For nearly four years, detractors from every side of the dance divide have shouted long and hard that "techno is dead". A foolish, lazy claim, maybe, but when set against the contraction of the techno scene worldwide, it was one that rang true for too many people.
Attendances at techno nights were dropping off, the music's boombastic nature and use of repetitive, linear blueprints was threatening to stiffle its creativity, while minimalist self-indulgence looked set to make techno implode upon itself and deservedly earn the "faceless bollocks" tag. However, in recent times, techno has enjoyed a diversification and subsequently a renaissance: the mould has been funked, grooved and integrated into the house nation by Isle of Wight and London-based producers, techno-based sounds and rhythms have been placed over breakbeats, immediately opening up the music to so many who in the past had been intimated by the tyranny of the 4/4 kickdrum; the re-birth of electro has given techno a "look to the past to reinvent the future" spin; and experimentation is also back on the agenda with Cristian Vogel, Neil Landstrumm and Si Begg offering wacked out, abstract productions.
Operating at another end of the spectrum is Birmingham producer Tony Childs, known more widely as The Surgeon. Tony's arrival and impact on modern electronic music came at a time when his chosen field was suffering from a serious lack of innovation. Emerging from the Downwards crew and proving his DJing skills with his residency at House of God in his hometown, early releases like 'Electronically Tested' and 'Pet 2000' may have mapped out his general interest area, but The Surgeon's take on techno was, in the tradition of truly great music producers different to anything else.
Despite some rather weak and lazy initial comparisons to Jeff Mills, the "underground" soon realised The Surgeon was something quite unique, and wet themselves at the very thought of Childs' tonal, multi-layered sheet-metal grooves. Simultaneously, Tony's music was picked up on even by respected national dailies like the Guardian. With a consistent, thought-provoking (remember the social subtext behind 'Muggerscum Out'?) catalogue on Soma, Downwards, Dynamic Tension and Kickin', Surgeon unleashed the Basictonalvocabulary long player on Tresor, a cohesive and hypnotic synopsis of his dense, experimental techno.
Exactly one year later, the new Surgeon LP, Balance is being released. A braver, more daring outing than its predecessor, the work is a culmination of one year's travel, thought and inspiration. "A lot of the ideas behind Balance come from travelling," he says. "Although I don't DJ more than twice a week now, sitting around departure lounges in solitude has meant I've had a lot of time to think. As it is, I live on my own and enjoy it. Although I never intended to be in a position where I was performing, and always wanted to be a behind-the-scenes person, I've always been a thinker and an observer. Making music means opening your soul up, but a philosophical approach helps refine my work."
The focus of Tony's sound has changed and, while a greater emphasis on experimentation and diversity may be partly borne out of his
analytical approach, Balance also stands out because Childs' modus operandi and influences are more genuine and wider than most of his contemporaries.
"My first releases were more club oriented, but, on my albums I wanted to take the music out of a club environment and draw on different influences. Balance was a conscious decision to represent the different sides of my musical identity. Coil were a very big influence on me, and I'm very interested in Steve Reich, Pierre Henry, Eno, Fripp and Faust: I try to digest and generally draw influences from as wide a range of music as possible. At the same time, this progression is something I feel I have to do gradually to make it more effective and more of an evolution, instead of hitting listeners with something that's completely whacked-out!"
It is exactly this mixture of the off-the-wall and the identifiable, the intangible and the recognisable, that makes The Surgeon's third album so compelling. Ranging from melodic, vaguely distorted ambience to full-on jackhammer, albeit cleaner, purer grooves, Balance sees Childs expanding his sound and concentrating on less abrasive, and even melodic structures.
"In the past, my interest in music had more to do with tone and texture, but Balance is a way of portraying different emotions without being cheesy. With regard to making music, I never see an end point and say 'that bit is over now', but it can get to a stage where you feel it has reached a point where you can give it over to people. The album revolves around a number of different situations, and applying the concept of balance to them.
"I hope I don't sound like I'm sitting on the fence here, but outside of music a sense of balance is important, in personal relationships and politics. In terms of making music, it's important to have a sense of balance, and the more comfortable you are with your creative interface, your machines, you're better placed to put emotions into your music. Hopefully, people will get the album and question it and the boundaries of techno. I became interested in this music in the first place because it was forward thinking, and now I'm trying to get people to re-consider that notion."
A number of old and new musical, philosophical, social, political and travel factors have helped shape the content and delivery of Tony Childs' third album. A truly modern work in terms of sound and influences, Balance at the same time harks back to the retro-futurism ethic of original techno and experimental electronic music, wherein the music took influences from the past and combined what were at times almost alien elements to create a truly global soundtrack.
"Eno and Fripp still sound fresh to me," agrees Childs. "When you deal with abstract music, geographical and cultural differences go out the window. This type of music can only work and make sense in densely populated technological centres, and it's encouraging to talk to someone in Tokyo and that, even though I'm from Birmingham, they say your music sums up their life. It firms up my belief in the power of this music as a means of communication." n
* Balance is released on Tresor on May 26th. The Surgeon plays jdp, the Kitchen, Dublin on May 15th, with James Ruskin (Blueprint Records).