Octal Industries

Octal Industries is a collaboration of two experienced cannons in the electronic music scene – Michael Sickinger from the United States and Jonas Thor Gudmundsson from Iceland.
Sickinger has been releasing music under various names, such as Spectral Network, Satori Corporations and Lovely Mornings, and founded the labels Combat Zone (1989-1993), Influx (1993-1996) and Halcyon Recordings (1997-1999). Later on he founded the labels Transistor Rhythm and Octal, who have released artists such as 90s techno hit The Grid, the psychedelic techno-shaman Terrence McKenna and the dub techno legend Rod Modell from the Deep Chord-fame.
Jonas Thor Gudmundsson, better known as Ruxpin first started producing music at the age of 14. His first release Mission EP was released on Uni:Form Recordings 1999 and the same year his first LP entitled Radio was released on the same label. Through his debut album he got in touch with the highly acclaimed label Elektrolux where he released his next two LPs (Midnight Drive & Avalon), alongside with one LP on their sublabel Mikrolux. In late 2006 he released his fifth full length album Elysium on Mikrolux. In 2010 he released his sixth album on n5MD, Where Do We Float From Here? Following that release came a free online release I Wonder if This is the Place, which featured remixes by artists such as Leon Somov, Galaktlan, Biogen, Ijo and Worm is Green alongside additional tracks by Ruxpin himself. In his collaboration project with Fannar Ásgrímsson from Plastik Joy came to life with the release of their debut album Love in Times of Repetition in 2012 under the pseudonym Asonat. In 2013 the seventh release of Ruxpin will see the day of light on n5MD.
In 2004 the first fruit of the collaboration between them saw the day of light with the release of Automatik EP on the Transistor Rhythm output. Couple of years later they joined their friend Deep Chord for a shared 12“ release, which today is a quite a valuable gem for dub techno lovers. The three of them joined hands together later that year to create a 3x12“ release undir the pseudanym Spectral Network. The release was quite limited (111 copies) and was considered one of the most interesting 12“ releases that year by many critics.
After the release of the Spectral Network eps the duo went for hiatus as other projects took over, also as opportunity for musical collaborations became harder as the Atlantic Ocean divides them. In 2011 the duo was asked by the french independent label Entropy Records to remix Mr. Cloudy. There was an opportunity to explore the collaboration further and the sparkle came back. Another remix followed for G.R.I.T. which was hailed by dubtechnoblog.com as the best remix of the year 2012.
In beginning of 2013 a 12“ release entitled Himinglæva saw the day of light, as well as a full-length album entitled Meeting of the Waves on Entropy Records.
The duo is currently working on an album due to be released in 2014.Read more on Last.fm