With 45 years of electronic music under his belt, Steve Rachmad has built a remarkable career driven by instinct, curiosity, and an unwavering love for his craft. As he puts it: ‘Music has to come from the heart. It’s a feeling, you need to feel it.’ That passion and innate understanding of music-making have left an enduring mark on dance floors around the world. A man of many identities, you may know the producer as Steve Rachmad, Sterac, Sterac Electronics, Parallel 9, Scorp, Tons of Tones or Black Scorpion. Together, these aliases form a catalogue that spans decades and countless releases, making it nearly impossible to capture the full breadth of his output in a single list.

Putting our staff’s knowledge to the test, we asked various team members at Dekmantel HQ to dive into his extensive body of work and select their favourite Rachmad production under any alias.

Steve Rachmad was born in Amsterdam, where he began exploring and experimenting with records as a teenager. His appetite for remixing and immersing himself in synthesisers and drum machines led him to build a career as a prolific producer, becoming a true connoisseur of these instruments along the way. Yet he has never stood still. Constantly seeking new ways to create music, he continues to expand a lifelong catalogue of work, including several releases arriving on Dekmantel Records this year.

We are thrilled to present two Rachmad releases on our label this summer. His EP, 3-6-9, delivers a masterclass in timeless machine music, tracing a lineage that stretches from electro through the formative sounds of Chicago house and Detroit techno. It embodies techno at its purest: deeply functional, emotionally resonant, and executed with the instinctive precision of an artist whose life and career is inseparable from the culture itself. His forthcoming album, Light and Time, due for release in July, is among his most ambient and home-listening-oriented projects to date. For this record, Rachmad taught himself how to layer orchestral samples, yet another skill he immersed himself in and managed to master.

Rachmad's relationship with Dekmantel stretches back to 2007, when he played one of our earliest club events, years before the festival itself came to life. Now firmly woven into the Dekmantel fabric, this year he returns across our festivals under three of his musical identities: Parallel 9, Sterac and Sterac Electronics. First up, he will join Richard Akingbehin as Parallel 9 at Melkweg on Thursday 30 July, before moving to the festival forest on Sunday for a live Sterac B2B-set with Lady Starlight. Finally, he will also bring Sterac Electronics to Dekmantel Selectors for a special performance on the Croatian coast.

Scroll down – volume up – for our staff picks.

Olf, Creative Director

[SINO16] Steve Rachmad – I’m a Machine (2006)

‘For me, it's impossible to pick just one Steve Rachmad track. He has been my biggest inspiration and has done so many absolutely amazing releases. Secret Life of Machines is definitely in the top 5 of the best Detroit albums ever made, but he also did so much lesser known stuff under different aliases.

The Neo Classica album has always been very special to me as well, maybe because it always stayed a bit under the radar. The album has a lot of different influences, from Drexciya kind of electro to beautiful Detroit techno. Verraco played I’m a Machine a few months ago, and that really got me back into it again.

It’s impossible to select one favourite, even 10 favourites would be hard with a catalogue like this. From the more housey tracks on Tons of Tones to Parallel 9 and Scorp, it’s all on another level.’

Rutger, Programmer

[LAD025] Steve Rachmad – Parallel Shopping

‘His latest track, Creation Energy, on our own label, is without a doubt one of the best tracks I've heard this year. I have very fond dancefloor memories of Teknitron, but the little romantic in me leans towards Parallel Shopping. It gives me a nostalgic feeling. Although the track was released after the closing of TrouwAmsterdam, it definitely brings me back to that place, which is where, for me, everything started. It embodies certain journeys within the track that I like and sometimes miss in the releases nowadays. It feels a bit like a whole set in one track.’

Sophia, Communications Intern

Sterac – New energy

‘This was not an easy choice. I went for a Sterac track, one of my favourite aliases. I chose a track that makes me dance – of course, many of them do – but as Steve says ‘you need to feel it’ and in this one I definitely feel it. I can envision myself on the dance floor early in the morning, regaining energy from this one. It is the kind that keeps you on your toes, unpredictable, peak time. Scorp is crazy good. Several other tracks from the album are hard hitters; I want to include them all.’

Marco, Communications Manager

Parallel 9 – Dominus

‘Dominus, under Steve’s Parallel 9 alias, must be one of my favorite dub techno tracks ever. The perfect groove to start, end, or keep a journey going. The kind of record that creates that eyes-closed moment where you think, life is great. It doesn’t end there…I can't leave out Primus under Sterac. Uplifting, warm, a banging groove, and just the right touch of melancholic nostalgia. A true Dutch-meets-Detroit techno classic.’

Eva, Project Lead Dekmantel Festival & Lentekabinet

[SINO16] Steve Rachmad – Atcipitro (2006)

‘What I mostly like about Steve Rachmad’s style is that after a few minutes you’re fully into his tracks. It’s not focused on the ‘drop’, but more of a slow burn.

I really like the Midnight Magic EP. It has an afterparty vibe, very groovy, and at the same time it feels timeless. I could hear those three tracks in a club and still enjoy them in the same way all the time. I chose Neo Classica as my pick because it goes in a different direction, with a lot of influences. It feels like exploring an inner world, and also combining the human side with machines. In particular, I like Atcipitro because it’s very hypnotic and again, as I described earlier, it slowly unfolds.’

Luc, Creative Technologist

Sterac – Teknitron

‘A heavy, driving dub techno track. It traces the Detroit-Berlin axis, routed through Amsterdam. All carried by the extra soul and melodic power that, in my opinion, is signature Rachmad.’

Words by Sophia Havluciyan