Gesaffelstein

Biography

Mike Lévy (French pronunciation: [majk levi]; born 24 June 1985), known professionally as Gesaffelstein, is a French DJ and record producer from Lyon. Often called the "Dark Prince of Techno", he has worked alongside artists such as the Weeknd, Lady Gaga, Daft Punk, Kanye West, A$AP Rocky, the Hacker, Lil Nas X, Charli XCX and Pharrell Williams.
He is best known for the single "Lost in the Fire" with the Weeknd. At the 68th Annual Grammy Awards, he won the Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for his remix of Gaga's "Abracadabra".

Stage name

Gesaffelstein is a portmanteau of Gesamtkunstwerk ("total artwork" in German, also the title of an album by the American electro group Dopplereffekt) and Albert Einstein.

Career

Mike Lévy was born in Lyon, France, on 24 June 1985 to Jewish parents from North Africa. He started producing music at the age of sixteen when he first played an analog synthesizer. He released his first EP in 2008 through the label OD Records. In 2009, he founded the independent label Zone with the Hacker, Alex Reynaud and David Rimokh.
In July 2012, Gesaffelstein made the cover of DJ Mag with Brodinski. The same year, his track "Viol" was used by Citroën and Givenchy advertisements. He co-produced two tracks on Yeezus, the sixth album by American rapper Kanye West, including the lead single "Black Skinhead" and "Send It Up", both tracks produced with West, Daft Punk, Brodinski and Mike Dean.
On 28 October 2013, Gesaffelstein released his debut album Aleph×Aleph28 October 2013 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube MusicTracklist · 14 tracks1Out of Line2:362Pursuit4:093Nameless4:394Destinations3:375Obsession4:096Hellifornia3:417Aleph4:478Wall of Memories3:519Duel3:5910Piece of Future5:1011Hate or Glory4:4912Values3:5913Trans4:3414Perfection12:17 under Parlophone Records and OWSLA (in North America only), which had been recorded since 2011. His remix of "Shockwave" by the Hacker is featured in the 2013 video game Grand Theft Auto V, on the Soulwax FM radio station.
He released the single "Conquistador×Conquistador19 June 2015 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracksA1Conquistador (album version)3:10B1Conquistador (JMJ RMX)4:50B2Conquistador (JMJ RMX extended)5:43" in 2015, collaborating with Jean-Michel Jarre, which is present on the album Electronica 1: The Time Machine. He also produced the soundtrack for the French-Belgian 2015 film Maryland, directed by Alice Winocour. In early 2018, he produced the tracks "I Was Never There" and "Hurt You" from the Weeknd's My Dear Melancholy, EP.
He signed to Columbia Records in November 2018, with whom he released the lead single "Reset×Reset29 November 2018 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Reset3:25" from his second studio album Hyperion×Hyperion8 March 2019 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Hyperion2:532Reset3:253Lost in the Fire3:224Ever Now1:385Blast Off3:556So Bad3:377Forever4:328Vortex2:379Memora3:3710Humanity Gone10:42 in the same month. In January 2019, he released a collaboration with the Weeknd titled "Lost in the Fire" as the second single from Hyperion, and later in March 2019 released another collaboration with Pharrell Williams titled "Blast Off". Hyperion was released on 8 March 2019, to mixed reviews. On 3 October 2019, Gesaffelstein announced his surprise EP Novo Sonic System×Novo Sonic System4 October 2019 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 6 tracks1Orck3:082Dance X4:153Ignio2:034Doom1:495Novo Sonic System2:316Metalotronics2:44, consisting of 6 tracks, which was released the following day.
His track "Orck" was used as the pre-intro and outro theme music for Apple's October 2021 event. He announced a collaboration with fellow Kanye West collaborator KayCyy. TW20 50, an EP containing 3 collaborative songs between the two of them, released on 11 March 2022. KayCyy and Lévy's second collaborative EP, TW2052, was released on 26 May 2023. His third album, Gamma×GAMMA29 March 2024 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Digital Slaves1:542Hard Dreams2:503Your Share of the Night3:094Hysteria1:555The Urge2:246Mania2:357Lost Love2:338The Perfect2:249Psycho2:0410Tyranny2:3811Emet2:40, was released on 29 March 2024.
Gesaffelstein co-produced and co-wrote on Lady Gaga's Grammy-winning album Mayhem in 2025, featuring on the sixth track, "Killah". His remix of the Mayhem track "Abracadabra" earned him the Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical at the 68th annual ceremony. His appearance at the ceremony attracted considerable attention, as he wore black gloves and his signature black reflective mask, reminiscent of the cover art for Gamma, and accepted the award without speaking.

Musical style

Mixmag describes Gesaffelstein's style as being a "dark and threatening techno, though enchanting"; The Inrocks see it as "black, ultra-violent music, [which] revives the techno fundamentals, the intransigence of Underground Resistance, the mental and obsessive structures of Drexciya, the contemporary power and more". Megan Buerger from the Washington Post describes his style as a mixture of dark and underground music, and notes that a specialty of the artist is his use of silences to create a "tension" before a "raucous explosion of bass and percussion".

Influences

Gesaffelstein cites Dopplereffekt, Kraftwerk, and industrial dance formations from the '80s such as D.A.F. or Nitzer Ebb all as references. He has also said Joy Division and the Hacker influenced his work.

Studio albums

Aleph (2013)
Hyperion (2019)
Gamma (2024)

EPs

Modern Walk (2008)
Vengeance Factory (2008)
The Operator (2009)
Variations (2010)
Conspiracy PT. I (2011)
Conspiracy PT. II (2011)
Zone 4: Crainte / Errance (2011)
Bromance #4: Rise Of Depravity (2012)
Novo Sonic System (2019)

Cinema

2014: Pursuit is used in the movie 3 Days to Kill
2023: Hate Or Glory is used in the movie John Wick: Chapter 4