interview: Exium

You have been on the scene since 1994, how have things changed?

Things have changed a lot as change is part of the nature of the electronic music scene. It changes frequently, particularly in the advancements of technology. Everything is cyclical and styles come and go constantly, fortunately techno is now as strong as was in the 90s or even more so.

Back in those early days what was the vibe like when you were DJing around Asturias?

The atmosphere was very different because only a few were going out to listen to this music. It was very intense and open-minded, things moved on very fast and the music was constantly changing, EBM to techno acid then Chicago, Detroit ... within a couple of years, people were very open to that and danced to everything that was played, they were good times.

Did you ever expect to be where you are today as respected and established artists? Was this the plan?

Not at all, our plan was to start buying and playing records, then playing those records and starting to make the music that we love so much.

We were really into this music at a very early stage and invested a lot of passion and effort to learn as much as possible about what fascinated us about it, everything else just happened. We weren't looking for it but we understand that if people think you're doing something good then they are interested in what you do and you can start playing and releasing records. That said, we personally don’t think that this should be the motivation of an artist, only the love for creating music!

In many ways Sheffield has much in common with the Asturias area, a gritty industrialised north with a sense of rebellion, did this filter into your music?

Absolutely, when you have a few days of sunshine a year, the best place is in the studio, producing music. I guess the gray-filtered environment will somehow form part of our message and our way of producing.

Will this be your first time in Sheffield?

Yes, we have been in Manchester, Leeds and London several times but never before in Sheffield.

Any expectations or pre conceived ideas of our city and its scene?

Similar to other English cities we have visited but we do not know much about the techno scene in your city in particular and the impact of our music there. We are expecting a big party because we like the line up a lot.

What can we expect from the gig?

Energy and intensity!

Is part of the process of collaboration, independence? What do you both bring to the partnership?

That's right, we record a lot the parts separately and then we meet up to develop and finish the tracks together. After so many years of making music we try to make it as entertaining as possible.

Do your personal side projects away from away from Exium help the cause?

Sure, we think both Tensal and Komatssu (Hector´s alias for IDM and electronic music) and Kessell have their own identities but logically our influences are part of our solo projects. We come from the same place and have grown up listening to the same music.

How do you approach producing the music, do you use any equipment that makes this stand apart from other producers?

Yes, for sure. Each producer has his own secrets or production tricks that we don’t want to expose now lol, but I can say that we combine a lot of hardware with digital software constantly and that's what makes us sound like we do. We have never stopped using hardware since we started to make music.

Who are the producers and artists that you are playing at the moment?

At the moment there are many people doing good and interesting things like Abdulla Rashim and the Swedish artists. You can always expect good things from Shifted, Sigha, Planetary, Inigo Kennedy, etc. ... the South Americans are also going strong with Jonas Kopp or the young producers like Pulse One and many others ... our Polegroup mates are releasing very good music as-well, the Germans, the Dutch of course ... many people are doing good things as I mentioned above.

How did your relationship with PoleGroup happen?

We all were good friends for years and we knew each other well, it was a really natural step for us all.

Any future releases that we need to know about?

We are working on a new Exium album that will be released early next year on our label nheoma. Tensal will be releasing an album on Developer´s Modularz label. There will be 3 or 4 remixes and 4 EPs between now and early 2016. Kessell also has two new releases on Granulart and a couple of remixes before the end of this year.