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 <a href="spotify:artist:37um1uxI92g4ll61LzrtB5">Basic Channel</a> sound, has seen release on labels such as <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Echocord%22">Echocord</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Silent+Season%22">Silent Season</a>, and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Bine%22">Bine</a>.

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 <a href="spotify:artist:37um1uxI92g4ll61LzrtB5">Basic Channel</a>, 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 <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Meanwhile%22">Meanwhile</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3MZHEsxGNxPt6WIMwDCby2">BVDub</a>'s <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Quietus%22">Quietus</a> label, and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Echocord%22">Echocord</a>, 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 <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Silent+Season%22">Silent Season</a> and Cauldron Subsidence on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Echocord%22">Echocord</a>; 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, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Phonobox%22">Phonobox</a>, Millions of Moments, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22For+Pleasure%22">For Pleasure</a>, and Analog Response. In 2011 Schienhammer launched the alias Monoaxial, releasing a split album with Coppice Halifax, ABX10, on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Milieu%22">Milieu</a>. That year he also released an album under his given name, Altostratus Translucidus, on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Bine+Music%22">Bine Music</a>; neither album strayed too far from the core Quantec sound. 2012 saw the release of the fourth Quantec album, 1000 Vacuum Tubes, on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Elux%22">Elux</a>. 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