Modulhater

Thomas PAPAY’s career began in the early 2000s. After several years as a DJ drawing on new wave, post-punk and cold wave influences, he turned to electronic production, favouring vintage synthesizers and drum machines. Highly active on the industrial/techno scenes with his projects Le Diktat and Rope, Thomas was already shaping a dark, uncompromising, cinematic sound world. After several critically acclaimed albums released on labels such as Audiotrauma, Kubernoise, OPN Records and Syrphe, he went on to collaborate with artists like Punish Yourself, Sonic Area and Niveau Zero. With his new project MODULHATER, Thomas has focused since 2019 on old-school techno, influenced by the EBM, New Beat and acid scenes. He has performed on various stages such as Point FMR, Glazart and La Machine du Moulin Rouge, delivering standout sets and sharing the bill with artists including Krikor, Terence Fixmer and Arnaud Rebotini. MODULHATER also teamed up with techno producer Ghost Dance for two widely praised collaborations, “Malware” and “Structure”, released on the prestigious American label Mau5trap (60,000 views on YouTube). This was followed by a first album, Velodrome, released on vinyl by Beatsqueeze Records. His tracks were soon picked up for major international productions, including hit series such as La luz más oscura, Kleo (Netflix) and Tokyo Vice (HBO / CANAL+). His now-cult track “Gevaert” (42,000 views on YouTube) earned him a nomination and award at the 2022 Production Music Awards. 2024 marks MODULHATER’s return with the new album ACID BODY MUSIC, both explosive and hard-hitting. Across ten tracks, he once again combines the best of dark, demanding techno with analog electro atmospheres that pay tribute to the pioneers of EBM, rave and acid. Conceived during the anxiety-ridden atmosphere of the first lockdown, ACID BODY MUSIC, his second album as MODULHATER, took shape as a cathartic response to the injunction to “stay still”. He delivers tracks steeped in acid, EBM and industrial influences: fiery and raging cuts of rigorous, analog techno, strongly inspired by the pioneers of Detroit and the late-80s New Beat / EBM scene. Vintage synths and drum machines roar, hypnotic basslines hit hard, and MODULHATER pulls us into a dystopian universe where the strobe-lit dancefloor is populated by cyborgs. A devoted lover of Roland’s TB-303, he puts his deep technical know-how to use in crafting razor-sharp, made-to-measure melodies.