Northern Electronics launched in 2013 with Varg's, an acid-tinged album that bundled deep techno with ambient sketches. Acronym's DJ-friendlysingle followed, after which the label dropped its first beatless release: Abdulla Rashim and Varg's maiden collaboration as Ulwhednar, a five-part drone piece titled. The cassette-only release preceded Ulwhednar's first full-length, an untitled percussive techno LP. It also came with a batch of ambient and drone sketches, reinforcing Rashim's dedication to both sides of this coin.The label has steadily widened its scope in the two years since. While a little-known sublabel called Blodörn released drone cassettes, Northern Electronics has put out New Wave (Född Död, SARS), ambient (D.Å.R.F.D.H.S.) and industrial (Lundin Oil) along with techno records from Varg, Acronym, Rashim and Dorisburg , an artist more commonly known for his house tracks. A particular feeling—perhaps melancholia—connects much of it. This emotional content is at odds with one of techno's most notable recent trends: the move towards harder, industrial-style sounds. The music on Northern Electronics is also often dark but rarely harsh or confrontational, which sets it apart from the masculine UK aesthetic that's been enjoying a revival. This may explain Northern Electronics' increasing popularity—many people listen to it to hear something that's not immediately available in harder strands of dance music.It's that same reason many people listen to deep techno, including Rashim himself. "I guess it's liberating in a way," he says. "Some music can give you the feeling, 'It's all going to be OK,' even though it's melancholic. I'm not sure why it's so special. In some way it's completely different to what we're used to hearing. It has a greater impact and meaning for me than a lot of other stuff. It feels like it's not a part of regular life."Every artist on Northern Electronics has a deep connection to the label. Not least Varg, who's been responsible for some of the label's most far-reaching work. His birth name is Jonas Rönnberg, and his moniker means "wolf" in Swedish. Varg is often mistaken for a reference to Varg Vikernes , a racist Norwegian black metal artist known for burning down churches and murdering one of his fellow band members. "It has absolutely nothing to do with Vikernes," he tells me over email. "I can't really understand why people think that. It's just a regular name for a person or pet, just like Christian, Yves or Celiné.Rönnberg is the Northern Electronics' most outspoken character. He arrives 90 minutes into my conversation with Rashim, and the dynamic of the group (which now includes Acronym and designer Jonas Bard) immediately changes. Rönnberg talks quickly and loudly, is fond of telling stories and is prone to going off on tangents. "I think we gave Atonal one hell of a show," Rönnberg grins, still buzzing from the night before.Rönnberg also played a separate showcase with a live band (which included Frederikke Hoffmeier of Puce Mary, Loke Rahbek of Damien Dubrovnik, Ossian Ohlsson of Vit Fana and film composer Erik Enocksson) on the Atonal main stage two nights earlier. His performance received a mix response from people he'd spoken to afterwards, and he seemed both confused and pleased by the reactions. "A lot of classic techno guys didn't get the show that I played on Thursday," Rönnberg says. "Afterwards, they kept coming up to me like, 'I didn't really understand the show—it doesn't sound like your records!' But after the label showcase, some of them came and said, 'Now we understand! We've connected the dots.'"According to Rönnberg, events like the Atonal showcase are an important piece of the puzzle. "They start to see the whole picture and put everything together," he says about the label's followers. "It's fun to paint the picture for these techno heads that came to Northern Electronics from Abdulla Rashim's past. We can force-feed them the other stuff. That's the fun part of it."Invitations to play events like Atonal are a sign of Northern Electronics' success, and it's well deserved. The sheer amount of thought, time and energy that goes into each release dwarfs many other electronic music labels, and the difference shows. Perhaps integral to it all, though, is that the label's core group are close friends who understand each other well. "It feels like the label is simply the most concrete thing that comes out of something a bit more complex," says Acronym, who's been quiet for most of the evening.Statements like this are typical of Northern Electronics. They're self-aware and trying to understand their label's place, but they're also not afraid to talk about its endgame. "I can really see an end," Rönnberg says. "I don't know when or where, but I think the most important part of doing anything is to know that it will end. But for now, I think we have a good situation. It's not ending now.""We'll keep going as long as it makes sense to do it," Rashim says. "I don't want this to be one of those adventures that keep on going forever and the quality just fades. At the end all you have is a shell of something that used to be good but isn't anymore. That's the worst thing I can think of."