Saturday 27 September 2025, 7.30pm
MEGO: My Eyes Glaze Over was a phrase coined by physicist Herman Kahn, signifying the glare at staring into the future.
MEGO 001 was launched in 1995 with ‘Fridge Trax’ by then unknown artists General Magic (Andreas Pieper and Ramon Bauer) & Pita (Peter Rehberg). Title appropriate, all material was sourced from the sounds of various fridges. The artwork was made by Tina Frank. Here, the initial Mego team were all on board and the components in place to set the good ship Mego sail on an extraordinary adventure that continues to this day.
This initial Mego crew each had attributes which formulated the Mego aesthetic. Pieper developed the software all initial Mego artists were to employ. Rehberg had extensive knowledge of experimental music in its multitude forms alongside the record labels that housed them. Bauer had been involved with the dance music scene and introduced such rhythms to the fold (heretical at the time!). Frank remains the main visual element having executed many of the striking artworks that adorn the sleeves of Mego releases whilst providing live visuals to a variety of videos and performances.
Initially a vessel to publish their own endeavours, Mego soon opened the door to the world, developing an international network of exploratory minds. Taking advantage of the dawn of personal computing, Mego harnessed the histories of industrial, avant-garde, drone, noise, techno, etc. All became input for laptop computers. The subsequent output formed a series of vinyl releases which shook the foundations of what can be done with sound providing inspiration that reverberates to this day. Innovation was everywhere with Mego. A promotional kit of the initial vinyl releases was delivered to the press in a pizza box. MEGO 052 was a 2-Stroke Race Kart. MDOS: Mego Direct Order service was set up as a digital and physical mail-order platform, predicting the Bandcamp template.
Editions Mego evolved out of the original Mego label with Peter Rehberg introducing a host of new artists whilst simultaneously launching a series of sub labels curated by John Elliott (Spectrum Spools), Stephen O’Malley (Ideologic Organ), Jim O'Rourke (Old News), Mark Fell (Sensate Focus) and François Bonnet (Recollection GRM and Portraits GRM).
In 2025 the original Mego spirit lands with a diverse range of sonic material all embedded with an uncompromising vision at once alien, playful, futuristic and fantastic. From Moon landings to groaning fridges, software to hardware, let's celebrate the vast sonic tapestry of Mego and Editions Mego together.
https://mego.at
https://editionsmego.bandcamp.com/music
With support from:
Bruce Clifford Gilbert (born 18 May 1946) is an English musician. One of the founding members of the influential and experimental art-punk band Wire, Gilbert branched out into electronic music, performance art, music production, and DJing during the band's extended periods of inactivity. Gilbert left Wire in 2004 and has since been focusing on solo work and collaborations with visual artists and fellow experimental musicians.
By using synthesis and sampling techniques Jung An Tagen builds aleatoric arrays, repetitive figures & polyrhythmic moire´s that speak equally to the body and the mind. The grammar of this music is confounding, the language itself immediate, oscillating between modern composition and ritualistic techno, immersion and repulsion.
In 2016 the viennese based artist found a local home at Editions Mego, a label with more than 20 years of expertise in this territory. In the past Stefan Juster was present with different monikers on labels like NotNotFun, Blackest Rainbow, Orange Milk or his own imprints and worked on artworks for different artists e.g. Kevin Drumm and as an experimental video artist.
"Barely adhering to established syntaxes of rhythm, melody, and timbre, Jung An Tagen seems to want to rewrite the rule book when it comes to electronic music. He's off to a hell of a start." – The Wire
General Magic ∞ Tina Frank create wild audiovisual explorations, packed with experimental electronic music and visuals that interact, merge and degenerate into collages of scratchy and illuminating layers of shapes and sounds. Tina Frank’s works are characterised by a high level of abstraction and intense colours that playfully explore the limits of perception. Her short films, such as “Prototipo”, “Input : Reason” and “Datna Éclat” with music by General Magic, are regularly shown at festivals around the world. General Magic’s latest full-length album “Bosko” was released in January 2025 on Editions Mego and sees Bauer and Pieper update and reframe their original sonic investigations with a fresh supply of head scratching, heart racing tunes that hit the inexplicable with a wild mesh of drums, pianos, synthetic voices and all manner of immaterial sonic play.
https://strumandiodine.com/article/the-final-transcript-tina-frank/
Nik Colk Void is an electronic musician and artist with a vast reputation in experimental shapeshifting and collaboration. Void’s interests lie in the unconventional encounters with her tools, both analogue and digital, as a means of expression. Her key instruments are voice, guitar, and modular euro-rack systems engaging in a new language using extended technique and cut-up sampling through synthesis. As a result, the blends of her compositional tracks lean towards techno, club, experimental and noise.
UK based, Void has produced eight acclaimed studio albums with her musical groups Factory Floor (Gabriel Gurnsey & Dominic Butler), Carter Tutti Void (Chris Carter & Cosey Fanni Tutti) and NPVR with the late Peter Rehberg, releasing via Mute, DFA, Blast First, Editions Mego and Industrial.
Lewis x Lewis is Klara Lewis and Graham Lewis.
Klara Lewis is a Swedish composer of experimental electronic music. Born in Uppsala in 1993, she has quickly gained recognition for her unique sound and innovative approach to composition. Her music pushes boundaries and challenges traditional notions of genre, blending elements of ambient, noise, and techno creating immersive sonic landscapes. With an expanding catalogue of work and a reputation for captivating live performances, Klara Lewis is an artist at the forefront of the electronic music scene.
Lewis presents her audio-visual shows in clubs and art galleries around the world. She has been selected as a highlight of festivals such as Atonal (Berlin), Mutek (Montreal and Mexico), Sonar (Barcelona) and Dark Mofo (Tasmania). Lewis has released numerous well-received albums via one of the world’s most progressive electronic labels; Vienna-based Editions Mego. Lewis’ debut album, Ett, was released on Editions Mego in 2014 and 10 years later the label released Thankful, an album dedicated to Editions Mego label boss Peter Rehberg who passed away in 2021. The live audiovisual premiere of Thankful took place at Uppsala Art Museum in 2024. Lewis has a long-standing relationship with the museum, having been commissioned to create the first sound installation to be included in the museum’s permanent collection in 2018. Alongside her solo work, she has ongoing collaborative projects with Peder Mannerfelt (producer of Fever Ray), Nik Colk Void (of Factory Floor) and Yuki Tsujii (of Bo Ningen). Lewis has also recieved grants by STIM, (Svenska Tonsättares Internationella Musikbyrå), SKAP (Sveriges kompositörer och textförfattare) and Konstnärsnämnden.
Graham Lewis, currently a resident of Uppsala in Sweden, is Wire's bassist, and is responsible for the bulk of the band's lyrics. Having originally graduated in 1974 from Middlesex Polytechnic with a degree in fashion design, he initially worked as a freelance designer. Successful collaboration with the Jeffrey Rodgers company led to his designs appearing in the editorial pages of Elle, Cosmopolitan,19, and more, and his collections were available in a number of high-street boutiques.
Things all changed in 1976, when he was asked to join—as bass player—an unnamed group consisting of George Gill, Colin Newman and Bruce Gilbert. Robert Grey soon also joined, and the band became known as Wire. However, Gill's departure led to the remaining quartet having to create an entirely new set of material, and so Graham formed a writing partnership with Colin, with Graham primarily acting as lyricist. Subsequently, Graham also wrote and sang many of his own compositions, and with Bruce, Graham managed and created much of Wire's visual identity, including record sleeves and stage design.
Outside of Wire, Graham has been prolific, working on a number of other projects. He's released solo and collaborative CD works with Bruce Gilbert, Russell Mills, C.M. von Hausswolff, John Duncan, Leif Elggren, Jean-Louis Huhta, Thomas Öberg, Andreas Karperyd, and Mattias Tegnér. He's also co-founded the groups Dome, Cupol, P'o, Duet Emmo, He Said, He Said Omala, H.A.L.Ö, Ocsid, Hox, 27#11, and UUUU.
Graham has composed music for modern dance (including for the Michael Clark Company, Stephen Petronio Company, and Su-en Butoh Company), and for film (including Brothers Quay, Bigert & Bergström, and Gunilla Leander). Also active in the arts scene, Graham's installations have graced The Waterloo Gallery, MOMA (Oxford), Fargfabriken (Stockholm), Baltic Art Museum (Goteland), and Podevil (Berlin). He also held the Krevian post of Minister of Wholey Smoke.
