Biography

The solo project of Danish electronic artist and producer Claus Larsen, Leæther Strip emerged in the early 1990s with an aggressive sound that helped build the foundation for Western Europe's influential EBM (electronic body music) and electro-industrial movements. One of the foremost acts to sign with Germany's authoritative Zoth Ommog record label, Leæther Strip was a dominant force in the '90s and has continued to carry the dark electro-industrial and EBM flag into the 2010s and 2020s. A native of Aalborg, Denmark, Larsen dabbled in the heavy metal scene before turning his attention to electronic music in the late '80s. Looking to channel his affinity for artists like Depeche Mode and Soft Cell into something new, he began officially operating under the Leæther Strip moniker in 1989 with the release of the single "Japanese Bodies," which was released on then-fledgling label Zoth Ommog. The arrival of the full-length Pleasure of Penetration and Science for the Satanic Citizen in 1990 helped establish the group in Germany, Belgium, and Denmark. In 1991 Larsen created the industrial metal side project Klute, with which he would go on to release a handful of EPs, singles, and full-length outings, though he would officially change the name to Klutæ in 2006, in order to distance the project from drum'n'bass artist Tom Withers, who had by then achieved some measure of success under the Klute moniker. Leæther Strip released six more albums and five more EPs with Zoth Ommog before the label folded in 1999. During that time, the group's material gained a wider release in Europe through the Semaphore label and found its way overseas with the help of domestic deals with Cleopatra and Metropolis Records. Larsen let Leæther Strip remain largely inert between 2000 and 2005, citing label issues and personal concerns as the culprits, but in 2007 the band issued a new studio LP, The Giant Minutes to the Dawn, which was released by Alfa Matrix and marked a return to the thumping electro-industrial attack of the project's '90s heyday. Larsen put out four more full-length efforts for the label before going the independent route in 2011. Since then Leæther Strip has continued to tour both at home and abroad while releasing high-end and high-energy slabs of socially and politically charged EBM/industrial emissions like Æscapism (2014), World Molæster (2018), Appreciation V (2021). ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi