What is Techno? Who Music Magazine continues its lifelong search to find out the answer in our latest interview with Redge. The Belgium-based producer tells us more about himself and what it is he is up to. You can also hear his new live set below!
Hi there ! Where can we find you right now? How did you start your day?
Hey! I am in Belgium right now, just back from an incredible weekend at Awakenings Festival. Today is a slow day taking some time to decompress and process how many incredible sets I got to witness over the 3 days. It was my first time there, and I got to see a lot of amazing artists who have been a source of inspiration for me over the last few years.
When did the idea for your new record take shape?
After spending many years producing Progressive Psytrance, I was finding more inspiration and love for some of the new music being released by labels like Senso Sounds, Dense Audio and Alula Tunes. Then after some trips to Berlin and London for Techno events, found that I had huge energy and motivation for producing in another genre. Over the last 10 months I dove back into the studio to produce 14 new techno tracks, of which 11 new and unheard tracks are featured in my new mix «Take Ten», which is showcasing my move into this new style. I wanted to take the time to create a body of work to really convey this new sound.
How would you define the sound of your latest work? What is the concept behind it?
It is always hard to define your own music, but I try to pull elements from both the more deep/minimal groovy techno sound from labels like Senso Sounds and Alula Tunes, with the big synth elements and infinite energy from labels like Drumcode and Afterlife. However, this is more where my aspirations lie than my definition of my sound, as I think it will develop and refine with every new production and can only hope to push out productions like those one day!
Who is inspiring you most right now?
Right now I am hooked on the deep/groovy techno coming from artists like Lampé, Maksim Dark and Carbon. Also artists like Bart Skills, Layton Giordani and Tale of Us are always blowing my mind with what can be done on the big stages, especially after seeing them perform this weekend!
Where would you say your sound sits, firmly in one genre or a mixture?
For a long time I associated myself within the Progressive Psytrance genre, but I have found a whole new motivation and creativity in making Techno. However, I do think that there are elements in my productions which have carried through from one to the other, for example, in my new production «Smoke», I reworked some great samples from a previous release but with a whole new spin and style to the overall track. But the focus for me moving forward is to work hard and refine my sound in the Techno space.
How do you see the music scene at the moment?
For me right now the music scene is an exciting place to be, I think mostly because despite listening to so many different styles in Techno since I started playing music in my teens 17 years ago, it has only been in the last few years I have taken the time to travel further to see the artists who are really inspiring me. Previous to this I would go to 2 or 3 festivals each year in Germany and Switzerland to see all my favourite Progressive Psytrance acts, and catch them at club nights in the UK as well when they were over. However, now I feel like I am reliving that time of discovering so much amazing music all over again, but this time by visiting new festivals and club events where the focus is all Techno.
Tell us something about your current or future projects?
Right now I am going to be focussing on the release of my «Take Ten» live set, as this has been a huge amount of work and time over the last year, and I want to try to get it out to as many new listeners as possible. However, the motivation for production is higher than ever at the moment, so I will also be in the studio working hard on new productions as well.
Artist Social Links:
http://www.soundcloud.com/redgeuk
http://www.facebook.com/redgeuk
http://www.instagram.com/redge.uk
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5I1qVnGe6fmAc0EiOBuHoB
https://www.beatport.com/artist/redge/455898
https://linktr.ee/RedgeUK