Noise Manifesto: Paula Temple's techno refuses to lie down

I wanted to touch upon your six year hiatus from music instigated by feeling disillusioned with the state of techno. You come across as a passionate, borderline obsessive, artist, and it’s surprising to think you gave it all up for a time. What was it about techno at that point that led you to totally reject it?

I think the sound got jaded by this kind of loop techno that started to become popular. It wasn’t sounding as inspiring as earlier techno, and there was less motivation to be part of the scene. All my peers were starting to drop out, distributors were also going into liquidation and that had a knock on effect as well. It was a reflection of the time. I think that was before what people called the minimal scene; I totally missed all of that, I have no idea what that scene is! I just totally disappeared and didn't listen to any electronic music in that period.

During that period you were teaching underprivileged children in Leeds about music and technology. How did you look to foster creativity in these children? Was it purely practical learning or did you encourage innovation in the style that interests you?

It was really practical. It was more than just about learning, it was about being a mentor for their self-esteem, and to have that music as an escape from some shit that they're going through, to express themselves. Another aspect was to try and get these technology resources to people that can't afford them or get denied access. We would hear the kids telling us that at school they'd be treated shit by the teachers, and as punishment wouldn't be allowed to use the music equipment. Actually, for those young people who prefer the more kinaesthetic learning, this was really the wrong thing to do. If they'd been encouraged they would have excelled. Not just in their creativity but to feel good about themselves and their lives. That was what was most important.

An incident of homophobic discrimination led to you being sacked from this job and back into producing, but not before you had to suffer through winning a drawn-out court battle. How much of a toll did this take on you, and what was your headspace like as you returned to your creative process in music?

That was the lowest point in my life really. My head was in its darkest place and I just couldn't believe that this was really happening, it was so ridiculous. But at the same time, it really was happening, all consuming. So I didn't really have any creative head, it wasn't possible during that period, until it actually went to court. It was such a relief that the judges also saw it as ridiculous and this was officially recognised. They said that it was "cruel, oppressive and malicious", that's how they summed it up. After that suddenly my head was free and I got my creativity back.

Returning with a record on R&S in 2013 was quite a statement. At that point did you feel you were back in earnest and ready to devote yourself to music fill-time?

Yes completely, more than ever, with a fresh approach. I'd learned a lot through life experience and being a bit older. More than anything I learned some self-belief. Believing that I have something different to contribute that feels additional rather than the same as everyone else.

2016 was a turbulent year for liberalism and progression. Through the Decon/Recon label series you’re creating a space to promote marginalised groups. Are you hoping to see more techno artists follow this example to enact positive change?

I don't expect it, but I do hope it. It's really nice when I talk with individuals and they express that they want to effect some change that's within their influence. It now feels less like I'm alone just doing this because I believe it; it feels like there are many people who are becoming much more aware and with awareness wanting to take action and make these shifts where we really live up to what we promised with our scene, which is for it to be for everybody.

A number of experimental club music labels have begun to emerge in recent years with explicitly radical intent to redress worldly imbalances. Their music is also labelled as “deconstructed”, which is similar to the process you’re pushing with Decon/Recon. How do you think deconstructing established music methods challenges hegemony?

For me, it definitely links with deconstructing society and violence. People think of violence just in the physical sense, we don't think of structural violence, cultural violence. It's so embedded and conditioned into us that something can be said that is highly racist or misogynist, and yet so many people don't even notice because it's so embedded structurally. People don't even know what structural violence is, and how our governments, the legal system and industries operate. We follow these systems, but most in the western world are highly hierarchical and will always favour white men, and usually white straight men, male-born men. When you start deconstructing these you start to learn about things that are constructs. It's like a minefield at first to trying to understand, but we can start thinking beyond them.

For example, linking back to the music industry and the way I'm still regarded: I'm a skilled producer, artist, DJ, and yet some promoters or whatever would still put me in the box and call me female. That's really backwards and unnecessary. Why do they need to separate me out like that? And that's just my own experience. We're starting to understand inequality in many aspects of society and that things are still not fair, and we're starting to recognise what has been going on for so long in the music industry, how we echo chamber our tastes, for example. People say, "it's just about the music", without realising that there are hierarchies going on in their preferences.

It's good to see that people are starting to pay attention to how they select their favourites, and start to really listen to music and enjoy music, not just be told what music they like. I think that's more possible in the underground scenes because they're less influenced by marketing I'd hope, and less influenced by a magazine or journalist's opinion.

How do you see the clash between capitalism and underground subcultures playing out? Can you envisage a breaking point or do we pin our hopes on progressive individuals fostering change however they can?

It's so difficult because we all still rely on the capitalist system: we all have our rents to pay etc. My absolute desire is for the money system to collapse. There are better systems that have been well thought out and are on offer, it's just that our minds and resources are still controlled. This is in direct conflict with a lot of the beliefs that artists like myself and scenes like the underground techno scene hold. We know that the driving forward of capitalism is clashing with the creative fields. With things like music being given away, on the one hand it's a good thing to have free resources, but at the same time we've still got our rents to pay, and we still want to be valued for our art. It would be better the other way around. To be funded somehow, and be able to access resources.

I would love it if we had a world where we didn't have money at all, but if you need resources because you want to pursue your creative needs, and if it's electronic music, then you are resourced to be able to do that. Rather than you struggle, but somehow you're able to produce some music, and then you get rewarded if it's a hit or becomes popular, I'd prefer it where resources are provided to you first so you have the chance, and that's the reward. And we live in a society where we don't need to worry about being homeless and living in a shit place and not having decent food. All those things have already been thought out in a different kind of system which is starting to be talked about a lot, and we could easily have that. But we are so tied to the capitalist system at the moment, and the capitalist system is going into this kind of hyperdrive now where we're working crazy, zero-contract hours, taking any conditions of labour because we're too scared to not have a job, and it's affecting our quality of life and it's possibly going to get a lot worse if automation gets really taken on board with the bigger companies.

SØS Gunver Ryberg, Aïsha Devi and Rrose feature alongside you on Decon/Recon #2. What drew you to these artists that fits with what you’re trying to do with the label?

They have a really spiritual view towards the music that they make. Not in any kind of religious way but in a real pure energy way, and the way it makes you feel beyond your physical self. They're all really inside the music; they’re not looking for a formula, and are really following their intuition when it comes to making music. So in that way they're not following any structures and you really hear that in the way that they produce.

I reached out to all of them individually in different periods in the last three years. I'd seen a Resident Advisor chart that Rrose posted and the number one selection was the book Gender Trouble by Judith Butler. I was like, "oh my God, this person gets it!" SØS Gunver Ryberg forwarded me a YouTube video of her performing at Atonal in Berlin, and the thunderous sound! Even with shitty YouTube quality you could hear how wild her sound was. I'd never heard anything like that. It's the kind of sound I'd dreamt to make so I was like, "wow, I've got to get in touch with person." And the same with Aïsha Devi, I heard her music and was amazed, and then I saw a YouTube interview with her and the things she was saying I completely agreed with as well.

You can be surprised in disappointing ways when you get in touch with someone who you think is amazing, and then you start talking and realise you're very different people with very different values. But luckily with the three of these amazing artists we really understood each and connected. Then I asked them if they'd be interested in this collaboration and they understood it immediately and really liked what it stood for.

It’s getting on to nearly two years since Decon/Recon #1 came out. How carefully are you considering the movements of the label?

I take my time to get to know artists; it's more about the relationship with the artists that I'm working with. I don't really pay attention to time scale, or think that because I'm running a label I must release X amount of records each year. I don't feel like I'm running a record label; I feel like I'm working in collaboration and it's a matter of when that collaboration comes together at the right time.

You expertly use technology in your hybrid live/DJ sets, which are heralded for their precision. But is technology ever a limiting factor on your sets? Is there anything you’d like to be able to do which isn’t currently possible?

My craziest dream would be to have a church full of synths and modular just like Tangerine Dream.

I hope you get to realise that!

Maybe in a resource based system! But I don't think I could afford all that stuff. There are limitations, but I purposefully choose limitations because I want to get the balance right between enjoying my set, not getting too stressed out, having too much stuff, losing where I'm at, things going wrong, and taking forever to set up in the sound check.

The familiarity you have with all the intricate aspects is pretty amazing, and you rarely use headphones when bringing it all together. Some DJs seem to think planning a set to any degree is cheating and pride themselves on freewheeling. How does your method suit what you want to do in a club?

I'd like to think that people appreciate that I put consideration in, that I do think about the nights I'm about to play in, it's as simple as that really. I think it's really considerate what I do!

Do you think some DJs don't take their job seriously enough when it comes to playing in clubs?

I imagine that there are some DJs that could be like that. I'm lucky that I've not really seen a DJ that does that. Everyone that I've met in techno works really hard. Even though I have this kind of interesting setup, I always feel like I could be doing more. I did meet Pioneer to try their CDJs because I've still never used them and thought maybe I should switch to CDJs. They were like, "you just do this, this and this, put the USB stick in and it syncs." I was like, "holy shit, this is so fucking easy." Which is fine, but no one who DJs with CDJs could ever dare to say anything. I don't understand, you get some DJs who defensively say "I don't use the sync button." To be honest, the crowd ain't gonna know. There's no point declaring that. Just focus on doing amazing sets. There's no need to boast about not planning beforehand because they want to diss something else. If they want to do that, that's fine, we all have our own styles and everyone's to be respected for the way they DJ.

'Decon/Recon #2' is out via Noise Manifesto on January 27

Patrick Hinton is Mixmag's Digital Staff Writer. Follow him on Twitter