DESCRIPTION:
INTERVIEW

ø1 - Do you remember your first techno experience ?

Some of the first techno music that really made an impression on me was Plastikman’s ‘Sheet One’, Orbital’s ‘Brown Album’, X-Mix-2 by Laurent Garnier, and Autechre’s ‘Incunabula’ (I’ve always regarded Autechre as techno artists even though they rarely use a 4/4 beat!)
My earliest memories of techno in a club or rave setting are typically less clear - hazy nights at Dublin clubs like the U.F.O., the Temple of Sound, and the Ormond, where I was inspired by hearing DJs like Warren Kiernan and Francois, who used to play Detrolt records like stuff on the Red Planet series and Submerge alongside UK and European sounds such as Basic Channel and Dave Angel, labels like R&S, Harthouse, Tresor, etc.

ø2 - How was your feeling playing b2b in such a venue like a theatre ?

You must be talking about my recent gig with Jon Hussey in Smock Alley Theatre? (built in Dublin in 1662, it is one of the world’s oldest theatres). Well that certainly is a beautiful venue, and not the kind of place that’s used to techno… so it was a unique setting for sure. Also it was a really early gig, starting at 7pm on a Friday, and there were a lot of people coming straight from work, so the atmosphere seemed a bit more reserved than how it would have been in a regular club.
Actually what was really nice was to fill the venue with a crowd who were obviously just there for the music, and everyone seemed to be paying more attention than usual, so I guess the feeling of being at a show, not just being ‘on a mad one’ was felt by the audience, being in such surroundings.

ø3 - If you have to hold one record which one will be ?

My brown vinyl copy of Aphex Twin’s ’Selected Ambient Works Vol II’

ø4 - What is your producing set up ?

Elektron Octatrack, Machinedrum, and Monomachine. Yamaha Rm1x running though DBX 1066. Ableton Live on MBP and MOTU Ultralite. Also started building a modular synth a long time ago but I’ve only very recently got it up and running, so I’m only starting to use it now. I’m beginning to realise the potential. I’m excited about that.

ø5 - Do you have some hobbies except to techno that you want share with us ?

Well my day job is a hobby of sorts, or at least an extension of my hobby as a visual artist. I’ve been painting pictures and drawing since I was a kid, and eventually I fell into a career as a tattoo artist, where I get to apply my artistic skills, designing and tattooing custom artworks on the skin of my clients at Skin City Tattoo, in Dublin city centre. It’s not unusual for me to be sitting up until 3am some nights, working on designs for upcoming appointments. But I’m grateful to have a job that I love doing, and I always enjoy drawing, even if it does get in the way of making music sometimes. I’m trying to find a balance these days… it’s a ‘work in progress’!

ø6 - What can we expect from Fran Hartnett in 2016 ?

I have three releases lined up for the immediate future. My 4-track ‘Bloodwave EP’ 12” drops any day now on German label Ostcode Exile. Also currently being pressed is a new 12” for DSNT which is a 4 track EP featuring music from AnD, Sunil Sharpe, and Lakker, alongside my own. And I have a track on upcoming Subsist compilation, which will be digital only.
I’m also nearly finished working on some remixes for a couple of other artists right now, they should be out over the next few months.Actually I’ve got heaps of ideas for some new directions I want to explore in my music right now so I’m going to be getting busy in the studio over the next while. It would be great to do something unusual this year. That’s the plan.

TRACKLIST

Anthony Rother - past represents the future [Kanzleramt]
Pev & Kowton - signal 3 [Livity Sound]
Oscar Mulero (oficial) - anatomical variation [Pole Group]
The Automatic Message - perihelion [reclaim your city]
Hail Blk - orbit [Hail Blk]
O-H - all flesh [Inner Surface Music]
Tale Of Us - silent space [R&S]
Kyle Geiger - jupiter (hydrogen edit) [Droid Recordings]
Myler - love for hire [Mord]
Rod - lego [Balans]
Mudrost - ad nauseam [Armatura Records]
Shards - untitled (shards003b1) [Shards]
Surgeon - GN-108036 [Dynamic Tension]
P.E.A.R.L. - all gods of man (Oscar Mulero remix) [Falling Ethics]
Quasiregular - tyranny of objects [Armatura Records]
Lag - varijacije [Mord]
Oliver.Rosemann - crust [Earwiggle]
Tripeo - untitled#14 [Tripeo]
UVB - salvation [Mord]
Fran Hartnett - purple slab [DSNT]
Clouds - maverick scrabble [Electric Deluxe]
Der Amethyst - aborting the mission unsafe approach [Subsist]
Tinfoil - foil 2 [Tinfoil
Hoth System - latrodectus [Armatura Records]
The 65d Mavericks - Convert [Surface Records]
Gaja - noys lambent [Inner Surface Music]
The Transhumans - collapsing human relations [Fallling Ethics]
Ritzi Lee - sonic sense [Mord Records]