GENER8ION is the French electronic and audiovisual project of producer, DJ, and art director Benoit Heitz, also known as Surkin, who was born in 1985 in Arles, France. Heitz first became active in the French electronic scene in the mid-2000s through releases on Institubes, DJ sets, and remixes for artists including Justice, Chromeo, DJ Mehdi, Kavinsky, and Para One. In 2011, he co-founded the Marble label with Para One and Bobmo and released his Surkin album USA, before expanding his work into a more visual and cinematic direction under the GENER8ION name. The project emerged with “The New International Sound” in 2014, followed in 2015 by The New International Sound, Pt. 2, an EP featuring M.I.A.; its striking video was shot at China’s Shaolin Tagou school and helped define GENER8ION as a music-and-image project rather than a conventional club alias. In 2016, GENER8ION released G8N003, which included “H808” and “DUSTWUN” featuring Brodinski. Heitz later worked across fashion, advertising, and film music, including the soundtrack for Romain Gavras’ Netflix film ATHENA in 2022. In 2021, GENER8ION returned with “Neo Surf,” a collaboration with 070 Shake directed by Gavras. The act’s next major chapter arrived in 2026 with “Storm I” and “Storm II,” two tracks with Yung Lean tied to a short film directed by Gavras, ahead of the album Love & Tears.
