When Tech House first appeared in London in 1994, it was very well received by the electronic scene because it combined the best elements of House and Techno. People were a little bored with House Music, thirsting for more striking elements, perhaps with a bit more obscurity. And that’s when the wedding with Techno was blessed.
The Tech House originally contained a sturdy bass line and the short, faster, metallized beats of well-marked hi-hats receiving as a compliment, but not least important, the harmony and grooves of House Music. It was the result of a clean and minimalist production associated with Techno of Detroit and United Kingdom. At the time, artists like Charles Webster, Bushwacka, Funk D’Void, Derrick Carter, and Stacey Pullen started the “Tech” movement in clubs like The End, which in the UK was considered the home of Tech House.
In the 2000s the style spread throughout Europe through the adherence of artists such as Carl Cox and Joris Voorn, thus becoming very popular in the underground scene. But since all are not flowers, at some point the genre stopped reinventing itself, being produced in series. Always with the same “cake recipe”, it fell into the “black hole”, in which practically all the sounds of fashion fall: that of sameness. Tracks with a two-note bass line, extremely loud cymbals loops, and unintelligible shots of vocals. Most producers only follow the “cattle”, afraid to innovate, and end up making the genre repetitive, uninteresting and generic. Tracks that will be forgotten in five minutes, and maybe that’s why few can produce the classic calls, the eternal ones that will always be current as “Body Language” – M.A.N.D.Y & Booka Shade (2006). Anyone accompanying Tech House’s massive releases on music platforms notices the proliferation of the genre, with classic tracks of repackaged raves, our old hymns turned into mutant bastards. Not that this has not happened to other styles before…
Obviously we can still find pearls in this marque of mediocre reinterpretations and insistent formulas. Those artists who produce a Tech House of respect, bold tracks, with that roaring bass line and ripping groove. But, of that sort, they are totally swallowed up and overshadowed by the mass of serial producers. And the DJs have a big stake in all this: there are those who use the beautiful Tech House as a tool, those who select their tracks for the construction, for the surprise that each of them presents in the course of the story that is counting. There are those who use it as a crutch, selecting the bootlegs of consecrated songs, forced to fit into the genre. Djs that build sets without shine, always staying in the comfortable zone of the mainstream scene. And they are those that ignite the market of “Tech” without irreverence, without creativity, without expectation.
Today we can say that Tech House is resurfacing from the ashes as a phoenix (I’m a bit dramatic in that phrase..rs), which is not bad, particularly I’ve always been a big fan of the genre. The tireless groove, the dynamic mix between House and Techno when done well, showing the best elements of the two strands, is able to lead the tracks to dance as if there were no tomorrow. Who never witnessed such a clue to the sound of Tech House ?! In Brazil, especially, it was already time for a new genre to (re) take the reins. Who still is not sick of this electronic pop with vocals that seem more electronic sertanejo, playing incessantly in the most popular radios, day and night? The truth is that we do not even need good DJs in the ballads, if we connect the radio probably the audience does not even notice the difference.
The question remains: will the new “crop” challenge the sameness, honoring the old and good robustness and soul of the original Tech House, taking it forward with innovative elegance? Who will be the new pioneers, those who will renounce the stereotyped, creating classic timeless tracks?…
David Guetta & Tom Staar – This Is not Techno, a track that mixes “Big Room” with Tech House !! There’s a guy who always reinvents himself, David Guetta, who deserves our respect. Not that this track represents exactly what I have said so far, but it is worth mentioning when it comes to creativity. Finally, it is always good to point out that House Music and Techno are the roots of everything that flourishes in electronic music. All the different genres we have today are the new generation of House and Techno, which together, influence the birth of so many subgenres. With the evolution of technology, producing music has become possible for many more people today than it did a few years ago. Now anyone can create music and play with the click of a button, but that should be the driving force behind creativity. The Tech House finished 2018 big, coming in with both feet in the current year, and I can not wait to find out which way it will go, what trends it will dictate. Meanwhile, in the courtroom, we’re still waiting for the scenes from the next chapters…
VAN STORCK 