Khen's mesmerizing, slow-burning techno is making an Impact

Impact is a series dedicated to profiling raw talent that's about to turn dance music on its head. Next up: Khen

To the wider world, Tel Aviv might seem like an unlikely haven for electronic music, but for any seasoned music savant, it's clear that the major Israeli city has continuously output a string of incredible artists: Guy J, Chaim, Red Axes, Guy Gerber and as of late, the breakout star that is Khen.

It seemed production and DJing was a talent that Khen could not deny was in his future; guided by the tutelage of his older brother, a music head himself, Khen became infatuated with gear, equipment and production tools from as early as age six.

Organically, he's gone on to find a fitting home in Guy J's revered Lost & Found and is preparing to release a brand new EP soon on Jeremy Olander's Vivrant imprint, of which he's given us a taste of both in his exclusive new Impact mix, below.

Your interest in music was sparked pretty early on, is that right?

Yes, and the story behind that comes back to my older brother. He was one of the biggest DJs in Tel Aviv in the late 90s, early 2000s. I grew up on his vinyl, his music - between house, techno and trance - starting from when I was 6 or 7 years old. So it’s something that I knew I wanted to do very early on.

He had liked music since he was a kid. He’s 14 years older than I am, so when he was a child he loved music on the radio and was buying vinyl and cassettes. He began playing for friends and became bigger and bigger until he started to make music in 1996.

I lived to him right next door, and I would always come to his room and come play with his equipment and vinyl. This was before CD-Js! Then, he started making music, so I did too. Synthesizers, computer programming, very basic things. Then, eventually we installed a computer in my room with Cubase, the software we used. I fell in love. I started making music at 11, or 12, even though in those days it wasn’t as easy as it is today.

I was making trance and house, and then when I was 13 or 14, I released a track on a compilation in Israel for Love Parade in 2002. I grew up with music, with trance, 90s house. It still influences my music today.

In the last few years, Tel Aviv has really begun to shine as a prominent electronic music destination. What do you think it is about the city that has helped to output so many promising talents like yourself?

Tel Aviv has always been a good city for parties. It started in the 90s, and now it’s a lot of techno and progressive, but you can find everything here. It’s a small city, but there is a big scene in comparison to the city. There are four or five big clubs, a lot of small, mini clubs. Most of it is underground music, which is nice. Not much commercial music, even in the big parties that used to have some commercial.

Also, in and around Tel Aviv, there are a lot of mini-festivals. Monochrome is a great one, it’s outdoor and it changes locations. Midburn is another, it’s like Burning Man - in the desert. People like to party here, you know!

You've had quite the year: collaborating with Guy J, releasing on Bedrock and a new EP on its way. Tell me how you came together with Guy J and what it was like to work with him.

It’s actually been not only Guy J, but the whole crew. I met Guy J through Sahar Z and Guy Mantzur, who were good friends of mine. I was making a lot of tracks with Guy Mantzur, six or seven years ago. I met Guy J very organically when he played in Israel. We had good chemistry, kept in touch and then he launched Lost & Found so I sent him some music and ended up releasing my first EP there, ‘Secret Shining’ in 2015. Last year, when I was working on my album, I spoke with Guy J about making a mini-LP. Guy J releases something called the ‘Lost & Found Edition’ once or twice a year: five tracks, a mini-LP. We spoke about making something like this, but after I finished the second track called ‘Authentica’, I really felt like I wanted to make a full album. It felt like the right moment. The track felt like the start to an album.

Then, I spoke with Guy and we decided to make one track together for the album. It turned out so great.

What's coming up for you next?

I have an EP on Vivrant, Jeremy Olander’s imprint, that’ll be out at the end of June. Two tracks. I’m really excited about it.

My last tour was in the US for the first time, in New York, LA and SF. Then I played in Europe and Tel Aviv, the next will be the Americas, from North to South. I’ll start in Philadelphia with Guy J, then play in Playa Del Carmen, then Toronto for a huge Lost & Found party. It'll be first time in Toronto, with all the crew! From there, I head to Argentina, whcih is always incredible for us.

Tell me about the mix you made for us.

I usually choose three or four tracks that I want to put into a mix specifically, then I find other tracks to complete the picture. For now, I put one of the tracks from my next EP in it. Some upcoming Lost & Found releases, one from Eli Nissan. The other stuff is music I really like, but it’ll be different from a live show. You should enjoy listening to this in the car, in your headphones, at home… that’s my goal.

Track List:

Khen & Guy J 'Prism' (Intro)

Feri 'Recall' (rAin Remix)

Roger Martinez 'Aether' (Silk Mix)

Eli Nissan 'Liquid Starts'

Collective Machine 'Midnight Crystal'

Cid Inc 'Arcane'

Galestain feat. Mira 'Tell Me' (Ezequiel Arias Space Mix)

Super Flu 'K5000'

Damabiah 'Sur Les Genoux De L'Automne' (Henry Saiz Remix)

Khen 'Cornfields'

Stelios Vassiloudis 'Saturday Sky'