Quantec

Dub techno project Quantec is one of several aliases of German Sven Schienhammer, who has been making music since the mid-'90s. His deep, bubbling, aquatic style, owing a debt to the classic Basic Channel sound, has seen release on labels such as Echocord, Silent Season, and Bine. Schienhammer began making electronic music in 1995, entranced by hardware such as the iconic Roland TB-303. Later he progressed to software synthesis, combining it with vintage analog synths from the '70s and '80s. Inspired by labels like Basic Channel, he started recording dub techno tracks. His first release was the "Deep in Mind" 12" on Styrax in 2007, which introduced the world to his sub-aquatic, whooshing, hypnotic sound. Further EPs followed on Meanwhile, BVDub's Quietus label, and Echocord, which issued the first Quantec album, the super-deep and immersive Unusual Signals, in 2008. Quantec released two albums in 2009, Journey of Mind on Silent Season and Cauldron Subsidence on Echocord; the latter had a slight dubstep influence. As Quantec, he put out only EPs for the next three years, a prolific output of releases on labels such as Shoreless, Phonobox, Millions of Moments, For Pleasure, and Analog Response. In 2011 Schienhammer launched the alias Monoaxial, releasing a split album with Coppice Halifax, ABX10, on Milieu. That year he also released an album under his given name, Altostratus Translucidus, on Bine Music; neither album strayed too far from the core Quantec sound. 2012 saw the release of the fourth Quantec album, 1000 Vacuum Tubes, on Elux. In 2018 he formed the duo Base Pilot with Birke TM, releasing the "Life Is Rhythm" 12" on Neighbour Recordings, his first record in four years; it had a somewhat bouncier, more uptempo sound than his previous work. ~ John D. Buchanan, Rovi