Terminal V Podcast 031 || Monoloc

It is almost as if German artist Monoloc is part of the building blocks of modern techno. Having been highly active since his first releases back in 2008 and 2009 Sascha Borchardt quickly formed a long-lasting alliance with Chris Leibing. Sascha was one of the first signings for his Chris’ Spinclub Recordings which was the offshoot of the eponymous CLR imprint and he has gone on forge his own place in the upper echelons of techno.

From his first release with CLR Monoloc became a firm part of that family but this is not all that Sascha is. He has become an organic part of the techno landscape as a direct result the brooding, pitch black energy that he manages to distil into his tracks. His cavernous works have found homes on other cornerstones of techno such as Soma, Hotflush, Dystopian and most recently Charlotte De Witte’s KNTXT label. It was an absolute must that we had to hook Monoloc in for our podcast and we can now present his mix for us…

 

Good to have you with us Sascha, what has been happening in your world lately?

Hello thanks for the invitation. So far everything is ok with me. The last few months have been a bit hectic as I moved back to Berlin from Prague.

Germany is a special place during the summer, how is Berlin fairing at the moment?

I am currently enjoying the beautiful weather a lot, I try to stay away from parties privately in order to recharge my batteries.

How has your first gigs gone after lockdown?

The first real gig after the lockdown was our own event in Prague, where we had Matrixxman as our guest. It was of course unbelievable to be on stage again, I won’t forget that anytime soon.

Your second ANORMAL event in Prague has just taken place a few weeks ago, tell us more about the concept and has it transferred to the dancefloor?

We had our first event in the summer of last year, which went pretty well, but due to the closings we had to wait almost 1 year again until we could do the 2nd event, with Matrixxman. Of course, everyone was full of energy and joy for the day. The party went even better than we expected and we can hardly wait until August 20, when we will have Inhalt der Nacht, Clara Cuvé and Mistake Made as guests from Berlin. We chose the Altenburg 1964 as the location, it is an old coal ship with very industrial vibe.

Will all the events take place in Prague? What is the connection to this city?

I was born in Frankfurt and lived in Berlin for 7 years, after a certain period of time you need a change of space and new inspiration. At the end of 2019 I decided to move to Prague because I always liked the vibe of the city. It is a great place with an amazing music scene but not too overcrowded so you still have a lot of space to create something. I got to know Yalin aka Pink Concrete in Prague. We got along really well from the start. We’re on the same wavelength as people and musicians, so one thing led to another and we started ANORMAL.

What are your future plans for the ANORMAL brand?

The idea of ANORMAL was primarily to do just the events, but it quickly became apparent that there was more potential. I used to have my own labels and I always enjoyed the work for these. So, we decided to also release music. This will start in winter. The first release is ready with music of my own and I’m happy Vril did a remix too.

Do you have any future plans to take it to other cities?

Yes, we already have plans, but we don’t want to rush it either, the whole thing should grow slowly.

Tell us more about your field recording process too, where did it all start using these types of samples?

For me it has always been important to use organic sounds no one else has, the best way to get that is from field recordings. I found out at a very early stage that this is the way I like to do it. It’s not that I solely use field recording sounds but I would say 50% of what you hear in my tracks are sounds I found and recorded somewhere.

Do you have any tips for producers wishing to follow your lead?

When I began producing it was important for me to define my own direction very quickly. Early on I experimented a lot with music and produced different stuff until I found my musical place. Once you find it it’s very important to stay true to yourself, not doing anything just to please other people, because that won’t last long.

What have you been cooking in the studio lately? Anything we can expect to hear you play out soon?

I currently work on more music for our label ANORMAL, so that’s where my main focus is. During the lockdown period, I have also been working on another album. That’s all I can say for now.

Have any of these tracks made it into your mix for us?

No, you’ll have to wait a little longer 😉

 

Interview by Stu Todd