Mike Lévy (; born 24 June 1985), known professionally as Gesaffelstein (), is a French music programmer, DJ, songwriter and producer from

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. He has worked alongside artists such as

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...

The Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is best known for adding Pop music, pop, electronic music, electronic and hip-hop stylings ...

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They achieved popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement, combining house music, funk, disco, tech ...

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

A$AP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a member of the hip hop collective ASAP Mo ...

, Electric Youth,

Haim Haim can be a first name or surname originating in Hebrew or derived from the Old German name Haimo. Etymology Hebrew Chayyim ( ', Classical Hebrew: , Israeli Hebrew: ), also transcribed ''Haim, Hayim, Chayim'', or ''Chaim'' (English pronunciat ...

Miss Kittin Caroline Hervé (born 15 July 1973), known professionally as Kittin, is a French electronic music producer, DJ, singer, and songwriter. Since rising to prominence in 1998 for her singles "1982" and "Frank Sinatra" with The Hacker, she has worke ...

The Hacker Michel Amato, better known by his stage name The Hacker, is a French electroclash and techno producer who has worked extensively with Miss Kittin. His work has been influenced by electronic artists like Kraftwerk, new wave artists such as the ...

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Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is a British singer and songwriter. She began posting songs on Myspace in 2008 before entering the London rave scene. Signing a recording contract with Asylum Re ...

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and Chuck Ellis.

Stage name

Gesaffelstein is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

Gesamtkunstwerk A ''Gesamtkunstwerk'' (, 'total work of art', 'ideal work of art', 'universal artwork', 'synthesis of the arts', 'comprehensive artwork', or 'all-embracing art form') is a work of art that makes use of all or many art forms or strives to do so. ...

("total artwork" in German, also the title of an album by the American electro group Dopplereffekt) and

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

Career

Mike Lévy was born in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, into a Jewish family, in June 1985. He started producing music at the age of sixteen when he first played an

analog synthesizer An analog synthesizer () is a synthesizer that uses Analogue electronics, analog circuits and analog signals to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the Trautonium, were built with a var ...

.. He released his first EP in 2008 through the label OD Records. In 2009, he founded the independent label Zone with

, Alex Reynaud and David Rimokh. In July 2012, Gesaffelstein made the cover of ''

DJ Mag ''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lati ...

'' with Brodinski.. The same year, his track "Viol" was used by

Citroën Citroën ()The double-dot diacritic over the 'e' is a diaeresis () indicating the two vowels are sounded separately, and not as a diphthong. is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded on 4 June 19 ...

and Givenchy advertisements.. He co-produced two tracks on ''

Yeezus ''Yeezus'' is the sixth studio album by the American rapper Kanye West. It was released on June 18, 2013, through Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records. West gathered a number of artists and close collaborators for the production, includi ...

'', the sixth album by American rapper

, including the lead single "

Black Skinhead "Black Skinhead" (also stylized as "BLKKK SKKKN HEAD") is a song by American rapper Kanye West, from his sixth studio album ''Yeezus'' (2013). It was produced by West and Daft Punk. The song's lyrics center on racial tensions and the crumbling ...

" and " Send It Up", both tracks produced with West,

, Brodinski and Mike Dean. On 28 October 2013, Gesaffelstein released his debut album ''

Aleph Aleph (or alef or alif, transliterated ʾ) is the first Letter (alphabet), letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician ''ʾālep'' 𐤀, Hebrew alphabet, Hebrew ''ʾālef'' , Aramaic alphabet, Aramaic ''ʾālap'' � ...

'' under

Parlophone Records Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

and

OWSLA Owsla (stylized in all caps) is an American record label and creative collective. It was founded by Skrillex, Tim Smith, Kathryn Frazier, and Clayton Blaha in 2011. Skrillex announced the label on August 17, 2011. The label's first release was ...

(in North America only), which had been recorded since 2011. His remix of "Shockwave" by

is featured in the 2013 video game ''

Grand Theft Auto V ''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...

'', on the Soulwax FM radio station. In 2015, Gesaffelstein released the single "Conquistador" in collaboration with

, which is present on the album '' Electronica 1: The Time Machine''. He also produced the soundtrack for the French-Belgian 2015 film ''

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

'', directed by Alice Winocour. In early 2018, he produced the tracks "I Was Never There" and "Hurt You" from

the Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is best known for adding Pop music, pop, electronic music, electronic and hip-hop stylings ...

's '' My Dear Melancholy,'' EP. Gesaffelstein signed to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

in November 2018, with whom he released the lead single "Reset" from his second studio album '' Hyperion'' in the same month. In January 2019, he released a collaboration with the Weeknd titled " Lost in the Fire" as the second single from ''Hyperion'', and later in March 2019 released another collaboration with Pharrell Williams titled "Blast Off". ''Hyperion'' was released on 8 March 2019, to mixed reviews. On 3 October 2019, Gesaffelstein announced his surprise EP ''Novo Sonic System'', consisting of 6 tracks, which was released the following day. For Apple's October 2021 event, his track "Orck" was used as the pre-intro and outro theme music. Gesaffelstein announced a collaboration with fellow Kanye West collaborator KayCyy. ''TW20 50'', an EP containing 3 collaborative songs between the two of them, released on 11 March 2022. KayCyy and Lévy's second collaborative EP, ''TW2052'', was released on 26 May 2023. On 9 February 2024, Lévy's third album, ''

Gamma Gamma (; uppercase , lowercase ; ) is the third letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 3. In Ancient Greek, the letter gamma represented a voiced velar stop . In Modern Greek, this letter normally repr ...

'', was announced, with a release date of 29 March 2024 revealed six days later. In 2025, Lévy co-produced and co-wrote on

's album '' Mayhem''. He featured on the sixth track, "Killah".

Musical style

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was printe ...

describes Gesaffelstein's style as being a "dark and threatening techno, though enchanting"; The Inrocks see it as "black, ultra-violent music,

hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...

revives the techno fundamentals, the intransigence of Underground Resistance, the mental and obsessive structures of Drexciya, the contemporary power and more". Megan Buerger from the Washington Post describes his style as a mixture of dark and underground music, and notes that a specialty of the artist is his use of silences to create a "tension" before a "raucous explosion of bass and percussion". ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' magazine sees his music as being "a little more aggressive and punk-rock than normal"..

Influences

Gesaffelstein cites Dopplereffekt,

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, ) is a Germany, German Electronic music, electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk was among the first successful a ...

, and new wave formations from the 80s such as D.A.F. or

Nitzer Ebb Nitzer Ebb () are an English electronic body music, EBM group formed in 1982 by Essex school friends Bon Harris, Vaughan "Bon" Harris (programming, synthesizers, drums, vocals), Douglas McCarthy (vocals), and David Gooday (drums). The band were ...

all as references. He has also said

Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...

and

influenced his work.

Discography

* ''

'' (2013) * '' Hyperion'' (2019) * ''

'' (2024)

References

External links

* * * {{Gesaffelstein 1987 births Living people French electronic musicians French record producers French male songwriters French electronic dance music DJs Columbia Records artists Owsla artists Parlophone artists Warner Music Sweden artists French people of German-Jewish descent Jewish musicians Musicians from Lyon 21st-century French male musicians 21st-century French songwriters 21st-century French Jews