Christian Tilt numbers as a part of something akin to a community in Norway that is spear-heading the new charge in Techno, one that’s been paved by Thomas Urv’s Ploink label and event series. Something of a trend running concurrently with a renewed interest in Techno internationally, Ploink has been forging a path towards the future of this music in the region with a community born out of isolation but coming together through equal spirits like Thomas Urv and Chritian Tilt. As much as they make up a new wave of Techno artists in the region, they are also its originators, with Ploink and Tilt established back in the late nineties, and conspiring over the course of sixteen years to become a formidable artistic force in the region, one that has paved the way for artists like +plattform and Nordentstam.
The creative output of Christian Tilt’s has worn many faces, from Nu-Disco provocateur to remixer, but it’s under his eponymous alias, Christian Tilt that the artist has made a most formidable mark to date. After two EPs and an appearance on Ploink’s recent 96-16 series of releases celebrating the 16th anniversary of the label, Tilt has managed to install his music within the scene as something that likes to live in the darker margins of the genre, where malicious sound-design, an energetic tempo, and sinister melodies converge on the dance floor. Like his peers, Tilt’s music is a foggy beat-orientated version of Techno, coming to life in the vast industrious space of a Berlin club, before moving onto Norway where icy synths and atmospheres swathe the functional sound in impressive brick wall sonic atmospheres that are unexplainably evocative and visceral at the same time.
It’s this sound that will be coming to Jæger on Friday with Ploink, and before Tilt takes the stage in our basement, we decided to call him up to talk about Ploink, his music, and the live show he’ll be bringing to Jæger.
How did you and Ploink cross paths initially?
It is a long story, but the short version of it is: I’ve been friends with Thomas since the late nineties, doing parties and playing together. I’m struggling to remember, but I think it was 95, when Thomas and I started playing records together.
And your career started as a DJ?
I started playing Heavy Metal in a rock band.
And how did you get into electronic music?
My friend Mico introduced me to electronic music. The first time I went to a Techno party was before Ploink at the Huset in Bergen. I was out drinking, or something (laughs) and ended up at a party and got intrigued.
What was it about that that intrigued you?
It was something totally different than what I was used to. I found it much more interesting than playing in a band. I started off with a couple of record players and collecting records.
When did you make the leap into production?
I started at the end of ’98. I moved to Denmark at the end of ’99 for a year and I bought my first synths and drum machines there.
What were those first tracks like that you made?
Some of them are very similar to what I’m making today. I listened to one I had made early on and it’s very similar to one I just made. (Laughs)
So you’ve had a very consistent creative output.
Yeah, that surprised me a little. Maybe I was trying to make that track again, you know.
I noticed that your music has a darker edge to it.
I like to be landscape where things are a little confused and dark, but I’m also very fond of melodies. To put harmonics into a noisy landscape is quite satisfying.
Do you ever approach a Ploink release differently than anything else?
When I do stuff for Ploink it’s more on the darker side, than Techno. Usually when I play live, I play with a lot of melody. Lately I’ve actually been harder and darker than previously. But I do everything, you know. I make some nu-disco too.
Do you have any anecdotes that you care to remember from your previous experiences at Ploink?
There are so many… I’ve been blessed with doing a lot of interesting warm-up gigs for artists that have been headlining. That’s always fun to do.
And to round things off, what can we expect from your show on Friday?
You can expect a very energetic and dark Techno set.