Company type | Private |
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Industry | Musical instruments |
Founded | 1998 |
Headquarters | , Sweden |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
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Products |
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Website | elektron |
Elektron is a Swedish developer and manufacturer of musical instruments founded in 1998, as well as having its headquarters, R&D and production in Gothenburg, Sweden. They produce mainly electronic musical instruments, but have also made effects units and software. Since 2012, there have been branch offices in Los Angeles and in Tokyo.
Musicians who use Elektron instruments include Panda Bear,[1] Timbaland, The Knife, Sophie Xeon, Depeche Mode,[2] and Autechre.[3]
Elektron started working on its first electronic instrument in 1997. At the time, it was a school project, a mandatory course part of the Computer Science program at the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. The three founders were Daniel Hansson, Anders Gärder and Mikael Räim. Hansson recalls: "There were a number of projects to choose from: build a digital landline phone, a bicycle trip computer, or a beeper. None of that seemed fun or challenging enough, so I suggested we build a synthesizer instead!" The synthesizer, called the SidStation, was initially made in a test run of ten units. The project was deemed commercially viable, so in 1998 a company was started to nurture it and Elektron ESI was born. Following the SidStation, Elektron released the Machinedrum and the Monomachine.[4]
When the development of the Octatrack (in 2009) began, Jonas Hillman stepped in to provide the management, structural reform, and capital needed to get the company growing. Since then, Jonas has been acting CEO, majority owner and business spokesperson for the company, subsequently renamed Elektron Music Machines. With Hillman at the helm, Elektron offices were opened in Los Angeles and Tokyo. The Gothenburg office remains the company headquarters. The product portfolio has been expanded to include music production software (Overbridge) as well as analog synthesizer hardware.[2]
Musicians who use Elektron instruments include Sophie Xeon, Warpaint, Kid Koala, Del tha Funky Homosapien, Susanne Sundfør, John Frusciante, The Knife, Air, Nine Inch Nails, New Order, Jean-Michel Jarre, Youth Code, Wilco, Aux 88, Cevin Key, Smashing Pumpkins, Mogwai, The Horrors, Plaid, Factory Floor, Matt McJunkins, Arcane Roots, The Bug, The Chemical Brothers, Thom Yorke and many others.[16]