Eternate.
Beyond the wow moment.
Eternate on hard-dance roots, hard techno, musical identity and the feeling of losing yourself in the dance.
Florian Pleger · Eternate
A gabber 909, reverse bass and a melody that stays with you: for Florian Pleger, alias Eternate, the path into hard techno begins with his own hard-dance history. But how do you preserve a personal sound in a scene constantly looking for the next surprise? We talk about SPKRS VBRTE, the difference between a powerful moment and a good clip, stubborn studio ideas and the underground communities in Tyrol that shaped his view of music.
Eternate is Florian Pleger’s hard-dance project from Innsbruck. Today he brings his melodic hardstyle roots into hard techno. Here, he explains what he carries forward from earlier productions and his work as an organiser and booker.
Reinterpreting hard dance
On SPKRS VBRTE, you describe a mix of gabber 909s, trance and reverse bass. Which of these ideas got the track started?
I think the starting point was mainly the energy I have always associated with hard dance. Reverse bass and those typical gabber 909s have that direct, old-school character for me, while the trance elements wrap it all up nicely. I used to make a lot of melodic hardstyle, and I try to bring that same vibe into hard techno. That is exactly what I find exciting: it should be a reinterpretation of old-school hard dance in some way. Hard and driving, but still melodic and catchy.
Between the moment and your own DNA
What has changed in the way you work in the studio since you began exploring hard techno more deeply?
I think the overall approach has changed. The scene moves much faster now, with new sounds, trends and subgenres constantly emerging. That makes it harder to keep up while also building and preserving a musical identity of your own.
There is often more emphasis on a track’s immediate wow factor, especially when you play it live: the hardest drop, really surprising sounds, fake drops and so on. I do not think that is inherently bad, but for me it has always been about more than a quick wow moment.
That is why my roots still shape the music. The tracks should work on the dancefloor and make people feel something. At the same time, it matters that they still have something to offer after the first listen. I do not just want to create a quick wow effect; I want to make music with its own character that can, ideally, stand the test of time. I find that balance between the spirit of the moment and my own musical DNA really interesting.
I think it is especially important that people dance.
When people really dance
When you play a new track of your own for the first time, what do you pay particular attention to in the crowd’s reaction?
I think it is especially important that people dance. Developments over the past few years in hardstyle and rawstyle, but also in hard techno, have shown that certain moments are increasingly captured on phones. I notice it myself, and of course it is nice when a track creates so much excitement that people want to hold onto that moment. At the same time, I sometimes wonder how much of that energy is actually experienced in the moment and how much is geared towards getting the most spectacular clip possible.
For me, hard dance has always been closely connected to that feeling of completely losing yourself in the music and simply dancing. That is exactly what I want to convey.
One kick, six or seven attempts
Can you remember a production that only started working after you removed an idea you had held onto for a long time?
Yes, of course… that happens all the time. My early days making hardstyle were particularly uneven. Many of the tracks I released were produced from scratch several times. Sometimes it is a kick you hold onto, sometimes a melody. One specific example I remember is my first official remix for Clockartz and Envine, We Are One. I personally really liked the original idea. I think the mid-intro kick was changed six or seven times following various rounds of feedback.
What Tyrol leaves with you
Which place in Tyrol has had a particular influence on you musically?
That is very difficult to answer, because many places have had an influence on me as an artist.
I used to be very active in Innsbruck and Kufstein myself, not only as an artist but also as an organiser and booker.
Underground communities in particular have always had a special appeal for me. They are often smaller and easier to get to know, but also very personal and shaped by people who really care about the music. I think those experiences have mainly influenced the way I approach electronic music and its different genres.
Eternate
Interview by email · Editorial and image art direction: SCENE:ID. Dominik Zwerger