We first came across Voiski last year with his commanding debut record for L.I.E.S, and it wasn't long before the quiet Parisian was leading the charge as our favourite new techno producer of 2014.
It’s not too often that it’s actually impossible to rate one track above the others on a record, but the blistering three tracker IAI Movement EP managed to do that, and then some. While he’s been more than active in Paris since launching his experimental imprint Silicone Musique around 2008, Voiski’s sound has enjoyed an organic shift in recent times, with his cleverly contrasting arpeggiating melodies and bone crushing rhythms providing the kind of raw energy not always felt in new techno releases. He’s in some kind of form at the moment too, with his follow up for L.I.E.S, the Culture To Crash EP, just seeing a release last month and selling out instantly, while he made his debut on Boiler Room Paris with one of the most jaw dropping analogue live sets you’ll ever see. As you may be able to tell, we are super excited about this guy, and he’s delivered once again, this time for us, with a spectacular high octane mix of his signature emotional techno.
How has the summer in Paris been so far for you, what have you been spending most of your time on?
Good good, I’ve been away a lot for live performances or vacation at sea side, so I didn’t have so much time in Paris yet, but I planned to take some next month to work on new tracks. I really like Paris in August.. when the city is empty.
I saw you played a live set for Boiler Room in Paris a few weeks ago, what can you tell us about that live set, how long have you been playing live with that collection of gear?
This thing was a bit crazy, I was nervous at first as so many people came (a mixture of techno kids, artists and football supporters after France-Nigeria game). But finally that was fun. I managed to get into it.. despite the riot confusion around my machines! I was performing with my usual live set up that I have used 2 or 3 years now. I know my babies very well, that helps to come through uneasy situations.
You’ve talked before about your confusion towards contemporary dance music, and going through your back catalogue, your sound has grown over the last couple of years, with grittier and more organic sounds shining through in the majority of your output now. Do you feel like this shift is a response to the abundance of over produced, predictable dance music available these days?
What I miss the most in contemporary dance music is sincerity and emotion. I don’t really get this abundance of tasteless heavy techno… I find it boring and overpowered for nothing. In my opinion, heavy music needs balance. But I’m not trying to respond to anything when I take some directions. There are still a lot of electronic music artists who are just trying to be sincere with their feelings. I’m trying to be one of those.
Your music has also taken on more of a ‘live’ feel in recent times, particularly on both your releases for L.I.E.S. What can you tell us about your current studio setup and your recording process?
Concerning music, I like to work spontaneously. When I start a new track it has to be done in the next couple of hours. If I overwork it I lose the energy of instant. So I trust my first feelings a lot.. When I find something I push it to the end before getting tired of it. It’s like working in an emergency to finish before getting caught with boredom. I know the mirage of getting stuck in a loop, thinking we can improve it forever. But there is nothing better than first shot for me. Right now I’m working with new tools, a new drum machine, and above all, a weird semi-modular synth which is so alive that it precisely forces me to record everything, as I could lose the sound easily.
You’ve obviously developed a good connection with New York through Ron Morelli’s L.I.E.S. label and you also put out a release as Kartei on Willie Burns’ W.T. Records back in 2011. How did those connections come about? Have you spent much time in New York?
No actually I went to New York last February for my very first time. But I met Will in Paris some years ago, through an artist friend Marion Guillet (she was doing some cool design for WT). If I remember well William was browsing through an old server and found this track ‘Lichtgarten’ we did in 2007 with my cyber techno pop project Kartei. Then he asked us for more tracks and we made this WT 08. And I finally met Ron later in Paris too, through William.
What can you tell us about this mix you’ve put together for us? Who are some of the artists that feature in the mix?
It’s a very scattered mix with diverse influences I tried to connect together. Quite fast mixing, a bit weird. You will find some techno from Domenico Crisci and Aphex Twin, some Industrial music from Clock DVA, Electro from DMX Krew and even Vaporwave with Fatima Al Qadiri.
What else do you have coming up?
I just finished a blurry 4 track EP for Ars Mechanica, and I’m waiting for an old record on Sheik’n’Beik to be released soon. I’m working also on tracks with my new machines for exciting requests I had recently. We will see what happens soon hopefully!