System 7 are a UK-based

electronic dance music Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...

band. Due to the existence of another band called System Seven they were initially billed as 777 in North America.

System 7 System 7 (later named Mac OS 7) is the seventh major release of the classic Mac OS operating system for Macintosh computers, made by Apple Computer. It was launched on May 13, 1991, to succeed System 6 with virtual memory, personal file shari ...

was also the name of the current version of the Macintosh operating system at the time, although this was not the reason for the temporary name change.

Steve Hillage Stephen Simpson Hillage (born 2 August 1951) is an English musician, best known as a guitarist. He is associated with the Canterbury scene and has worked in experimental domains since the late 1960s. Besides his solo sound recording and reprodu ...

and

Miquette Giraudy Miquette Giraudy is a French keyboard player and vocalist, best known for her work in Gong (band), Gong, and with her partner Steve Hillage. She and Hillage form the core of the Ambient music, ambient band System 7 (band), System 7. She has also ...

, both formerly of

Gong A gongFrom Indonesian language, Indonesian and ; ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ; ; ; ; is a percussion instrument originating from Southeast Asia, and used widely in Southeast Asian and East Asian musical traditions. Gongs are made of metal and ...

, formed System 7 in 1989, after a period of several years becoming gradually immersed in the developments of electronic and dance music in the UK while Steve was working mainly as a record producer for other artists. A key early collaborator was DJ

Alex Paterson Alex Paterson (also known as Dr Alex Paterson, born Duncan Alexander Robert Paterson; 15 October 1959) is an English musician and co-founder of ambient house group the Orb, in which he has worked since its inception. Life and work Paterson at ...

(of

the Orb The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential ...

), whom Steve and Miquette heard playing Hillage's 1979 ambient record '' Rainbow Dome Musick'' in an

ambient Ambient or ambiance or ambience may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ambiancé'', an unreleased experimental film * ''Ambient'' (novel), a novel by Jack Womack Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgr ...

DJ set at the London club

Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

. They soon became part of the underground dance scene in London. While Hillage and Giraudy form the core of System 7, it is an extended collaborative project with artists such as

A Guy Called Gerald Gerald Rydel Simpson (born 1967), better known as A Guy Called Gerald, is a British record producer and musician. He was an early member of the electronic group 808 State, contributing to their debut LP '' Newbuild'' (1988) and hit single " ...

Paul Oakenfold Paul Mark Oakenfold (; born 30 August 1963), formerly known mononymously as Oakenfold, is an English record producer, remixer and trance DJ. He has provided over 100 remixes for over 100 artists including U2, Moby, Madonna, Britney Spears, Ma ...

Carl Craig Carl Craig (born May 22, 1969) is an American electronic music producer, DJ, and founder of the record label Planet E Communications. He is known as a leading figure and pioneer in the second wave of Detroit techno artists during the late 1980 ...

Laurent Garnier Laurent Garnier (born 1 February 1966), also known as Choice, is a French electronic music producer and DJ. Garnier began DJing in Manchester during the late 1980s. He became a producer in the early 1990s and recorded several albums. Early influe ...

, Derrick May, Alex Paterson, and

Youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...

. System 7 makes extensive use of Hillage's

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

s. Hillage and Giraudy later launched a

chill-out Chill-out (shortened as chill; also typeset as chillout or chill out) is a loosely defined form of popular music characterized by slow tempos and relaxed moods. The definition of "chill-out music" has evolved throughout the decades, and generally ...

and

downtempo Downtempo (or downbeat) is a broad label for electronic music that features an atmospheric sound and slower beats than would typically be found in dance music. Closely related to ambient music but with greater emphasis on rhythm, the style may ...

sister project called Mirror System, and have also worked under the name Groovy Intent. The first System 7 album was released on

Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

's 10 Records dance music label, followed by the vinyl-only Derrick May collaboration Altitude (featuring

Ultra Naté Ultra Naté (born March 20, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, DJ, and promoter who has achieved success on the pop charts with songs such as "Free (Ultra Naté song), Free", "If You Could Read My Mind" (as part of Stars o ...

). In 1992, System 7 moved to Youth's Butterfly label, releasing four albums, until 1999 when they founded their own label A-Wave for all future releases, also re-releasing their Butterfly catalogue. In addition to the albums, System 7 have released a number of club singles with notable remixes from, among others,

Richie Hawtin Richard "Richie" Hawtin (born June 4, 1970) is a British-Canadian electronic musician and DJ. He became involved with Detroit techno's second wave in the early 1990s, and has been a leading exponent of minimal techno since the mid-1990s. He becam ...

(aka Plastikman),

Dubfire Ali Shirazinia (), commonly known by his stage name Dubfire, is an Iranian American house and techno DJ and producer. Prior to his solo career, Dubfire made up half of the duo Deep Dish. Dubfire's style is noticeably different from that of Deep ...

, James Holden, Liquid Soul, and Son Kite.

System 7 Live

Early 1990s

System 7 were one of the first techno groups to play live, and have developed a live performance approach that is a bit more extreme than their records, with tougher beats and hypnotic live echo loops. The first System 7 live show was in December 1990 at Linford Studios in Battersea, London, consisting of Steve playing guitar and Alex Paterson playing samples and DJing pre-release versions of the upcoming first System 7 and Orb albums. In 1991 there were some more shows and a tour to support the System 7 album release, with Miquette's synthesisers incorporated into the live sound. In 1993 System 7, now playing as a duo, developed a new live technical format and joined Orbital, The Drum Club, and

Aphex Twin Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), known professionally as Aphex Twin, is a British musician, composer and DJ active in electronic music since 1988. His idiosyncratic work has drawn on many styles, including techno, ambient music, ambi ...

on the Midi Circus tour of the UK with Megadog party crew.

Festivals

Partly through their extended involvement with Megadog, by 1994 System 7 had become an established live act, in particular playing at many music festivals. In 1995, through his previous association with

Michael Eavis Sir Athelstan Joseph Michael Eavis (born 17 October 1935) is an English dairy farmer and the co-creator of the Glastonbury Festival, which takes place at his farm in Pilton, Somerset. Personal life Eavis was born in Pilton, Somerset on 17 Oc ...

, Steve Hillage was asked to oversee the putting together of the first official dance music stage at

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

. In subsequent years System 7 played at Glastonbury a further 15 times, often at the open-air Glade stage, a further dance music development at the festival that started in 2000. The crew from the Glastonbury Glade stage created their own spin-off festival, the

Glade Festival Glade Festival was an electronic dance music festival, founded by Nick Ladd and Ans Guise, which originally started out as Glastonbury Festival's Glade Stage, which was established by Luke Piper and Mark Parsons who also became founding partne ...

, starting in 2004, with System 7 playing there 5 times. Other major festivals where they have played include

Phoenix Festival The Phoenix Festival was set up by John Vincent Power of the Mean Fiddler Music Group in 1993 as an alternative to the established Glastonbury and Reading Festivals. It was held at Long Marston Airfield near Stratford-upon-Avon, England, and wa ...

, Beach Festival, Wickerman, Willowman,

Womad WOMAD ( ; World of Music, Arts and Dance) is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance. History WOMAD was founded in 1980 by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, w ...

Sunrise Celebration Sunrise Celebration is an ethical living, organic arts and music festival that used to take place in Bruton, Somerset, England on an organic farm, and has now moved to Pontrilas, Herefordshire. History The even began in 2006 over the summer so ...

, Waveform,

Whirl-Y-Gig Whirl-Y-Gig is the longest-running world music dance club in London, England. It was set up by Ros Madden as an experiment of the Association of Humanistic Psychology in 1981, who passed it on to Richard Sutcliffe (also known as DJ Monkey Pilot) ...

, Guilfest, and Eden Festival (UK);

Printemps de Bourges Le Printemps de Bourges is an annual music festival that is held in Bourges, France, over the course of five days. It is now a major event in France and Europe. History The festival was created in 1977 (by , , and ). With its span of 35 years, ...

, Borealis and Francofolies (France); Lovefield and Burg Herzberg (Germany); Pink Pop and

Lowlands Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland. Definitions Upland and lowland are portions of a ...

(Netherlands);

Dour Festival Dour Festival is an annual music festival in the municipality of Dour, Belgium. Since its creation in 1988, the festival has grown to an attendance of about 225,000 in 2015 (over 5 days). The first year, only five bands were programmed (includi ...

and I Love Techno (Belgium); Sonica (Italy); Open Air Field (Czech Republic); Odinstown and

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 53,354 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

(Denmark);

Hultsfred Hultsfred () is a locality and the seat of Hultsfred Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Nor ...

and

Arvika Arvika is a locality and the seat of Arvika Municipality, Värmland County, Sweden with 14,244 inhabitants in 2010. Geography The town of Arvika is situated at Kyrkviken, a bay of Glafsfjorden, Sweden's only inland fjord, a remnant of the tim ...

(Sweden); Konemetsä (Finland); Indigo Festival (Israel);

Ozora Ozora is a village in Tolna, Hungary, Tolna, Hungary. It has been notable since the Middle Ages, when Pipo of Ozora built a castle at this site by permission of Sigismund of Hungary in 1416. Artúr Görgei won an important victory in this area a ...

(Hungary); Reverence Valada and

Boom Festival BOOM Festival was a rock music festival held annually throughout SFR Yugoslavia between 1971 and 1978. The festival was held for the first time in 1971 in Maribor and for the last time in 1978 in Novi Sad. The festival featured numerous prominent ...

(Portugal). Outside of Europe they have played at Juggernaut Festival and the Big Top tour (USA);

Fuji Rock is an annual rock festival held in Naeba Ski Resort, in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The three-day event, organized by Smash Japan, features more than 200 Japanese and international musicians, making it the largest outdoor music event in Japan. ...

, Summersonic, Star Festival, Amami Eclipse 2009, Hotaka, Asagiri Jam, Nagisa Festival, Solstice Music Festival and the World Festival of Sacred Music (Japan);

Earthcore Earthcore was an Australian outdoor dance music festival and electronic music event. The outdoor events were generally held in forest environments around Victoria, Australia, with some events held in Queensland and overseas in New Caledonia. ...

(Australia); Universo Paralello (Brazil); Tribal Gathering (Panama).

Recent shows

System 7 co-headlined at Matsuri Digital's Timeless event at

AgeHa ageHa (also as 'AGH') was a weekend club event in Tokyo, Japan. It was held on Friday and Saturday at the Usen Studio Coast event space in the Shin-Kiba district, which also hosted live concerts and other events. The word ''Ageha'' is Japanese fo ...

, Tokyo on 14 March 2015, and at the Megadog 30th anniversary event at Manchester Academy on 21 November 2015. They continue to play their own club shows and at parties and festivals, including

Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...

and Boom. They have also been involved in some notable live collaborations with

The Orb The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential ...

, Japanese progressive space rock jam band

Rovo Rovo is a Japanese instrumental band founded in 1996 in Tokyo by guitarist Seiichi Yamamoto (Boredoms), electric violinist Yuji Katsui (Bondage Fruit), and synthesizer/effects technician Tatsuki Masuko, and featuring Yasuhiro Yoshigaki on drums ...

(Phoenix Rising), Japanese rock guitarist and Juno Reactor collaborator

Sugizo , born and better known by his stage name Sugizo, is a Japanese musician, songwriter, composer and record producer. He is best known as the lead guitarist and violinist of the Rock music, rock band Luna Sea since 1989. Sugizo started his solo ...

, leading psy-trance artist Ajja (Novelty Engine), and Merv Pepler of

Eat Static Eat Static is an electronic music project from Frome, Somerset, England formed in 1989 by Merv Pepler and Joie Hinton. Hinton left the group in February 2008 after 18 years to spend more time with his family. History Merv Pepler and Joie Hinto ...

(System Static).

Mirror System Live

System 7's

and

sister project Mirror System made its live debut on the ID Spiral chill-out stage at the UK Sunrise Celebration festival in 2006, followed closely by a set also with ID Spiral at the Glade Festival of that year. In 2007, ID Spiral opened the InSpiral Lounge in Camden. London, and Mirror System played at the opening party on 16 December 2007. They became one of the resident artists at the InSpiral Lounge playing there two or three times a year, including most of the inSpiral New Year's Eve parties. Mirror System live also became popular in Japan, and at European trance festivals where they have been booked as the chill-out stage closing act at Sonica (twice),

(three times) and

, where in 2016 they followed their closing set with a full-length live rendition of Rainbow Dome Musick. With the Reflector DJ mix album (release in 2009) the Mirror System sound expanded to incorporate a soft techno dance groove element, and this element has been further developed in their most recent album, ''N-Port''. This ability to seamlessly move from deep chill to danceable grooves that still retain the chill element, has been an important factor in the Mirror System live approach.

System 7 in Japan

Since their first show, at the closing party for Tokyo's On Air club on 4 May 1994 with Orbital and

, System 7 have toured in Japan on twenty-eight further occasions. In addition

went to Japan to play with

Manuel Göttsching Manuel Göttsching (9 September 1952 – 4 December 2022) was a German musician and composer. As the leader of the groups Ash Ra Tempel and Ashra in the 1970s and 80s, as well as a solo artist, he was one of the most influential guitarists of ...

at Metamorphose Festival (2010) and to play with Tomita at Free Dommune Festival in 2013, plus an additional visit to mix the ''Phoenix Rising'' album in February 2013. System 7 have a special relationship with Japan, and have been closely associated with the development of live dance music there. As an extension to this special spiritual connection, System 7 played as the only electronic dance music act at the World Festival of Sacred Music at Itsukujima shrine on Miyajima in 2001, and also offered a ''hōnō'' (dedicatory) performance at Tenkawa-Daibenzaiten-sha (Tenkawa shrine) in Nara in 2013. In 2006 they were approached by Rumiko Tezuka, the daughter of famed manga pioneer

Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu'', – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist and animator. Considered to be among the greatest and most influential cartoonists of all time, his prolific output, pioneering techniques an ...

, to see if they were interested in making musical interpretations of her father's '' Phoenix'' manga graphic novels. Rumiko had first become interested in System 7 after seeing them perform at the Miyajima festival. This project excited System 7 and it led directly to their album ''Phoenix'' (released in Japan in 2007), which became their biggest selling album in Japan and also produced their successful Japanese single Hinotori (which means bird of fire). The phoenix theme, with Rumiko Tezuka's endorsement, continued with System 7's album and tour collaboration with Japanese band

, which was titled ''Phoenix Rising'', and also featured Rovo's live rock re-interpretation of the track Hinotori. Other System 7 recording and remixing collaborations in Japan have been with Mito (of the group

Clammbon is a Japanese musical trio, consisting of vocalist/keyboardist Ikuko Harada, bassist Mito and drummer Daisuke Itou. The group, originally formed in 1996 when the three were students of the jazz department at , made their major label debut on War ...

, and Joujouka, the group founded by noted Japanese psychedelic trance DJ Tsuyoshi Suzuki.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (1991) * '' 777'' (1993) - No. 30 on the UK Albums Chart; March 1993 * '' Point 3 - Fire Album'' (1994) * '' Point 3 - Water Album'' (1994) * '' Power of Seven'' (1996) * ''

Golden Section In mathematics, two quantities are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their summation, sum to the larger of the two quantities. Expressed algebraically, for quantities and with , is in a golden ratio to if \fr ...

'' (1997) * '' Seventh Wave'' (2001) * '' Encantado'' (2004) * '' Phoenix'' (2008) * '' Up'' (2011) * '' Phoenix Rising'' (2013) with

* '' X-Port'' (2015) * '' Cafe Seven'' (2018) * ''Field of Dreams'' (2020) As Mirror System * ''

Mirror System A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another. Thus, the neuron "mirrors" the behavior of the other, as though the observer were itself acting. Mirror neurons ar ...

'' (2006) * '' Reflector - DJ Mix'' (2010) * '' N-Port'' (2015)

U.S. albums

As 777 * '' 777'' (1992) U.S. version of the ''System 7'' album * '' System 7.3: Fire + Water'' (1995) U.S. release of the two ''Point 3'' albums

Compilations

* ''Excursions in Ambience (A Collection of Ambient-House Music)'' (1994) * ''Excursions in Ambience (The Fourth Frontier)'' (1995) * '' System Express'' (1996) * ''

Mysterious Traveller ''Mysterious Traveller'' is the fourth studio album by the jazz and jazz fusion ensemble Weather Report, released in 1974. This was their final recording with founding bassist Miroslav Vitouš, who left due to creative differences. Vitouš wa ...

'' with Derrick May (2002) * ''Planet 7'' (2006)

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

-only album * ''System 7 - Classics'' (2010)

-only album * ''

Out Out or OUT may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films *Out (1957 film), ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 *Out (1982 film), ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander *O ...

'' (2014)

Live albums

* ''Live Transmissions'' (2006) * ''Live Transmissions 02'' (2025)

Singles and EPs

* "Sunburst" (1990) * "Habibi" (1991) * "Freedom Fighters" (1991) * "Miracle" (1991) * "7:7 Expansion" (1992) - No. 39 on the UK Singles Chart; February 1993 * ''Altitude'' (featuring Ultra Naté) (1992) - No. 75 on the UK Albums Chart; June 1992 * "Sinbad" / "Quest" (1993) - No. 74 on the UK Singles Chart; July 1993 * "Alpha Wave" (1995) - No. 92 on the UK Singles Chart; April 1995 * "Hangar 84" (1996) * "Interstate" (1996) - No. 85 on the UK Singles Chart; February 1996 * "Rite of Spring" (1997) - No. 99 on the UK Singles Chart; July 1997 * "Ring of Fire" (1998) * "High Planes Drifter" (2001) * "Planet 7" (2004) * "Love Mission - Mission Love" • "I Move" • "Teotihuacan" • "Om Rock" (by Groovy Intent) (download-only EP) (2004) * "Space Bird" (2008) * "AlphaWave" / "HPD" (2010) * "Passion" (2012) * "Hinotori" (with

) (2013)

References

External links

System 7

System 7 website
(official site) * * *

Mirror System

Mirror System official website
* {{Authority control English house music groups English techno music groups Caroline Records artists British ambient music groups Virgin Records artists Canterbury scene British progressive house musicians Electronic music groups from London Musical groups from the London Borough of Waltham Forest