Editing Alec Empire (section)

===Early influences and career===
At the age of ten, Wilke's love of [[Hip hop music|hip hop]] led to a [[Vogue (dance)|vogueing]] career on the streets of Berlin.<ref name="pitch97">David Day, "Riotous Empire", ''Pitch Weekly'', 28 August – 3 September 1997. [http://www.alecempirefansite.com/press/atr280897.html AlecEmpireFansite.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928150259/http://www.alecempirefansite.com/press/atr280897.html |date=28 September 2007 }}.</ref><ref name="DIS">[http://www.drownedinsound.com/artist/view/2420 Alec Empire] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060318123940/http://drownedinsound.com/artist/view/2420 |date=18 March 2006 }}, [[Drowned in Sound]], last accessed 4 August 2006.</ref> Later disillusioned by that genre becoming increasingly commercial, he left it behind in favour of a completely different form of musical expression. He had played guitar since the age of eight which coupled with his politically charged upbringing eventually led him to [[Punk ideology|punk]] music; he formed his first band, Die Kinder (The Kids), at age twelve.<ref name="DIS" />

By sixteen, however, Wilke came to believe that the punk movement was "dead" (though the [[anti-establishment]] punk attitude would figure significantly in his subsequent output). After leaving Die Kinder, he began listening to classical music and experimenting with electronic instruments.<ref name="thewire">Biba Kopf, "Daft Punk", ''The Wire'', Issue 166, December 1997. [https://archive.today/20070629205756/http://www.gostimirovic.com/artists/alecempire/press/press1.html Gostimirovic.com].{{Dead link|date=November 2009}}</ref> He eventually became fascinated by the [[rave]] scene, and, following [[German reunification]], frequented underground raves in [[East Berlin]], believing his native West Berlin scene to be too commercialised. Known earlier in his career as LX Empire he produced a great deal of what he refers to as "faceless DJ music".<ref name="forceinc">[http://www.alecempirefansite.com/force/force_notes.html Force Inc. Music Works] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070910061605/http://www.alecempirefansite.com/force/force_notes.html |date=10 September 2007 }}, AlecEmpireFansite.com, retrieved 22 January 2007.</ref> In 1991, while DJing on a beach in France with his friend [[Hanin Elias]], he caught the attention of [[Ian Pooley]], which led to the release of a number of [[12"]] records on the [[Force Inc.]] label.<ref name="forceinc" />

Although Empire was a prolific producer and DJ at this time,<ref name="fansite">[http://www.alecempirefansite.com/dhr/dhr_notes.html The Destroyer/Digital Hard-core] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807070207/http://www.alecempirefansite.com/dhr/dhr_notes.html |date=7 August 2007 }}, AlecEmpireFansite.com, last accessed 4 August 2006.</ref> and made a comfortable enough living, he nevertheless saw the rave scene as [[decadence|decadent]] and selfish. This angered him, as he and his friends lived in a city embroiled in politics, and the demise of communist-led governments had given rise to increased conservatism in Germany, whilst few people cared. The German [[neo-Nazi]] movement had invaded the scene, declaring [[tech trance|trance techno]] "true German music".<ref name="fansite" />

Empire retaliated by utilising [[Sampling (music)|samples]] of 1960s and 1970s [[funk]] – a predominantly black style of music – in his solo work. In order to further spread the message, he gathered like-minded individuals [[Hanin Elias]] (also a former punk) and [[Carl Crack]] (a [[Swazi people|Swazi]] [[MC]]) to form a band. In 1992, the trio became known as [[Atari Teenage Riot]] (ATR).{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}