E.M.A.K, or Elektronische Musik Aus: Köln (with “Köln” sometimes rendered as “Koeln” on album covers), was a German band and production collective based in Cologne in the 1980s. It produced experimental minimalist electronic dance and ambient pop music.The group was founded in 1981 in a small 8 track studio known as “Originalton West,” run by Matthias Becker in the basement of the Cologne music store Hört Hört. In January 1982 Becker released the first E.M.A.K. record, E.M.A.K. on the Originalton West record label.Besides Becker, the members of E.M.A.K. included Michael Filz (who left after the release of E.M.A.K.), Kurt Mill (who left after the release of E.M.A.K. 2), Klaus Stühlen, and later Michael Peschko. In its initial form, E.M.A.K. was very much a collective of individuals, with Filz and Stühlen working on tracks alone, while Becker and Mill worked more collaboratively in the studio, and also acted as producers and final mixers on all E.M.A.K. tracks. Later, for the Vintage Synths releases, E.M.A.K. became a project led more firmly by Becker, with significant compositional help from Stühlen.