Richard H. Kirk

Kirk is best known for his work in electronic music, and for co-founding the influential music group Cabaret Voltaire in 1973. As a solo artist, Kirk released music under his own name as well as under more than 30 aliases. He also collaborated with other artists in a range of groups such as Sweet Exorcist and Acid Horse.

Richard Harold Kirk
Richard H. Kirk performing as DJ at Music for Real Airports event in Sheffield (2010)
Background information
Also known as	Electronic Eye, Sandoz, Trafficante
Born	(1956-03-21)21 March 1956
Origin	Sheffield, Yorkshire, England
Died	21 September 2021
Genres	Electronic industrial techno
Occupation(s)	Composer producer musician
Instrument(s)	Electronics sampler keyboards guitar saxophone clarinet
Years active	1973–2021
Labels	Industrial Doublevision Rough Trade Warp Touch Beyond Alphaphone Blast First Intone Mute EMI
Formerly of	Cabaret Voltaire Sweet Exorcist

Kirk was born on March 21, 1956, and grew up in Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, England, where he lived his whole life. He attended the Psalter Lane School Of Art, where he completed a one-year program in sculpture and met Peter Care, who would later direct several Cabaret Voltaire videos.

Kirk, along with Chris Watson and Stephen Mallinder, formed the industrial band Cabaret Voltaire in 1973. The band first performed in May, 1975, and released its debut album, Mix-Up, in 1979.

“When we started, we wanted to do something with sound, but none of us knew how to play an instrument,” Kirk told the New York Times. “So we started using tape recorders and various pieces of junk and gradually learned to play instruments like guitars and bass.” Kirk's father, a ham radio operator, also helped spark Kirk's interest in electronics. He cited a wide range of musicians, including Stockhausen, John Cage and Fela Kuti, as inspiring his work.

Kirk's first release as a solo artist, Disposable Half-Truths, was released in 1980 and he maintained a career as a solo artist alongside Cabaret Voltaire until the band's dissolution in 1994. He reformed the band in 2014 as the sole remaining member, performing sporadically with all-new material more akin to his solo work than the output of the original incarnation of Cabaret Voltaire.

Kirk released much of his music on his own labels, including Intone, which he founded in 2003.

During the 1990s, his solo output increased considerably. Kirk's works explored multiple types of electronic/dance music under many pseudonyms. His prolific work resulted in AllMusic calling him contemporary techno's busiest man.

Kirk died on 21 September 2021, at the age of 65.

Aliases

In addition to solo releases under his own name, Kirk used the following aliases:

Collaborations

The following is a list of groups and artists Kirk has worked with:

• Acid Horse
• Cabaret Voltaire
• Citrus
• Kora
• Peter Hope
• The Pressure Company
• Sweet Exorcist
• The Tivoli
• XON

Albums

• Disposable Half-Truths (1980, Industrial)
• Time High Fiction (1983, Doublevision)
• Black Jesus Voice (1986, Rough Trade)
• Ugly Spirit (1986, Rough Trade)
• Hoodoo Talk (with Peter Hope) (1988, Wax Trax!)
• Virtual State (1993, Warp)
• The Number of Magic (1995, Warp)
• Agents with false memories (1996, Ash International)
• Knowledge Through Science (1998, Blast First)
• Darkness At Noon (1999, Touch)
• LoopStatic (Amine ß Ring Modulations) (2000, Touch)
• TWAT v4.0: The War Against Terror (2003, Intone)
• Earlier/Later—Unreleased Projects Anthology ’74–’89 (2004, Mute/EMI)
• Richard H. Kirk Meets the Truck Bombers of Suburbia Uptown Vol. 1 (Feat. Pat Riot) (2004, Intone)
• Sonic Reflections (Unreleased Soundtrack Project 1994) (2009, Intone)
• Reality Is Opposite (2011, Intone)
• Anonymized (2011, Intone)
• Dasein (2017, Intone)

As Sandoz

• Digital Lifeforms (1993, Touch)
• Intensely Radioactive (1994, Touch)
• Every Man Got Dreaming (1995, Touch)
• Dark Continent (1996, Touch)
• God Bless the Conspiracy (1997, Alphaphone)
• In Dub: Chant to Jah (1998, Touch; 2002, Soul Jazz)
• Afrocentris (2001, Intone)
• Live in the Earth: Sandoz in Dub Chapter 2 (2006, Soul Jazz)
• Acid Editions (303 Excursions) (2009, Intone)
• Digital Life Time (2012, Intone)

As Electronic Eye

• Closed Circuit (1994, Beyond)
• The Idea of Justice (1995, Beyond)
• Neurometrik (2000, Alphaphone)
• Autoshark (2006, Intone)

12-inch singles

• "Leather Hands" (with Peter Hope)
• "Surgeons" (with Peter Hope)
• "Hipnotic"