# Gesaffelstein

Mike Lévy (French:; born 24 June 1985), known professionally as Gesaffelstein (German:), is a French music programmer, DJ, songwriter and producer from Lyon. He has worked alongside artists such as Lady Gaga, the Weeknd, Daft Punk, Kanye West, A$AP Rocky, Electric Youth, Haim, Miss Kittin, The Hacker, Jean-Michel Jarre, Lil Nas X, Charli XCX, and Pharrell Williams.

## Stage name

Gesaffelstein is a portmanteau of Gesamtkunstwerk ("total artwork" in German, also the title of an album by the American electro group Dopplereffekt) and Albert Einstein.

## Career

Mike Lévy was born in Lyon, France, into a Jewish family, in June 1985. He started producing music at the age of sixteen when he first played an analog synthesizer. He released his first EP in 2008 through the label OD Records. In 2009, he founded the independent label Zone with The Hacker, Alex Reynaud and David Rimokh.
In July 2012, Gesaffelstein made the cover of DJ Mag with Brodinski. The same year, his track "Viol" was used by Citroën and Givenchy advertisements. He co-produced two tracks on Yeezus, the sixth album by American rapper Kanye West, including the lead single "Black Skinhead" and "Send It Up", both tracks produced with West, Daft Punk, Brodinski and Mike Dean. On 28 October 2013, Gesaffelstein released his debut album Aleph under Parlophone Records and OWSLA (in North America only), which had been recorded since 2011. His remix of "Shockwave" by The Hacker is featured in the 2013 video game Grand Theft Auto V, on the Soulwax FM radio station.
In 2015, Gesaffelstein released the single "Conquistador" in collaboration with Jean-Michel Jarre, which is present on the album Electronica 1: The Time Machine. He also produced the soundtrack for the French-Belgian 2015 film Maryland, directed by Alice Winocour. In early 2018, he produced the tracks "I Was Never There" and "Hurt You" from the Weeknd's My Dear Melancholy, EP.
Gesaffelstein signed to Columbia Records in November 2018, with whom he released the lead single "Reset" from his second studio album Hyperion in the same month. In January 2019, he released a collaboration with the Weeknd titled "Lost in the Fire" as the second single from Hyperion, and later in March 2019 released another collaboration with Pharrell Williams titled "Blast Off". Hyperion was released on 8 March 2019, to mixed reviews. On 3 October 2019, Gesaffelstein announced his surprise EP Novo Sonic System, consisting of 6 tracks, which was released the following day.
For Apple's October 2021 event, his track "Orck" was used as the pre-intro and outro theme music.
Gesaffelstein announced a collaboration with fellow Kanye West collaborator KayCyy. TW20 50, an EP containing 3 collaborative songs between the two of them, released on 11 March 2022.
On 6 March 2023, Skrillex confirmed that Lévy's third album had been finished.
KayCyy and Lévy's second collaborative EP, TW2052, was released on 26 May 2023.
On 9 February 2024, Lévy's third album, Gamma, was announced, with a release date of 29 March 2024 revealed six days later.

## Musical style

Mixmag describes Gesaffelstein's style as being a "dark and threatening techno, though enchanting"; The Inrocks see it as "black, ultra-violent music, [which] revives the techno fundamentals, the intransigence of Underground Resistance, the mental and obsessive structures of Drexciya, the contemporary power and more". Megan Buerger from the Washington Post describes his style as a mixture of dark and underground music, and notes that a specialty of the artist is his use of silences to create a "tension" before a "raucous explosion of bass and percussion".
Rolling Stone magazine sees his music as being "a little more aggressive and punk-rock than normal".

## Influences

Gesaffelstein cites Dopplereffekt, Kraftwerk, and new wave formations from the 80s such as D.A.F. or Nitzer Ebb all as references. He has also said Joy Division and The Hacker influenced his work.

## Discography
### Studio albums

| Title | Details | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions |
| Title | Details | FRA | BEL (Fl) | BEL (Wa) | SWI | US Dance | US Heat. |
| Aleph | Released: 28 October 2013 Label: Parlophone, OWSLA Formats: CD, LP, digital download | 30 | 77 | 66 | 95 | 16 | 50 |
| Hyperion | Released: 8 March 2019 Label: Columbia Formats: CD, digital download | 92 | — | — | — | 10 | — |
| Gamma | Released: 29 March 2024 Label: Columbia Formats: LP, digital download | — | — | — | — | — | — |

### Extended plays

| Title | Details |
| Vengeance Factory | Released: 22 February 2008 Label: OD |
| Modern Walk | Released: 25 June 2009 Label: OD |
| The Operator | Released: 30 November 2009 Label: ZONE |
| Variations | Released: 5 November 2010 Label: Turbo Recordings |
| Conspiracy Pt. 1 | Released: 25 April 2011 Label: Turbo Recordings |
| Conspiracy Pt. 2 | Released: 18 July 2011 Label: Turbo Recordings |
| Crainte / Errance (with The Hacker) | Released: 9 May 2011 Label: ZONE |
| Bromance #4: Rise of Depravity | Released: 9 July 2012 Label: Bromance |
| Novo Sonic System | Released: 4 October 2019 Label: Columbia |

### Soundtracks

| Title | Details |
| Maryland (Disorder): Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | Released: 11 September 2015 Label: Parlophone, Warner Music France |

### Singles
#### As lead artist

List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions and certifications :
| Title | Year | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Certifications | Album |
| Title | Year | FRA | AUS | BEL (Fl) | CAN | DEN | GER | NLD | SWE | UK | US | Certifications | Album |
| "Pursuit" | 2013 | 96 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Aleph |
| "Hate or Glory" | 2013 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Aleph |
| "Conquistador" (with Jean-Michel Jarre) | 2015 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Electronica 1: The Time Machine |
| "Reset" | 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Hyperion |
| "Lost in the Fire" (with the Weeknd) | 2019 | 78 | 24 | 43 | 14 | 17 | 49 | 60 | 9 | 9 | 27 | SNEP: Platinum ARIA: Gold BPI: Platinum MC: Platinum RIAA: 2× Platinum | Hyperion |
| "Blast Off" (with Pharrell Williams) | 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Hyperion |
| "Hard Dreams" (with Yan Wagner) | 2024 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Gamma |

#### As featured artist

| Title | Year | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Certifications | Album |
| Title | Year | FRA | AUS | CAN | DEN | GER | NLD | SWE | US | Certifications | Album |
| "In Distress" (A$AP Rocky featuring Gesaffelstein) | 2014 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Divergent: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack |
| "I Was Never There" (The Weeknd featuring Gesaffelstein) | 2018 | 112 | 40 | 12 | 37 | 91 | 67 | 40 | 35 | SNEP: Platinum ARIA: 2× Platinum BPI: Gold MC: Gold RIAA: Platinum | My Dear Melancholy |
| "Hurt You" (The Weeknd featuring Gesaffelstein) | 2018 | 103 | 37 | 17 | 32 | 85 | 63 | 33 | 43 | ARIA: 2× Platinum BPI: Silver MC: Gold RIAA: Platinum | My Dear Melancholy |

### Other charted songs

List of other charted songs, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Year | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Album |
| Title | Year | FRA | CAN | UK Stream | US | US Dance | WW | Album |
| "Aleph" | 2013 | 200 | — | — | — | — | — | Aleph |
| "So Bad" (featuring Haim) | 2019 | — | — | — | — | 50 | — | Hyperion |
| "Killah" (Lady Gaga featuring Gesaffelstein) | 2025 | 194 | 87 | 82 | 93 | — | 95 | Mayhem |

### Other appearances

| Title | Year | Album |
| "Control Movement" | 2011 | Bromance #1 |
| "Calling from the Stars" (with Miss Kittin) | 2013 | Calling from the Stars |
| "Icia" | 2021 | Interzone |
| "Killah" (with Lady Gaga) | 2025 | Mayhem |

### Songwriting, production and technical credits

| Title | Year | Artist(s) | Album | Occupation(s) |
| "Black Skinhead" | 2013 | Kanye West | Yeezus | Additional producer |
| "Send It Up" | 2013 | Kanye West | Yeezus | Composer, co-producer |
| "The New International Sound" | 2014 | Gener8ion | Homieland, Vol. 1 | Mixer |
| "Euphoria" (featuring Remy Banks) | 2016 | Boys Noize | Mayday | Composer, writer |
| "Fior di Latte" | 2017 | Phoenix | Ti Amo | Assistance |
| "Jesus Lord" | 2021 | Kanye West | Donda | Composer, producer |
| "No Child Left Behind" | 2021 | Kanye West | Donda | Composer, producer |
| "Jesus Lord pt 2" | 2021 | Kanye West | Donda | Composer, producer |
| "Okay!" | 2022 | KayCyy | TW20 50 | Composer, producer |
| "The Sun" | 2022 | KayCyy | TW20 50 | Composer, producer |
| "Love & Hate" | 2022 | KayCyy | TW20 50 | Composer, producer |
| "To All The People" | 2023 | Jain | The Fool | Producer |
| "Roll the Dice" | 2023 | KayCyy | TW20 52 | Composer, producer |
| "Ashley's Heartbeat" | 2023 | KayCyy | TW20 52 | Composer, producer |
| "TImeless" | 2023 | KayCyy | TW20 52 | Composer, producer |
| "No Cold" | 2023 | KayCyy | TW20 52 | Composer, producer |
| "J Christ" | 2024 | Lil Nas X | TBA | Composer, producer |
| "I Might Say Something Stupid" | 2024 | Charli XCX | Brat | Composer, producer |
| "B2B" | 2024 | Charli XCX | Brat | Composer, producer |
| "What's the Cure?" | 2024 | Yodelice | What's the Cure? | Composer |
| "Garden of Eden" | 2025 | Lady Gaga | Mayhem | Composer, producer |
| "Perfect Celebrity" | 2025 | Lady Gaga | Mayhem | Composer |
| "Blade of Grass" | 2025 | Lady Gaga | Mayhem | Composer, producer |

### Remixes

| Track | Year | Artist(s) | Title |
| "So Glad" | 2009 | I Am the Cosmos | Gesaffelstein Remix |
| "Lump" | 2009 | F+S | Gesaffelstein Remix |
| "Les Enfants" | 2010 | Cassius | Gesaffelstein Remix |
| "Body of Eyes" | 2010 | Sei A | Gesaffelstein Violation Remix |
| "Heliochrome" | 2010 | Chateau Marmont | Gesaffelstein Remix |
| "New Disco Beat" | 2010 | David Carretta | Gesaffelstein Remix |
| "What's the Point" | 2010 | Ali Renault | Gesaffelstein Remix |
| "All You Need" | 2011 | Miss Kittin | Gesaffelstein Remix |
| "ZZafrika" | 2011 | ZZT | Gesaffelstein Remix |
| "The Day" | 2011 | Moby | Gesaffelstein Remix |
| "All You Need Is Techno" | 2011 | Arnaud Rebotini | Gesaffelstein Remix |
| "Speechless" (featuring Carl Craig & La Scalars) | 2011 | Agoria | Gesaffelstein Remix |
| "Big Bad Wolf" | 2011 | Duck Sauce | Gesaffelstein Remix |
| "Hilinner" | 2011 | Crackboy | Gesaffelstein Remix |
| "Blue Jeans" | 2012 | Lana Del Rey | Gesaffelstein Remix |
| "Lemonade" | 2012 | Boys Noize & Erol Alkan | Gesaffelstein Remix |
| "Shockwave" | 2012 | The Hacker | Gesaffelstein Remix |
| "Cover Your Eyes" (featuring Wave Machines) | 2012 | The Shoes | Gesaffelstein Remix |
| "Rocket Number 9" | 2012 | Zombie Zombie | Gesaffelstein Remix |
| "The Black Brad Pitt" (featuring Danny Brown) | 2012 | Evil Nine | Gesaffelstein Remix |
| "Aftermaths" | 2012 | VCMG | Gesaffelstein Remix |
| "Helix" | 2013 | Justice | Gesaffelstein Vision Remix |
| "Jacques in the Box" | 2013 | Laurent Garnier | Brodinski & Gesaffelstein Dirty Sprite Remix |
| "Goodbye" | 2013 | Depeche Mode | Gesaffelstein Remix |
| "Bankrupt!" | 2014 | Phoenix | Gesaffelstein Remix |
| "Hate or Glory" | 2014 | Gesaffelstein | Gesaffelstein Remix |
| "A Palé" | 2020 | Rosalía | Gesaffelstein Remix |
| "Never Come Back" | 2024 | KaS Product | Gesaffelstein & The Hacker Remix |