Monoloc

Sascha Borchardt aka Monoloc, has delicately been perfecting his unique gritty techno sound since 2001 . With a number of releases on Chris Liebing's widely regarded CLR imprint the Frankfurt based producer has also been busy running his own label 'Small Room Music', which has been unearthing some of Techno's most promising talent of late. Ray Murphy chats to him about his recent Australian tour, Love Parade and a forthcoming compilation.

Download Pulse.034 - Monoloc



Pulse: When and where were you first exposed to dark minimal-techno and what got you into making music? Monoloc: My first encounter with dark, minimal-techno was around 15 years ago. I started to buy records from labels such as Bruchstücke, Ongaku and Kompakt. This heavily influenced my sound, and eventually worked its way into my own productions. 
I felt that just mixing tracks was very limiting, so I think going from DJ'ing to making music was a very natural progression; the curiosity behind the whole process and the wish to define my own style really motivated me to start producing.


What was your first home studio set-up? Looking back now, it's hard to really call my first bit of kit a 'studio set-up' as I started out with a really old-fashioned notebook and a basic pair of headphones. That was it. No hardware, no special software, nothing at all but a real passion for music. It was an extremely slow process to begin with, but gradually you grow with it and so does your equipment. Today I have a pretty well kitted out studio, but undoubtedly there will be new hardware /software that I want to get in the coming years. You never stop learning and improving!



How important have Chris Liebing and his label been in your career? Working with Chris and CLR has been an amazing experience and an honour, particularly at the beginning. As a young artist it was great to have the kind of support I received, and to be able to work with such a good label and a number of extremely talented artists. The level of co-operation is inspiring. I really feel at home at CLR.



I read an interesting statement he made about the tragedy at the final Love Parade (Chris Liebing's statement in full). How did it's tragic conclusion impact upon you? It was an unbelievable tragedy and there have a raft of discussions in Germany about the causes and subsequent effects on German techno as a whole. It was undoubtedly one of the fundamental pillars of the scene. I only want to express my sympathy for the victims and their families. 

"It is absolutely appalling and shocking that the responsible organizers of the Love Parade and the city council in Duisburg have misused the “Techno Movement” with those fatal results. In their striving for image and profit, they have disregarded all measures of control and security and put people who really just wanted to celebrate, dance and have fun together in a situation in which 21 innocent persons had to die and countless have been injured and traumatized." Chris Liebing

What's the ethos behind Small Room Music? Small Room Music is an authentic and real place for artists. The label really means a lot to me as it unites many of my own musical passions & interests. All of the artists who release under SR are hugely talented and they each create a unique style of music.

You once said that one of the intentions behind the label is to create a 'platform for unknown/underground artists'. How do you go about finding these artists and can you describe the sound/style that you're after? I think it's best to avoid defining a strict direction for the music I want to see on SR. If I were to broadly categorise the releases so far I'd say the they are all centred around a dark,minimal style, as this reflects my own musical roots. I'm very fortunate in the sense that I get to work with a large number of gifted artists I've met over the years so usually the tracks for the label often find themselves. It 's really important to me to provide unknown artists with a platform, a 'Small Room' as it were. Music thrives off of innovation and people with great ideas, I want to be able to help support those individuals along the way.

What would you say to encourage those young beat-makers who feel that the techno scene (particularly in Germany) is 'over-saturated' with tehcno producers at the moment? What can they do to stand out? Over saturation is a problem in most aspects of modern life, particularly in many areas of business.That is the nature of affluent society. But I don´t think this should be applied to the Arts and the artists involved. Art thrives off of multiplicity and different streams. It's always a struggle for artists to emerge from the masses and truly stand out. Huge talent should be coupled with discipline and lots of hard work. It also helps to have a little bit of luck- being in the right place at the right time!



You've recently been on tour in Australia. Where was your favourite venue and what 3 staple tunes featured in your sets? 
My favourite gig in Australia was definitely the Rainbow Serpent festival in Beaufort, Victoria. My 3 most played tunes were:
1. Cormac- Cold (Chris Liebing rmx)
2. Monoloc- Nohouse
3. T47- Armed



What's the future got in store for SRM and your own releases? Under Monoloc, I've just been working on a remix for Tommy Four Seven on CLR aswell as a remix for Alex Bau on Sleaze records!
The next release on my label will be a 10-track compilation with music from the likes of Brian Sanhaji, Mike Wall, Ascion & Hans B.

Ray Murphy

Monoloc on Pulse