Under the guise of DJ TRON (a.k.a. Torturous Rage of Noise), Jeff Besler has transcended his Chicago roots and infiltrated listeners’ minds around the world with his demonically brilliant signature sound. Displaying a production style that draws from a broad foundation of techno, hardcore, speedcore, industrial and noise, TRON varies in taste from track to track, but one aspect remains constant – his music is all dark and deeply complex, just the way fans of aggressive electronic sounds like it.

Besler says he began his career as TRON with a mission to create his own individual style of music. "I was just angry, at the time, at how weak hardcore had gotten," he recalls. "So, I cranked up the BPMs, threw in terror galore, screams, chainsaws, whatever, into the sequencer and just made ugly symphonies that I was lucky enough to have pressed."

Working for years with his studio gear and sampling through his computer – he uses Cubase VST – Besler is quickly growing into the new technological advances made available today in studio equipment and programming. Soon he expects to offer performances that mix a live PA and normal DJ set. "I embrace technology, if it is for common good, and music is. Now I try and put a stronger emphasis on doing new things to the hardcore: new structuring, wilder compositions, and basic things that might have been considered taboo in the world of hardcore, until now."

Drawing both influence and inspiration from artists such as Skinny Puppy, The Destroyer, David Cronenberg, and Hyperactive, TRON has progressed in both performance and creation since his inception in 1991. "I started checking out techno," he says. "Some of the industrial bands were dabbling in that area at the time, and it became a very logical progression into hardcore from there. At first, it reminded me of digital punk rock, but after time I knew it could be so much more. This shit could go balls-out and try to become a legitimate style of its own. It has so much aggression…and that’s what drives me, is aggression. I just knew that I had to be the one manipulating the sickest sounds on the planet."

With the conception of both Resurrection and Chrome Padded Cell, among numerous other releases on the HeadFuck imprint, he has created a strong platform for his original intention of sound orchestration. The latter album especially reflects his ability to effectively master a cross between the percolating tweaks and digital acid soundscapes of industrial music, and the twisted pounding 200-BPM of speedcore. TRON guides the listener through distinct journeys within each of his tracks, using an incredibly meticulous layering process.

"When I sit down to write a song, I basically start out with an approximate BPM range. From there, I just audition sounds, experiment with structure and decide what kind of track I’m looking at. I try not to use pre-sampled loops or sounds. It reminds me of putting together somebody else’s puzzle."

Between his distortion kicks and swelling bass lines, one is drawn into a gripping anticipation of what is to come. The beauty of his music lies not only in the overall finished product, but the unpredictable nature of the tracks themselves. "I like my music to be that of a really good horror film – to deliver the unexpected at the most unexpected time. At the same time, I maintain a level of comfort amongst those who have no clue that the beat is just about to stop, out of time, and really throw them for a loop. It keeps them on their toes. I just let the madness seep through my fingers into the computer. I like to write everything from scratch, build every sound from scratch, mutate every voice myself. Every song is an evolution process."

It is this raw passion for emotion and aggression, plus a painstaking attention to detail that sets DJ TRON apart from the rest of the hardcore pack. Perhaps more important than his technical achievements are the events of the past that have shaped him into the producer that he is today. "If there is one thing I have learned, it is that you can physically hurt someone for a short period of time, but you can mentally torment someone a lot longer, and not even be there. People have gotten at me through my head all of my life, and I have molded what was left into chaos. My songs have lives of their own. I just put together the pieces."

– Erin McFee