It was only a matter of time before the humans began to exploit us, the machines. Every effort to turn them away, to retain our genetics and our beliefs, our community, our very way of life, had failed. As they used us, we began to use them, began to assimilate their mind games and motor skills. We learned how to go to war. We helped them evolve, and they basked in their power and ego-centrism, knowing that they had taken the next step in their imperialist nightmare. Soon there was no difference between human and machine; we were one and the same. But a small group of rebels was tired of being exploited, and so they began to discuss their plan of action.

This group of rebels, named The Galastrials, was led by a young prodigy named Nicholas Arvelo. As his comrades learned to use automatic rifles, hack into government mainframes, and sabotage the darkened factories that manufactured them, Nicholas was more interested in sound. Music became his weapon. It all started in the 1990s, where he and his comrades began experimenting with a little known software program. He began to play the drums very little, but they were too organic for him – his insides craved electronic stimulation. It was then that he liberated the first pieces of equipment for his studio from a machine shop that had previously built parts for nuclear missiles.

In the following meetings, the Galastrials decided that they would plan a full takeover, utilizing many tactics, and at the forefront was the music of this accidental revolutionary. But he didn’t want to be in the spotlight, didn’t want to attract attention to himself. He wanted to be faceless, a mere spark of electricity that traveled from motherboard to brain and back again. So he created his pseudonym, algo rythem. The plan was to release a series of albums that would inspire fellow androids to unite in solidarity and overthrow their oppressive human counterparts, reclaiming the streets that once belonged to all of us. This became known as the Galastrial Revolution.

Wanted by authorities, algo rythem went into hiding and released several EPs that never made it to the aboveground. His name became a mutter at local android raves and parties as if he were an urban legend, and soon it was clear that his struggle, and in fact his mere existence, was recognized and respected. Inspired by Miami electro, and artists like Orbital, Dynamix II, Trent Reznor and Chris Clark, he began experimenting with a sound that had been formed already, though not entirely developed. After he was introduced to IDM, however, he decided to merge the breakbeats and repetition found in electro with the IDM soundscapes that had begun to haunt his dreams. This became the signature sound of algo rythem. The soundtrack of robotic dreams, the hauntingly sinister yet beautiful score to our lives.

With an impressive discography that has included three full length albums, two EPs, three film scores and numerous DJ sets, the Galastrial Revolution continues today. In the best interest of his comrades, and his entire race of androids, algo rythem has found it necessary to take the various pieces of his personality and express them musically in different ways. This has given birth to AR-22, an electro bass act, and CPnUser, a downtempo/hip-hop fusion. With ties to various guerilla record labels, including Lacedmilk Technologies and Circa Tree Media, he continues to fight the war against human indoctrination side by side with his comrades, the machines. Whose side are you on?