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It's very rare that you often get a chance to sit down face to face and talk to someone as busy as Amil Khan of Technasia. For the past 8 years, Technasia has been busily stirring the global techno scene by storm, offering tracks like "Hydra", "Declamation", "Force", and "Themes From a Neon City."
They have travelled to every possible corner of
the world promoting their unique emotional sound, and their records can be found in the crates of techno jockeys worldwide. They are partners, they are close friends....they are Technasia.
PL: How was Technasia formed? And did you two have any musical training or experience in music production prior to the collaboration?
AK: Technasia was formed back in 1996. Charles Siegling and myself had met by chance through a mutual friend in Paris and had met up in a club. It was funny because we got along very well right away. He had just came out of Film school and i had graduated from university. We were both from completely different backgrounds but it was the music that had brought us together. Charles had suggested that we work together and come up with a label. At that time, i thought it wasn't going to be as easily said then done, however there was a feeling of confidence we both had. We were really hungry for music back then, and in some ways even angry because at the time there wasn't any much emotional sounding techno out there. It was then that we decided to start putting material out. As for your second question, Charles and I had something in common: we both loved going clubbing! At the time Charles was experiencing with vintage synths and keyboards. I was doing a bit of that too, but i was DJ'ing alot more at the time.
PL: With Charles travelling around so much,and you taking care of the business aspect of the record labels, how difficult has it been for you guys to sit down and hammer away at a track from its brainstorming stages to its finishing touches?
AK: What has basically been happening over the past 7-8 years, is that when we first released our first three singles, we were spending alot of time together in the studio and coming out with ideas and experimenting with sounds. So the first 3 EP's we were really working properly in a studio in terms of music production. At the time i spent most of my time in Paris with Charles creating that Technasia sound, but then i moved back to Hong Kong because my roots were here and because i wanted to be back. Then we began using with the internet. I would basically be experimenting with sounds here in Hong Kong, and he would be making his music there. Then we began exchanging ideas and audio files over the internet. It was a bit tiring because we originally worked together in a studio and it was a bit of a challenge being so far away. Many of our ideas were done seperately and when i had DJ bookings in Europe, coincidentally it would be around the same time when the tracks had to be mastered. We would then meet up and do most of the post production together. This worked for another few EP's, and it was around this time when "Hydra" and "Force" came out. Nowadays, I am concentrating heavily on the business side, while Charles is DJing more promoting our Technasia sound.
PL: Gone are the old days when producers had to lock themselves in a dark studio fiddling with hardware sequencers and synthesizers. With the explosion of digital culture and computer software plugins, how has Technasia adapted to this change in technology?
AK: Its funny because when we first started, many of the software guys like Steinberg were coming out with plugins and this was fairly new to alot of the producers. During the years, we have made many friends around the world who make techno music and we often talked about this subject. Everbody pretty much did the same thing. Starting out with a sampler as the main outboard, and then running a few synths through Cubase. In the early days, there were not many people who were actually making good of the harddrive. They would be mixing down directly from the Mackie into ADAT. We went through the
computer route and did all the mastering and effects on the computer. To be quite honest, i didnt quite like it at first. But then as time went on, there were more interesting plugins being released on the market and we almost felt we had to at least experiment. Now we do alot of the stuff through a computer based setup rather then a vintage based setup.
PL: DJ'ing and producing usually starts out as a passionate hobby. When did it being occuring to you guys that it was very possible to make a living off this? Was it after the success of a certain release?
AK:(laughs) I will NEVER forget the day when we first released Technasia records. I was in England with the master and we released 50 copies of the record just to see how it would do. My father would tell me "cmon man, this is just a hobby, you cant possibly think you can make a living off this." As long as you have the motivation, the passion for it, and if you use your mind, anything can happen. One of the breakthrough moments for us was when Laurent Garnier had stopped by Hong Kong and i had happened to know the promoter. Our record had just been pressed in the UK and i gave him a copy. He gave us a call back 2 weeks later and told us this was gonna be huge and a big hit. He tried to get us onto F Communications, but we were so determined to do our own thing at the time. Ultimately, it was a passion for us, but alot of drive and motivation was there to finally make this happen, and amazing things happened.
PL: I've noticed alot of your recent releases have been less loopy and more on the melodic and emotional tip. Can fans of some of your harder productions expect some of that dark and banging style of techno demonstrated in past releases like "Acid Storm" and your remix of John Thomas' "Undisputed Life"?
AK: Actually i would correct you there for a sec. When we first made our debut, people were actually surprised at our emotional content. It was later when the techno crowd embraced our sound that we went into a phase of a very hard sound. We were inspired by the hard sound. We were inspired by the events we were playing. We were travelling alot in Germany and Eastern Europe. They were playing very hard stuff. We got inspired to experiment in some harder sounds. That was when Hydra came out and was much more energetic. That was the harder phase we were in at the time, but after we brought it back down a bit and released tracks like "Force" and "Evergreen".
PL: While the two of you have been making a significant impact in the techno community worldwide, it's ironic that very few people, if any at all, even know whom you two are in Hong Kong. How hard has it been for Technasia in educatingg the people out here in Hong Kong/Mainland China in sending them a message that there is more to music than cantopop and cheezy trance music?
AK: In regards to the first part of the question, we have been very much in the shadows in Hong Kong. It kind of reminds me a bit of Underground Resistance in Detroit. They almost purposefully tried not to be heard of too much, and worked with a small circle of distributors. We were a bit like that too. When Technasia first formed, it wasnt my mission to get into alot of marketing and big promotion. In fact, alot of hype in Hong Kong was focused on the UK material like the Oakenfolds and Digweeds. It was hard for me in those days being based in Hong Kong when people were just focusing on this kind of UK trance sound, but im not the type of person to brag about our music nor will i force our music on you. If you do get a chance to hear our records and you enjoy our sound, then we're happy and it puts a smile on our face. Nowadays, its been changing a bit in the past few years. I think theres been a new generation of asian youth that have conglomerated in Hong Kong and have brought us something new to the electronic music sound. Even from the beginning, we knew the music we made wasnt going to be big in Hong Kong and China. It had to be brought over to Europe, then Japan, and America. Then hopefully one day it would be brought back to HK and China. This has been my working philosophy and its beginning to take shape!
PL: With techno exploding in Europe now and with big named DJ's giving you and Charles heavy rotation, what are your thoughts in the possibility of techno becoming more mainstream and less underground?
AK: Hmmm.....mainstream vs. underground has always been a touchy subject in electronic music. In a way the media has taken a big part in this segregation. For example, Daft Punk when they first released their debut album they signed with a major label and brought underground house music to the "overground". The people who had supported them before were basically saying "hey these guys are selling out." I like to stay away from this whole issue because at the end of the day if people continue to listen to our music and keep giving us the motivation to continue this, we will be there. In terms of techno being bigger than what it is now, the people that attend the big parties out in Europe are just average everyday people that want to get away from the city and enjoy themselves at an event. We play them hard techno, we play them emotional techno and they enjoy it very much. But as for Hong Kong and China, i think it will take a bit of time.Everything needs time.....
PL: Vocals, vocals, vocals....Technasia has taken a bold yet brilliant step in incorporating vocals into techno.Is this something that we will continue to see in future releases?
AK: The way charles and me work, is that we're always out there to try to bring something new. I would say one of the main difficulties in techno music becoming widely accepted globally like trance, is that its really loop oriented. When you listen to a bar in a techno track its just a minimalist loop to most people. Personally i go crazy when i hear a loop because theres so much going on in there. I just dont think people have taken the time to really concentrate on a loop. You listen to a minimal track in the past by Richie Hawtin and theres just so much color! That is one of the reason why techno music is hard to accept because people dont have the time to read between the lines, and see through it and be sensitivie to the music. As for us, Technasia's mission has been to always try to get more peodple into listen to techno, and what better than vocals? When we first created "Force" we tried to step into the shoes of the average listener, and perceive techno from their viewpoint. There was actually a bit of truth to some of their thinking. We understood why they thought techno was just a loop and so we got together and tried to add some warmth by incorporating vocals without trying to make it sound like we were singing a song. It was more like using words to bring out hypnotic emotions, and it worked i guess.....people loved "Force"!
PL: What can eager fans expect in your next album?
AK: I think definately emotional sounds. Using electronic impulses and loops but with more chord progression. Certainly not trance or excessive chord progression to the point where it sounds trancey. I would describe it as "minimalist emotions". That is more of the spirit of our next album, and we're actually working on it now. I try to go to Europe every 2 months now so i'll be working with Charles soon on the album.
PL: Finally, any words of wisdom for youn talent that are inspired Technasia's music and are trying to make their mark in this ever increasingly difficult scene?
AK: You know, going back to what i was saying earlier, i never imagined we would get this far and its wrong to say that things are impossible. As long as you have motivation, the energy, and using your mind and being smart about the things you do, anything is possible. Believe in what you do. I also believe in taking things step by step as opposed to jumping 3 to 4 steps. Take things step by step and i guess that is the only wise thing my pops had told me in fact(laughs)! Dont believe the words of wisdom! My father said it was not possible and as long as you plan things properly and you use your mind, it CAN happen. Its funny, we get alot of demos from Japan and we're beginning to see something new and something solid coming out from Asia.
Interview by: Philip Leung
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