Astrix

Astrix was born in Georgia located in what was then, the USSR, to a Mountain Jewish family in the Caucasus and grew up in Tel Aviv, Israel. He began recording music under the name Astrix in 1997, sometimes misconceived to be taken from the Asterix comic books. An interview on the UK clubbing website Harderfaster.net revealed the name was chosen simply for sounding good, and not directly influenced by anything in particular.

Astrix started as a DJ in 1995 playing alternative and 1980s music. It was during this time that he learned about electronic music. In 1997 he began his first in-house studio recordings using a personal computer. He learned about trance in 1997 after being invited to a trance party. "At first it was a very new and strange experience for me and I couldn't find myself, but I was impressed by the energy and the impact that the music had made on the people at the party."[http://www.chaishop.com/divers/frameset2.lasso?lasso/content.lasso?id=744 Chaishop: Astrix] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070602172759/http://www.chaishop.com/divers/frameset2.lasso?lasso%2Fcontent.lasso%3Fid=744 |date=June 2, 2007 }} — interview and biographical info At the beginning of his career in the late 1990s he produced tracks in the "nitzhonot" style of trance, an anthemic offshoot of Goa trance. His first tracks were "In Peace" and "Eakhis World," which both appeared on the nitzhonot compilation Ptzatzot 3.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

In 2002, Astrix signed to the EDM label HOMmega Productions with his debut album Eye to Eye.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}} In a 2003 interview Astrix said that he worked on three albums by Alien Project, but its maintainer Ari Linker did not give him credit.[http://www.isratrance.com/interviews/astrix-i21.html Interview with Astrix] at IsraTrance.com, 01/2003 Touring after the Eye to Eye album release and working on other projects did not leave much studio time for Astrix and it took two years to write his second album, Artcore, which came out in 2004.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}} He also produced the albums Nu-clear Visions of Israel (TIP.World, 2003), Psychedelic Academy (Hit Mania, 2005) and Astrix & Friends (DJ mag, 2007).{{cite web|url=http://www.harderfaster.net/text/features/11536 |title=HF / Features - Interview with Astrix |accessdate=2016-01-04 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304075402/http://www.harderfaster.net/text/features/11536 |archivedate=2016-03-04 }} In 2009, Astrix's label, HOMmega Productions, was the first to release a digital album from Astrix on a USB flash drive, One Step Ahead (HOMmega Productions, 2009). Astrix then undertook an almost nonstop worldwide tour.{{cite web|url=http://www.mushroom-magazine.com/astrix/|title=Astrix|website=www.mushroom-magazine.com|date=19 January 2018 }}

Festivals he has performed at included Dance Valley, SW4, Creamfields, Love Parade, UAF, Planeta Atlantida and headlined nights in the best clubs and venues such as Alexandra Palace, Brixton Academy, Pacha, Ministry of Sound, The city, Volume and Nox.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

Astrix worked on his third studio album for HOMmega productions. Red Means Distortion was released September 2010 .{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

The Acid Rocker EP, which was released in August 2010,[http://trancestral-junkiebeat.blogspot.com/2010/08/astrix-acid-rocker-ep-hommega.html] EP information was the first release from the next studio album, Red Means Distortion. As bonus material, it included a remix by trance artist Pixel of "Closer to Heaven" featured vocalist Michele Adamson, and a fresh new GMS 2010 remix to Astrix's "Eye to Eye". In September, a month after the Acid rocker EP was released, the third album Red means distortion was released.[http://trancestral-junkiebeat.blogspot.com/2010/09/astrix-red-means-distortion-2010.html] Red Means Distortion information Starting in August 2010, Astrix has been creating mix sessions titled Trance for Nations.

Astrix says his music has solid, driving basslines and ascending melodies.{{cite web|url=http://www.harderfaster.net/text/features/10977 |title=Interview with Astrix: Psychedelic Academy 2 preview |year=2005 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304115907/http://www.harderfaster.net/text/features/10977 |archivedate=2016-03-04 }}

Many would consider his style to be a crossover between "full-on" and the "clubbier" end of Trance, exemplified by his Psychedelic Academy Mix.{{cite web|url=http://www.isratrance.com/interviews/astrix-i21.html|title=Interview with Astrix|publisher=IsraTrance Forum}}

Author Graham St John, of the book The Local Scenes and Global Culture of Psytrance, noted about Astrix's sound, "crisp spacious acoustics".{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o_ctCgAAQBAJ&q=full-on&pg=PA116|author=Graham St John|title=The Local Scenes and Global Culture of Psytrance|isbn=978-1136944345|year=2010|publisher=Routledge }}

Astrix has been cited as being musically influenced by Infected Mushroom. "I look up to them for inspiration and for some kind of spiritual fuel as it were." Other influences include Linkin Park and Paul Van Dyk. "I also have a love for alternative bands like Linkin Park, and as electronic producer I like Paul Van Dyk, he inspires me very much to see how well you can mix business with music and how big you can become from something that was so small in the beginning."[https://web.archive.org/web/20070928125202/http://www.4clubbers.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=495 4Clubbers: Interview with Astrix] written by Caroline Banx

• Eye to Eye (2002)
• Artcore (2004)
• One Step Ahead (2008)
• Red Means Distortion (2010)
• He.art (2016)

• Coolio, 2004, HOMmega Productions
• Coolio (12"), 2004, Tokyo Dance
• Closer to Heaven (12"), 2005, Tokyo Dance
• Future Music EP, 2007, Spiral Trax
• Acid Rocker EP, 2010, HOMmega HD
• Reunion, 2011, Plastik Park
• Type 1, 2012, HOMmega HD
• Stars on 35, 2012, HOMmega HD
• High on Mel, 2013, HOMmega HD

• The Gathering, 2002 - 2007, Vision Quest Productions{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}
• X-Mode Vol. 6 Back to the Future, 2004, Tokyo X-Ray Studios Productions{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}
• Supervision - NTSC/PAL, 2006, Tip.World Productions{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}
• Boom Festival 2008 - We Are All - NTSC/PAL, 2009, GoodMood Productions{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}
• The Beach 2009, FinePlay Records Productions{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

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Category:1981 births

Category:Living people

Category:Goa trance musicians

Category:Israeli psychedelic trance musicians

Category:Chiptune and tracker musicians

Category:Israeli electronic musicians

Category:Israeli people of Mountain Jewish descent