The Speed Freak

Biochip C's Martin Damm is a Frankfurt-based solo artists working in the experimental techno, acid, and electro veins, issuing 12-inch and full-length releases through such institutions of dancefloor exploration as Force Inc., Mille Plateaux, Monotone, Analog, and his own Anodyne label. Although the lion's share of that work has appeared under the Biochip name, he also splits a good deal of focus between two other projects -- Speed Freak (experimental techno and gabber), Phase 4 (hardcore), Search & Destroy (gabber), and Subsonic 808 (house). He's also recorded as R.I.C. and Steel for Force Inc. subsidiary Mille Plateaux, combining the complex rhythmic base of his other, harder-edged releases with elements of ambient and industrial. Damm was influenced early on by the Chicago acid scene associated with artists such as Robert Armani, DJ Pierre, Armando, and Marshall Jefferson and labels such as Chicago Traxx and Drop Bass Network (the latter through which Damm has released material as Speed Freak), and much of his work utilizes the signature acid warble of the 303. More recently, Damm has also become one of the few experimental dancefloor artists working in breakbeat forms of acid and techno, with a strong electro influence in evidence on EPs for Force Inc. ("Kaori"), Analog ("Tres Amigos en Acid"), and Anodyne ("Moldiver," "Musik Ohne Eire"). ~ Sean Cooper, Rovi