David Letellier, known as Kangding Ray, is one of the few producers who manage to move the limits of techno. He recently released Hyper Opal Mantis LP, which was the reason to ask him about his creative processes and find out something more about the album.
You recently released Hyper Opal Mantis LP. Could you tell us something more about it and the creative process behind it?
I’ve been evolving since a couple of years at the outer fringes of the club culture, where it overlaps with different experimental and avant-garde genres. While I entend to continue to explore that zone as a free maverick, I also wanted to give back something to the scene, something strong, beautiful and functional at the same time, while retaining enough personality to be exciting.
Hyper Opal Mantis is your sixth album, so how do you see your sound transform between the previous ones?
There is a duality is at the center of this album : the tension between the natural and artificial, the body and mind, which are central themes in electronic music in general, and Techno in particular.
The means of creation, focused around technology and interactions with machines, contrast with the emotional response to sound, the mystical ritual of collective dancing, and the ethos of liberation and tolerance embedded in the culture it has produced.
What story is Hyper Opal Mantis telling?
We’re navigating a world of engineered pleasures, big data monitoring of movements and consumption habits, and representations of reality that falsely claim objectivity, further blurred by reduced attention spans and several opaque layers of cultural interpretation and political manipulation. Our original primal perception – vastly more abstract, emotional and sensual – makes us feel the world as an ambiguous realm we are part of, but not in control of. We exist in a complex network of interacting forces and enigmatic patterns; a matrix of overlapping desires. Reconnecting with this sensory perception and through it spreading love becomes an essential act of resistance.
Hyper Opal Mantis is a triptych on 3 states of desire : HYPER is the primal, sensual lust; OPAL is the emotional catharsis, a blissful desire for love; MANTIS, like the insect it refers to, is the destructive, fatal attraction.
Where do you find your inspiration?
I’m inspired by everything surrounding me, from politics, visual art and architecture, to the societal changes i see happening in the world.
There is no real recipe, but I often start with a pure sound research, either inspired by the sound of a new machine , or by an abstract concept involving textures, colours or movement.
Like many producers, I have a range of different electronic machines in my studio, which i interconnect with cables, but I work on them in a sort of abstract way, with very few preconceived ideas of where I’m going. Most of the time, i have the feeling I get the best results if i just follow the track wherever it wants to lead me, rather than forcing it towards a specific place.
We got the taste of Hyper Opal Mantis, but how would you describe the sound on this LP?
I sold all my vintage gear and old synthesisers,I wanted to eliminate any form of nostalgia or vintage fetichism, I searched for a raw, modern, hyper-real sound, for hi-definition raving.
This is your first album released on Stroboscopic Artefacts, how did it come to your cooperation?
Luca approached me after listening to my Pruitt Igoe“ EP that i did on raster-noton back in 2010. That’s when I started with the Monad series, which really launched my adventure in techno. After that I did a couple of EP’s and split EP’s for Stroboscopic Artefacts.
Tell us something about Raster-Noton’s commemorative book and compilation?
It’s a visual retrospective of 20 years of activity by a major contemporary label which managed to stay at the forefront of the electronic avant-garde, and i’m very proud to be part of that history.
What are your plans for the future?
The next months will be dedicated to touring the new live set of HYPER OPAL MANTIS extensively, in Europe and in USA, then I’ll go back to the studio and work on the next episode…
