System 7

UK-based techno and ambient outfit System 7 was formed by Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy in 1990. Both had previously been key members of the pioneering psychedelic space rock collective Gong in the seventies, and Hillage had also released a string of solo LP's including the hugely influential ambient LP Rainbow Dome Musick. When the underground dance music movement exploded in the UK at the end of the 1980's Hillage and Giraudy decided to fully embrace the new wave of electronic music. However,.rather than simply being a duo, System 7 has sought to maintain the project by choosing a very dynamic range of collaborators. They have worked with Derrick May, Alex Paterson (of The Orb), Carl Craig, Laurent Garnier plus many more. Highly proficient programmers and mixers, System 7 are also one of the few ambient / techno acts to employ the guitar cf. Hillage's debuts as a psychedelic rock guitarist.

For a while the band used the name 777 to avoid issues with Apple's computer operating system at the time. And though albums such as 1994's [m19997] were already ambient, the duo later created Mirror System as a "vehicle for developing the chilled & downtempo dimensions of our music".