Surrounded by mystique and the fascination of the unknown is none other than Resin label head, Pris. You can go on the internet and try digging up background information on the producer as you please, but chances are you won't find much dating prior to December 2013 – when his debut Unbeknown To Us EP surfaced in major web-shops confidently and discreetly. Giving himself and the label it's entrance stamp that left many of us listening in an anesthetizing course, the record enveloped in a crisp black sleeve left an impression that cleared from our consciousness the possibility of another trite "faceless" antic.
Getting the chance to chat with the producer himself solidified these notions, as Pris proved to be a human driven by the intensities and passions that can only come from vibrations found within music. Keenly describing in a brief release his vision of the label as an output for "naturalistic yet industrial soundscapes mixed with melodic and driving club-focused productions", he expands on this through the course of the questionnaire. There's an understanding that the mixed feelings of beauty and agitation we find in his music is only a deliberate intention of artistry meant to make us respond and react to what we are hearing. Get to know the brains behind Resin's operations, and especially enjoy his Resin Label Exclusive mix he put together for your listening pleasure.
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EARMILK: First off, congratulations on the label’s launch. Can you tell us a little about yourself ? Aside from knowing that you are the head behind Resin, you’re quite an enigma even on Google. How did you get into techno?
PRIS: Hi, thank you very much. It's been a roller coaster, but all the pieces are in place now so its just a case of showing the world what Resin has to offer. Me? Over the course of my life I've been into a lot of different types of music at different points in my life, but looking back I guess you could say that I was looking for the same characteristics in music. I enjoy the bizarre & quirky as well as intensity & passion in music. I think this has stayed with me through my excursions into breakbeat, rave, and even my metal days. I've found that the genres I've been into in the past have quickly lost these characteristics in a "more is better" kind of way, and it becomes harder and harder to find them, but the one genre I've always found delivers the goods for me is techno.
EM: When did you go from listener to producer? What were some of your driving points to create?
P: I went from listener to producer quite late on in my life. I'd always been in bands and, in fact, it actually went from listener to DJ to producer, but I was only a bedroom DJ really then. A couple of years ago a friend of mine who worked at Apple sorted me out with a copy of Logic and there I learned the basics of making music. Making really bland uninteresting stuff because the process of creating music was taking me a long time due to the workflow of Logic. I eventually moved to Ableton which fit the way I envisioned making music. I don't ever really have a driving point when making music, but I've learned in the past that trying to make something never works and you should just make what comes naturally because those are the best songs.
EM: Is it safe to assume that Pris is the first material you’ve ever released, or have there been former monikers you’ve gone by?
P: I did make music under a different name, but for the time being I'd rather keep that on the lowdown. Not in an "I'm anonymous" kind of way, but more the fact that I want to see how the music and the label is received without any preconotations; fresh ears, you could say. It's not a case of being ashamed of the music I made before because, to be honest, its not worlds apart from what I'm making now, but I just feel my music as Pris distils the elements of my previous music that I really enjoyed and cuts out the elements that I feel I was forcing myself to include in my music. I was telling myself I needed it when really, like I said earlier, it should be about letting what comes naturally happen with the music you make. I enjoyed making music under my previous alias, and I may return to it one day, but what I'm most glad of is I've been able to use the knowledge I gained from that and fed it all into how I approach running Resin.
EM: Unsurprisingly, Unbeknown To Us didn’t stay stacked too long on shelves. It had a concrete, well-roundedness to it that charged a coarse demeanor. How was the process of making it? Did you think about it any different since it was the label’s inaugural release?
P: Yeah I've been really happy with how RSN001 was received. Two of the tracks on the release were made on the very first day I consciously started making music as Pris. At the time I had no plans to run a label or even to release the music, I was simply trying to work myself out of a particularly long artistic drought and ended up over the following 3 months making more music than I'd ever made. After some talks with a couple of labels I eventually decided it was time to try doing it myself and with a lot of help from some friends who run labels I was able to get Resin on its feet. Naturally, when it came to choosing what would be the first release I decided to go with some tracks that were made in the flurry of excitement that comes with starting something new, and i hope that translates in the music.
EM: The UK is increasingly catching fire within the techno scene , would you say Resin works as a product of that, or is it a reaction against what is coming out? How did your vision for the label come together?
P: I would say that over the past 3 to 4 years there's been an influx of younger producers in the UK taking an interest in techno and digging deeper into the UK's rich history with the genre. I can't put my finger on what kick started it, but I guess it's a number of factors really. Maybe English people just really enjoy getting a bit gritty sometimes? I don't know, but I wouldn't say that Resin was in any way designed to be a "UK Techno Label" . As it stands I've got a lot of UK artists set to release on the label, but that in no way means Resin will be exclusively UK. Good music knows no boundaries in terms of location. In fact, whenever I've played abroad one of my favourite parts about the experience is meeting the real people of that city or country beyond what the media portrays, learning about how they enjoy music, and culturally what effects how they enjoy it. [I like learning] what makes them most excited when it comes to music and I think all these experiences can be brought through the music these people produce. So to be exclusively aligned to one culture would be a crazy thing to do because there are so many different interpretations of techno dependent on the experiences that hail back to the main characteristics that I mentioned earlier; intensity & passion.
EM: Since its waking, the music appears eloquent and deliberately conscious, but I also really like the artwork behind RSN001 and what you’ve done with RSN002. They’ve got a sense of the abstract with an eye-appealing vibrancy full of life. Are these original pieces by you?
P: Thank you, a lot of work went into finding the right design in order to keep an overall aesthetic throughout the label. A close friend of mine does all the artwork and is a second set of ears for me, so he is very involved with the label. He fully understands what I'm going for without me having to tell him. The designs are bit of a mash up of textures and colours based around a fascination of the structures found in bacteria and the space around us.
EM: Tell us about the Resin roster.
P: There are a lot of exciting artists I've taken on for the next however many release and I've tried to maintain a close relationship with each of them in order to make sure that they, as the artist, and me as the label get the best we possibly can out of them. In each artist I can see a real raw talent that I feel will definitely go on to great things. I would like facilitate that as best as I can. One thing I want to avoid though is becoming a one-stop for new artists to get their foot in the door – I want to build a family as such.
EM: Is there anything you are working on at the moment?
P: I am always working on music. I have plenty of my own music to release, but I'm not in any rush to spam people with it all. I treat myself the same way as I treat all the other artists with the same fine comb I use to decide what to release.
EM: Describe Resin’s next couple of releases in 7 words.
P: Warm, Cold, Broken, Quirky, Powerful, Melodical, Different
EM: This mix you’ve put together is a label exclusive. What’s the best way to listen to it?
P: Well considering its 100% Resin material I guess listen to it with an open mind, a cup of coffee, and a deep set frown.
Don't forget to grab your copy of RSN002 out Monday, March 10. The issue features more contributions by Pris, Bleaching Agent, Manse, and Divided.
Various Artists
RSN002
- Resin
- 2014-03-10
