Show Notes
© 2026 True Underground. All rights reserved.
Ilona Maras – True Techno 105: Discusses Her Hive Residency and Narrative Energy Ilona Maras anchors this edition of True Techno, showcasing the clinical technicality and raw emotional weight that have fuelled her trajectory through the underground. Based in Zürich and maintaining a residency at the influential Hive club, Maras provides an exclusive look into her creative process following her recent EP on MJA the Vision. Her sound – a sophisticated blend of Eastern melodies and raw acid textures – has earned her the backing of industry heavyweights like Richie Hawtin and positions her as a definitive voice in contemporary techno. For Maras, the evolution from a hobbyist to a central figure in the scene was a gradual realisation of purpose. The transition occurred as she noticed her focus shifting towards the minutiae of performance and the psychological impact of the booth. “It wasn’t one big moment, more a quiet realisation that kept getting louder over time,” she reflects. “I noticed how deeply I cared about every detail, every transition, every reaction from the crowd. At some point, it became clear this wasn’t something I did for fun after work; it was how I experience the world.” The Hive Residency: Illona Maras Technical Education The Hive in Zürich serves as both a creative anchor and a testing ground for Maras’ output. Her residency has required her to navigate diverse time slots and floors, a process that demands an acute level of crowd empathy and technical adaptability. This experience has shaped her ability to work a room without relying on cheap tropes or forced energy. “You can’t force energy in that space; you have to read the room and build it slowly, earn trust step by step. It taught me that sometimes less is more, and that people will go with you if you’re honest, not if you’re trying to impress them.” – Ilona Maras This grounded approach extends to her high-pressure performances, including playing a set at Street Parade while seven months pregnant – a moment she describes as a powerful convergence of her personal life and professional commitment. MJA the Vision and the 90s Techno Influence Her latest work on MJA the Vision, released on 06.03.2026, leans into the contrast between tension and release. Inspired by the industrial geometry of the Prague train station, the EP captures a specific 90s techno aesthetic while maintaining the modern clarity required for big-room impact. Maras describes the production as an exercise in intuition over calculation. “The EP is very much about contrast, tension and release, control and letting go. I got inspired while visiting Prague; I was in a room overlooking their beautiful train station, and something about that view gave me a strong 90s feeling. It made me want to recreate a bit of that 90s techno vibe in my own way.” – Ilona Maras Honesty as a Production Standard Since her debut on Get Physical with Existe, Maras has prioritised instinct over perfectionism. This philosophy has seen her tracks championed by Richie Hawtin and released on labels including Volta, We Are The Brave, and Filth On Acid. By refusing to “customise” music for specific labels, she has maintained a cohesive identity that bridges the gap between underground depth and peak-time function. Her focus now shifts towards her own imprint and a commitment to innovation that ignores the saturation of the modern trend cycle. “I’d love to push even more into innovation… and to ignore the noise around me as much as possible,” she says. “Every time I manage to do that, those tracks usually work the best.” As Ilona Maras continues her tour cycle, True Techno 105 serves as a testament to an artist who values real connection over fleeting metrics. Her sound is built for high-intensity immersion, striking the balance between visceral, dancef
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© 2026 True Underground. All rights reserved. True Techno 112 Stigmatique: Analogue Hardware and Personal Turning Points Germany’s techno underground retains its rawest impulse through dedicated local operators who resist commercial trends. Operating out of Leipzig, Stigmatique has spent the past decade shaping an uncompromising sonic identity defined by sub-bass weight, raw analogue hardware, and intense emotional narrative arcs. His entry into professional music production followed a period of intense personal difficulty. A crucial encounter with a peer pursuing music provided the catalyst required to commit fully to studio composition. He once told me that it was time for a turning point in my life and that, if I truly wanted to achieve my dream, I had to make a decision. So I did—and here I am. The moniker itself roots directly in sociological theory regarding social judgment and isolation. Derived from experiences as an outsider, the name represents an intentional choice to channel personal marginalisation into raw warehouse audio. The definition is as follows: Stigmatization is the social process in which individuals or groups are negatively judged, excluded, or discriminated against because of certain characteristics that are perceived as deviating from the norm. The affected person is reduced to that single characteristic, often resulting in prejudice and social disadvantage. I used to be a loner because of my past, which is why I identified so strongly with that definition. Stigmatique Techno Podcast Feature: Independent Label Ethos and Studio Mechanics In 2018, that outsider perspective led directly to the establishment of SEELEN. Records alongside co-founder JANEIN. The label introduced a sharp punk edge to the German techno environment, delivering raw pressings well ahead of the broader shift toward higher tempo styles. Back then—and still today—we simply captured the sound of the moment. Long before other styles of techno or faster music became mainstream, we had the opportunity to shake up the musical landscape with our punk attitude and raw charm, questioning the status quo. Our sound has remained consistent over the years, and I’m convinced it still will be twenty years from now. The early years of SEELEN. Records depended entirely on physical direct sales without external commercial networks or digital platforms. Managing pressing logistics, packaging, and fulfillment directly established a grounded operational ethos built to withstand market volatility. That period wasn’t easy, but it taught us from the ground up what it really means to run a record label and move it forward. Without a distributor, digital releases, or any other external sales channels, we managed to create something with lasting value—something that will continue to stand for quality in the years to come. Many successful artists never really learn what it means to be consistent, what it means to start from absolutely nothing, to take every single step on your own, or to stay true to yourself and your roots. Those are all qualities that are essential if you still want to approach your passion with the same energy and dedication twenty years later as you did in the beginning. To maintain physical digging culture, SEELEN. Records enforces strict limited vinyl pressings. This commitment ensures each physical record holds tangible value for vinyl collectors navigating a saturated digital marketplace. We want digging for vinyl to remain something special. Holding a physical record in your hands should still feel meaningful, and owning one should feel like owning something truly unique. In today’s fast-moving world, that’s incredibly important. Dancefloor Dynamics and Live Set Architecture Recent production outputs highlight this evolving emotional charge. The December 2025 release Am Ende War Die Nacht EP translates personal upheaval, enthusiasm, and melancholy into driving warehouse rhythms. For me, my artistic iden
© 2026 True Underground. All rights reserved. Pan-Pot discuss sub-bass physics, Minimoog Voyager sound design, and their dual-label evolution across SECOND STATE and HUMAN. Pan-Pot, the Berlin-based techno duo of Tassilo Ippenberger and Thomas Benedix, have detailed their production acoustics, sidechain mechanics, and label philosophy in an extensive exploration of modern club dynamics. The discussion accompanies their live recording for episode 111 of the True Techno mix series on SoundCloud and the dual-label release of Everytime. In the humid intensity of a Munich night, the dancefloor at Greenfields pulsed with a raw, collective force that Pan-Pot know intimately. Tassilo Ippenberger, one half of the duo and a native of the surrounding area, describes it as something close to a home game. Their recent live set for the True Techno mix series captured that energy from the first track, the crowd’s enthusiasm translating into an unrelenting momentum that leaps off the recording. “It was intense from the very beginning. The Munich crowd is always incredibly enthusiastic, and you can really hear that energy in the recording. It gave the set a strong momentum right from the opening track… That connection made the atmosphere even more special, and we think it translated very naturally into the recording.” That same drive for physical connection and hypnotic immersion runs through their latest single, Everytime. Released jointly across SECOND STATE and HUMAN, the track is built around a hyperdriving vocal sample that functions less like a traditional arrangement anchor and more like a mechanical centrifuge, spinning the listener deeper into the groove with each repetition. The spark came from a shared love of loopy, hypnotic house records. “We wanted to capture that same kind of energy, where a simple element repeats and gradually pulls you deeper into the groove. When we found this vocal phrase, it immediately did exactly that for us. It has this addictive quality and creates a relentless forward momentum without needing to say too much.” Processing the sample demanded careful restraint. The vocal itself remains direct and unadorned, while the space around it shifts through subtle filtering, effects and placement. Other elements drift in and out, ensuring the loop never settles into stasis. “The key was to keep the loop simple while constantly changing the space around it… That balance was important: it had to remain hypnotic and relentless, like the classic house loops that inspired us, without becoming static or exhausting.” Pan-Pot on Minimoog Synthesis and Low-End Control Beneath the vocal chaos sits a low end of precise weight and punch. Both the sub-bass and mid-bass layers were crafted entirely on a Minimoog Voyager, heavily sidechained to the kick, with frequencies below 30 Hz cut for control. The bass remains strictly mono, refined with EQ and iZotope Ozone’s Impact and Clarity modules, guided by a trusted co-producer whose critical ears proved essential. The result is a track that feels both heavy and agile, rooted in house yet unmistakably Pan-Pot. While the release bridges both of their platforms, the duo are clear about its true home. “Everytime is very clearly a HUMAN release. This track represents the direction in which we want to take HUMAN moving forward. It is direct and powerful, but also loopy, playful and strongly rooted in house music. That balance feels very true to where we are creatively right now.” Fans can stream and download it now on Beatport. HUMAN emerged as a deliberate response to the fragmentation of modern club culture. Sets have grown shorter, genres narrower, and attention often drifts from the collective experience on the floor. “Clubbing has become faster and more fragmented. With HUMAN, we wanted to create a space that brings attention back to the essential experience: people connecting through sound, losing themselves physically and trusting the full journey of a set. It is our response to
© 2026 True Underground. All rights reserved. True Techno 110: Introducing Praecox. Jerzy Przeździecki’s Thirty-Year Journey Through Industrial Electronics and Buchla Sound True Techno 110 arrives as both a mix and a map. Warsaw producer Jerzy Przeździecki, working across the names Praecox, Epi Centrum and his own, steps into the True Underground series with a recording that traces more than three decades of electronic music. Released in August 2026, the set gathers material from his principal projects and draws a clear line from the radical energy of 1990s Polish underground culture to the hardware-focused experimentation that defines his work today.
© 2026 True Underground. All rights reserved. Petru KSS: Raw, Hypnotic and Pure on True Techno Podcast 109 Corsican electronic music producer PETRU KSS delivers an expertly curated 33-track set for True Techno Podcast 109, released on 24 June 2026. The broadcast integrates his performance philosophy with material from his debut album, Kolibri Live LP, recorded during a continuous live take at sunrise on a remote Corsican hilltop. His long play anchors his hardware-centric framework developed under the mentorship of Richie Hawtin at the University of Huddersfield.
© 2026 True Underground. All rights reserved. Kadric True Techno Podcast Edition Links Bern’s Raw Underground Scene Swiss techno producer and Solid Dark label co-owner Cédric Mokus, performing under his Kadric moniker, has delivered the latest edition of the Kadric True Techno podcast directly from the underground circuit of Bern, Switzerland. This hard-hitting audio presentation showcases his evolution from early minimal rhythms into a heavy, peak-time sonic blueprint. By positioning raw hypnotic power at the centre of the mix, the execution addresses a growing regional demand for immersive, compromise-free dancefloor movements. Music became a core element of the producer’s identity during his school years, spent composing original works and performing in traditional bands. A pivotal club night in Bern redirected that creative focus entirely toward electronic frequencies. His initial venture into production arrived via the minimal tech project Krafteck, capturing international attention with releases on prominent labels including Reload Records, Hungry Koala, DC10, and Doubsquare Records. The early track Madness climbed to number 98 in the Beatport Minimal Techno chart, establishing a technical foundation that would later undergo a radical transformation. In 2019, Mokus closed the minimal chapter to launch his current identity. The transition reflected a calculated shift toward a weightier, more menacing sonic territory, mirroring the hardening preferences of the broader European club scene. “The transition was less about leaving something behind and more about a natural evolution of my artistic vision,” Kadric explains. “Over time, my taste shifted more and more towards darker, hypnotic and high-energy sounds. At the same time, the Swiss underground scene evolved, creating a growing demand for intense, emotional and immersive dancefloor experiences. Kadric gave me the opportunity to fully embrace that direction and express my creativity without limitations.” This pursuit of creative freedom is evident in his role within Solid Dark, an autonomous imprint co-founded by Kevin Stäger (Kevqube) and David Kawka, with further input from Juan Vasquez (Dee Jota). The label has rapidly expanded its footprint, issuing the comprehensive 13-track Hypnosis 1 compilation. Kadric contributed the heavy composition Parallax to the release, a production designed explicitly to push club monitoring systems to their structural absolute limits. “With ‘Parallax’, the dancefloor impact was the main focus from day one,” Kadric says, breaking down his studio architecture. “The foundation of the track is the relationship between the kick and the bassline. The goal was to create a deep, powerful yet controlled low-end that works on any sound system. Every percussion layer, texture and sound was carefully placed to support the hypnotic flow of the track.” Managing such dense frequencies requires strict discipline during the mixdown process, ensuring that sharp synth stabs cut through highly compressed sub-bass lines without causing acoustic fatigue. “The most important aspect is balance,” Kadric notes. “It is not about making elements louder, but about giving each sound its own space within the frequency spectrum. At the same time, it is very important to me that my productions remain recognisable and that listeners immediately know there is a Kadric track behind the sound.” The success of this approach is validated by his chart history and industry backing. His single Pressure reached number 82 on the global Beatport Techno charts, and his studio output routinely receives performance support from high-tier industry mainstays including Adam Beyer, Chris Liebing, Charlotte de Witte, Amelie Lens, Pan-Pot, Spartaque, T78, and The YellowHeads. Preserving Counter-Culture Mechanics on the Physical Floor The curation on the new podcast functions as an extension of the programming principles utilized by the Solid Dark collective. The crew balance in