weeks before release of the album, Isepp and Hartwig decided a radical change of musical style, thus renaming the band King Electric. The Sultans of Swing-album was never released.