Flashback 14 years to to a techno-rave scene that was basking in the glories of the TB-303, its Devilfish adaptation, and the overarching “acid” sound – grandstanding 303 moments that included early records by Richie Hawtin in his Plastikman guise, Honeysmack in Australia and Freddie Fresh in America, and the innovative, darker underground acid of German labels like Force Inc. Music Works, Trope, AFU, Mille Plateaux, Anodyne and DJ Ungle Fever.
Think scintillating, soaring, squealing, mind-melting acid techno from German producers Jammin’ Unit, Ultrahigh, Drax, Walker, Air Liquide, Bizz OD, Ian Pooley, Kerosene – and one Martin Damm (alias Subsonic 808/Biochip C).
14 years on from that devastating time, we here at Elektrax Recordings decided it was time to reintroduce the acid via Andrez Bergen’s mind-blowing new project, Psyborg-9.
The inaugural Psyborg-9 track – ‘Your Soul Is Mine’ – directly references those glory days of acidic rave techno in the mid-’90s, with peaking, squelchy moments to absolutely die for, then melodic drop-outs to rediscover your brain; it’s also dark, punchy, infectious and divinely-inspired stuff.
So it goes without saying that for this achingly gorgeous flashback moment, we needed one of the original masters to truly fulfil the task; we needed a remix by someone still searingly relevant in te neww millennium, but brave enough to readress his own acid glories.
We chose Biochip C.
We recalled him away from his work at the Industrial Strength label, to do an absolutely sensational remix that vividly captures his past glories; at the very same moment, Biochip C embraces the future potential of real, Roland TB-303-based acid with cunning use of modern technology and contemporary production trickery. Are we stunned? Yes.
Acid is most definitely back in the mix.
We also lobbed a few questions Martin’s way to discover more about the creative psyche behind the Biochip C façade.
How did you get inspired to start making music?
“I’ve always been interested in music. I had a classical piano-education from age four to twelve; after that I learned to play the guitar, but was always interested in electronic music and sounds. In 1988 I bought my first electronic instrument (a Casio FZ-1 16-bit sampler) and in 1990 I had my first release.”
You’ve been producing music and interacting within the music industry for a long time, stretching back to famous German labels of the 1990s like Force Inc. Music Works, DJ Ungle Fever and Mille Plateaux. What keeps you motivated, and what integral changes have you noticed over the years?
“I don’t get any motivation from the music industry nowadays, but from my DJ gigs. The changes the music industry has undergone in the last years (like the digital marketing) are not yet finalized. Still a lot of things have to change, and especially the GEMA [organisation for copyright in Germany] need to adopt their business to the new millennium. They still think and work in old skool ways, which are actually hindering the artists more than helping any creativity.”
What gear/software are you making most use of in the studio at the moment?
“Mostly software nowadays. I sold most of the hardware I was collecting in the ’90s, but I kept the Roland x0x series and some other “specials”. I stopped producing music at the end of 1998 because I’d ‘heard it all, seen it all’, and I was bored with the techno scene in general. The hardware I had used before was over-used, so not appealing anymore. What made me start producing again [in 2001] were the new possibilities when producing entirely on the computer.”
Here’s a mandatory question: If you were forced to, how would you define the sounds/styles you’re currently making?
“That would be Cycore. Yeah, it is the term I use to describe my hardcore productions. I like small elements in the tracks, tiny edits, and lots of elements happening at the same time, so that the listener can find new things every time he listens to the tracks. With my techno productions I’m not that detailed, but I always aim at using lots of different elements in my tracks.”
When you were interviewed back in 1995 for Zebra magazine in Australia, by Andrez, you said: “If I want to do Biochip C now, for example, I have a certain style and I have some limits that I won’t cross with that concept.” Is this still the case with Biochip C a decade and a half on?
“Well, let’s see: Biochip C started with breakbeats and acid in the early ’90s, did some techno and house, later electro and “strange techno”, and is back now with doing acid again. I guess the concept of this project is quite… flexible.”
You’ve worked extensively in the Biochip C, name, of course, but also under aliases like Subsonic 808, Search & Destroy, 909 Disco Babes, Chicks With Dicks, The Speed Freak, Steel, and DJ Fistfuck, etc, etc. Which aliases are you continuing to use these days?
“Only The Speed Freak, my main project for hardcore, and Biochip C for techno stuff are still used – and sometimes Biobreaks, for drum & bass-like stuff.”
What new Martin Damm releases can we look out for?
“New Speed Freak records on Absurd Audio, plus some Biochip C stuff on Off Bits and Industrial Strength – and Elektrax Recordings of course.”
You have a huge history, having released your music on vinyl and CD, as well as releasing 12-inches through various labels like Force Inc., DJ Ungle Fever, Analog Records, Mille Plateaux, Shockwave Recordings, Mokum, Anodyne and Industrial Strength. CDs seem to be a disappearing facet of the electronic music industry, and a fair amount of people are cutting back on vinyl production these days because they say it just doesn’t make back the money invested. How do you feel about this?
“As much as I do not like that, I have to agree. The times are hard for vinyl sales. Being a DJ, I was able to avoid using CD-decks so far, but I see my chances of not using them disappear in the near future. Currently I’m thinking about leaving out the whole CD-thing and becoming a notebook-DJ… but still I prefer vinyl.”
Is vinyl dead? Or just becoming more of a select option?
“It is becoming a select option as long as labels still have the money to produce vinyl at all. I will stick with it for as long as possible.”
What do you think of the Japanese producers like Captain Funk, Toshiyuki Yasuda, Co-Fusion, HIFANA, DJ Warp, Shufflemaster, Merzbow, Alone Together, Gadget Cassette, et al? Do any of these people stand out for you?
“I only know Merzbow from your list, and I have quite a collection of his stuff here. What I like about the Japanese audience in general is that people are very open for everything. They can deal with all the music you play for them, and they obviously have fun with it. That is very different in Germany – here it’s hard to motivate the audience at all. I’m working with artists from the underground hardcore scene in Japan, and every time they book me the parties are fantastic. The hardcore scene there seems to be mixed very much with the cosplay-scene, so we always have dozens of colourful people in the audience…” (laughs).
Finally, how would you define your remix you’ve done for us?
“At first an element of a track has to ‘jump at me’, so that I want to make a remix of it. In our case it was the acid-line. I took this element, jammed with the software, and then there was the remix. I don’t like forcing a track or remix into a certain direction, but prefer jamming and seeing where the track wants to go. This time it turned into a trancey thingy, gripping you and not letting go until it is over!”
© By Andrez Bergen, 2009
