Codebase

As Codebase, techno producer Tom Butcher made the leap from the overcrowded underground scene to the international name-brand one when he signed to Force Inc in 2003, following years of self-financed laboring. The Seattle-based producer initially found much inspiration in the music of Depeche Mode and New Order during the 1980s, and decided to have a go at producing his own electronic music. Piece by piece, he build his own mini-studio and began composing rudimentary music. With time he furthered his craft and launched an indie label, Orbitrecords. With Orbitrecords up and running throughout the mid-'90s, Butcher also began teaming with likeminded local producers like Sami Khoury, Wes Pearson, Mike Perkowitz, and Peter Schenk. The collective went on to call itself x09Music. In 2000, Swayzak's 240 Volts label released one of Butcher's tracks, "Unravel," that he had recorded as Betamax, and then two years later, in 2002, the label released a second, "Esperanto," this one recorded as Codebase. The following year Butcher signed as Codebase to Force Inc, which released his debut full-length, Style Encoding, as well as the Seek and Destroy 12".