Since his earliest days in the scene, Amsterdam’s Steve Rachmad has created a legion of monikers to cover his compositions’ variety and broadness. One of them being Sterac which focuses on the deeper and more obscure end of the techno genre. The Sterac discography consists of signature cuts, spread out over genre-defining labels such as M-Plant, Tresor, Klockworks, Afterlife, Mote-Evolver, Indigo Aera, and Delsin.
But how much do we really know about Steve’s work?
Steve Rachmad is a Dutch techno producer, DJ and remixer. By many, he is considered a father of Detroit techno in the Netherlands, respected in the world of electronic music for his deep, groovy sounds that tend to rest on impressive strings, melodies, funk and soul. His career has been reaching its highest peaks from 1996 up to the present time. Yet, it is somewhat less known that he has been in the music realms for over 25 years by now.
From that time on, Steve finds his inspiration in the 1980s dance and electro, works of former Time members (Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis), The System, Arthur Baker, to name but a few. At the age of 15, he also starts his DJing career with a disco set in a small Amsterdam club. Today, his equipment is mainly analogue, providing him with a chance to explore the realms of warm, alive, non-static sounds. He laid the cornerstone of this collection in 1985, by getting a TR-808.
The incoming years are to be marked by numerous successful releases on labels such as 100% Pure, Cocoon, Underwater, Fragile, M-Plant, Tresor, and the recent years on labels as Sino, Delsin, Music Man, Artless, etc. He also made over a hundred remixes, signed under various pseudonyms. He remixed a variety of artists, from Taksi, Derrick May and John Tejada, to Armand van Helden, Club MCM, Armin van Buuren, Seven Grand Housing Authority, Victor Calderone and Basement Jaxx. Among Steve’s most respected releases is certainly his album “Secret Life of Machines,” which came out in 1996 under his pseudonym Sterac, and is up to this date considered as one of the all-time techno classics. About the same time, his DJing path starts rapidly evolving as well. Until today, Steve shares his talent with crowds all over the World. He occasionally spins disco and electro, but mainly techno.
Of all the fictitious names he used throughout his career to sign his productions, the ones that remained until today are Sterac and Parallel 9. In the later years, he also releases more and more under his real name.
When it comes to upcoming music, Steve has recently confirmed that a classic Sterac release on Delsin and an EP on Token are coming soon.