Fairlight Children: revisiting Stephan Groth’s synthpop side project
A look back at Fairlight Children, Stephan L. Groth’s synthpop side project alongside Apoptygma Berzerk, from “808 Bit” to the 2020 “CMI” EP.
Fairlight Children, the synthpop side project Apoptygma Berzerk’s Stephan L. Groth formed with Marianne B. and Tiff in the early 2000s, continues to surface in new contexts two decades after its debut album. The most recent example is the “V.A. 18. Elektrisch Festival Synth Pop Edition” 10″, released by Emmobiz Records on 27 February 2026, which carries an exclusive Fairlight Children bonus cut, “Before You Came Along (FC Edit),” alongside an equally exclusive Echo Image version, “Walk My Mind (Apop’s Short Walk Version).”
Fairlight Children first appeared on record on 23 September 2003, contributing a version of “Bedsitter” to “A Tribute To Soft Cell: Non Stop Electro Cabaret.” That same year, Groth described the project at M’era Luna as heading toward retro synthpop, at a point when the next Apoptygma Berzerk album, “You And Me Against The World,” was moving in a rockier, guitar-driven direction. Fairlight Children gave him a separate outlet for the electro and 1980s synthpop material that record wasn’t going to hold, and the project’s name points to the same fascination: it references the Fairlight CMI, the digital sampling and synthesizer system that shaped 1980s studio production.
The debut EP, “Before You Came Along,” followed on 2 February 2004, with a remix from Echo Image among its extras. The full-length “808 Bit” arrived on 15 March 2004 on Pitch Black Drive Productions, performed by Groth, Marianne B. and Tiff, with Iben Groth on vocals for the title track and Jon Erik Martinsen on Korg MS-20 for “Falling Out.” The Soft Cell tribute recording of “Bedsitter” found a home on the album as well. Contemporary coverage used Groth’s own description, “Electro Lounge,” for the record’s mix of melodic, playful electronics and open 1980s influences.
The project then went quiet for more than fifteen years. A first signal of its return came in June 2020, when a Kevin Lux remix of “Invade My Heart Tonight” appeared on “Der Eisenberg Sampler Vol. 10.” On 24 July 2020, Pitch Black Drive Productions followed with the “CMI EP,” five reworkings of older Fairlight Children material: “808 Bit (Zone Tripper Remix),” “Invade My Heart Tonight (Alex O. Remix),” “Before You Came Along (Pleasure Remix),” “Falling Out (Monster Apparat Remix)” and a second “Before You Came Along (Panorama Remix).”
Pleasure’s presence closed a loop of its own, having remixed “Falling Out” for the original 2004 EP and returning sixteen years later for the same track. The EP was mixed and mastered by Ole-Espen Kristiansen, with cover design by Alex O.
Since then, Fairlight Children has stayed active only in scattered releases rather than as an ongoing project. Emmo.Biz Records issued “808 Bit” as a numbered, 400-copy picture disc with OBI in 2025, and the Side-Line archive previously covered that vinyl reissue in February 2025. The connection to Echo Image has also continued well past the 2004 remix: Echo Image returned in 2021 with the single “Walk My Mind” after 20 years of silence, including a remix by Apoptygma Berzerk, and by 2024 Groth was co-producing Echo Image’s comeback material directly, credited alongside Einar K. Five on the single “Madsong.”
More than twenty years after Echo Image first remixed Fairlight Children, the “18. Elektrisch Festival Synth Pop Edition” 10″ puts both names on the same release again.
About Fairlight Children
Fairlight Children is a synthpop side project of Apoptygma Berzerk frontman Stephan L. Groth, formed with Marianne B. and Tiff after extensive touring behind the Apoptygma Berzerk album “Harmonizer.” Where the following Apoptygma Berzerk record, “You And Me Against The World,” pushed toward a rockier, guitar-oriented sound, Fairlight Children gave Groth a project built entirely around electronics, synthpop and the 1980s reference points behind its name, the Fairlight CMI sampling synthesizer.
The project debuted on the compilation “A Tribute To Soft Cell: Non Stop Electro Cabaret” on 23 September 2003 with a cover of “Bedsitter,” followed by the “Before You Came Along” EP on 2 February 2004 and the album “808 Bit” on 15 March 2004, both released through Pitch Black Drive Productions, Groth’s own label. “808 Bit” featured Iben Groth on the title track’s vocals and Jon Erik Martinsen on Korg MS-20 for “Falling Out,” and drew a remix contribution from Echo Image.
Fairlight Children was largely inactive between 2004 and 2020. A Kevin Lux remix of “Invade My Heart Tonight” on “Der Eisenberg Sampler Vol. 10” in June 2020 preceded the “CMI EP,” released by Pitch Black Drive Productions on 24 July 2020 with five remixes of earlier tracks by Zone Tripper, Alex O., Pleasure, Monster Apparat and Panorama, mixed and mastered by Ole-Espen Kristiansen. Emmo.Biz Records reissued “808 Bit” as a limited, numbered picture disc with OBI in 2025.
Fairlight Children’s most recent appearance is an exclusive edit, “Before You Came Along (FC Edit),” on the “V.A. 18. Elektrisch Festival Synth Pop Edition” 10″, released by Emmobiz Records on 27 February 2026 alongside new and exclusive material from Solitary Experiments, Second Decay, Blind Passenger, KY, Chinese Detectives and Echo Image.
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For almost 15 years I’ve been writing about music, interviewing artists and reviewing releases for Peek-A-Boo Magazine. Recently, I also launched my own WordPress website, where I continue to share interviews, reviews and news from the underground scene. The darker side of music has been part of my life for more than 30 years, with a passion for everything from ’80s synthpop and New Wave to EBM, Futurepop and dark electronic music in general. Also Metal and Rock is part of my world. Away from the scene, I work in a public library, where books are part of my everyday life. I enjoy both fiction and non-fiction, especially books on politics, religion, health and travel. I’m also a fan of thrillers and horror films. When I’m not listening to music or reading, you’ll usually find me exploring nature, enjoying a good sauna, experimenting with vegan cooking, or travelling to my second home, Finland. I’ve always believed the underground has the best stories. My job is simply to help tell them
