AXKAN showcases his techno prowess with a live recording of his Hybrid Live/DJ Set at EVOLVE 2018 : MORD Showcase held at The Works in Detroit during Movement weekend.
AXKAN is a talented producer based out of Los Angeles whose techno is highly influenced by Industrial and EBM sounds, alongside ethnic rhythms. His darker and noisy style of Techno is a highly sought out sound and can be found on several labels including his own OMEN Recordings, as well as Advanced (Black), The Cast Project, Reloading Records, SecreTechno, Rheostatus, From 0-1, GBB, Aerotek, EDR, Format Recordings, Switch Off, and more.
He will be performing a 2-hour Hybrid Live/DJ Set in a Los Angeles warehouse on July 21st in direct support of SNTS. All info for that event can be found HERE.
Hi Federico, thank you for the wonderful recording. Can you tell us a little about that gig, where it was, what was going on that night and what it meant to you as an artist?
Ciao Marco, the recording is from a very important gig for me, the EVOLVE 2018 : MORD Showcase held in May 26th, 2018. I knew we would have a packed floor and I knew I would be playing on a killer sound system, and I also knew that it had to be a perfect set since I was opening for several huge techno stars at the birth city of techno, in Detroit. So, to be honest, it was a little challenging since I had to work the promotion aspect of the event, but when the time of my performance came I had to leave all that behind and focus on my set. In the end, I think it went well, but I let you all listen and decide for yourselves.
This was a night you collaborated on as the head of OMEN Recordings. How did this happen?
That is right, it was a collaboration between three American labels: Sub-Divizion, Aerotek and OMEN. I feel extremely lucky to be a part of this team, especially after so many people expressed that it was their best after-party during Movement weekend this year. It all started 3 years ago when they booked me to headline the first Evolve party, then we became close friends and they trusted me to be a partner and to put together the main lineups for Evolve 2017 and 2018. It was a lot of work, but we are really happy with the results and we hope that next year the party will be even better!
When did you launch the label?
Our first vinyl didn’t come out until January 2017 but obviously it was months in the making and took a lot of planning, so we like to say that OMEN Recordings started in 2016
What’s your current goal with OMEN?
Well, for several years I had the intension of creating another label, after NopalBeat Records in the early 2000s and after supporting The Cast Project in 2015-2016, but I just didn’t have the time for it.
Now, before I discuss goals, you need to know that I grew up with industrial music and that it will always be my first love. When I heard the new tendencies of “Industrial Techno” in Europe, they totally caught my ears, and so after my partner Tanya Leigh moved to LA it felt like the right time to create OMEN and bring those sounds to the US.
That is our goal, we don’t want to be just another techno label, we want to stand out and release music from artists that inspire us. So far, I think people recognize our darker, harder more industrial style, and up to this day, I don’t know of any other American labels doing it exclusively, except maybe for Sonic Groove, although I believe Adam is currently running it from Berlin.
Would you say OMEN and the AXKAN projects are directly correlated, or do the two exist independent of one another?
The two projects are independent since they could live or die without each other. I’ve been doing AXKAN for over 25 years and OMEN is our new baby. Obviously AXKAN have several remixes released on OMEN so the