The Hacker is today considered as being one of the best French representatives of a pure and limpid Techno. Michel Amato begins at 17, in a Electro/Indus band influenced by Cabaret Voltaire, DAF... In Grenoble ( Michel's birth town) in 1992, the Electronic scene begins to grow and some precursory people show their interests for this new music called "Techno". These people are
Miss Kittin, Kiko, Olivier Raymond from Oxia, Phunky Data... Michel decides to follow the Hardcore wave, close to his first influences and creates XMF with Benoit Bollini (later called "the money Penny Project") in 1993. XMF is today known as a reference in the French Hardcore scene.
The Hacker recognizes the importance of XMF to him and explains that, though abandoned, this hard period has been a step with consequences on his actual music.
In parallel to that, Detroit Techno/Electro has always fascinated Michel, who decides in 1996 to go on alone under the pseudo of "
The Hacker". That's the time of the first series of maxis for Interface and Doug Dunner, labels influenced by the experimental and uncompromised Techno of producers like Christian Vogel and
Neil Landstrumm. Some time later, Michel wants to make us share his love for the 80's, (with some references which go from the Electro-Pop of Depeche-Mode and Soft-Cell to the Disco/Hi-energy of Giorgo Moroder and Bobby O) but with humor.
His two cults Eps : "Champagne" and "Intimitées" he made with
Miss Kittin for International DJ Gigolos (
DJ Hell's label) are the result of his wish, and show both his fascination for the 80's (the cover of "Sweet dreams" of Eurythmics) and his humor (ironic tittles like "1982", "Frank Sinatra"). Michel, a very productive musician, keeps on collaborations with different labels :
- the French labels UMF, Ozone( with Jack de Marseille, Kiko...)
-The Swiss label Mental Groove ( for which he remixes the famous
Dj Rush)
- the English labels Magic Trax and Sativae
In 1998, he creates with Olivier from Oxia and Alexandre Reynaud ( an underground character in Grenoble) their label: Goodlife. Today, Michel proposes his first album "Mélodies en sous-sols" produced during the year 1999 (in a period of approximately four months) This record is composed of 11 titles without compromises , between Techno and Electro, which offer a sensitive vision of electronic music .
The Hacker clearly assumes his Old School influences in reaction against the actual formatted electronic music. The title "Melodies en sous-sols" ("basement melodies") is a reference to the classical sixties French "Polar", but also a reference to the underground without saying the word...
