Perc: “A lot of artists aren't doing techno any favors”

In a recent, captivating interview with Festicket, the British techno star Perc has offered his two cents on the current state of techno, streaming, playing b2b and his genre’s macho aesthetic.

Likening the exchange to a conversation with Morpheus from The Matrix, Perc threw down some serious knowledge in regards to how our rapid access to music and the shrinking attention span of online users has affected the dance music scene.

Speaking on the way people consume music through streaming, Perc responded saying, “Yeah, it's much harder to have a hit as such. Of course anyone can blame that on the music they release or not, but there are really only a few big techno tracks that make it through… Tracks can build up before being released and you think they're going to be huge, and then when they come out they blow over in a couple of weekends of DJ plays.”

“People are kind of spoiled with the access to music, but in a way it's a good thing. Why should you only be able to listen to music you can afford? Then it's very reliant on the amount of disposable income you have… With the internet and the reduction of attention spans, if someone doesn't like something after 10-15 seconds, then they'll skip on to something else. But at least that's a very democratic way of listening to music.”

Touching on how audiences can often interpret the artist’s production, sets and Perc Trax imprint as being associated with bitter and dark dancefloor vibes, Perc was quick to dismiss the idea that his genre corresponds with a singular, moody emotion.

“There are a lot of guys (and it's mainly men) who are pushing the kind of dark agenda, from artwork with things taken from the nastier side of horror films, blood and gore and things like that. And even the outfits, there are a few artists at the moment doing the whole dressing up on stage, more costume type thing. And I think for the casual observer this presents an aggressive, macho or even misogynistic kind of view of techno, which is not something I particularly like to portray.”

“I've had artists who make great music and they've requested a certain type of artwork, and generally I let artists have free reign with their artwork, but if it's something I find a bit nasty or offensive to any of my beliefs, then I won't have it on the label. I don't want techno to be seen as angry, dark, male music. I think it can express a whole wide range of emotions and by reinforcing this image, a lot of artists aren't doing the genre any favors.”

Read the full interview here

Listen to Perc and Truss throw together some unbridled techno for Mixmag's In Session here

|via: Festicket|