Irish Producers - Fresh Blood on the Bank [PT 1]
As the Irish techno scene stands on the tipping point of disarray we turn to a glimmer of hope among the talent that is coming out of the country at the moment. Recent club closures and all things embodied by GUTN aside, there is a unique sound rumbling through overheated amps and ruptured monitors that has been pummelling its way into the scene from young Irish techno producers. We sat down with some rising newcomers that we think will be making their mark in years to come. We get down to the nitty gritty of club culture in Ireland, London & Berlin, the background to their story, where they’re headed and all the advice they could muster up for future talent wanting to break into the scene.
The sound circulating the scene comes from a strong influence of UK & EU techno, digging deeper into darker climes which we feel is redefining Irish techno into a unique and fundamental part of the growth of the life of techno back home in Ireland. It’s a flourishing of brutality. Something we can certainly get down to. We push these catalysts forward and we hope you get behind them just as much as we are.
Join us for this two part series as we introduce some fresh blood in the hope that it may push other young producers to break through the barrier.
Can you tell us about your background. Where you come from, your musical background and how you got into techno?
Well, I am 20 years old. I come from Mullingar, Westmeath. Aside from the usual things a kid would do growing up, I always found myself listening to many kinds of music that not many others my age would have listened to. Hip hop & rap artists like Dr Dre, Mobb Deep, Marshall Mather’s/Eminem were all a huge influence. I also had a huge love for heavy metal & rock. I often found myself listening to the likes of Metallica & Rage Against the Machine. I even attended an AC/DC concert when I was like 10. After that I slowly began finding my way into electronic music, radio stations in games like Grand Theft Auto were a big influence and I also started listening to a lot of Daft Punk. From there my aunt Liz (Eliza) has been a big influence on my music taste by sharing her knowledge and pointing me in the right direction. Since then I have been pretty much hooked on playing and making techno.
For someone quite young you’re way ahead of the game, where did you learn to produce and for how long have you been doing this for and honing your skills?
My first real hands on experience with music came from my Uncle who showed me some bits on a bass guitar and then from close friends who lived up the road from me. They had a piano in their house and taught me some simple bits and pieces which I picked up very quick. From there my parents seeked professional lessons for me in which I am still receiving 12 years on. Linsey my piano teacher pretty much taught me everything I know on piano and this really helps my production now.
When I was around 15 I picked up some cheap DJ decks for Christmas, around a year after that I downloaded Ableton. I was making absolute junk for a long time but things slowly started to come round after I just sat down each day when I tried to figure out what each thing done. I always said to myself I'd learn Ableton as much as I could before I started to use any hardware or any other software outside of Ableton which I am only really starting to do in the past 8 months or so.
Coming from a small town in Ireland you’ve made your way into a hard scene to break into, can you tell us your secrets? And have you had anyone pushing you from behind the scenes?
I have no real secrets to be honest, it’s like anything, if you love it enough just keep at it and good things will come.
My aunt Liz has always been great, she has a lot got to do with my style and what not today. Her honesty, often harsh but always real always drove me to push the boundaries.
Also people like Ian Hart from Basement Project, who is now my booking agent, Jay Carroll from Mutate and Keith Marshall have all given me countless opportunities.
Lastly my parents have always been great and have always pushed me at whatever it is I am working at.
You’ve been working with quite a few labels already and you’re releasing on OBSCUUR soon with a 10 track album if I’m not mistaken. Can you give us some insight into the concept behind the album? And can you tell us what’s your favourite track you’ve released to date and why.
The main concept of the album is to be able to show what I’m really about musically, it’s to really define my style in which I can’t really define myself as I have a many different things I incorporate into my tracks. I have a real liking to old, fast and loopy techno and I also quite like some more modern hypnotic stuff, so I suppose you can expect a combination of all with a harsh touch. I think this would be the best concept to put behind my first album and simply because the music I already have out has quite a wide contrast.
My favourite track I’ve released to date is probably Mug which was released on Stoop as part of a techno and electro EP. I'd mark this as my favourite as it’s the first track I’ve finished which has a good old school feel to it.
Can you tell us a bit about Lab Works and what you aim to achieve with the clubnight?
Lab Works is all just about showcasing good music and having fun, but I feel it would be good to inspire younger people in the town to get into electronic music as DJs or producers as there are very few at the moment. We have some big plans for Lab Works in which we hope will fall into place this year that we can’t say much about yet.
Who are your biggest inspirations and why?
I could rant on about loads of big names in techno being my inspiration, but really my biggest inspiration comes from here at home seeing the likes of Jamie Behan, Doug Cooney, Cailín and Tommy Holohan who are all killing it at the moment.
Finally, what’s in store for the future? Can you give us release dates and upcoming gigs where we can catch you.
As mentioned above I have my album coming out on OBSCUUR Records in the first half of this year, I have an EP coming out on Bastardro Electrico soon after that. Then have my first record coming out early this year too, it’s a VA but I cant say too much about it yet.
You can catch me back in Galway with Basement Project March 17th. There is a monster line up this year at the boat club. Myler, Jamie Behan, Cailín, Theologue and plenty more. Really looking forward to that.
I also have some festivals this year which haven’t been announced yet but keep an eye there too.
First of all, can you tell us a bit about your background. Where you come from, how you got into music and how you got into the industry initially.
I’m from a town in north Dublin called Skerries. I grew up here and still live here now. My family moved from Botswana in Southern Africa in the 90’s when I was a toddler. I got into music from a young age, I grew up listening to all kinds of music being played in the house. Marvin Gaye, Sade, The Rat Pack, Nina Simone, Randy Newman and the likes. Me and my sister were encouraged to do a lot of extra curricular hobbies like learning instruments and music was one of the things we picked up. I started getting into techno through my mates when I was around 17. Me and my mates had a good streak where we would go to gigs and raves in town every weekend for a number of years. I learned how to DJ when I was studying in college at Dublin Institute of Technology, there are a lot of societies and activities for students and one of them happened to be a DJ society, I actually spent too much time in the DJ society and not in lectures which was probably one of the contributing factors to why I dropped out of an Engineering degree. I got my first few gigs through college events, some mates who ran club nights and bogey raves in town. In later years a few collectives like The Family Tree, Oktopus, Illicit, Resonate, Stompdown and AXIS took me in which really helped give me direction in DJing. I started collecting records around the same time I was in college. One of my elderly neighbours Mr.Ryan has a son who moved abroad in the early 2000’s, he had a pair of his turntables he left behind which were in his attic for around 10 odd years gathering dust which he gave me, I couldn’t believe when he gave them to me because I was actually saving up for a pair at the time. I could go on about all the influences that got me started in the music industry but I’ll leave it at that.
Can you tell us about how your musical preference formed & why you think you got into techno and electro?
Again it pretty much formed from me and my mates being into techno in our teens and then going to gigs. Seeing the likes of The Advent, Chris Liebing, Jeff Mills, Surgeon, Jerome Hill and Derrick May as my first club experiences really gave me clarity in terms of becoming obsessed with the genres. Around the same time I researched a lot of the old Detroit stuff which gave me a good insight into techno. I was into techno first but didn’t realise I was listening to electro at the same time but mistaking it for techno which is very naive thinking about it now, the likes of the Model 500, Drexciya and UR is what I’m talking about. One of the first records I bought was Drexciya ‘Journey of a deep sea dweller’ in Spin Dizzy record store in Dublin around 2011/12. A friend of mine Darragh Lyons indirectly introduced me to a lot of electro at an afterparty when I was around 18 I didn’t really realise it at the time because again, I naively thought it was all 'just techno’. The turning point for me really getting deeper into electro was around 4 years ago when I came across the 'User Input’ album by an artist called Dynarec, I pretty much have his whole discography now. I started playing the odd electro track in techno sets to add a bit of dynamic to them which ended up with me getting sucked into the electro realm. To be honest when I first started DJing I only played techno at gigs for years, I was a bit apprehensive of playing too much electro in my sets but after some time I thought fuck it I’ll just play what I feel you know.
What was your first piece of hardware you ever bought? Do you still have it? And do you think your sound has changed or developed since then? And if so, how?
Funny story, I bought a Roland TR-707 a few years ago in San Francisco when I was visiting my mates who were working there for the summer. I was only staying there for 2 weeks so I said I’d buy the lads something they needed for the apartment they were renting because I was staying with them for free. The gaff was bare and needed a coffee table so I went onto a site called craigslist which is the equivalent of Gumtree or adverts.ie for Americans, I ended up getting distracted on the website and started looking at drum machines instead of coffee tables, I went out and met up with a random seller in the back arse of San Fran, I got back to the apartment that evening with a drum machine and realised I totally forgot about the coffee table. I still have the 707 and will never let it go, I don't use it much now to be honest because I’ve more extensive drum machines in my studio but it has a lot of sentimental value so it’s my baby for life now. Yeah my sound has changed a lot. I was making a lot of dub-techno some time back and acid tracks because I literally only had 2 drum machines, a cheap keyboard and delay pedal which enabled me to make dub chords, then a 303 clone for the acid. Now I’ve a slightly better studio set up and am more experimental with recording into Ableton. My sound is still developing and changing.
How did you get into producing and when did you decide to start investing in hardware? Which do you prefer by the way, DJing or jamming?
My first experience with creating music on a computer was when I was around 9 or 10 my Mam got me a ‘Radio Disney - Music Mix Studio’ CD which is pretty much a very basic software which I used to make random tracks on with an old PC we had. When I was around 15 I moved onto other softwares like Fruit Loops and Ableton, I used to mess around making hip-hop instrumentals mainly learning from Youtube tutorials, then later techno. I pretty much taught myself how to use these softwares which ended up in me picking up bad production habits which I only realised when I studied Sound Engineering & Music production in college. I invested in hardware way too early, I bought the 707 drum machine before I had a monitors or a sound card so literally had to jam through headphones. I slowly built up a studio over the years. Buying hardware actually set me back in terms of musical output in a way because I was fixated on buying gear rather than finishing tracks on softwares and releasing them. I would tell anyone who’s getting into production to focus on softwares from the get go and steer clear of hardware till you’re ready. I’ve only recently became happy with my studio space so I’m starting to finish a lot more tracks the past year.
Whether I prefer DJing or jamming? That’s a tough one, I’m more familiar and comfortable with DJing than jamming but I enjoy jamming more if that makes any sense?
Can you tell us about your collective Lepton? Where did the name come from & where do you plan on taking it?
Lepton is an electro collective which was started after a Drexciya Day event I took part in in a Dublin venue called The Bernard Shaw. The booking agent for the venue at the time Benni Johnston asked me if I wanted to try out starting a night in their venue so I selected a few local DJs and a got a launch date, it pretty much went from there. We do monthly gigs in The Bernard Shaw or Wigwam. The name comes from a physics theory, I won’t get too into the definition but a lepton is a particle involved in electricity, electronic music has its basis in physics theory so the name seemed fitting. That and I also think it sounds cool. We plan on bringing acts to Dublin that we feel our city is missing out on. So far we’ve had Sync 24, The Exaltics and DeFeKT playing for us, we’ve a good few more internationals lined up for this year. We’re working on starting a label from the club night at the moment so we should hopefully have something out the end of this year. We’re also planning on having our resident DJs do some tours around Europe and Irish festivals this year. We’re really busy at the moment but enjoying the ride and taking it as it comes.
We know you have supported some huge international acts to date, what was your favorite or most memorable gig to date and why?
Yeah the past year has been really great, almost surreal in terms of being on the same lineups as some of my favourite artists. To date I’d say opening up for Helena Hauff and DeFeKT last year in District 8 was a particularly memorable gig. It was a milestone point for me as I’d never played to such a big energetic crowd or played in a venue that big at the time. I was pretty blown away by the atmosphere in the place. That club has since closed down which is a real shame for Dublin as it was a prolific venue for a long time, there are not many venues like it left so it was a real honour to get to play there at such an event. Another gig that stands out is playing before Dave Clarke the other week in The Bernard Shaw. I feel most comfortable playing in that venue as we run our Lepton nights out of there so it was lovely being able to play in familiar surroundings with an artist that’s been such a massive influence for me. My mates Daire and Lee were on the lineup too so it was fun having a buzz with them and the Bodytonic staff.
Where can we catch you playing next and when’s the next release on the cards for you?
I played in Corsica Studios in London last weekend for a Jaded x Grounded event. Two of the Lepton residents Eliza and Maurice were playing too. We’re really stoked about this gig as it was our first international venture. David who runs Grounded is actually running Lepton with me as well as Maurice and Adam Manning so it’s really nice finally collaborating the two nights together. The next release for me will be this year. No definitive date but it will be landing at some stage!
Tell us a bit about your background. Where and when did you come across the techno industry and why did you want to be apart of it.
I've been into electronic music for as long as I remember. I got into it first through my older sisters and their mates having sessions in my gaff when I was younger. I was religiously listening to the likes or Underworld and Prodigy by about eight or nine and at that stage, I was absolutely obsessed the sounds in these tracks and wanted to work out for myself how they were making them. So at about 14 decided to start teaching myself everything I could about music production, synthesis and sampling and have been at it ever since. As I got older I got more into the noisier side of the techno spectrum and noise music in general which led me to create my nktrnl alias.
How did you start building your live set?
I never really got into DJing, I tried it and all and I wasn’t terrible but it just doesn’t interest me as much as live-sets do. My background in just production definitely encouraged me to make the decision of live sets over DJing. After spending years learning the in and outs of synthesizers in Logic and Ableton I bought a Korg MS-20 Synthesizer. Pretty quickly I realised how much I hated doing things with a keyboard and mouse so began setting up a small studio at home. My live set has had many different iterations over time and is still changing with every gig, and probably always will. It helps to keep things fresh for both myself and the crowd.
How many pieces of hardware do you own and what’s your favourite?
Way too much! Bit of a cheat answer but my favourite is my modular synth, it's an extremely versatile instrument that is unique to myself that and it’s completely tailored to crunchy techno.
Any advice to someone who wants to get into hardware and where to begin if so.
Learn the basics of synthesis on VSTs before picking up a hardware synth to save you frustration! It’s all well and good owning the most expensive, feature-rich synth going but what good is it if you can’t make decent sounds on it.
Another thing I’d advise people is to not believe the whole “analogue is the best” thing. Digital synths are just as useful as analogue and can create much more complex tones and they’re often cheaper too. If you really need the analogue warmth you can always run digital synths and oscillators through an analogue filter. I actually like that combination so much it's what the entire synth side of my modular consists of. Digital oscillators creating mad timbres then analogue filters for the warmth, best of both worlds and it sounds fuckin' class.
What’s your most memorable gig to date?
Probably the last time I played in Hangar. I was actually the last person to play the last ever Friday night there which is mad enough, even though at the time nobody knew it would be the last Friday. The buzz in Hangar was some of my favourite times of my life and playing it was even better.
Are you working with any labels at the moment?
At the moment I’m more focused on my live sets than actually recording music. I'm learning everything I can about my gear and developing my sound. I kind of like the idea of my tracks only ever existing in the moment for the people at the gig, but I do have plans to finally release my debut EP this year.
Can you give us some info on upcoming releases or sets where we can catch you play.
No upcoming releases but I'm currently in the early phases of establishing a record label with a few mates, so look out for that! I played Grounded x Jaded a few weekends back in Corsica Studios. I have a few other gigs TBA.
What's your opinion on the Irish techno scene at the moment and do you feel it has changed in the last few years?
I think artist wise, at the moment Ireland is thriving. There's no shortage of talented producers and DJs doing some really cool stuff. Obviously the recent club closures and Irish licensing laws in general have really impacted the techno scene negatively. With the lack of venues and short opening hours it's getting increasingly harder for the smaller and more unknown local acts to get gigs.
Can you tell us a bit about your background. How you got into producing and DJing and when and where it all started for you.
I always had an interest in music and when it broadened into electronic it kind of led into harder styles. Got a lend of one of my mates set of decks and kept them for a bit longer than I should have haha. Sent around mixes etc. Got a set opening for Techno and Cans in Hangar. It kind of went from there, finding my sound and style kind of took a while.
Production kind of came as I started to play out more, tried my hand at different styles.
Still to this day I'm still developing my style and developing on productions. 10000 hours rule is everything.
Who would you say are your inspirations in music and who would be your biggest influencer?
I've so many inspirations within various genres that kind of work together. Ansome and Scalameriya are major influences and play many of their tracks from set to set and take influence in my productions. Along with some hard techno artists such as Boris.S for the harder shit. Various Irish heads too keeping the scene running too, you can always get inspiration from them due to Ireland being such a tiny country. I always take influence from a lot of the stuff released on Perc Trax. Solid label.
What labels are you working with at the moment?
I've plenty of tracks in the works but taking my time with them as I feel I want them to be at the highest standard I can put out. Have some tracks and remixes coming early this year, but I can't speak about labels as of yet!
You do a lot of collaborations on your productions, how do you feel this differs from producing something on your own?
Collaborations are cool and I like doing them, I've done a lot of stuff with the Midlands League lads and Scenedrone also. You kind of get a different aspect of the track you're working on and I feel it works very well in certain situations.
Different perspectives are always good and can completely change the feel of a track in my opinion. Especially if yous are both on the same wavelength.
What's your opinion on the Irish techno scene at the moment?
Due to a lot of clubs closing I feel it isn't the worst out of the situation given. Many more nights are coming up with solid ideas and locations.
Index at the moment is thriving with many solid bookings from Research and Subject. Shout out to the DSNT crew always having solid events also.
Probably some of my favourite gigs I've ever been to are by DSNT. The smaller spectrum of gigs in Dublin are the ones to look out for.
Dark Trax always coming out with solid events. Hopefully in the near future more and more events pop up due to the unfortunate closures of nightclubs around Dublin.
What’s your favourite moment of your music career so far?
Playing my first international gig in a wedged Culture House in Oslo was amazing and so so enjoyable. Hausmania is a sick spot, amazing location and sick place for creatives and artist to show there work in all aspects from graffiti to installations to music.
I also enjoyed a lot playing with Midlands League for Anti Social Acid Club in Galway, mainly because I've made many tracks with the lads and never actually got to play with them and it worked very well in the end. There's nothing better than playing B2B with someone and clicking as soon as the set starts, it's a proper buzz.
There are too many moments I've enjoyed in my career to pick out some as I enjoy most experiences within music.
What’s next? Upcoming releases, gigs etc.
Hard to tell what's coming in the short term, have a remix coming out in the near future for IMNOTYOURMATE who is producer from Belfast and one half of Paragon. So many tracks in the works and the possibility of an EP within the first half of this year but I'm trying to keep everything hush hush at the moment, don't want to spoil anything.
One thing I will say is myself, Nktrnl and Bunkerterror are working on something special over the next few months but that is all. Keep an eye out.
Can you tell us a bit about your background. How you got into producing and DJing and when and where it all started for you.
It’s a funny one. As I grew up metal and hardcore were my go to choice of music, it was all I would listen to. I then first started producing around 5 years ago when I was 16. I started off on FL Studio making some really basic beats. I remember I would come home after school and just work on tracks every day for hours. The music I was making was pretty awful looking back but at the time I thought it was deadly haha.
As I got older I got a bit more experienced in different genres of electronic music but techno was the one that drew me in most. I started getting in to the more harsher industrial side of it. I remember seeing Blawan in District 8 in 2016 I think it was, and just thought to myself 'this is what I really want to do'.
When I turned 19 I decided to study Music Production in college (B.I.F.E) and thought I really had the chance to make a career out of this.
How did you come up with your alias name?
My alias name came from Ancient Methods & Vatican Shadow's EP. I thought it was a really strong name and had a nice ring to it considering the type of music I make.
Are you working with any labels at the moment and what labels would you like to release on in future?
So far I’ve released two tracks with Variance and a track with The Techno’s Children, both really strong labels. Luke was really sound to give me my first release on such a big label, my sound has grown quite a bit since then and I’m excited to show the progress.
There's quite a few haha I think labels like Obscuur records, Instruments Of Discipline, Toxic Waste Buried, Green Fetish Records would pretty cool. They’re all throwing out great records at the moment, maybe in the future something might happen.
As a fresh face on the scene, how do you think the Irish techno scene is doing at the moment? Do you feel as though it’s a welcoming community and have you had any trouble breaking into the industry?
Right now I think it's a bit hit and miss. Others might disagree but I think quite a lot of people have moved on from techno, it’s not as big as it was in the last year or 2. With the likes of Hangar closed down, which was a haven for techno in Dublin, there hasn’t been as much techno nights as before. With District 8 closing down soon also, it's mostly really just 39/40 left. I think Wigwam will play a big part though for techno in the next year or so. I think there will be a lot more smaller basement type of clubs popping up soon, which is great for underground techno.
I feel the community is really welcoming, you can meet the most genuine and soundest people at techno gigs who all have a shared love for the music.
I think the scene is quite challenging to break in to. There’s more and more people getting into producing and DJing, there's so many people doing the same thing, it can be quite difficult to stand out. At the moment Ireland is producing some top class artists, the standard is hard to compete with, but I believe if you put the in the effort, and believe in yourself it is possible.
What’s next for you? Tell us about your upcoming releases etc.
I have some stuff going on with Mindcuts new sub label Trialz Records, with a big name on the remix duties. They have a sick VA coming out as their first release including some familiar names. I also have some stuff in the works with a new Scottish label Voight-Kampff, they have a sick Various Artists release out soon. The boys are doing big things at the moment. I believe they’ll blow up quite soon. I’m sitting on quite a number of tracks at the moment and I’ve finished another EP so I’ll hopefully get them out in the new year.
Do you DJ? And if so where can we see you play?
I do, keep an eye on my artist page and the Rubble page. It’s a techno night myself and some mates run in Dublin. We have some things planned for the new year which is quite exciting.
Stay tuned for part 2 of Irish newcomers which will be popping up in your feeds this time next week!
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