âI was quite nervous being back on the road because it was 18 months since the whole shut down,â admitted highly respected techno artist Paula Temple as she sat in her trailer ahead of her CRSSD 2021 set. âIâve just done a few gigs in Europe. Some pretty big ones and I feel ready again.â Wearing a simple yet bold red dress and comfy black sneakers speaks to Templeâs unassuming presence. However, donât let her petite stature and soft-spoken voice fool you into thinking this UK-born DJ canât hold her own behind the decks. Temple delivers hard-pounding industrial techno sets in the most graceful way. She recently wrapped up her six-day U.S. visit since last playing in Los Angeles in February of 2020. Temple shares what life has been like for her since. She also opens up about her career trajectory and why being you is all that matters.
How has Paula Temple been spending the last 18 or so months with no gigs? âIâve focused more on relationships,â says Temple. âHaving time for the real things that are important that I didnât get the time to do when youâre on the road.â She and her partner became new parents to their furry child Benji. Spending time with the foster dog has helped show Temple a new take on life and whatâs important. While she was able to embrace a slower pace to life, sheâs ready to unleash the raw, powerful tracks in her techno arsenal sheâs been working on since lockdown. Before hitting the road for her U.S. performance at this yearâs fall edition of CRSSD, Temple warmed up playing alongside SNTSÂ at Dream Nation Festival.
Dream Nation, Paris – Photography by Nicole Temple
The B2B marked Temple and SNTSâ second time sharing the decks together. The two had never met before playing their first B2B, but their music styles drew them together. Energy doesnât lie and neither do frequencies and vibrations. Music brings people together. Tapped with curating a night at ADE, a Dutch electronic music festival, Temple thought it would be exciting for their shared fanbase to play together. Thinking back to the organic chemistry they shared behind the decks SNTSÂ was a no-brainer. For anyone who has attended a techno event knows the ambiance can be dark, moody, and serious. Temple wanted to change things up a bit for their next B2B in Paris. âLike most parties, I donât make an effort dress-wise. T-shirt and whatever; normally a free record label t-shirt,â laughs Temple. âBut for this one, the Dream Nation set, I just decided last minute to get a black veil.â
Dream Nation, Paris – Photography by Nicole Temple
Dubbed a âtechno weddingâ across social media, Temple admitted the veil âmade me feel like I could have more fun.â Showing a slightly playful side she proved techno can be serious fun. Temple may keep things light(hearted) in a fashion sense but her music is anything but. Known for delivering uncompromising techno, Temple digs deep to find techno gems. âIf a single track appears in Shazam during any of my sets Iâve failed,â laughs Temple giving a nod to the underground and did she deliver. Paula Temple unleashed a thunderous techno set at this yearâs CRSSD.
âDonât say to yourself âoh I canât do this. Iâve never heard this before.â If you ever feel like no one has done this before thatâs exactly where you should be moving toward.â
Paula Temple encourages a bold creative spirit.
As effortlessly as Temple takes reigns at the decks, donât think this comes without preparation. âI always think specifically about each set. I really thought about the festival set and I wasnât sure if people had even heard my music,â she shared hours before taking over CRSSDâs City Steps stage. âIâm not sure where techno is at the moment in America, but Iâm staying true to myself. It is going to be heavy at times but also explores a more melodic side. I call it âromantic techno,â laughs Temple. With a slight pause, she adds, âAnd for a lot of people thatâs still very heavy, even too heavy for them.â Temple of course took the opportunity to crowd test a few unreleased tracks during her CRSSD 2021 fall set.
CRSSD photo courtesy of Keiki @imkeiki
âI couldnât believe the bleeps and the deep bassâŠnever heard anything like it.â
Paula Temple says of “LFO” by LFO, the track that first got her hooked on techno at the age of 12.
Success and creativity can emerge from unexpected places. Thatâs exactly what happened with one of her latest tracks titled âApocalypse.â Moog Music approached her with a project focusing on three of their synths. Seeing this as a fun opportunity to explore new sounds and gear, Temple was all for it. She also credits her wife for being the other half of the project. âWe decided to try these synths out together and learn about semi-modular synths because I donât know anything about modular or semi-modular,â explains Temple. âIâve always been self-taught going by ear and intuition, so itâs been fun figuring stuff out together.” Then one day, her partner decided to have a jam session of her own. âIâm hearing this amazing thunder in the other room,â she describes of the trackâs 160 BPM and admitting to never making a track that fast. âShe was pulling the cords out and sticking the cables back in and in the wrong places, but it sounded so grittyâŠâ Experimenting is a must in the music-making process and can open doors to fresh, new sounds. Sometimes the best things happen unexpectedly.
“Iâve got to remind myself âyou are where you are because of what youâve done…’I donât need to be anything else.”
Powerful words, Paula Temple reminds herself to never doubt in her ability.
âRe-engineering favorite tracks is a good way to learn but not a good way to develop your own sound,â says Temple. âSo definitely do that as a learning tool, but itâs about constant experimentation and exploring, and just being brave. Donât say to yourself âoh I canât do this. Iâve never heard this before.â If you ever feel like no one has done this before thatâs exactly where you should be moving towardâŠ.record everything, every crazy idea.â
Before writing off an idea pause, get curious and explore it. Rather than clipping your projectâs wings before it takes flight, see what it can become. Itâs not to say your first idea will be the best or what sticks, but it could lead to something great. Temple certainly hasnât let caution run her life, and she encourages music producers to throw caution to the wind.
Dimensions Festival, Croatia – Photography by Nicole Temple
Women in the workforce are constantly needing to prove themselves more than men. Whether it be working harder to earn recognition or a promotion, women face several hurdles. A recent report conducted by USCâs Annenberg Inclusion Initiative found that from 2019 to 2020 female producers declined from five percent to just two percent. While female producers have dropped, Temple comments âI donât feel Iâm working twice as hard anymore but I did for a very long time,â She goes on to explain. âIâve had basically two lives in techno. The life before I quit in 2006, and I thought I was never coming back to techno. That was when I was working twice as hard and getting no recognition. It was very different the attitude then. When I came back onto the scene in 2013, my first record was with R&S called “Colonized.” “Suddenly Iâm back in the scene, and yea, I was really surprised that after this long gap, of seven years, I honestly believed there would be progress and there wasnât.â
So, how have things changed from 2013 to now? âFor techno, thereâs been a lot of progress. I donât know about all the genres,â she says. Her brief encounters with non-techno artists inspire little confidence. She gave an example of sharing transportation during festival gigs. “Iâm sharing a minivan to get somewhere with a house artist, and Iâm sorry but their attitude really f*cken stinks. I donât get that kind of attitude in techno anymore,â Temple says. âThereâs a good attitude in techno, or at least in Europe. I donât know what itâs like in America, but everyone I meet in America seems really progressive and understands where weâre at and where we need to be. I donât feel that when I meet a house or DnB person, so I then feelâŠwhen I think about the women in those scenesâŠhow hard it is for them.â
Strong egos can derail your path to success while having healthy self-assurance can nourish it. The fine line between confidence and arrogance. However, anyone who meets Temple will know she certainly doesnât fall into the latter category. She humbly owns her success but also notes it comes with a price. âI definitely am successful. Every day I think how lucky I am: doing what I love, surrounded by the right people,â she explains. âNow thereâs a bit of pressure that I have to get used to. So there are some stages or big festivals I get asked to play and suddenly I feel a lot of pressure. Iâve got to remind myself âyou are where you are because of what youâve done, so just remember that.â I donât need to be anything else. So just be who I am, and Nicole always reminds me âjust do you.â”
As for Templeâs parting words? âI just hope you have a good time and enjoy the thrill I love to give.â
Featured image courtesy by Jake Davis (www.hungryvisuals.co.uk)
