The Hacker — Electro & Techno DJ & Producer

Michel Amato, known as The Hacker, is a French electro and techno producer and DJ from Grenoble who began making music in 1989 at age 17, drawing early influence from Duran Duran before discovering the darker electronic body music of Cabaret Voltaire and D.A.F. In 1993, he explored hardcore electro with Benoit Bollini under the name XMF, before moving toward Detroit-styled techno influenced by Jeff Mills in 1995, the artist whose track title he borrowed for his own stage name. Three years later, The Hacker founded his label Goodlife Records with friends Oxia and Alex Reynaud, releasing his debut album Melodies En Sous-Sol in spring 2000, a record that echoed New Order and Dopplereffekt. He has worked extensively alongside Miss Kittin, a collaboration that placed him at the center of the late-1990s and early-2000s French electroclash movement, blending techno production with a DJ practice rooted in the French rave scene of the early 1990s. The Hacker's releases have also appeared on labels including Ozone, Interface, UMF, and Sativae, reflecting a career built across French electronic music's shift from rave to electroclash and back toward techno.