Also known by his stage name, Pita, Peter Rehberg was an electronic composer, ambient musician, and music industry icon who founded the record labels Mego and Editions Mego. Born on June 29, 1968, in Tottenham, England, he split his childhood between Hertfordshire and Austria. While still in Austria, he released the debut single "Fridge Trax" in 1995, followed by his debut album, Seven Tons for Free, in 1996. Released by Mego, an independent label that specialized in electronica and experimental music, Seven Tons for Free earned Rehberg a Prix Ars Electronica Distinction Award in 1999. With Peter Rehberg continuing as the one of the label's managers, Mego helped nurture underground composers like Fennesz and Florian Hecker during its decade-long run. Following Mego's closure in 2005, Rehberg launched a new label, Editions Mego, and continued releasing landmark albums of his own, including 2007's A Bas la Culture Marchande and 2008's Get Out. He also launched "Recollection GRM," an archival project that reissued material by the seminal 1950s electronic collective Groupe de Recherches Musicales. Following 2020's VII — a collaboration with longtime collaborator Stephen O'Malley and released under the band name KTL — Rehberg suffered a fatal heart attack at 53 years old. He died on July 22, 2021, leaving behind one of the richest legacies in modern-day electronic, ambient, and avant-garde music.
