'My music in the beginning was never meant to be for the dance floor' Exos Interview

Exos is one of the most experienced and respected techno figures in Iceland. He has been active since 1997, the name under which he has released three albums and more than twenty singles on labels like Thule records, Mosaic and Force Inc., as well as collaborating and remixing with artists like Steve O' Sullivan, Ben Sims, Mark Broom and DJ Rush.

Exos collaborated with Nina Kraviz and joined her label, трип last year. трип is an idiosyncratic electronic music label with official label launch parties. The first трип took place in a cave in Iceland in May 2015.

He recently released a V/A ‘Invisible Limits’ and is the ﬁrst release on the brand new label X/OZ, an extension of the artist Exos in his role as both a producer and curator.

Your sound can be described as ‘deep minimal techno grooves with dubby atmospheres’. You started producing when you were a just teenager, how has your sound changed since you first started until now? My music in the beginning was never meant to be for the dance floor or the clubs. I was not thinking about the club environment when I was making music. Nowadays, it's easier to combine the home listening factor to the club sound - I think the audience is more open minded. So I think my music today fits both for home listening and the clubs.

You have collaborated with a lot of well-respected artists throughout the years such as Ben Sims and Mark Broom. Which collaborations have you enjoyed the most so far? Collaborating with artists I like and respect is always fun as music can connect people in a good way. But doing weird music with my father, 'Octal', through the years has been very interesting. Most of it has not been released. Nina plays some of it and Steve O' Sullivan released a record called 'Mining'.

Do you think the raw terrain and beautiful intricate landscape of Iceland is reflected your unique compositions? Yes, Iceland has a very special, strange and different energy. The earth crust in Iceland is very thin and the magnetic fields are radical. It affects everybody here in all kinds of way.

What is the dub techno scene like in Iceland?

Compared to our 120.000 capital, I would say it's one of the best. As for the dub techno scene, Thule Records started in 1995 and got together as a strong collective. Artists like Thor, Biogen, Sanasol, Yagya, Ozy, Cold, Ohm, Ruxpin and Vector started the dub techno scene in Iceland along with the GusGus DJs and DJ Frímann - the local techno hero. Are there any Icelandic artists we should be watching at the moment? Ohm has been doing very well lately and released five EP's this year. Yagya has developed his new sound into more techno and is playing amazing live sets. There is a new artist in the dub techno scene called Waage who has been six weeks as the best seller of Juno, young genius representing dub techno in Iceland to the max. BBBBB records has an Icelandic crew coming on strong with artist like Volruptus. Lafontaine is a name to watch in the Icelandic techno scene in the future and is getting an EP ready on the X/OZ label which is my new label. A lot of things are happening in the Icelandic music scene.

What upcoming projects would you like to share with us? I am working on my label, X/OZ and the second release is coming out in November. It's the long awaited Exos and Ohm release as we haven't released a record together in sixteen years. I want to keep the release schedule secret but I have a lot of releases planned for it.

I am doing a label night series this autumn in Reykjavik, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Tallinn and Moscow to present the label and the artists who are involved. In December, I move to Colombia for a while to work on an album with one of my favourite artists, Gotshell, who is a techno prodigy from Pereira in Colombia. I will be playing there in different cities and doing some unexpected raves in weird places. Then I return to Europe next spring to continue with my X/OZ label nights

Exos plays this Saturday at Moscow's Минимум alongside Nikita Zabelin, Gotshell (live) and OHM for an X/OZ showcase.

#Exos #трип #ThuleRecords #XOZ