Stephen Huss (August 19, 1967 – August 2, 2015)"Lifetimes: Stephen Huss was a music pioneer who faced inner struggles"
''Kitchener Post'', Aug 31, 2015 by Valerie Hill was a founding member of the Canadian dark

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

Psyche Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" ( ψυχή). Psyche or La Psyché may also refer to: Psychology * Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious * ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unc ...

Early life

Huss was born in Cooksville,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, and grew up in

Kitchener, Ontario Kitchener is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario, about west of Toronto. It is one of three cities that make up the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and is the regional Administrative centre, seat. Kitchener was known as Berlin until a ...

. When he was a teenager his family moved to Edmonton, Alberta.

Career

Huss, with his brother

Darrin Darren is a masculine given name of uncertain etymological origins. Some theories state that it originated from an Anglicisation of the Irish first name Darragh or Dáire, meaning "oak tree". According to other sources, it is thought to come from ...

, formed the duo Psyche in 1981 in Edmonton. The brothers began performing locally with keyboardist

Dwayne Goettel Dwayne Rudolph Goettel (February 1, 1964August 23, 1995) was a Canadian Electronic music, electronic musician, best known for his work in the industrial music group Skinny Puppy. Starting his career playing for a variety of acts around Edmonton, h ...

. Some of their early material was recorded, and later released as the album ''Re-Membering Dwayne''. After Goettel left the group, the brothers self-released an album 'Insomnia Theatre', in 1985; the album sold well in Europe."Psyche reunites with long-lost electronic friends and fans in 9910 concert"
''Edmonton Journal'', Tom Murray, July 18, 2018 Huss was unable to continue in live performance after 1989 due to his ongoing struggle with

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

. While living in Waterloo, Ontario, he continued recording with the band into the early 1990s, after Darrin had relocated to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, but discontinued songwriting with the band after the release of "Intimacy" in 1994. He kept a relatively low profile since that time, but released three

solo album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century ...

s in the 2000s followed by a fourth, posthumously released by his brother on what would have been his 48th birthday.

Solo discography

Huss has released six largely instrumental solo albums. The second album, ''Lost Oasis'', features guest vocals on "Conjure" by his brother Darrin Huss. "Notes Of A Lifetime" also features a demo entitled "For Another Day" that was recorded by the two brothers in 1999 to develop future Psyche songs in the original lineup. "Life Force" was released to celebrate what would have been his 50th birthday. The music was recorded on CD and cassette between 2006 and 2011. Compiled, edited and mastered by his brother Darrin, it was released in August 2017 on several digital download sites. The compilation "Infinity Sign" continued the posthumous release cycle on August 19, 2018, with a collection of highlights. 2020 saw a return of new releases made available digitally from archival recordings with the album entitled Stranger Things. A vinyl release under the name Galaxy compiled 6 tracks for Artificial Dance Records out of the Netherlands and was also released at the end of 2020. On August 19, 2021, a newly discovered track entitled Chiller Wave was released on all streaming outlets. A video was created to promote this release. The "Unknown Voices" EP followed on August 26. *''Void Logic'' (2004) *''Lost Oasis'' (2006) *''Alien Tango'' (2009) *''Moonlife'' (2015) *''Notes Of A Lifetime'' (2016) *''Life Force'' (2017) *''Infinity Sign'' (2018) *''Stranger Things'' (2020) *''Galaxy'' (2020) *''Unknown Voices'' (2021)

References

External links

Psyche Official SiteFacebook PageStephen Huss at Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huss, Stephen Musicians from Kitchener, Ontario Musicians from Mississauga Musicians from Waterloo, Ontario Canadian electronic musicians 1967 births 2015 deaths People with schizophrenia