{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2020}} {{short description|American techno band}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Psykosonik | image = | caption = | background = group_or_band | origin = Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. | genre = {{hlist|Techno|Industrial|EBM}} | years_active = 1992–1997 | label = {{hlist|Exit (Dietrich Dexter)|Wax Trax!}} | past_members = Paul Sebastien<br/>Daniel Lenz<br/>Theodore Beale<br/>Michael Larson }}
'''Psykosonik''' was an American techno and industrial music group.<ref name=BB>{{cite web|work=Billboard|title=Psykosonik|url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/354578/psykosonik/chart}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> The band had four ''Billboard'' charted Top 40 hit singles on the Dance Club Songs chart.<ref name=BB/> ''Psykosonik'' was featured on the ''Mortal Kombat Annihilation'' soundtrack.<ref>{{cite web|work=Billboard|pages=16|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0wkEAAAAMBAJ&q=psykosonik+billboard+magazine&pg=PA16|title=Psykosonik Chart History|date=October 25, 1997}}</ref>
The band's lyrics include cyberpunk and extropian themes that allude to virtual reality, AI, cybernetics, life extension, and general science.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.songlyrics.com/psykosonik-lyrics|title=Psykosonik Lyrics|accessdate=June 23, 2016}}</ref>
==History== {{Refimprove section|date=May 2016}} Psykosonik included musicians Paul Sebastien, Theodore Beale, Daniel Lenz, and Michael Larson.<ref name=discog /> In 1987 Theodore Beale was playing in a cover band called NoBoys. He first met Paul Sebastian at The Underground in Minneapolis and the two men put together a band with Beale on keyboards and Sebastian on guitar and vocals. They found a drummer Michael Larson and a production engineer Daniel Lenz. The band Psykosonik began recording electronic music at Sebastian's apartment where he had a recording studio, and later found performance opportunities in local clubs including First Avenue, 7th Street Entry, and Glam Slam. Their first successful song was "Sex Me Up", which they used as a demo to sign with Wax Trax! Records and TVT Records.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://voxday.blogspot.com/2011/12/true-and-obscure-history-of-psykosonik_31.html |title=The true and obscure history of Psykosonik |accessdate=January 14, 2016}}</ref>{{primary-inline|date=May 2016}}{{unreliable?|reason=blog of band member|date=May 2016}}
Their first album, ''Psykosonik'', was released in 1993.<ref name=allmusic /> Their second album, ''Unlearn'', was released in 1995.<ref name=allmusic>{{citation |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/psykosonik-mn0000305343/credits|title=Psykosonik|publisher=AllMusic|accessdate=June 23, 2016}}</ref> The hit singles from these albums included "Silicon Jesus" in September 1993, "Welcome to My Mind" in February 1994, "Unlearn" (1995) and "It Has Begun" (1996).<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/11607-Psykosonik|title=Psykosonik|accessdate=June 23, 2016}}</ref> The members also appeared in video productions.<ref name=":0">{{citation |url=http://www.wehuntedthemammoth.com/2015/04/13/vox-day-wrote-lyrics-for-an-early-nineties-industrial-dance-band-theyre-just-awful|title=Vox Day wrote lyrics for an early-nineties industrial dance band. They're just awful|date=April 13, 2015|accessdate=June 23, 2016}}</ref> The band's third album was titled ''Spiritual Machine''.<ref name=disband /> It was completed by 1997 but was never released by the band's label, Wax Trax! Records, which was at this time owned by TVT Records. Because of disagreements with their label, Psykosonik then disbanded.<ref name=disband>{{citation |url=http://playlists.net/artists/psykosonik|title=Psykosonik|accessdate=June 23, 2013}}</ref>
Daniel Lenz went on to produce a single album with vocalist Brent Daniels titled ''Searching for the End'' under the band name Hednoize.<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/97160-Hednoize|title=Hednoize|accessdate=June 23, 2016}}</ref> In 2001 Lenz launched a short lived project called PsykoHed on MP3.com. He released his debut solo album, ''Stuck in a Dream'', in 2008, featuring guest appearances by Brent Daniels, as well as Paul Sebastien of Psykosonik.<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.discogs.com/Daniel-Lenz-Stuck-In-A-Dream/release/1739766|title=Daniel Lenz – Stuck In A Dream|accessdate=June 23, 2016}}</ref>
Paul Sebastien went on to work as a composer at Thomas Dolby's audio technology company Beatnik, composing several tracks for its Headspace Music Library before leaving in 1998 to pursue other technology interests. In 2003, Sebastien teamed up with Caesar Filori to release two singles under the name Basic Pleasure Model, titled ''Sunyata'' and ''How to Live.''<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/60769-Paul-Sebastien|title=Paul Sabastien|accessdate=June 23, 2016}}</ref> Larson went on to become the audio director for Epic Games and produced the soundtracks for the ''Gears of War'' series.<ref>{{citation |url=http://digital.copcomm.com/i/115625-march-2013/35|title=Audio for Games|date=March 2013|author=Walden, Jennifer|accessdate=June 23, 2016}}</ref> Beale, also known as Vox Day, left the field of music.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/12/right-wing-trolls-hijack-scifi-oscars.html|date=April 12, 2015|title=Right-Wing Trolls Hijack SciFi Oscars|accessdate=June 23, 2016}}</ref>
==Personnel== *Paul Sebastien (1992–1997) – vocals, composition, engineering, lyrics, mixing, production *Daniel Lenz (1992–1997) – composition, engineering, lyrics, mixing, production *Theodore Beale (1992–1994) – composition, lyrics *Michael Larson (1992–1994) – samples, percussion<ref name=discog>{{citation |url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/11607-Psykosonik|title=Psykosonik|accessdate=June 23, 2016}}</ref>
==Discography==
===Albums=== {| class="wikitable" !align="left" valign="top" width="180px"|Title !align="left" valign="top" width="180px"|Release date !align="left" valign="top" |Label |- |align="left" valign="top"|''Psykosonik'' |align="left" valign="top"|US: 1993-02-02<br/>Japan: 1993-11-01 |align="left" valign="top"|US: Wax Trax!/TVT<br/>Japan: Polystar |- |align="left" valign="top"|''Unlearn'' |align="left" valign="top"|1995-11-06 |align="left" valign="top"|Wax Trax!/TVT |- |align="left" valign="top"|''Spiritual Machine'' |align="left" valign="top"|Unreleased |align="left" valign="top"|Wax Trax!/TVT |}
===Singles=== {| class="wikitable" !align="left" valign="top" width="140px"|Song !align="left" valign="top" width="135px"|Release date !Chart peak !Weeks in chart !align="left" valign="top" width="85px"|Album !align="left" valign="top"|Formats !align="left" valign="top" width="100px"|Label |- |align="left" valign="top"|"Silicon Jesus" |align="left" valign="top"|1993-05-25 |37 (Dance Club Songs) |5 |align="left" valign="top"|''Psykosonik'' |align="left" valign="top"|Released as four-track vinyl and six-track CD. |align="left" valign="top"|Wax Trax!/TVT |- |align="left" valign="top"|"Welcome to My Mind" |align="left" valign="top"|1993-11-23 |26 (Dance Club Songs) |10 |align="left" valign="top"|''Psykosonik'' |align="left" valign="top"|Released as five-track vinyl and seven-track CD. |align="left" valign="top"|Wax Trax!/TVT |- |align="left" valign="top"|"Unlearn" |align="left" valign="top"|1995-08-08 |11 (Dance Club Songs) |11 |align="left" valign="top"|''Unlearn'' |align="left" valign="top"|Released as five-track vinyl and ten-track CD. |align="left" valign="top"|Wax Trax!/TVT |- |align="left" valign="top"|"Panik Kontrol (PQM's Deephead Pass)" |align="left" valign="top"|Unknown | | |align="left" valign="top"|''Mortal Kombat Annihilation soundtrack'' |align="left" valign="top"|Released only as a white label promo. |align="left" valign="top"|Wax Trax!/TVT |}
===Movie and game soundtracks=== {| class="wikitable" !align="left" valign="top" width="140px"|Song !align="left" valign="top" width="135px"|Release date !align="left" valign="top" width="300px"|Title |- |align="left" valign="top"|Various |align="left" valign="top"|1993 |align="left" valign="top"|''X-Kaliber 2097|Activision'' |- |align="left" valign="top"|Various |align="left" valign="top"|1994 |align="left" valign="top"|''CyClones|Strategic Simulations, Inc.'' |- |align="left" valign="top"|"Unlearn (Josh Wink's Live Mix)" |align="left" valign="top"|1995 |align="left" valign="top"|''Mortal Kombat'' |- |align="left" valign="top"|"Theme" |align="left" valign="top"|1995 |align="left" valign="top"|''Marathon 2: Durandal'' |- |align="left" valign="top"|"Theme" |align="left" valign="top"|1996 |align="left" valign="top"|''Marathon Infinity'' |- |align="left" valign="top"|"It Has Begun" |align="left" valign="top"|1996 |align="left" valign="top"|''Mortal Kombat: More Kombat'' |- |align="left" valign="top"|"Need to Die" |align="left" valign="top"|1997 |align="left" valign="top"|''Organ Donors, Freestyle Motocross'' |- |align="left" valign="top"|"Panik Kontrol" |align="left" valign="top"|1997 |align="left" valign="top"|''Mortal Kombat Annihilation'' |}
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== *{{musicbrainz artist|id=12f5e840-e2fc-4c90-8741-4c0a767f2a6d|name=Psykosonik}}
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Category:TVT Records artists Category:American techno music groups Category:Wax Trax! Records artists Category:American industrial music groups