Christian Fennesz is an Austrian musician who uses white noise to create his electronic compositions. He lives and works in Vienna and Paris, and is often credited on albums simply as Fennesz. In the late 1980s he formed a band called Maische, with a 'noise meets pop' approach similar to bands such as Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine. Despite the local popularity of the group, Fennesz was uncomfortable with the band setup and left. Afterwards, he became involved in the Viennese techno scene of the early 1990s. From there on, he began to collect his own equipment and produce music based loosely around guitar and synthesizer sounds. His solo compositions emphasize guitar texture and the burying of pop melodies under layers of effects. Fennesz had ties with the Vienna-based label Mego, and is now signed to Touch in the UK.