Alexander Ridha, the individual behind the
Boys Noize moniker as well as the label Boysnoize Records, became one of the biggest names of the electro-house scene during the 2000s and 2010s, producing a hard-edged mix of rave, hip-hop, and industrial influences. First establishing his credentials with a bevy of singles and hypercharged remixes for the likes of
Bloc Party,
Depeche Mode, and
Feist, he released his acclaimed full-length debut, Oi Oi Oi, in 2007. Subsequent albums such as
Out of the Black (2012) and
Mayday (2016) expanded on his sound while featuring guests like
Snoop Dogg,
Hudson Mohawke, and
Poliça, while mix CDs such as FabricLive 72 (2013) demonstrated his skills as a DJ. Apart from solo work,
Ridha has collaborated extensively with
Skrillex (as
Dog Blood),
Mr. Oizo (as
Handbraekes),
Chilly Gonzales (as
Octave Minds and producing/co-writing 2010's
Ivory Tower), and
Erol Alkan, among others. In 2020, he released his live streamed album, STRICTLY BVNKER VOL. 1: The Lockdown Sessions.
Born in Hamburg, Germany,
Ridha moved to Berlin when he was 21 years old. Chiefly inspired by
Daft Punk, he established himself as a talented producer in 2004 with the International Deejay Gigolo Records 12" single "The Bomb!/Boy Neu." In 2005,
Ridha founded Boysnoize Records and released a pair of
Boys Noize 12" singles ("Optic/He-Man," "Volta 82") on the label, which subsequently featured the work of
I-Robots,
Housemeister,
Lady B,
Shadow Dancer, and others. Meanwhile, he produced one-off releases for
Anthony Rother's Datapunk label (Are You In?, 2005),
Tiga's Turbo label (Erole Attakk, 2006), and Kitsuné Music (
Feel Good [TV=Off], 2007).
Oi Oi Oi (2007) marked the full-length debut of
Ridha as
Boys Noize; Last Gang Records licensed the album for release in North America, along with an EP of remixes,
Oi Oi Oi Remixed. A popular
Boys Noize remix of
Feist's "My Moon My Man" was included as a bonus track on Oi Oi Oi. It was one of several remixes -- most notably
Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus,"
Bloc Party's "Banquet," and
Justice's "Phantom, Pt. 2" -- that helped popularize the
Boys Noize brand.
Ridha's first two mix CDs, Bugged Out! Presents Suck My Deck and I Love Techno 2008, both appeared in 2008.
Second studio album
Power appeared in 2009, and The Remixes 2004-11, an extensive double-CD containing
Boys Noize mixes of artists including
the Chemical Brothers,
N.E.R.D., and
Daft Punk, was issued in 2011. Full-length
Out of the Black was released in 2012, the same year
Ridha and
Skrillex formed a side project called
Dog Blood and released their debut single, "Middle Finger."
Ridha was tapped for the 72nd volume of Fabric's long-running Fabriclive DJ mix series in 2013.
Out of the Black: The Remixes followed in 2014, with artists like
Justice,
Chromeo, and
Jimmy Edgar reworking that album's tracks. Also in 2014,
Ridha and
Chilly Gonzales released their self-titled debut as
Octave Minds, which included a collaboration with
Chance the Rapper and the Social Experiment.
In 2015,
Boys Noize released the back-to-basics techno EP
Strictly Raw, Vol. 1, including co-productions with
Tiga,
Atom™, and
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. In May 2016, he released his fourth studio LP,
Mayday, which featured appearances by
Benga,
Remy Banks,
Hudson Mohawke,
Spank Rock, and
Poliça. As before, he followed his LP with a remixed version, this time divided into two EPs, Mayday Remixes, Pt. 1 & Pt. 2. Strictly Raw, Vol. 2 and single collaborations with
Virgil Abloh ("Orange") and
Steven A. Clark ("Killer") appeared in 2018. Following the release of
Dog Blood's
Turn Off the Lights EP in the spring of 2019,
Skrillex and
Boys Noize teamed up with
Ty Dolla $ign for the single "Midnight Hour," which was later nominated for the Best Dance Recording Grammy Award. "Why Not?,"
Ridha's collaboration with
Francis & the Lights, was released that fall. In 2020, he released his live streamed album STRICTLY BVNKER VOL. 1: The Lockdown Sessions. The track "Ride or Die," a collaboration with
Kelsey Lu featuring
Chilly Gonzales, arrived in 2021. ~ Jason Birchmeier