Bjørn Torske started experimenting with electronic music in the late ‘80s in his hometown of Tromsø. As a teenager he was inspired by other Tromsø musicians, especially Gier Jenssen, the musical prodigy later to be known as ambient pioneer Biosphere.

Torske started releasing minimalist techno in the beginning of the ‘90s, primarily under the name of Ismistik. By the middle of the decade he had released a dozen 12” singles on different labels such as Djax­Up­Beats and Reinforced Records, working under the Ismistik moniker as well as other names such as Krisp, for flirtatious disco-house productions, or Alegria, for his trance-centered tracks.