Impact: Abyss X

What were your musical influences before you started going to the raves?

Well, I was a goth always. I had my own radio show in Crete when I was like 13, so I was vibing off of Marilyn Manson and Suicide Commando, Front Line Assembly and Christian Death, I was also part of that community. As a teenager, it was also German bass, and Aphex Twin and Warp Records and Future Sound Of London. I think I borrowed elements from all of these people and I've just thrown them in a manic way in this album. I don't know if that sounds chaotic to the listener, but it's all of these influences and obsessions that I've had so far.

I don't know if that makes sense to the young listeners nowadays, that's why I feel like I’m taking a risk with this album. I'm happy that Infinite Machine decided to release it, because their releases so far have been great for very slick productions and very fully formed pieces. I feel that my album is like a vomit of sounds; it’s just crazy.

Did Infinite Machine reach out to you or did you send it to them?

I sent [label founder] Charlie a message that was like, "Hey, I have some tracks but I'm not really sure what I want to do with them, do you want to listen to them?" That was in the beginning, probably July. I had already posted [some of them] on my Soundcloud, and people were really vibing, and I was thinking maybe I wanted to do an extended version for an album, so I sent him all these tracks. And then I started taking out so many, and in September, I was like, "You know what, I'm redoing the whole thing." But I think he's happy with the result right now, and even though I feel it's kind of a tricky release, for the label and its followers, I'm really happy that they decided to release it. ['Nüshu'] is a very fresh thing that I was happy to rework, and hopefully people will dig it.

Was there a particular impetus for rewriting the album?

I feel that with club music, my taste changes constantly and I was getting kind of fed up with all these oversaturated subgenres that are getting repeated and repeated. And I just felt, fuck that. I want to make something that is different, and even if people find it hard to vibe or listen to, or if DJs won’t be able to play it in the club, I don't care. I needed to do it; I had to rework.

You’re an incredibly intense live performer. What are you trying to do for yourself and your audience with your live shows?

A little throwback here – my background is not in music. I started producing two years ago, but I was always in theatres and I was always in performance art. I was a professional dancer, I was an assistant director, I was a director, I was a video projections designer for theatre pieces. I love DJing, but for me, being behind decks or gear without bringing the extra performance element would not have been enough. So I had to somehow bring it on the stage with me – for my tracks without vocals, I decided to write lyrics solely for the live performances. I've created vocals and spoken words, and I've borrowed lines from my previous theatre pieces that are still relative to what I feel and think and want to say right now. It's like MCing, but it's not MCing, it's kind of like an in between. It's very aggressive though, and very powerful. I like to get offstage and go into the audience, I like to grab people and bring my face right in theirs. There's so many people that try to keep their distance from the audience, but I'm all about bringing it in and breaking the fourth wall when I perform. It's a highly emotional set. It's very angry, it's very aggressive, and it's definitely not about me trying to keep an image of myself. I'm trying to fight against that.

Nüshu drops this Friday on Infinite Machine. Abyss X plays Split Lip Service Festival at Miami’s Art Basel on December 1, and Boiler Room in Houston on December 3

Nina Posner is Mixmag's Bass + Club Music Editor. Follow her on Twitter