Farrago Is Rewriting the Rules of Techno

Ahead of his debut performance at Defqon.1 this weekend, Farrago stopped by to discuss his first album, his creative process, and more.

Belgian artist Farrago has been leading the charge on a new generation of techno music inspired by the rolling basslines of psytrance and trancey melodies dubbed techno 2.0. While this project is relatively new, he’s no novice. Farrago’s music has already transcended genre barriers, helping him completely rewrite the rules about what it means to be a techno DJ and producer. What once was defined by pounding drums and ravey stabs has completely flipped upside down with Farrago making his way into the scene. He’s ushered in a new sound that pays homage to his roots and includes sounds from the future, a truly perplexing mixture.

With a sound palette ranging across the music spectrum, Farrago has successfully contained his broad style on his debut album, Blesssed, which lands on his imprint, Vermillion Trax. This body of work caters to everybody, whether you seek the classic techno atmosphere, prefer the faster tempos of harder music, or want to leap into the future of techno entirely. There’s no doubt Farrago will put listeners into a trance as they revel in the beauty of his unexpected sounds, making this an act you surely want to keep an ear on.

Riding on the momentum of his debut album, Farrago is set to make his Defqon.1 debut at the GREEN stage over the weekend. This is a monumental booking for the talented artist because Defqon.1 is hosting a stage dedicated to the raw, unadulterated, and ice-cold sounds of hard techno for the first time ever. Deservedly, Farrago will be joining a roster of world-class techno acts to perform at the GREEN on Friday – a testament to his unmatched versatility as a producer and expert adaptability as a DJ.

Before he sets off to make history at Defqon.1, we were able to catch up with Farrago to discuss everything from his debut album to his love for mixing genres and so much more! Get a taste of the trippy vibes Farrago is bringing to the festival by streaming Blesssed on Spotify or your preferred platform, and read on for our full conversation.

You just released your album, Blesssed, which follows up a traumatic experience for you. How did you find the energy and motivation to push on to fulfill your dream of creating a full-length album?

It was sheer willpower, to be honest. After what happened to me and considering how unfair it was because I was young and lived a very [active] lifestyle, I had every reason to be upset and let my misfortune drag me down. Doctors told me I was simply unlucky and couldn’t have prevented it. I decided pretty quickly I wasn’t going to let my life be controlled by such a freak accident. I found a lot of energy and happiness in making music, and it really carried me through a bunch of difficult months.

Blesssed holds a unique atmosphere where it feels like you pay respect to what comes before but also aim to catapult techno into the future. How did you approach creating this body of work, and when did you know it was finally complete?

The only thing I really wanted for this release was to stay through to my sound and deliver a timeless album. In order to do that, I took a look at what sounds I liked in the past and today and what I would like to see techno evolve into in the future. The result is a bunch of tracks influenced by minimalistic drum patterns, trancey melodies, and trippy techno.

Your own music carries influences from all over the music spectrum, creating something different than the rest. What is your vision for techno music in your own project and across the entire scene?

In my sets, I like to mix fast, psy-influenced, trancey music as well as a techno blend of the harder styles. The latter are easy to find these days, but the former are more rare, so these are the kind of tracks I like to make myself.

In many of your sets, you’ve been known to crank up the energy with hard dance tunes. What do you think about the similarities between hard techno and early hardstyle/hardcore?

Harder styles, such as hardstyle and hardcore, all have their origin in techno, so between them and hard techno, it is very easy to look for and find similarities. I love mixing them all together, and it makes for a very fun way to build up your set.

Photo Credit: Claudia Baumlin

Speaking of cranking up the energy, you’re set to play Defqon.1 Weekend Festival this weekend. Since this is a hardstyle-focused crowd, how are you preparing differently than you would for a crowd in Ibiza, for example?

I generally do my thing regardless of where I play. Since the reach of social media has become so massive, it is very clear that people always have a certain expectation of DJs that they go and see. They all want the same experience from that viral video where they know you from. That [being] said, I do like to bring something special for every set. Considering Defqon.1 is a hardstyle festival, I will make sure to bring some secret weapons that are suitable for the job.

What does it mean to your career to be a part of the first-ever techno stage at Defqon.1?

It’s a pretty big deal to me, and I am very honoured to be part of this new direction. I’m very curious to see how it goes.

So many techno performances are now including hardstyle/hardcore tunes in them. Can you speak more about how you feel the scene is rewriting the rules regarding what you can and can’t play?

I love that we can just play whatever we want, but at the same time, it’s a slippery slope because the crowds in front of you get more divided. Not everyone that goes to a techno party is also into psytrance. So, in the end, it is fun that there are no more rules, but it became much harder to read the room in my opinion.

You’ve been very open about having lots of interests outside of music, so what do you do to decompress from the busy tour life?

I love gaming and sports. Boxing became my favourite cardio workout, and I love cooking and learning how to cook different recipes. I also love learning new languages. At the moment, I’m learning Spanish, and I’ve been slowly learning Japanese by watching anime and learning kanji and casual phrases from several apps and textbooks.

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