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biography / portrait

A beginning. Club lights pulse, smoke undulates, bored goths sit around... then a loop starts, a beat to kill for kicks in... bodies move rapidly to the dance floor and a voice says 'Forever...' Step back almost quarter of a century for another beginning. Odense, Denmark. Better than a silver spoon, Stephan Groth is born with music in his blood. Father Jan Groth is a successful Blues musician, whilst his mother Lise is a former DJ. With such a heritage, unsurprisingly Stephan gets into music at an early age, but fortunately in electronica rather than the blues. In 1986 the family moved to Norway and two years later began experimenting with EBM, 'Electronic Body Music.' In 1989 another beginning. APOPTYGMA BERZERK is born, a collaboration between Stephan and Jon Erik Martinsen. A demo was released, the eerily titled, "Victims of Mutilation", and the duo rapidly sold the 500 copies in Euro electro underground. Jon Martinsen left the band over musical differences, but fortunately Stephan decided to carry on alone. A fortuitous decision, as the demo brought the band to the attention of Norwegian underground label Tatra records. Tatra picked up the track 'Ashes to Ashes' from the demo and this became the APB debut 12" single in 1991. With only 500 vinyl copies, today "Ashes to Ashes" is a rare collector's item. With the success of "Ashes to Ashes" behind him, in 1992 Stephan wrote three tracks for the legendary Norwegian sampler "Sex, Drugs and E.B.M", one track as Germ, a collaboration between Stephan and Anders Odden, the former Cadaver guitarist, and two by himself as Apoptygma Berzerk. It becomes APB's point of departure. The now-legendary "Burning Heretic" becomes a massive underground hit in European electro clubs and APB follow it up with the glorious "The 2nd Manifesto" EP. "Spiritual Reality" follows "Burning Heretic"'s lead and fills dance-floors across Europe, and APB are suddenly in demand. With the Nine Inch Nails led industrial renaissance in full swing, APB are headlining their own shows and invited to support such industrial heavyweights as The Young Gods, Die Krupps and Nitzer Ebb. A year later and new single, the provocatively entitled "Bitch", affirms APB's ascendancy as masters of dance-ebm crossover. With such a collection of singles behind it APB's debut album, released in 1994, was always promising to something special, but "Soli Deo Gloria" still surpassed all expectations. As other industrial -ebm bands turned to American rock for inspiration, APB presented a beautifully textured and carefully stated synthesis of electronica. A stand had been made, and the critical acclaim in the underground press was tremendous. EBM alone, however, could only go so far, and continuing his development of electronica Stephan began working more closely with the now-burgeoning house/techno scene. In 1994 Stephan released 3 singles under the names 'TB-MOONchild' and 'H2o' on his own Space Echo label, and began working with other techno/house projects such as 'Total Transformation' and 'Acid Queen'. The results of these crosscurrents were easily recognised in the new Apoptygma material. Next single 'Deep Red' wasn't a break with the past, but with it's deliciously tense manipulation of techno grooves, the sound of Apoptygma taking the fist step into the future. But it was a sound that reached fulfilment, however, with follow-up singles, 'Non-Stop Violence' and 'Love Never Dies', two tracks that intertwined spiralling dark electronica with a strong message of against war and anti-violence. Apoptygma were embraced world-wide by widely diverging scenes, from goths to rave-kids, and these two singles helped pave the way for the new wave of electro that has seen the success of bands like Covenant and VNV Nation. The new album '7' was barely released when APB as a project was forced into suspension. The song 'Non-Stop Violence' in itself allegorises a story. While APB had been growing, Stephan had been locked in battle with Norwegian army. As a pacifist, Stephan understandably refused to undertake Norwegian national service in the army, and thus found himself twice in court. In 1996 the military finally relented, and as an alternative to living at the state's expense for six months in an underfurnished room, Stephan was allowed to 'serve the country' by doing civilian work. APB supported the 'Cobolt 60' project, '7' was released, Apoptygma played Zillo, and then found himself stuck in the civil work system with little time to spend on music. Working for the next 14 months as a mental care assistant, understandably there were no APB releases for a while. Apoptygma struck back in '97 in style. Lifted from the '7' album, the remixed version of 'Mourn' was a major indie-hit and reached #3 in the DAC (German Alternative Chart'). US interest in APB increased and as Tatra worked on securing a US deal, the APB crew found themselves seeing in the New Year in Manhattan. As people partied in Times Square, APB hit the stage at Planet 28 at 1am on the 1st of January 1998 to a rapturous reception. Equally welcomed at the Pyramid two days later, APB started 98 on a high. It kept going. Next single 'Paranoia' again was a massive hit round Europe, and in June APB departed Norway for the 'APOPTYGMA BERZERK EUROPE TOUR 1998'. Over a month on the road with US support act Spahn Ranch saw new friendships made, old ones renewed, and affirmed Apoptygma Berzerk's place as one of the big stars of the contemporary electro scene. Offers came flooding in with establish acts like Front 242 and Project Pitchfork asking APB to remix their latest releases. The tour didn't stop though. America too had woken up to the APB phenomenon. A compilation, 'The Apocalyptic Manifesto' was released on the American label Metropolis, with 6000 numbered copies simultaneously released in Europe, and October '7' was finally released in the US, to coincide with APB's first US tour. Again it was a massive success, with sold-out shows and APB reaching thousands of American fans for the first time. It was an experience that had to be captured. During the European tour, the APB crew has multi-track recorded all the shows, and in early '99 set this down as 'APBL98', a 10,000 copy limited edition live album. To compliment the music, the album came with a media disc, featuring tour films, interviews, videos and rarities, and was mixed with quotes from the tour itself, making it a something of a microcosm of the tour itself. Stephan wanted something for those who had been unable to catch Apoptygma live or who wanted something to help re-live the experience. Evidently he'd struck a chord. The collection was released in spring and sold out in a few months With the difficulties with the Norwegian state following the release of '7', it had been three years since the last APB album proper, and in May 1999, Stephan gathered the APB crew together to plan the next stage. With a brief excursion to Infest 99, apart from making their UK debut the next sixth months are spent entrenched in the 'House of APB' studio, working on the new album. A single 'Eclipse' coincides across Europe with its namesake, but it's lush syntax of rolling electro and defining dance floor beat only hint at what is to come. The new album 'Welcome to Earth' is a delirious combination of modern trance with electro values, and deservedly both debuts and stays at No.1 in the German Alternative Chart. It's success across Europe and America is equally complete, and the 'Welcome to Earth' tour takes APB to ecstatic crowds across both continents, culminating in nominations for Best Live Act and Best Album at the German Alternative music awards, placing APB alongside such luminaries as the Smashing Pumpkins and The Cure. And so to 2001. Already Stephan Groth is writing new material for the next APB album. As he wrote in the back of 'Welcome to Earth', 'This is the end of the first part - it is time to move on'. And so as the millennium ends, another beginning for APB beckons. (source: www.apoptygmaberzerk.de)