Music
From dark, barrelling techno to avant-garde noise experiments, industrial has had a multitude of lives on the dancefloor. DJ/producer Rebekah highlights eight artists integral to its brutal sound.
Out of the transgressive, dystopian pit of ‘70s and ‘80s industrial music – with its steel-edged synths and bleak soundscapes pioneered by artists like Throbbing Gristle – spawned a new strain of club music. Today known as 'industrial techno', this breakneck, abrasive and soot-covered dancefloor mutation captured a new generation of ravers as it accelerated through '90s Britain. It can be defined more by a wild, confrontational spirit than any neatly-wrapped sound, one which took the essence and aesthetic of post-punk and noise and pummelled it into a ferocious, weighty and typically 4/4 framework.
Techno's hard, dark and fast lineage resonated strongly with Rebekah, the Birmingham-born producer and DJ who built her esteemed reputation on wild, haunting dance music. Inspired by nights out at the city's Q Club and sets from Billy Nasty and Dave Clarke, she channelled these eye-opening experiences of abrasive club sounds into her own. Her now 20-year-long career has seen releases on seminal labels like Soma Records, MORD and CLR, and she's played both DJ and hybrid sets to vast crowds all over the world.
Industrial's ethos is visceral in her own artistic outlook, and as she explains below, it goes far deeper than simply replicating the mechanised, steely soundscapes of cities like her hometown. Ahead of her EP titled Murder In Birmingham, Rebekah explores the concepts and origins of industrial music, how it shaped its own strain of techno, and rounds up eight artists that have pushed its club-dwelling strains to the blackened, experimental edge.
In the past few years we have seen a steady rise in industrial techno, with the name being thrown around quite liberally
"Originally, I believed industrial music was influenced from sounds coming from factories, especially as the genre emanated from industrial working towns in the UK, thinking that the producers were re-creating the everyday sounds they heard from these areas. After researching I came to understand that the genre was so much more than that – it was the use of tape delays, homemade pedals and synthesisers and the fusion of performance art and working closely with concepts. Personally, it was important to learn the history as I come from a city which has a sub-genre export named 'Birmingham techno', which is heavily influenced by industrial [see: Surgeon and Regis].
"In the past few years we have seen a steady rise in industrial techno, with the name being thrown around quite liberally with artists wanting to separate themselves from the more commercial side of techno. 2019 is seeing many areas of industrial-influenced techno being covered, from the more experimental right through to the stripped-back, dark techno-industrial hybrid, and with the industrial hardcore also making a hefty contribution to the current scene.
"I have selected some UK artists who are more in line with the true aesthetics of industrial from the original era, and how they have either stuck with the music being more conceptual or carried the ethos over to techno."
1. Mick Harris aka Fret, Scorn, Lull (and many more)
Mick Harris has probably the biggest claim to the UK industrial techno scene. Regis and Surgeon both cite Harris as one of their biggest influences and someone who helped them cut their first teeth at production and making what we know now as Birmingham Techno, which is a direct influence of industrial. His last two EPs as Fret have been super heavy but it’s his track Murderous Weight which I feel embodies a raw influence from industrial with tape delays, feedback and, dare I say, a trumpet to create something really spectacular and a true piece of art – something I could imagine Miles Davis would create if he was alive today.
2. JK Flesh
Birmingham artist JK Flesh’s sound is always leaning towards the harder more industrial side of techno but it’s his more experimental pieces I would like to highlight here. The use of space and distortion go hand-in-hand to create well executed pieces that I feel show the industrial influence within JK Flesh’s music.
3. Tommy Four Seven
Tommy has been exploring industrial and pioneering this new wave for the past eight years. His first album Primate really set a tone of where he would eventually end up and his label 47 has been consistently highlighting lesser-known artists within this sub-genre. This year Tommy released his second album Veer which I have been blown away by. He has developed his sound further infusing his drum 'n' bass background into the outer industrial realms.
4. Manni Dee
I have been following Manni Dee as a producer from 2013 and his first outings on Black Sun Records. His music ranges from broken beat electronica through to hard industrial techno. Manni’s 2018 album The Residue was where he delved even deeper into industrial’s aesthetics. As a producer Manni Dee is totally underrated but I’m hoping in the years to come he will garner the attention that he genuinely deserves.
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5. Samuel Kerridge
By far one of the most avant-garde producers we have right now. There are not many producers out there that are truly pushing boundaries but I would place Samuel Kerridge into this category.
6. These Hidden Hands
Industrial experiments from the south of England via Berlin, Tommy Four Seven teams up with Alain Paul to create some of the most beautiful yet disturbing electronics. I feel that the collaboration between the two really build on Tommy’s solo work with Alain bringing in more live instruments and a different set of influences.
7. Ansome
Ansome has one of the freshest sounds coming from the UK industrial techno scene. His non-compromising style within his productions always makes me excited to hear and play his new music, which generally are always the highlight of my sets. He manages to still make this sound have some funk and groove – check Poison the Body or Marching Powder for examples of this – despite being tough as nails. But his recent remix for The Soft Moon was a departure into real mastery as he takes you on a trip to the bellows of hell.
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8. Regis
This list would not be complete if I don’t talk about Regis, another unsung hero that only seems to get talked about by producers and DJs alike. As a producer Regis has gone through an evolution through the decades from the aggressive techno punk rage that can be heard in his seminal Gymnastics EP, to the more subtle intricate sounds from his collaboration with Function as Sandwell District, which peaked in the late '00s.
But when Regis joined forces with Surgeon under their British Murder Boys guise is where the brutal industrial techno takes shape and his complete freedom to explore his post-punk and industrial influences. His Downwards label is one of the longest standing labels with a staggering 25 years, which in recent years has given a home to modern day industrial acts like Talker and Oake.
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