FGFC820
Formed in 2004, FGFC820 is the harsh EBM project from well-known and respected New York City DJs, Rexx Arkana and Dracos. Drawing on joint and separate influences ranging from old school industrial to modern gabber, Arkana and Dracos combine to create a sound that is at once melodic and relentlessly rhythmic, "bringing the 'thump' back to EBM", as one reviewer recently put it.
In addition to his 20 years of experience as both a DJ and promoter - having worked with everyone from industrial stalwarts Skinny Puppy and Ministry to newer stars Covenant and VNV Nation - Rexx Arkana is also the founder of the scene supergroup Bruderschaft. A collaboration of some of the electronic music world's top talents, Bruderschaft drew together, under Arkana's leadership, members of VNV Nation, Covenant, Apoptygma Berzerk and Icon of Coil in a charitable effort to benefit cancer research and treatment.
As an artist in his own right, Arkana has also written lyrics and/or recorded vocals for such prominent underground acts as The Retrosic (New World Order), Neikka RPM (Storm of Hell), and davaNtage side project, Supreme Court (Mass Media Murder).
Dracos spent the last half of the 90s in Boston where he attended Berklee College of Music and graduated with a degree in music production & engineering. While in Boston, Dracos also played the local club circuit as a DJ as well as performing live with Disciples of Astaroth. In 1999, Dracos relocated to NYC where he began building a bigger name for himself as a DJ for the some of the scenes' most notorious parties. Dracos also started Subsurface Productions to encompass all of his various projects, since he had begun DJing and releasing original tracks/remixes under his various aliases... such as his track "Sacrilege" which was recorded under his 'Von Strecker' alias and chosen to represent the gabba genre on the "Definitive - Elevated" album from England's 42Records.
As DJs, it's not surprising their compositions inspire movement, nor that their messages - be them political or cultural - have been enslaved by the beat. ReGen Magazine recently wrote: "FGFC820 is perhaps the best example of pure, beat-driven EBM to be unleashed onto the scene in years. The rhythms pound their way into your psyche with militaristic grandeur, stomping like a Teutonic march the likes of which have been mostly lost in this new age of synthpop wannabes."