Over the course of a decade and more tracks than we care to count, Christian Smith and John Selway have been worshipped by the techno community. Now they’re releasing their multi-faceted debut album as well as an EP for house giants Renaissance. What will the duo’s techno fans think?
“Is it commercially viable? I don’t know. Do I care? Not really. I just wanted to make a statement.” Christian Smith is in a defiant mood. He’s talking about The Coming Storm, his debut artist album created alongside long-term studio partner John Selway, which, after more than 20 tracks and 30 remixes, you could say has been a long time coming. But then the duo were keen to make sure it was a bit special, not just another collection of club bangers. That’s why Christian’s feeling defiant – The Coming Storm is the album he and John wanted to make, and if people are surprised that it’s not the straight-up techno they’ve got a reputation for, then so be it.
“John and I are known as techno producers, but on this album we tried to integrate a lot of other elements,” says Christian. “We didn’t want just club tracks – we wanted to include some slower ones too, and meld them together. Judging from the reviews, we’ve managed to do that. A wide variety of people are playing the tracks too, from the commercial DJs like Digweed and Deep Dish to Adam Beyer and Danny Tenaglia.
“We really wanted to express ourselves. We wanted to show we’re about more than just techno. We’re not purists, and we wanted to broaden our tastes even more”
“We’ve been around a long time and have made many many records together and separately, but when it came to making an album, we wanted to create something that really makes a statement, something more than just 10 dancefloor tracks glued together. That’s one of the main reasons John and I haven’t done an album before. So many artists these days just make 10 tracks and say, ‘That’s my album.’ We wanted to put some thought into a concept and try to put together a bit of everything. We felt that was important for making an album. If it was just 10 full-on dancefloor tracks, you won’t want to listen from beginning to end.”
You have to believe that Christian means it when he says they set out to make a proper album, not just because the music on The Coming Storm does flow in a variety of directions, but also because he and John have more than enough material to throw together a collection of club tunes. They’ve put out tracks on Carl Cox’s Intec, Darren Emerson’s Underwater, Josh Wink’s Ovum and now, with The Coming Storm, Technasia’s Sino. They’ve also got more coming on Ovum, one on the way on Sci-Tec (the new label from Deep Dish’s Dubfire), and, in another surprising move, a remix in the pipeline for Dave Seaman’s Therapy, and – more surprising still – a double A-side called Point To Point/Like That due out on Renaissance.
Smith & Selway on Renaissance? The home of the likes of Sasha and (in Christian’s words, the commercial) Digweed? The techno purists are going to have a shit-fit aren’t they? “We don’t just want to be known as techno artists,” says Christian. “That’s why we did the track for Renaissance. It’s nothing cheesy – one track’s quite minimal, quite groovy, and the other has a melody that evolved throughout the track. It works really well on the floor. Hernan Cattaneo’s on that. So it’ll be a surprise for many people, but it will also open up our sound to a new market. And I don’t think techno people will be put off. Years ago I was making records for Primate, which was a hard techno label, but at the same time I was making records for Smile and Nervous which are total house labels. It’s more the media and fans who like to put people in one genre. For me, without house there’d be no techno – they go hand in hand.”
There’s no arguing with that. And perhaps we should just trust John and Christian. After all, they’ve helped keep techno interesting, maybe they can now help breath some new life into house. Listening to The Coming Storm, we reckon they can…
“As a duo, John and I really wanted to express ourselves with that album,” says Christian. “We wanted to show we’re about more than just techno. We’re not purists, and we wanted to broaden our tastes even more. I’m really excited about music just now. Everything’s melting together, everyone’s playing everything and there’s a lot of good music out there. It’s a fun time.”
