For those who are dying to know what keeps ravers coming back to the shadows of the underground, gather around and lace up your combat boots: let’s talk about hard techno.


Before we begin, let’s make sure we’re up to speed on the basics. Techno music originated in the late 1980s and early ‘90s, establishing itself in US cities including New York, Detroit, and Chicago. Growing out of European dance music and becoming an unstoppable force of its own, techno has enraptured the global music market even beyond electronic genres.


Marked by thumping 4/4 kick drums and synths that can sound equally nostalgic and futuristic, this is the sound that powers the underground and influences countless subgenres across the electronic spectrum.




So, what about hard techno? Some may believe good, old-fashioned techno is intense, yet it’s nothing compared to its ferocious counterpart. Born in the late ‘90s, the Schranz movement— led by industry veteran Chris Liebing— saw techno producers dish out even harder kicks and ultra-fast tempos reaching and even exceeding 150 beats per minute. This style is what we know now as hard techno, and it’s become a sweeping movement in dance music like never before.


When we call this music ‘hard,’ we refer to the hardcore influences that act as the foundation of this sound. If you’re familiar with genres like gabber or uptempo hardcore (200 BPM, anyone?), you understand why this genre is aptly titled. Crushing kick drums and heavy distortion are the trademarks of hardcore and its many subgenres, including the sound of hard techno.


In 2019, journalist Annabel Ross penned a piece for Beatportal titled Why Techno Is Harder, Faster and Angrier Than Ever, exploring the emerging trend of techno DJs playing harder music. “Subgenres that were once considered fringe, or even garish, like gabber and hardcore, are suddenly everywhere,” she wrote, “and purveyors of these styles, and of harder techno, are often enjoying a sudden and unexpected boost in status.”




Ross investigates a few reasons why this has become a trend: the natural ebb and flow of the genre’s popularity across generations, rising tensions among nations and individuals worldwide, and simply just the fun of dancing like a maniac to mega-fast beats. Whatever your reason, there’s sure to be a style of hard techno just for you.


Made for aggressively stomping on the dance floor inside an abandoned warehouse at 3:18 a.m., hard techno is best complemented with minimal production when it comes to the setting — you won’t find 20-foot LED walls or confetti drops at these shows. Some of the best hard techno parties are nestled in a dark alley on the city streets, powering the dance floor with just a DJ setup, speakers, and maybe one all-consuming red light or strobe. This music is for dancing yourself clean of all sins, basking in the drama and the terror of the kick drum as you try to keep up with the DJ.






Despite the often rigid instrumentation across hard techno, there are plenty of opportunities to feel the groove and a sense of release in this music. With artists like Krl Mx influenced by the galloping percussion of psytrance and others like Vizionn pulling inspiration from classic trance of decades past, the spectrum of hard techno contains multitudes.




If you prefer the bouncier styles of hard music, there’s no shame in dabbling in the uber-fun genres like donk and hard house to work your way into the hard techno dungeon.


Visiting the catalogs of storied producers such as Fatima Hajji will be your key to the vast world of hard techno. With releases spanning back to 2008 available on digital streaming services, Fatima’s anything but traditional hard techno fare serves as a fine, diverse guide for new fans.



There’s more hard music on mainstream music festival lineups in today's electronic music scene than ever before. Take this year’s lineup for EDC Las Vegas, for example, which features hard techno acts Deborah de Luca, I Hate Models, Charlotte de Witte, and even hardcore acts Mad Dog, DJ AniMe Rob Gee. Now accessible to a broader audience, the potential for hard techno’s global explosion seems all but inevitable. We’ll see you on the dance floor — and don’t forget your stomping boots.



Let's Talk About Hard Techno

Spain

Fatima Hajji

As a globe-trotting techno maven, there’s no artist quite as passionate about her craft as Fatima Hajji. The Spanish producer, DJ, and label owner is a trailblazer and a triple-threat with two decades of work under her belt. With a penchant for fast, threatening techno beats, it’s no wonder Fatima began her music career from a place of nostalgia and intense discipline.

Fatima says she clearly remembers her father always listening to music. “He was a truck driver and so often was out but when he was at home, and even sometimes when I traveled with him in the truck, he was playing Arabic music that reminded him of his childhood in Morocco,” she says.

When it comes to her drive to make music, Fatima insists the motivation source is the motivation itself. “It may sound weird but it’s the truth,” she says. “I felt from a very young age that music was my thing. Of course I had several regular jobs during some years until I was able to buy a computer and take lessons about how to use production software — it wasn’t easy at all.”

Once she received an offer from an agency to move to Madrid for production lessons, Fatima committed to juggling day jobs before taking classes. “I used to arrive tired after a long journey to the place where I took the lessons,” she says. “The motivation to be able to express what I felt with music was what kept me learning. It took many years until I was confident with my sound, and the most important thing for me is to improve myself knowing that there is no end to learning.”

Fatima Hajji - AER (All Engines Running)

Join us across a marvelous trip where Technology lets life go abroad to our planet (Mother) Earth.

https://open.spotify.com/track/2X23kxJw0Tdi3al2xja4Gi?si=b7ef52601b114531
https://www.beatport.com/release/aer-all-engines-running/3563327

AER (All Engines Running) - Fatima Hajji (Videoclip)

Through and through, Fatima loves techno. “I was hooked early and fast to the sound,” she says. Fatima’s older brothers attended techno parties and told her she was too young to partake. However, they recorded tapes of the parties that she used to swipe and listen to at home: “It was something instantaneous and magical.”

Digging deeper into her adoration for techno, Fatima calls its culture somewhat of a “tribal thing,” citing the history of how humans used music to get in community and trance together. “It’s something powerfully spiritual,” she says. “We are social animals and to be feeling and dancing to a techno set can produce a great connection between the people.”

She’s aware that techno isn’t for everyone. “People who never get engaged with a techno set must try to feel it,” she suggests. “Of course, it is not the easiest kind of sound for some people the first time they listen to it, but not everyone is in the appropriate frequency, I’m guessing. But I’m sure most people can get in by avoiding any prejudices and letting their body feel it and expressing that through dance.”

Fatima says a typical day in the studio lasts from the afternoon until late-night. “It depends on the day, sometimes I’m looking for new music for my set but most of the time, I’m working with Logic, starting ideas, or developing new sounds.” 

When you dive into Fatima’s storied catalog, you’ll find a plethora of releases and tracks named after special figures in her life, including her 

 she named after one of her dogs. She says there are more titles with deeper meanings. 2013’s “Liam Como Las Lias” is named after her nephew while tracks “

” are named after her dogs and cats. She even says 2021’s “

” was named after an inside joke between some friends — her discography is a reflection of her life.

In 2016, Fatima established herself as a curator and host by launching her record label and events imprint, 

. The symbolism behind the name and mission is profound. “The moon provokes an irresistible attraction along with the color silver,” she says. “The 

oon is a full moon, and at this time, the effects caused on Earth are the biggest — it affects nature but also us as we are part of it.” She adds that the icing on the cake is that it’s also a symbol of feminism, tying her identities together into one entity.

Coming up on Silver M, Fatima says she’s currently in the process of releasing her first full-length album with a handful of new singles on the way. Currently, Fatima says her favorite song to play out is her remix of the timeless “Sweet Dreams” by Eurythmics, while some of her favorite DJs and artists include 

Fatima recognizes techno’s evolution towards harder and faster styles and shares her thoughts about music acting as a circle. “I think there are cycles, all goes faster and harder until it reaches a point when a new, slower trend starts to emerge,” she explains. “It happened with minimal, then with tech house, and it will happen again — then after, all will start to go faster and harder again.”

Now 20 years into her career, Fatima would give this advice to her younger self, “I think that all of the experiences accumulated in life are what make us efficient or wiser, so these experiences need to be lived.” You’ll never learn the lesson if you don’t take the ride.

As a globe-trotting techno maven, there’s no artist quite as passionate about her craft as Fatima Hajji. The Spanish producer, DJ, and label owner is a trailblazer and a triple-threat with two decades of work under her belt. With a penchant for fast, threatening techno beats, it’s no wonder Fatima began her music career from a place of nostalgia and intense discipline.

Fatima says she clearly remembers her father always listening to music. “He was a truck driver and so often was out but when he was at home, and even sometimes when I traveled with him in the truck, he was playing Arabic music that reminded him of his childhood in Morocco,” she says.

When it comes to her drive to make music, Fatima insists the motivation source is the motivation itself. “It may sound weird but it’s the truth,” she says. “I felt from a very young age that music was my thing. Of course I had several regular jobs during some years until I was able to buy a computer and take lessons about how to use production software — it wasn’t easy at all.”

Once she received an offer from an agency to move to Madrid for production lessons, Fatima committed to juggling day jobs before taking classes. “I used to arrive tired after a long journey to the place where I took the lessons,” she says. “The motivation to be able to express what I felt with music was what kept me learning. It took many years until I was confident with my sound, and the most important thing for me is to improve myself knowing that there is no end to learning.”

Through and through, Fatima loves techno. “I was hooked early and fast to the sound,” she says. Fatima’s older brothers attended techno parties and told her she was too young to partake. However, they recorded tapes of the parties that she used to swipe and listen to at home: “It was something instantaneous and magical.”

Digging deeper into her adoration for techno, Fatima calls its culture somewhat of a “tribal thing,” citing the history of how humans used music to get in community and trance together. “It’s something powerfully spiritual,” she says. “We are social animals and to be feeling and dancing to a techno set can produce a great connection between the people.”

She’s aware that techno isn’t for everyone. “People who never get engaged with a techno set must try to feel it,” she suggests. “Of course, it is not the easiest kind of sound for some people the first time they listen to it, but not everyone is in the appropriate frequency, I’m guessing. But I’m sure most people can get in by avoiding any prejudices and letting their body feel it and expressing that through dance.”

Fatima says a typical day in the studio lasts from the afternoon until late-night. “It depends on the day, sometimes I’m looking for new music for my set but most of the time, I’m working with Logic, starting ideas, or developing new sounds.” 

When you dive into Fatima’s storied catalog, you’ll find a plethora of releases and tracks named after special figures in her life, including her Kua EP she named after one of her dogs. She says there are more titles with deeper meanings. 2013’s “Liam Como Las Lias” is named after her nephew while tracks “Nuska,” “Tanketa,” and “Aslam King” are named after her dogs and cats. She even says 2021’s “Donde Vas” was named after an inside joke between some friends — her discography is a reflection of her life.

In 2016, Fatima established herself as a curator and host by launching her record label and events imprint, Silver M. The symbolism behind the name and mission is profound. “The moon provokes an irresistible attraction along with the color silver,” she says. “The Silver Moon is a full moon, and at this time, the effects caused on Earth are the biggest — it affects nature but also us as we are part of it.” She adds that the icing on the cake is that it’s also a symbol of feminism, tying her identities together into one entity.

Coming up on Silver M, Fatima says she’s currently in the process of releasing her first full-length album with a handful of new singles on the way. Currently, Fatima says her favorite song to play out is her remix of the timeless “Sweet Dreams” by Eurythmics, while some of her favorite DJs and artists include Klangkuenstler and T78, flexing her hard techno taste. 

Fatima recognizes techno’s evolution towards harder and faster styles and shares her thoughts about music acting as a circle. “I think there are cycles, all goes faster and harder until it reaches a point when a new, slower trend starts to emerge,” she explains. “It happened with minimal, then with tech house, and it will happen again — then after, all will start to go faster and harder again.”

Now 20 years into her career, Fatima would give this advice to her younger self, “I think that all of the experiences accumulated in life are what make us efficient or wiser, so these experiences need to be lived.” You’ll never learn the lesson if you don’t take the ride.

Words by: Jordan Mafi

Fatima Hajji

Articles

Jordan Mafi