Relinquo.

Looking back from “Departure” and “Imperium Romanum” to “The Council”, when did you first think: this really is my own sound? What had you found that you had been looking for?

My first release, “Departure”, was more of a trial run for me at the time. I still wasn’t sure where exactly I wanted to take my music. But I had been a fan of film scores and the big, epic moments they accompany on screen all my life. With “Imperium Romanum” and every release that followed, I found my sound: cinematic techno. That also made my goal clear: I want my listeners to feel like the protagonists of a film, whether they are on the dance floor or walking through a park with headphones on.

Very different worlds appear in tracks such as “Edo”, “Ramayana” and “Valhalla”. How do you approach a subject before choosing the first sound? How do you know it really shapes the music rather than simply providing a suitable title?

I’m a big fan of history, mythology and other cultures in general. That is exactly what my tracks reflect. Each project starts with a new enthusiasm for a particular subject. The idea for “Valhalla”, for example, came from a strong interest in Norse mythology and a few conversations with people I know who live in Scandinavia. Similarly, the foundation for “Edo” emerged during my first trip to Japan.

At the first stage, I always engage with a particular subject on several levels, through films, games or travel, for example. Inspiration usually follows, and I then look specifically for sounds that fit the subject. I don’t limit myself to the usual synthesizers or libraries; I look for authentic sounds instead. In “Valhalla”, for example, I included various Viking-era instruments such as tagelharpa, flutes and drums, and even the sounds of old shields and chains.

The most important thing for me in every project is that the track tells a story from beginning to end. For me, “Edo”, “Valhalla” and “Ramayana” are not simply names, but always the embodiment of my artistic expression.

Your tracks are meant to tell their own stories, but in a DJ set they sit alongside very different music. How do you include them without losing that story? Can you describe a moment in a club that changed how you thought about one of your own tracks?

In my view, that is one of the important qualities of a good DJ: taking the audience on a journey throughout the entire set. My productions thrive on emotional moments, big build-ups and intense drops. I also see my discography as a whole as a journey from the past into the distant future.

That doesn’t mean I only play my own productions every time. I take enough time to prepare my set for each performance and almost always include lots of tracks by other artists. I try to tell a particular story or explore a theme over several tracks without losing sight of the set as a whole. Interestingly, this is often where I need other people’s productions with shorter breaks and fewer elements, to create some variety alongside my own tracks.

I have had many moments in clubs that changed how I thought about my tracks, especially when testing new tracks for the first time and seeing how well they can be integrated into sets. That is often when you notice that a break should perhaps be a little shorter after all, or that a drop sounds better with fewer elements.

With “Ice & Fire”, for example, I worried that the break might be a little too long and experimental. But during the first test, I realised I could take the audience into exactly the moment I had experienced and felt myself while producing it.