B. Fleischmann

Born in Austria's capital in 1975, Bernhard Fleischmann got his musical start on the piano at age eight before turning to drums five years later as a student at the Hinterbrühl music school. He drummed in live bands for a seven year stretch, from 1988 to 1995, playing with Speed Is Essential and Sore!. In 1998, the electronic music of the Vienna scene started catching his ear, and he switched over to the digital realm and began creating music on his laptop. Well-versed in the art of rhythm at this point, it seemed a natural process to make beats based on complex time signatures and wild syncopated fills. His first album, Pop Loops for Breakfast, was released on Morr Music that fall, followed by the Sidonie EP in 1999. International tours followed, and in the 2000s, Fleischmann released a number of albums that showed him veering back towards his organic roots. Sandwiched by singles and EPs, A Choir of Empty Beds and Welcome Tourist were among his most notable releases, with 2008's Angst Is Not a Weltanschauung! including a guest appearance by Daniel Johnston.