When Stephen Hitchell released The Seduction of Silence in 2009 under his Intrusion alias, the double-CD immediately cemented itself as a landmark in the dub techno continuum. Across its widescreen expanse, Hitchell wove deep, glacial chords, cavernous basslines and hypnotic, slow-burn atmospheres into a body of work that transcended genre boundaries. It wasn’t simply another entry in the Berlin/Detroit dialogue – it was an expansive, spiritual statement, revealing dub techno as something far more than functional club music: a deeply personal, meditative art form rooted in emotion, texture and time-suspended stillness.
Now, 16 years later, The Seduction of Silence returns in its most definitive form. Both Part 1 and Part 2 are now finally available on vinyl for the very first time. Remastered and cut by Stefan Betke (aka POLE), unlocking textures and details that feel startlingly alive. For longtime admirers and new listeners alike, this is a chance to experience the full scope of Intrusion’s vision exactly as it was intended – immersive, tactile and physically resonant.
Part 1 captures the genesis of the Intrusion project. At its core lies Hitchell’s rediscovery of an obsolete Sequential Circuits Prophet 2000 sampler, a machine that held forgotten fragments of his ’90s experiments. Revived and repurposed during a transitional period in his life – working long hours in record distribution, moving to Chicago’s lakeside and preparing for fatherhood – those fragments became the foundation for a record that balanced introspection with weighty dub grooves. Tracks like ‘Montego Bay’ and ‘Intrusion Dub’ channel a timeless pulse, bridging Jamaican sound system culture with Chicago’s experimental undercurrents and Berlin’s spatial minimalism.
Part 2 carries a different emotional weight. These tracks, more dub-leaning and expansive, were inspired in part by Phillip C. Hertz, a close friend and colleague from Crosstalk Distribution in Chicago whose influence shaped Hitchell’s musical explorations. Recorded through live jams, improvisation and experimental sessions, this half of the album offers a looser, more atmospheric lens – less tied to the dance-floor, more attuned to the infinite drift of sound itself. In revisiting and remastering these recordings, Hitchell not only preserves their original energy but also pays tribute to the spirit of collaboration and community that birthed them.
Together, Part 1 and Part 2 present The Seduction of Silence as more than just a record – it is a document of a life lived through sound. Hitchell speaks of music as his first true love, a force that has sustained him through illness, fatherhood and shifting eras of electronic culture. His work, whether solo as Intrusion or alongside Rod Modell as Echospace, has always been about more than technique – it is about capturing a sense of transcendence, of finding stillness amid the chaos.
Being longtime admirers of the Echospace Detroit catalogue and the many aliases of Stephen Hitchell – cv313, Phase90, Radius, Soultek, Intrusion – we took this opportunity to explore the creation of The Seduction of Silence and the life behind the music. To accompany the interview, Stephen provides a special live recording from his New York debut at Public Records in July 2025, hosted by Zen/Echo – capturing an intimate and immersive Intrusion performance in full flow.
Interview by Tom Durston
![Intrusion The Seduction Of Silence Part 2 [remastered]](https://inverted-audio.com/wp-content/uploads/Intrusion-The-Seduction-of-Silence-Part-2-Remastered-scaled.jpg)
"The music is that moment to sit in and breathe, you know it when you feel it and it just resonates in your brain. I guess that's where the love of the spiritual comes in as when I look up at the stars, I just know there's a connection to everything - the music is the mycelium!"
Hello Stephen, thank you for taking the time to speak to me and for providing this recent Intrusion live set from Public Records in Brooklyn. Can you talk me through the performance – how you approached it, what gear or methods you used, and how it felt bringing The Seduction of Silence into a live environment for a New York audience?
For this particular set I did my best to retain the spirit of the original recordings while adding some extra warmth from the live signal processing.
I wrote this set out to be 2 hours and this was the first half of it (songs in the latter half are under license for release next year on the **vinyl only** Minimood label in Köln, Germany), which starts out a little heavier and energetic and drifts off into a more hypnotic hazy dream – reducing elements to their core essence.
I used a variety of effects pedals (easier to travel with than rack gear) and equalisation on the board as I prefer it as it’s quite similar to my teenage years when mixers didn’t have effects (just an EQ) and also live sampling/looping while in the mix.
I try to retain the essence of live mixing (keeping the King Tubby spirit alive!) using an old analog mixer (1980’s board at this show) and a wide array of analog effects, to me, this extra step feels more organic and alive than fully inside the box. I need that tactile element in every live show I’ve performed or I feel like I’m cheating myself, and more importantly, the audience!
Looking back at The Seduction of Silence in 2009, what state of mind or atmosphere were you trying to capture when you first composed these tracks? 16 years on – how has your relationship with music changed since then?
Such a good question with so much in-between the music since then. When “The Seduction Of Silence” was born, it was really from a deep love of a sound that truly changed my entire life and my love of it!
I had this old sampler from my teenage years I grew to love (Sequential Circuits Prophet 2000), that one day decided to stop booting up or functioning as it should. It was made in the 80’s (where a good portion of my free time was spent with headphones playing with a DX7, Kawai K3 and Poly800) which wasn’t the best time in history for sampling as bit rates were low and sample times were in the seconds (even with a zip drive).
About the end of the 90’s I packed it up and forgot about it, it wasn’t until shortly after Rod and I started working together on the Echospace project I decided to attempt and boot that thing up again. It had been years since I’d even thought about it but after a fresh move to an apartment in the northeast side of Chicago on Lake Michigan, working in record distribution 5 AM-6 PM everyday, music was the only thing on my mind at that time (and being a new father to my now 18 year old son).
I think knowing in 9 months my life would change forever, so It was time to get that old unit repaired and I did just that, collectively gathered all of my samples I made in the 90’s and finished off what would become the first intrusion LP (echospace007) “Intrusion / Reflection” appropriately titled as it was just that – an Intrusion (getting sidetracked with an obsolete machine) and reflecting on all the work I had done so many years ago, I honestly thought were lost forever.
I think there was some kind of magic in the air back in those days (1992 – 2000) when I was most involved in the scene. It’s been a long journey since then with so many different layers of life – which radically changed for me back in 2018 when I ended up in the hospital to learn I was Ill.
It’s been a bumpy road since then but I’ve never forgotten my first true love – music. While I’m still here, heart beating and breathing, sharing in the love of something bigger than myself (which has saved my life in so many ways) is the greatest reward an artist could ever hope for. My love for music will never end, it’s just encoded in the DNA at this stage in my life.
This reissue brings the second half of the original CD to vinyl for the first time. Why did now feel like the right moment to revisit and remaster Part 2?
I lost a dear friend (Phillip C Hertz) who truly inspired much of the work found on CD2. I worked for him at Crosstalk Distribution in Chicago as the Dub, House and Techno buyer.
He was a drummer and percussionist, modular experimentalist and true aficionado for the abstract, avant-garde, experimental, dub, jazz, rock and just about everything under the sun, truly…I learned a great deal (outside of the realms of house and techno) while working there and having involvement doing live dubs over their session recordings (and live performances) in and throughout Chicago.
Many of the jams on this edition of the LP were channelled and recorded during that time period, more dub leaning than techno but I’m not much for the need to categorise everything.
You worked with Stefan Betke (Pole) on the lacquer cutting. What did his touch bring to the remastering process, and how involved were you in that stage?
Stefan Betke nailed the remastering in a way I don’t think even I quite understand – it’s just magic what he does. I simply adore and love Stefan’s work – huge fan first and foremost! I had the opportunity to hang out with him a bit before our Deepchord Presents Echospace show opening for Plastikman (LIVE) at Mutek back in 2011. I also was one of the first in line for his live POLE show in Chicago in the 90’s, my mind was really blown away by the end of his set. His label ~scape is truly the stuff of legend!
Your work as Intrusion blends deep dub techno with spiritual and ambient undertones. What draws you to that intersection and style of music?
We’re all sentient beings and affected by so many variables getting through this thing called life, if it just feels right and hits you the right way – you feel no pain. Personally, that’s where my head is at when recording, can I find a place away from the chaos and madness of this “instant-gratification” world we live in? Too much information, too quickly and no time spent to just exist in a moment.
The music is that moment to sit in and breathe, you know it when you feel it and it just resonates in your brain. I guess that’s where the love of the spiritual comes in as when I look up at the stars, I just know there’s a connection to everything – the music is the mycelium!
In all seriousness, I adore ambient music in virtually all forms, as matter of fact most of my first compositions I’ve ever recorded were virtually all ambient. I think muting out the other elements and resting peacefully in the sound world created is really the most magical part of the process, that’s where deep thinking, reflection, healing and escaping into an almost musically induced sonic coma. Music has always been a form of self therapy for me and the person I am today needs that now more than ever!
There’s a strong undercurrent of Jamaican and Caribbean influence throughout the album – especially in tracks like “Tswana Dub” and your collaborations with Paul St. Hilaire. What drew you toward those reggae-inflected sounds, and how did you want to reinterpret them within the dub techno context?
When I was in my teens I was involved in the early days of the rave movement in Chicago working for a promoter and organising events. My earliest sound experiments were done with the founder Roy Buck (and one of my best friends). He was also from the Islands (his mom taught Dancehall at DePaul University) and my first early experiments with producing electronic music were done with him.
We would usually end up somewhere in between acid dub, berlin school/classic rock lead with roots riddims and bass most of the time. I think we were blurring the lines of dub and acid before that was ever a thing, I still remember him playing this new Bandulu record in like 93 dropping and I knew where I wanted to go musically. It was probably then I found myself gravitating towards dub fusion, inspiring times esp. after The Orb show on their 92 tour, “little fluffy clouds” live, that was a game changer for me!
I think through all the years of assisting with events with Roy, we were able to book a wide range of artists and we were exposed to so many different sounds coming from all over the world. Being in this unique position was amazing as we were able to meet so many artists we personally loved and also discover new talent and ideas along the way. It was truly a great age of discovery for everyone as it was all happening in real time, this great exchange of sound, influence and inspiration.
When we brought in Laurent Garnier in 1995 (I believe his first time over to the US) I learned so much listening to his wealth of musical knowledge, after that evening I don’t think I viewed record collecting the same again, this was just a way of existing and truly listening!
In my perspective, you and Rod Modell have enhanced the legacy of Basic Channel and Rhythm & Sound somewhere deeper and more textural – amplifying the atmosphere and spatial tension within the dub techno framework. Do you remember when you first encountered the music of Mark Ernestus and Moritz von Oswald, and what kind of impact it had on your own sonic direction?
Truly flattered and honoured! I can still remember the very first time I heard Mark Ernestus and Moritz Von Oswald’s music and it wasn’t in a club, it was in Ron Murphy’s garage at NSC Mastering in Detroit. I honestly thought for years it was some magical project of the UR guys or something Juan Atkins did behind a new moniker he wanted kept in secrecy.
Ron was also very hush hush about the records he was cutting as if there was some vow to secrecy about it, he played like 10 loops of sample cuts he had done as there was such a wide stereo field (I recall him saying he was truly pushing the limits of cutting technology with those stereo effects). There was a lot of mystery around those records as they were all domestic and being pressed in Detroit, but they truly “defined” the underground during those formative years for me and still to this day!
The very first time I heard a Basic Channel record was at a show I remember quite vividly, I never wanted to swim inside a speaker but on this occasion, I did! It was Alan Oldham (T-1000) we had brought in from Detroit to play our very first event in 1993 called, “Evolution” I think from that very moment on I had to find a copy of every record I could and whatever info I could!
We brought in Joey Beltram to our third event (1994 and again in 1996) and he had just spent some time in Berlin with Moritz in the studio wrapping up a new album for Tresor, that conversation led me to more questions than answers. Shortly after though we were on a hunt for some fairly mystical machines I had only seen in music videos in the 80’s and some undocumented bootlegs (no YouTube back then just IRC’s!) videos of Ash Ra Tempel and Tangerine Dream performances.
It’s strange how the sound of those machines have evolved through the years but never really changed outside of a few minor firmware updates? I believe that really speaks volumes about who’s hands and ears they were in really determined what they were capable of, and in the case of Mark & Mortiz they were always pushing the envelope with sound and experimentation.
It wasn’t until 2006 my dream of meeting the two behind those magical records was fulfilled and I was able to not only meet but play alongside Mark and Mortiz when my good friend and occasional jam partner, Josh Werner invited me to play the Rhythm & Sound show at Smartbar, it was a true honour and cherished memory!
I don’t recall ever being as nervous in my entire life! That’s the level of reverence and respect I have for their work and I had met a lot of artists in assisting with events for 10 years. The entire landscape of this movement would look very different if it weren’t for that Berlin/Detroit connection which truly changed music forever.
Our sound with Echospace and placement within it (with the Intrusion project) is very different as this was really inspired from a time period in my life when all of this was being cultivated and finding a voice (circa 93-98) experimenting with a DX7 and the Sequential Prophet filter, it’s really hard to depict with words outside of “REFLECTION”.
When I had the honor to work with Rod Modell (a huge inspiration in my world), I felt this need to avoid sounding too much like an awe inspired Basic Channel track or sounding too much like Rod or Deepchord, so this was me in my own voice. Rod was truly crucial in that process and I think Intrusion was the end result of a year I felt I was at a creative peak – like finally 20 years of work finally gets to come out on vinyl!
![Intrusion The Seduction Of Silence Part 2 [remastered] 4](https://inverted-audio.com/wp-content/uploads/Intrusion-The-Seduction-of-Silence-Part-2-Remastered-4-scaled.jpg)
"I can still remember the very first time I heard Mark Ernestus and Moritz Von Oswald's music and it wasn't in a club, it was in Ron Murphy's garage at NSC Mastering in Detroit. I honestly thought for years it was some magical project of the UR guys or something Juan Atkins did behind a new moniker he wanted kept in secrecy."
How did your collaboration with Paul St. Hilaire come about, and what did his voice unlock for the project artistically?
Going backwards to 1999-2000’s while I was working at Crosstalk I made a friend who was working at Studio Distribution in NYC (my rep was none other than Brendon Moeller), who at the time was also working for Francois K with Wave Music too.
I did some remixes for his project with Tiki on Wave and this sparked some conversation with him, he was so genuine and down to earth; such a beautiful human and voice for humanity – more people need to know! His voice takes me back to my childhood when I would play, Round Three “Acting Crazy” on both decks and do tricks with them both while DJ’ing (vinyl only here!!), it just takes me back.
His voice is almost transformative, so much in fact in writing “Little Angel” and knowing I was about to be a father again for the second time (to my now 16 year old daughter) I wanted to convey and translate that love into music (to the best of my ability and without Tiki wouldn’t have been fully realised) of our children (we have 5 now) and how much LOVE they add to our world, “Little Angel” was the end result.
Paul’s voice, poetry, heart and magic in this performance were from that place of being a father and a message of love through life experience. It was really poetry happening in motion, I recall listening to his ideas over the phone and really having to pinch myself as I couldn’t believe my ears listening to Paul sing, I definitely shed tears at moments on the other line of the phone. The real magic was this connection and bond through the love of our music and children.
The album’s pacing – moving from slow, drifting textures to more beat-driven intensity and back again – feels very deliberate. How did you approach the sequencing of the record? Was it meant to tell a story or mirror a certain arc of experience?
That’s a very keen observation! I definitely wanted to tell a story from where I started and where the story ended (in silence).
I heard all of the songs so many times on singles and most of the time did the remixes myself (under a host of names) so the material was sort of ingrained in my soul by that point, at the time I was assembling it all into an album format and it felt like the movement/momentum was perfect without changing a thing.
I think being so close to the compositions in the cutting/mastering/mixing stages they all really fell into their natural place and order, I don’t think I would change anything (which speaks volumes to me) and certainly isn’t the case for many other album projects – sometimes we have to go with our first instincts!
Can you speak to the role of improvisation or live performance in your studio recordings?
My studio setting recording this album (which back then was a spaghetti factory of cables!) was quite different to how everything has developed through the years. In all honesty I still love to put headphones on and sail away in harmonics and tones playing live vs. the piano roll or a sequencer.
I’m extremely ADHD and it’s very difficult to concentrate without something tactile in front of me (we now have a 2 and 5 year old, they aren’t exactly focusing tools!), so I found playing live in a moment and letting the notes land where they may, retains that human quality Ai will never replicate.
Now my world is very different, back then I had a fairly reasonable setup (most I’ve parted ways with to keep us above water during Covid and a few major health crises) but it’s so easy to get lost in designing sounds, I think I prefer it to writing in most cases.
With that said the “live” aspect is a given in nearly every aspect of this work. Whether it’s a synth or an effect, there were mostly hands on most of the desk! Automation on VSTs (Effects or Instruments) sounds very different to my ears vs. live mixing.
During this album’s final touches I was also working on a live show at Berghain with Rod and trying to figure out how to make it possible to have all of the hardware effects on the stage with me without the hardware?
My solution was to create Impulse Responses (some of which are available here) capturing a digital footprint of my studio effects (sends/inserts) from all the near broken obsolete machines I was using at the time, to my surprise in most cases they worked out perfectly!
In essence, working in the studio or up on stage it’s essentially the same thing, effects are just as important to me (if not more) than the source recordings, sometimes I’ll even hit 100% wet signals and showcase the effect completely as if to swim in an ocean of sound!
My Grandmother (R.I.P.) was a huge inspiration in my world and also spent a great deal of time with me when I was young, she would teach me about jazz and the various techniques she used (played entirely by ear) to push the envelope and deconstruct material she felt had heart, soul, instinct and improvisation all in one, which is truly everything I took note of while creating The Seduction Of Silence, I wanted it to feel alive and organic.
The visual identity of Echospace releases has always been very intentional – can you talk about the imagery and aesthetic choices behind the packaging and photography?
Most of the releases are designed by myself but I have also commissioned House Of Traps (Firecracker Records) Lindsay Todd / Al White to assist with design and ideas as I really adore the work they did with Honest Jon’s and his brilliant Firecracker imprint.
As for my contributions to photography/design in the early catalog, most of it was taken during our travels abroad. I recall having an old Kodak point and shoot camera on the first tour, a very cheap Walmart camera but I loved how it was naturally grainy and lo-res.
I would intentionally move the camera slightly during exposures to create the essence of movement and/or colour transformation. Strangely, I am actually colour blind (have been since birth) so I’m probably seeing shades of gray most people wouldn’t notice or recognise due to my condition, the tonal hues are front and present (in the absence of colour) I think this may be why I’ve relied so heavily on metallics!
Many of the CD releases featuring Rod Modell were also showcasing the stellar work he does as a Photographer. I also spent a good portion of my early teenage years as a graffiti artist (late 80’s and early 90’s) and quite the rebellious one at that, skateboarding and drawing were everything to me before making that musical/sound discovery that would change my entire life! I’m sure those years spent drawing and in art have translated and manifested into the label design in one form or another!
You’ve always worked with a strong sense of physical format – CD, reel-to-reel, vinyl. In the streaming era, what does vinyl still offer to you as a medium and to your listeners?
Vinyl and cassette were my two most treasured formats when I fell in love with music, it truly just makes sense to me. I’ve also spent a good 35 years now mixing records and I don’t think I’ll be switching formats anytime soon! Can’t teach an old dog new tricks as they say! As for cassettes, I certainly would love to do some special editions – maybe one day.
Does revisiting The Seduction of Silence open any doors for future Intrusion material?
Absolutely! I’ve actually been working on a follow up for the past 13 years (on and off) and I really love where it’s heading but it is certainly taking much longer than I ever anticipated!
Been back in touch with Paul again recently and it would be a dream come true to have him on some of the material, I’ll just let the universe and the stars lead the way.
What’s next for Echospace Detroit?
Pole literally just finished remastering and cutting one of our personal favourite LP’s, cv313’s “Dimensional Space” and it truly sounds out of this world! Very excited to see it out again for the masses!
I’ve also just finished up a new collaborative project with an old friend Marihito and it’s been about 10 years now since our last project together – seems like the stars were aligned once again. I imagine we’ll be conducting more sonic explorations through analogue oceans shortly thereafter.
‘The Seduction Of Silence’ Part 1 and Part 2 are out now via Echospace Detroit. Buy vinyl from Inverted Audio Record Store.
TRACKLIST
1. Intrusion – Seduction [Echospace Detroit]
2. cv313 & Federsen – Dimension I [Alt Dub]
3. Intrusion – Tswana Dub [Echospace Detroit]
4. Intrusion – Intrusion Dub [Echospace Detroit]
5. SND / RTN – Intrusion Reshape” [Kontakt Records]
6. SND / RTN – cv313 Redesign [Kontakt Records]
7. Intrusion – Intrusion Dub [Echospace Detroit]
8. cv313 – Seconds To Forever” (Live Mix) [Echospace Detroit]
9. cv313 & Federsen – Altering Dimensions (Dub) [Alt Dub]
10. cv313 & Federsen – Altering Dimensions (Reduction) [Alt Dub]
11. cv313 – Seconds To Forever (Live Mix) [Alt Dub]
12. Intrusion – A Gentle Embrace (Original Mix) [Echospace Detroit]
13. cv313 plays Mike Huckaby – Our Life With The Wave [Echospace Detroit]
14. Om Unit – Acid Dub Versions
15. Model 500 – Starlight (Echospace Dub) [Echospace Detroit]
16. cv313 – Magenta (Alchemy Remaster) [Echospace Detroit]
17. King Midas Sound – Goodbye Girl” (Intrusion Rework) [Hyperdub]
18. Intrusion – Under The Ocean [Echospace Detroit]
