Moscow based artist Unbalance has been at the forefront of the burgeoning Russian techno scene for some time now. Holding residencies and regular gigs throughout his home nation and venturing into Europe to throw down in clubs like Tresor and Berghain, Unbalance has quickly garnered a reputation as not only an excellent DJ, but a consistent and impressive producer as well.

His self titled imprint Unbalance has seen him release a catalogue of his own work, with tracks that have been picked up by numerous big names and seen big playtime in the clubs. This year saw him bring an end to the Unbalance label with the LP ‘Ten’, a double vinyl album featuring a range of styles, from club ready bangers to more groovy breakbeat numbers.

We’re delighted to welcome Unbalance for an exclusive mix and interview. Enjoy!

How did you get into techno and how did you get started as a DJ?

It is easy – when fast internet came to the world. Unfortunately I haven’t often heard techno before this period simply because I had no idea about this sound and the place where I lived during my school days was never about this kind of electronic music, only very small circle of local followers in big Siberian city. I already tried to produce something in other genres but it was like a game and not a serious thing. After I met my friends from M_Division we started to searching deeper into electronic music, and then everything started to move for me, same days when we started to make some small dance events in town, it’s around 2008-2009.



You have a busy touring schedule with a lot of dates in Russia as well as further afield. How do you find the techno scene in Russia compared to somewhere like Berlin?

Well, the main bastions are still Moscow and St. Petersburg of course, even with all economic and political problems, people are still trying to make high-quality techno events here, and also present this sound to a new generation. Some time ago in Moscow we had really strong places, unfortunately, most of them are now closed, but new places with adaptation to modern realities have also opened. And of course, we need to wait until the mentality of people is closer to the level of European dance culture.

You play live sets as well as DJ sets, which do you prefer? Is playing live something you would like to do more of in the future?

I have very basic live setup, and the philosophy of my live performances is to give people the same level of energy and groove which I accumulate in my DJ sets, but with more flexibility, control on this groove and of course only with my music. So both of types of translating my musical vibe is great for me, I love both. About second question – it depends on promoters, If they prefer live I will always do it with pleasure. This year saw you bring an end to your Unbalance label with the Ten LP, can you tell us a little bit about the album and why you decided to end the label?

I always tried to make some sort of story from this label, and in this story there was a moment of origin, development and logical end. I felt that #10 is a good moment to make some big culmination, some epilogue of this story, you can also “read” it from artwork. I’m happy how it gained its finished shape, now it is time for some new story.

Your music has a very developed and distinctive style, can you tell us anything about your creative process or production methods?

I can say that I always try not to bring some typical work process in my creativity, trying to make some mistakes that will bring some individuality to my music, I’m not a technical nerd and will always be in the arrangement and creation process more than into insane technical design (this is normal part of the process but not the main thing for me), so I’m still working mostly with digital which is comfortable for me, of course have my special tricks which I learned during my journey of musical production.

Finally, what are your plans for the future?

Work more, learning more and sharing the result with people