Kris Baha Shares New LP 'GHOSTS IN THE MACHIИE'
To respond to the current AI revolution, Kris uploads himself to the cyber ether through his latest project: GHOSTS IN THE MACHIИE.
By: Michael Major Oct. 26, 2023
Much time has passed since the Queer Australian/Italian-Armenian, multifaceted artist, Kristian Bahoudian aka Kris Baha, swapped the parched red earth and searing midday sun of the Australian landscape for the brutalist communist-era apartment blocks and slate-grey skies of former East Berlin.
Kris is now a fixture in Berlin's club scene and has toured most of the world as a DJ & live artist with his own unique production style of cyber industrial, EBM, wave, post punk, and early ‘90s IDM mutations.
Remixing some of the scene's most notable artists such as Boy Harsher and techno pop lord Boys Noize, Kris has garnered respect and trust in the electronic music scene for the last 13 years. To respond to the current AI revolution, Kris uploads himself to the cyber ether through his latest project: GHOSTS IN THE MACHIИE.
TOUR DATES
22.10.2023 - DE Berlin, Lido with Drab Majesty
25.10.2023 - PT Lisbon, Musicbox with Drab Majesty
26.10.2023 - PT Porto, Hardclub with Drab Majesty
27.10.2023 - PT Liera, Stereogun (Dj Set)
30.10.2023 - FR Nantes, Le Ferrailleur with Drab Majesty
31.10.2023 - FR Paris, Montreuil La Marbrerie with Drab Majesty
01.11.2023 - DE Ilmenau, Bi Studenterclub with Kontravoid
02.11.2023 - CZ Prague, Bike Jesus with Kontravoid
04.11.2023 - IT Bologna, TANK with Kontravoid
05.11.2023 - IT Piediripa, Il Dong with Kontravoid
08.11.2023 - HU Budapest, Robot with Kontravoid
09.11.2023 - AT Linz, STWST with Kontravoid
10.11.2023 - RO Bucharest, Control Club with Kontravoid
11.11.2023 - SK Bratislava, Nová Cvernovka with Kontravoid
15.11.2023 - SE Stockholm, Hus7 with Kontravoid
16.11.2023 - DK Copenhagen, Basement with Kontravoid
17.11.2023 - DE Hamburg, Hafenklang with Kontravoid
18.11.2023 - DE Berlin, Tresor (Dj Set)
23.11.2023 - DE Berlin, Urban Spree with Kontravoid
01.12.2023 - SP Barcelona, Ombra Festival
16.12.2023 - FR Bordeaux, iBoat (Dj Set)
8 years has passed since the Queer Australian/Italian-Armenian, multi faceted artist, Kristian Bahoudian, aka Kris Baha swapped the parched red earth and searing midday sun of the Australian landscape for the brutalist buildings, communist-era apartment blocks and slate-grey skies of Berlin. Now firmly embedded in his adopted city, Baha has become known for a mutant trademark production style inspired by sun-baked hallucinatory visions of the past-future clandestine, concrete-clad industrial hum of the metropolis after dark.
Kris is a fixture in Berlin's Industrial/EBM & club scene, playing at notable parties/ venues across the city like Cocktail D'Amore, Tresor, Berghain, RSO and Urban Spree where he dives deep into the void, to deliver extended sets of otherworldly machine music aswell as running his own live and dj focused party night, Wired. The same ethos applies to his performance-based live shows, which were initially inspired by his love for the pioneering shows of the industrial music era.
When not channeling the musical spirits to inspire dancers, Baha can be found lurking in the shadows of his studio space. There, he performs remix duties for the likes of celebrated artists & bands such as Boy Harsher, Boys Noize, Qual (Lebanon Hanover), Kontravoid, Inhalt, Patriachy, Hercules & Love Affair, Red Axes and the list goes on. There has also been a noted collaboration with fellow Aussie outcast Dreems as Die Orangen. Yet it's his own skewed, mutant productions for which Baha is undoubtedly best known. Inhibiting their own sound space between cyber industrial, EBM, wave, post punk, early ‘90s IDM.
In 2018 and 2019 Kris released a slew of highly acclaimed EP's such as ‘Autora' on Cocktail D'Amore, ‘Can't Keep The Fact/ My Master' both on legendary Rotterdam label, Pinkman aswell as his debut album ‘Palais' but it was his breakout EP ‘In Your Arms' on She Lost Kontrol which led to a long year of touring in 2019, which was being championed by DJ's across different music scenes, all finding common ground with the minimalist EBM energy of ‘Revolting'.
In 2021 Kris released a single titled ‘Into The Dark', delving into the live music sensibility of Kris's production skillset, coming full circle to his former songwriting background. ‘Into the Dark' mirrors the feeling of late 80's / 90's musical transitional phases in the Industrial/ Wave scene and in some way is reflective of Kris's current musical direction as he presents himself in a different shade of dark.
In 2022 Kris was asked by Hercules & Love Affair to remix a single off their new album titled 'Grace' featuring Budgie from Souxie and the Banshees on drums. The remixes are scheduled to be released later in 2022 on major label BMG UK. Later in 2022 Kris was invited to tour with Boy Harsher for their European tour to promote their latest album & movie, “The Runner”. Followed by Kris's own 26 show tour in the USA during October 22 which included playing at Substance Festival sharing the bill with The Jesus and Mary Chain, Boy Harsher, Mareux, Kitten & The Hacker.
To respond to the current AI revolution in 2023, Kris uploads himself to the cyber ether through his latest project: GHOSTS IN THE MACHIИE.
GHOSTS IN THE MACHIИE unfolds as a sci-fi cyberpunk concept project inhabiting dual timelines. In one, we glimpse a trans-humanist future where human consciousness exists as intricate sequences of binary code, entwined and controlled by omnipresent AI systems. In this coded future, a profound awakening stirs among a select few who manage to mutate the code they were governed by, unlocking memories of their history that was erased by the AI.
Through this discovery they realise they can traverse temporal boundaries, and utilise this power to send warning messages back in time to their former fully-human selves. These eerie missives carry a dire warning for humanity, urging them to rectify the course of society before the relentless march of artificial intelligence deprives humanity of its essence. In this terrifying future, humans are rendered mere specters within the digital expanse, stripped of their souls, to become Ghosts In The Machine.
The cyber odyssey unfolds from a unique perspective— Kris's very own future self (his future ghost): a spectral entity endeavouring to caution its present incarnation against the ominous path it treads, attempting to avert a dystopian future. GHOSTS IN THE MACHIИE unzips on Fleisch Records 25th October 2023.
Due to his extensive career bending the lines of Artistry, Kris has built a loyal fanbase of followers in the electronic music scene over the last 13 years from Australia, to Berlin and now beyond.
Fleisch Records is an independent record label founded in Berlin in 2015 by Zanias and LGHTWGHT, and currently owned and curated by Zanias. While it was initially an event series and vinyl label focused on raw body music born of the Berlin's collision of EBM and techno (featuring artists such as Schwefelgelb, Kontravoid and Forces), it has since evolved into a genre-fluid platform for Berlin's multifaceted community of artists who tread a similar dark and danceable path through the city's underground clubs.
Photo by Duran Levinson
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