Regis

Under the name Regis, Karl O'Connor has developed since the early 1990s a techno approach rooted between the English Midlands and a musical culture shaped by industrial, cold wave and the first forms of European electronic music. Born in Ireland and active in the United Kingdom, Regis co-founded the Downwards label in Halesowen in 1993 with Peter Sutton, and together with Surgeon he helped forge the Birmingham sound — drier, more minimal and more abrasive than the club techno that dominated at the time. Regis's early records established a style built from stripped-down loops, heavy percussion, metallic textures and dark layers, audible on Gymnastics (1996), Delivered into The Hands of Indifference (1998), Regis (2000) and Penetration (2001). Karl O'Connor continued this work in several projects, notably British Murder Boys with Surgeon, Sandwell District with Function, Silent Servant and other producers, as well as Sandra Electronics and Ugandan Speed Trials. Less prolific as a solo artist but still active, Regis followed up with Death Head Said in 2012 and Hidden in This Is the Light That You Miss in 2020, while maintaining Downwards as a production and publishing platform.