Bio

Black Sun Empire represent the finest in dark and techy dancefloor drum & bass. Since bursting onto the scene back in 2000, they’ve continued to develop their own unique style and sound, releasing numerous singles as well as three full-length LPs and establishing themselves as leaders in the field. With their awesome DJ skills and inspirational productions, Black Sun Empire have reached far beyond their native Holland. They’ve toured the world over, with hghlights this year including Glastonbury and numerous other festival appearances, and continue to build on their growing reputation as some of the most exciting and consistent performers around. 'Lights and Wires' is their fourth full-length album, released in November 2010, and demostrates their versatility across tempos whilst still staying true to their own sound.

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Borne of brothers Milan and Micha Heyboer along with René Verdult, Black Sun Empire is a DJ/producer collective based in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Since first making music together in 1993, the trio experimented with various styles until they found their musical direction around 1997 and formed Black Sun Empire. Heavily influenced by releases from the darker labels such as No U Turn, Prototype and Virus, they took the techstep drum & bass blueprint and set out to make a new sound of their own.

With a sound that was fresh, new and progressive, their early demos caught the ears of several well-established labels. Their debut release came courtesy of Rotterdam based label Piruh in 1999 with the tracks ‘Skin Deep’ and ‘Voltage’ and further release on Piruh and another Dutch imprint, DJ Esta’s “A New Dawn,” soon followed. It wasn’t long, however, before their technically proficient productions came to the attention of Trace, the long-serving DJ and techstep pioneer, and he invited Black Sun Empire to compose a remix for his label DSCi4. They took on the classic “Mutant Jazz,” and provided a remix of truly devastating proportions that announced Black Sun Empire on the UK and indeed the world scene.

Further release on DSCi4 came and were followed by remixes for SKC and Technical Itch before, in 2002, the boys decided to start a label of their own. Set up as an outlet for their increasing body of work, Black Sun Empire Recordings became home for their own productions as well as collaborations with other like-minded artists. Their first album ‘Driving Insane’ was released in 2004 to critical acclaim and featured work with the collective talents of Concord Dawn and Stu from Cause 4 Concern alongside their own material. Deft, dynamic, devastating and deranged the album announced that the day of the Dutch was dawning. Supported by a mix CD, it showcased their sound in style and coincided with a highly successful world tour, taking in dates across the UK, Europe, USA and Australia.

Motivated by the massive response they had received, the boys followed up with their second long-player, ‘Cruel and Unusual’, in 2005. Raising the banner of the Black Sun Empire even higher than before, the LP featured further collaborative work with yet more high-profile artists including Noisia, Corrupt Souls and Kemal. Feeling the urge to satisfy other sides of their collective psyche, a sister label was established in the form of “oBSEssions.” Designed to cater for atmospheric, unusual and funky flavours, this label is certainly no lightweight and proven itself as one to watch with releases from the likes of Chris SU, Noisia and SKC so far alongside newer names.

Never losing touch with their roots, Black Sun Empire continue to promote their bi-monthly event ‘Blackout’ in their home town of Utrecht and are looking forward to it's seventh year aniversary in 2010. This well-established event has attracted some of the best in DJ talent from across the globe and regularly draws crowds of up to 1,000 people. As resident DJs, Black Sun Empire consistently captivate the crowds by mixing their freshest material together with live elements to bring an edge to their sets.

Their most recent LP, ‘Endangered Species,’ drew together creative minds from across the drum & bass scene with input from Noisia, Bad Robot, Chris SU, Jade, State Of Mind, D.Kay, Optiv and Audio all featuring alongside BSE. The resulting tour was a resounding success worldwide with nearly 100 gigs and was soon followed by last year’s ‘My Lightyear LP’ Tour alongside Telemetrik, to promote his debut album on BSE Recordings. In 2009, BSE stayed on a roll with a whole raft of releases across their labels including collaborations with State Of Mind, N.Phect and Eye-D and opened their dubstep label, “Shadows of the Empire.”

November 2010 brings the release of their fourth LP "Lights and Wires" and an accompanying world tour, taking them to the USA, Australia, New Zealand and beyond. With more releases planned across their labels and more in store for their own night Blackout, it's plain to see why they're widely regarded as one of the hardest working DJ/producer teams around.

Discography:

PIRUH001 Black Sun Empire Voltage / Skin Deep 12" 2000 
PIRUH003 Black Sun Empire The Silent / Bombrun 12" 2001 
AND05 Black Sun Empire Vessel / Fragment 12" 2002 
BSE001 Black Sun Empire The Rat / B-Negative 12" 2002 
BSELTD001 Black Sun Empire The Early Years 4xDD 2002 
BSELTD002 Black Sun Empire The Piruh Years 4xDD 2002 
BSELTD003 Black Sun Empire Miscellaneous Tunes 3xDD 2002 
DSCI4EP002 Black Sun Empire Smoke EP 2x12" 2002 
BSE004 Black Sun Empire & Benjie Stone Faces / A.I. 12" 2003 
CITRUS009 Black Sun Empire & Eye-D Unicorn MF (Remix) / Skin Deep (Remix) 12" 2003 
BSELP001SAM Black Sun Empire & Concord Dawn Driving Insane LP Sampler 12" 2004 
BSELP001 Black Sun Empire Driving Insane 4x12" 2004 
BSECD001 Black Sun Empire Driving Insane 2xCD 2004 
RL005 Optiv & Black Sun Empire Release Me / Gazala 12" 2004 
BSELP002SAMP Black Sun Empire Cruel & Unusual LP Sampler 12" 2005 
BSELP002SAM Black Sun Empire Cruel & Unusual LP Sampler 12" 2005 
BSELP002 Black Sun Empire Cruel & Unusual 4x12" 2005 
BSECD002 Black Sun Empire Cruel & Unusual 2xCD 2005 
3MOHM Black Sun Empire Cruel & Unusual 2xCD 2005 
BSECD003 Various Artists Endangered Species 2xCD 2007 
OBSE009 Cooh & Black Sun Empire Armeny / Monologue 12" 2007 
RESIDENTCD08 Various Artists Black Sun Empire Showcase CD 2007 
BSE008 Black Sun Empire & State Of Mind Firing Squad (Remix) / Red Velvet 12" 2008 
BSE009 Black Sun Empire & State Of Mind Sandbag / Animal 12" 2008 
RISE016 Concord Dawn & Black Sun Empire Crime Side / Chloroform (Remix) 12" 2008 
BSE010 Black Sun Empire & N.Phect Musclecar / Taurine 12" 2009 
BSE011 Black Sun Empire & Eye-D Milkshake / Brainfreeze 12" 2009 
SOTE001 Black Sun Empire Hyper Sun / Cold Crysis 12" 2009 
SOTE002 Black Sun Empire The Invasion / Dyneema 12" 2009 
BSELP005SAM Black Sun Empire & D.Kay Lights & Wires LP Sampler 12" 2010 
TRIPLECD001 Various Artists Rollercoaster - Volume 1 CD 2000 
BBSCD002 Various Artists 23 Degrees From Vertical CD 2001 
DSCI4EP001 Various Artists Mutationz EP 2x12" 2001 
DSCI4LP001 Various Artists 23 Degrees From Vertical 6x12" 2001 
BSE002 Various Artists The Sun / Epilogue 12" 2002 
DSCI4LP002 Various Artists Spy Technologies - Volume 1 6x12" 2002 
DSCI4LP002CD Various Artists Spy Technologies - Volume 1 - Part 2 12" 2002 
NERVE005 Paul Reset & SKC Crisis (Remix) / Recharger (Remix) 12" 2002 
TIP007 Technical Itch The Rukus (Remix) / Telekinetic (Remix) 12" 2002 
TZ-2640-2 Various Artists Stateside Sessions: Dum & Bass - Volume 2 CD 2002 
DSCI4LP001-3 Various Artists 23 Degrees From Vertical - Part 3 12" 2003 
DSCI4LP001-6 Various Artists 23 Degrees From Vertical - Part 6 12" 2003 
KNOW31 Various Artists Nerve Breaks & Nerve Recordings CD 2003 
PROTOGEN005 Various Artists Bad Illusions (Remix) / Illicit Game 12" 2003 
TPT005 Various Artists Transglobal - Volume 2 12" 2003 
BSE006 Various Artists Insiders / Hydroflash 12" 2004 
BSEEP001 Various Artists Spine EP 2x12" 2004 
RFCD010 Various Artists Kiss My Bass CD 2004 
ILL004 Various Artists B-Negative (Remix) / Soulshaker (Remix) 12" 2005 
KNOW57 Various Artists DJ Competition Winner CD 2005 
OBSE001 Various Artists Sahara / Cryogenic (Remix) 12" 2005 
OBSE002 Various Artists Centepod / Stranded 12" 2005 
RL006 Optiv & Subhuman Boudicca / Eggplant (Remix) 12" 2005 
BSELP003SAM Various Artists Endangered Species LP Sampler 12" 2006 
BSELP003EP1 Various Artists Endangered Species - Part 1 2x12" 2006 
CITRUS024 Various Artists Crash Bunny / Unpleasant Surprise 12" 2006 
CODED004 Rawthang Beautiful Morning (Remix) / Shaman 12" 2006 
KNOW65 Various Artists The ESP Agency Mix CD 2006 
OBSE005 Various Artists Porcelain / Brood X 12" 2006 
2MOHM Sinthetix Gateway 2xCD 2006 
RH75 Various Artists Carpe Diem - Part 2: Purgatory 3x12" 2006 
RHLP10CD Various Artists Carpe Diem 2xCD 2006 
BSELP003EP2 Various Artists Endangered Species - Part 2 2x12" 2007 
BSELP3EP3 Various Artists Endangered Species - Part 3 2x12" 2007 
CITRUSCD001 Various Artists Juice Blender 2xCD 2007 
DRP006T Various Artists Cyclops / Sparta 12" 2007 
HOSTILE010 Various Artists Hostile World EP 2x12" 2007 
OBSE008 Various Artists Exit Row / Maya 12" 2007 
RESISTCD102 Various Artists Worlds Heaviest Drum & Bass 3xCD 2007 
SOM001 State Of Mind Deadzone / Real McCoy (Remix) 12" 2007 
VSN005 Various Artists Collision EP 2x12" 2007 
BSELP004EP2 Telemetrik My Lightyear: Act III 2x12" 2008 
C4CUKLTD001 Cause 4 Concern Phat Cap (Remix) / Synergy (Remix) 12" 2008 
CITRUSLP003 Various Artists Juice Blender 2: Food For The Dogz 4x12" 2008 
CITRUSCD003 Various Artists Juice Blender 2: Food For The Dogz CD 2008 
OBSE010 Various Artists Bullet In The Head / Day Away 12" 2008 
CITRUSLP004 Jade The Venom 4x12" 2009 
CITRUSCD004 Jade The Venom 2xCD 2010 
P51UK018 Gridlok Reboot The System - Part 1 12" 2010