RITHMA

Rithma was born in a quiet place, almost 'storybook hippy' if you will, to a rock singer and a Superman. But all stories begin with a twist and nobody holds onto paradise for too long. Or do they? Listening to Little Feat and Swan Lake, the infant (Etienne Stehelin) would spend long days taking apart electronics and running through the creek after pollywogs.

But there came a time when Etienne freaked out about the onslaught of civilization on his beautiful land. He monkey-wrenched several bulldozers, rendering them unusable, set fires, pasted anti-establishment billboards, and joined a liberation-front army.

None of that really had any effect other than mildly irritate people and never quite hit the source, Etienne changed his name to Steve, hid himself as an auto mechanic for awhile, a welder, a carpenter and a rock & roll man, and soon went to high school in the haze of weed and skater-kids.

Oh the social rollercoaster of public school in Southern California, leads one to question oneself and especially question the values of others…like, who am i with?… the jocks, the stoners, or the metalheads? And just for a moment, after breaking up with the rock band, there was a window, a rift in time, right before the 'real' rave scene got ushered into alcohol funded nightclubs, where the young Rithma was born.

Acid House and "PLUR" - a real family of people our own age who actually treated each other with love??? He's in. And this music is like nothing he's heard before, save for the best dreams EVER. And using skills he learned earlier from jamming out as a youth on his Mammas analog synths and four track, combined with the his technical savvy and the twisted inner mind of a "born again human", he decided to start being good to people and making music.

Long is the story of Rithma making his way through the scene, releasing records and the journey to San Francisco, etc up until the present time, with nearly 30 vinyl releases under his belt, along with two LP’s for Om and loving every minute of this roller-coaster existence in the dance scene.

Photos: Luz Stehelin

Releases