Carpenter Brut

About Carpenter Brut

Carpenter Brut is the stage name of Franck Hueso, a French electronic music producer who emerged from Poitiers in 2012 with a sound that made John Carpenter soundtracks collide with extreme metal at around 140 BPM. The project sits somewhere between darksynth, synthwave, and industrial, though trying to pin it down precisely misses the point. It's music for driving too fast while thinking about 1980s horror VHS covers.

Hueso's background in metal bands shaped the approach from the start. Instead of the nostalgic warmth that defined a lot of early synthwave, Carpenter Brut went darker and more aggressive. The first three EPs dropped between 2012 and 2015, each one titled with Roman numerals like chapters in a pulp thriller. Tracks like "Le Perv" and "Turbo Killer" became cult favorites in the late-night corners of the internet, spreading through gaming streams and fan-made video edits. The production was thick and distorted, with none of the clean retro sheen that made synthwave easy listening.

Those three EPs got packaged together as "Trilogy" in 2015, which is probably where most people first encountered the project. By then, the aesthetic was fully formed: neon-soaked violence, B-movie excess, and a persistent feeling that something unpleasant was about to happen. The music video for "Turbo Killer," directed by Seth Ickerman, became a defining visual statement for the entire darksynth movement—a animated fever dream of leather, lasers, and ritual sacrifice that currently sits at over 60 million views.

"Leather Teeth" arrived in 2018 as the first proper studio album, adding live guitars and even more metal influence into the mix. Tracks like "Sunday Lunch" and "Cheerleader Effect" pushed further from synthwave's comfort zone into something closer to industrial rock. The sound got bigger and more physical, which translated well to the live shows Carpenter Brut had been building into a legitimate draw. The project went from bedroom producer to actual touring act with a full band, light show, and crowds that wanted to move.

In 2022, "Leather Terror" continued the trajectory, though the novelty had worn off by then. The formula was established—pounding beats, horror atmospherics, occasional vocal features—and the album delivered exactly that. Diminishing returns or consistency, depending on your perspective.

These days, Carpenter Brut exists as one of the most recognizable names in a genre that never quite broke through to mainstream awareness but carved out a devoted following anyway. The music still shows up in video games, film soundtracks, and workout playlists for people who find regular EDM too polite. Hueso keeps touring and releasing music at a steady pace, having long since proven that the initial concept had staying power beyond trend-chasing.

See Carpenter Brut Live