Rebekah is undoubtedly one of the most respected techno acts out there at the moment. With a heavy touring schedule, relentless no-compromise attitude and sound and regular release output through labels such as Soma, MORD and her very own Elements imprint, she has cemented her profile in the eyes of even the most discernible of techno followers.
2018 has also seen the Birmingham-born producer/DJ embark on more back-to-back performances with another well-respected artist in the genre, Paula Temple, playing together at huge festivals such as Awakenings and Dour.
Things are far from over this year for Rebekah, with huge ADE performances lined up both at Awakenings (again alongside Paula Temple), Verknipt and at Melkweg for her friend Dave Clarke’s yearly party. Those gigs will be followed by more announced shows in the Netherlands, as well as Poland, the UK, Sweden and finally back to California, where she is set to play in San Francisco on Nov 30th for Robot Ears, and in Los Angeles on Dec 1st for Synthetik Minds and WORK. You can find her upcoming schedule and all tickets here.
In a recent interview with The Brvtalist, Rebekah looked back at what has been an extremely busy summer discussing a series of important topics relating to her personal career and the music industry.
Regarding her back-to-back sets with Paula Temple: “The way she mixes is different than the way I mix and I learned a little bit more about breakdowns and what works on a festival stage. I think what she got out of it was to loosen up a little bit and have fun and realize it’s ok to make mistakes. Paula is a bit of a perfectionist.
“We definitely rehearsed. We did about six sessions. Originally I was going to be on the modular and the drum machine. It worked the first time we did it but it didn’t sound quite right this time around as we were a bit over each other’s tracks. After four or five sessions we decided why make it harder on ourselves? The modular might be a few more years down the road.”
Regarding software and hardware she uses: “I’ve been using software for so many years and you get to a point as a producer where you’re always searching for more sounds and looking to expand. I think in the last year the music I was listening to, especially the experimental music, changed a bit and I realized I wanted more control over what I was doing. I became more interested in breaking down the sounds I wanted to hear and understanding how synthesis works. Last year I went back to London and took a sound design course. My teacher had a huge modular system and I started to play around with that. Now I’m building my own and it’s just amazing to see you can do with it.”
On her current musical focus: “Right now my main focus is working on a full-length album again. That gives me a little bit more room to be creative and experiment with different sounds and influences.”
On playing high BPMs: “I’m playing most of my sets between 138 and 141 and the crowd seems to like it. I can only go by what they give me and no one seems to leave so I guess that’s always the best sign! I think it’s a yin and yang effect. We’ve had deep techno for so long at this point. It’s been on the big stages and we know it really works and it’s functional. At the same time, the younger generations have not heard hardcore techno or gabber before and it’s their time to be on the da