Rising fast out of Sydney’s north-west, Efesian is armed with techno weaponry built from pummelling kicks, jungle-leaning percussion and flashes of ‘90s trance euphoria. He's already had a Beatport #1 with 'Can’t Be Stopped', and been backed by heavyweights like Carl Cox, Klangkuenstler, FJAAK, Joris Voorn and HI-LO, so is another one of Australia’s closely watched hard techno exports.

Now stepping up for Terminal V’s mix series with a turbocharged session built for maximum impact and stacked with his own productions, unreleased ID’s and smartly chosen classics, it’s tightly wound with controlled peaks and troughs from start to finish. Stick it on while you learn about his journey to this point, pressure in the studio and why he loves it hard. 

When, why and how did you first fall in love with techno, and why the harder stuff in particular?

I first fell in love when I got the “MUSIC2000” CD on Playstation as a kid. It allowed me to make

Techno/House beats at the age of 10. I still have my first tape! And then in adulthood I rekindled

that love of Techno when I went to Japan in 2016. Found myself at club WOMB in Tokyo and

there was a room with a really deep minimal style sound I found so cool. I found it REALLY hard

to leave - leaving a mark on me forever! And like any genre I fall in love with, I just want to go

heavier and heavier until a certain point. I’ve also got to give credit to my boys, FJAAK.

Discovering them pushed me in a direction where I could see myself contributing to the Techno

scene in some way. I love how they structure their songs and can still be accepted in the ever

strict Techno space. From that inspiration, I decided I wanted to be a heavier, faster version and

build/develop it into my own style over time.

You have had a Beatport Number one before - how did it feel? Did it add pressure next time you

were in the studio to try and achieve the same success or is it not about that for you?

It felt bloody awesome, especially because it’s 100% independent, I must admit! My Dad and

Brother were around when I kept refreshing the Top 100. Refreshed to #1 and needless to say

the beers were overflowing that night. At that time, I didn’t feel the pressure to back it up, as I

was in a real creative headspace thinking “plenty more of that where that came from!”

. But even

though making music for yourself comes first, a bit later in my career I do feel the slight pressure

to repeat it. All in time!

You have tons of music coming up - tell us about it, where you write, what you set out to achieve

with each tune, what signature sound you try to bring.

I’m always in the mood for heaps of energy. Big synths, big Techno rumble and tonnes of

percussion. I really want my tracks to sound as huge as possible and lately Trance-style synths

are just so fresh to me, so I like adding in those elements on a large drum sound at the moment.

Different, but still me. These days it’s just on my laptop and headphones wherever/whenever.

There’s something poetic about making a sound so massive from a set up that small.

What one thing would make your life easier as a touring DJ?

Living close to the airport. I live about an hour and and a bit from the airport and when I land

Sunday nights, I’m like “oh damn, I’ve still got ages ‘till I’m home!”

.

Tell us about your mix, the aim you had with it, and what you wanted it to say.

I treated this mix as a bit of showcase to your lovely audience of all tunes I’ve made that I think

are my best work (including 4 ID’s), with some stellar grooves in between by other Artists I’m

into. I also took this opportunity to premiere my next single out May 8th called “Good Time”

- the

first track of the mix. Generally, I like to push a huge, Aren- sized heavy groove sound with

elements of Trance at the moment. I think this mix suggests that.What gear did you use, is that important to you in any way, whether in the booth or studio?

I used my good mate’s old 2011 CDJ2000’s and a 900 Nexus Mixer. I suppose it’s important to

be on familiar gear, but I can always adapt. I did a gig on just one CDJ once haha. The other 2

decks failed from a patron spilling his drink. If the crowd understands you’re going through it, it

can actually even be fun to recover.

What are you working on for the rest of the year?

Bangers, bangers, bangers. I want to keep pushing this sound that’s in my head at the moment.

The 4 ID’s in this mix should symbolise where I’m headed, stylistically.

TRACKLIST

EFESIAN - Good Time (PREMIERE)

Vil, CRAVO - Del

EFESIAN - Tha Funk

Steve RedHead - Red Sonata

EFESIAN - Violate

EFESIAN - ID

KLINT - Cheetah (Get Up Edit)

EFESIAN - Up 2 Speed

EFESIAN - Pump This

Steve RedHead - Echoes Of Revolution

EFESIAN - ID

Jeff Mills-The Bells(Lander B remix)

EFESIAN - Like That

Chris Chambers - Ego Mafia

EFESIAN - ID

EFESIAN - Can’t Be Stopped

Cave - Speleon

Scot Project - Set You Free (Flight 643 Edit)

Ferdinger - Bliss Factory

EFESIAN - Bomfunk Tribute

CCamp - You Know Seth

Underworld - Born Slippy (DYEN Remix)

Mark Porter - Moon Drift

EFESIAN - 2BWU