What’s the point of putting people in boxes ? Of locking up music in one particular genre, never letting it evolve, explore or innovate ? When he started releasing tracks under this alias three years ago, French producer Marlen had to consider these age-old questions : he thought he produced industrial techno music, but hardcore DJs were playing it. Among them was Manu le Malin, who asked Marlen for an EP to release on his MKNK label. The two musicians share the same view : techno ? Hardcore ? Who cares as long as there’s an atmosphere, a story to tell and some doom to exorcise ?
From the first time he picked up a guitar as a child, imitating his father (who played medieval-inspired folk music), to the improvised modular electronic pieces he creates today, Marlen has always thought outside these boxes. Since his teenage years, he has produced abstract hip-hop, danced to jungle, moved to Turkey, joined Balkan music bands, learnt to play various instruments (saz, oud, clarinet, saxophone…), and is now in the doom band Ezel, as well as composing music for theatre and dance performances. Marlen is just one of his many facets, but perhaps perhaps the one where he can play with everything he loves : a lot of distortion, no obligation to stick to the sacrosanct 4/4, dark vibes, live improvisation, science fiction references and all things geeky – he produces with a modular system that he combines with an Octatrack when playing live… You have to be a bit of a nerd to pull it off ! Some would call it industrial techno. Others would call it early hardcore. Some just call it good music.
Nevertheless, when Manu le Malin asked him to release an EP on his newly launched MKNK label, Marlen felt he had to fully immerse himself in hardcore music, only to discover that, yes, it had always been there. The gripping result, Dream & Lure, contains three original tracks (« Dooming », « Aliens Are Tired Of Watching Us », « Dream & Lure ») and one remix, mastered by Deathmachine, which travels far far away from any production clichés or easy drops. Each track explores in its own way the beauty and energy that can be found in violent or ugly things, an almost romantic way to look at what is hardcore. Or techno. Or any good music.