Storm, alias Steve Stoll, is from New York, USA. Steve, like Luke Slater, insists on making life difficult for the techno anorak.

His name will often appear as a production credit, if at all. Storm (for Djax) and Ausgang (for Synewave) are the names he prefers to use, plus Voyager 8 for his collaborations with fellow New York Technocrat Damon Wild. Despite his popularity in Europe, Steve, like Damon and his Detroit techno cousins, has little recognition in the States. "The only people who buy records in America are deejays," he says. "It's not like Europe where the people buy records on a mass scale.

The best place to hear techno in New York is your bedroom, ‘cause the only other place you'll hear it is at raves. There are no clubs as such that really play techno, apart from maybe the gay clubs. The gay crowd tend to be more into very experimental techno, which is reassuring, because that's were acid house began."

Lucky, then, that clubs are not the lifeblood of Steve's particular brand of electronics. "I don't really like hearing techno in clubs, it just sounds like a loud kick drum. I am trying to make music that you can listen to at home as well as in a club. Together with Pete Namlok I made an album like Hemisphere, which definitely isn't club music. A friend of mine told me he made love on it so maybe that is its best purpose".

Could the unpopularity of techno in New York be attributed to a racial motive? Is techno too geeky or white for club trendies perhaps? "I don't think it’s a racial thing. Raves in New York tend to be full of 14- to 20-year-old white kids but the techno scene over here is so small it's more of a unitary thing. Racism probably exists more in the house and garage scene. House in America is totally separate from techno which is a shame because I really like house."

Storm - Storm - Djax-Up-189 (1993)
Storm - The art of Sync (2x12") - Djax-Up-202 (1994)
Storm - Levy 9 (2x12") - Djax-Up-229 (1994)
Storm - No more Words - Djax-Up-357 (2002)
Steve Stoll - November Yankee - Djax-up-362 (2003)