Altern-8 was formed in Stafford, England in 1990 by Mark Archer and Chris Peat, as a side project to Nexus 21 (a name chosen because of its "futuristic house sound"), when both members were aged 21. Altern-8's music was more into rave breakbeats and samples with emphasis on the bass and volume. The group achieved success in 1991 when they had a UK top ten hit single with 'Activ-8 (Come With Me)', peaking at number 3 and later in 1992 with 'Evapor 8' at number 6. In 1994, Peat and Archer parted ways. Archer continued to DJ under the name Altern-8 until Peat declined permission to use the Altern-8 name and trademarks. In 2013, a campaign was launched on Facebook and Twitter to get Altern-8's 1991 song "Activ-8 (Come With Me)" to number 1 in the UK singles chart for Christmas. It ultimately ended up charting at number 33.
Links To Peel[]
Peel played artists from the Blue Chip label in 1989, especially acts like Bizarre Inc, whose member, Mark Archer, later joined with Nexus 21 and ultimately became Altern-8. Altern-8 performed a session for Peel's show in the autumn of 1991, but after that, he rarely played much of their material.
Sessions[]
1. Recorded: 1991-10-27. Broadcast: 24 November 1991. Repeated: 09 February 1992
- Frequency (Sample 8 Mix) / Give It To Baby / Say It Ya'll / Activ 8 (La Song Mix)
Other Shows Played[]
Altern 8 - Infiltrate 202
- 1991
- 15 June 1991: Infiltrate 202 (The Vertigo EP) Network
- 23 June 1991: Infiltrate 202 (12" - The Vertigo E.P.) Network
- Peel 004 (Radio Bremen): Infiltrate 202 (12" - The Vertigo E.P.) Network
- 06 July 1991 / Peel Late Summer 1991: Infiltrate 202 (12" - The Vertigo EP) Network
- 04 August 1991: Inflitrate 202 (Altern 8 Vs Astrix & Space Mix) (Sheffields Finest!) Network
- 05 October 1991: Activ-8 (7") ~
- 09 November 1991: Activ 8 (7") ~
- 1992
- 23 February 1992: Evapor8 (12") Network
- 30 May 1992: Infiltrate 202 (Beltram remix) (12" - Infiltr-8 America ) Virgin America