Byetone

Olaf Bender's creative journey began with the chance discovery of 16mm film equipment during his school days. From that moment, he started experimenting with both the medium of "film" and the raw material itself. Technical limitations necessitated unique methods: he scratched directly onto the footage to create geometric figures, resulting in archaic motion patterns. These experiments led him to connect with the East German underground band AG Geige, of which he became a permanent member in 1988. His work with the group also introduced him to musical aspects. The home computer enabled self-taught individuals like him to work multimedially without formal musical training. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Bender worked in music distribution. The experience he gained there inspired him to publish his own music independently. Together with Frank Bretschneider and Carsten Nicolai, he founded the record label Raster-Noton in 1996. One of the label's earliest productions was the project signal, which Olaf Bender continues to collaborate on with Bretschneider and Nicolai to this day. Since the label's founding, Bender has also produced solo music under the pseudonym Byetone, though it wasn't until 2008 that he released his first record on Raster-Noton. The lead single »plastic star« defined his signature sound, presenting minimalist, rhythm-based music with a rock attitude, eschewing excessive processing and decoration; an archaic, rebellious music full of energy. 2008 also saw the release of his first full-length record, the critically acclaimed »death of a typographer«, whose follow-up »symeta«, released in 2011, even appeared on several "record of the year" lists. Beyond his own records, Byetone has also produced remixes for artists like Modeselektor and VCMG, as well as sound works for fashion designers like Rick Owens, Nina Ricci, and NikeLab. In addition to being part of Raster-Noton's supergroup signal, he is also part of the duo diamond version (together with Carsten Nicolai), which released a series of EPs and a full-length record on Mute Records in 2013. Byetone's third solo full-length album, »universal music«, was released on Raster-Noton in 2016.