Conforce is a restless producer from Terschelling, Holland, who strives only to combine digital and analogue together into atmospheric, well designed pieces of music, be they of house, techno or dub descent. With such an honest mission, it's no wonder the man known as Boris Bunnik has had continued success recently, with a number of singles, EPs and albums coming on respected imprints like Delsin, Clone, Meanwhile and Rush Hour. As a live performer, too, he is garnering ever more support with gigs everywhere from New York to Tokyo helping to establish him as one of contemporary techno's finest craftsmen.
Since initially being turned on to acid and rave thanks to a tape his father found in an old abandoned house, Conforce has been keen to go his own way. Despite being influenced back then by the likes of GERD, Dave Angel and Luke Slater (whose records he often spun); early Dutch rave and techno and, more recently, by peers and friends including producers and DJs from the northern Dutch techno scene, his music simply represents a feeling inside of him, rather than any particular artist, scene or genre.
''I don't tend to think in styles. Good music explains itself. I just go with the flow and see where the musical elements lead me, so I'm very versatile: for me, music is just pure self expression so I naturally reinvent myself with every track I create. I can't do the same trick twice... I can make techno, deep stuff, dub, ambient, house, whatever.'' Proof of that sonic dexterity comes from the fact that Bunnik also records as Versalife - a moniker under which he explores more abstract, experimental and transparent electro for Clone West Coast Series.
Of course, a Conforce live set is also a very personal expression - one which manages to find a balance between techno depth and dancefloor accessibility. Although not afraid of technology and machines, the human element is an all important aspect to the Dutchman's music: deep, pulsating, atmospheric, floating... the list of superlatives goes on (and those are just the ones tastemaker store Hardwax deployed when surmising his most recent album). Pin him down at your peril, though, for whatever you think you can attribute to the man's music, it's likely the artist himself has moved onto a whole other realm entirely.
''People ask how I create certain tracks... well, they just come out or they don't. Each one records just a small phase of my life. The next time I write it could be a totally different feel or vibe.'' Whatever the vibe, though, with credentials as assured as they are, wherever Conforce decides to go, it will always be worth following.
There are those who imitate, and those who innovate: Romanian born, Berlin based producer Cosmin Nicolae aka.
Cosmin TRG is unquestionably the latter. At this point in time you'll find him honing a ghostly, sketchy techno blueprint that fuses shuffling drums with eerie synths, snatched vocals-as-instruments and strains of Detroit and Chicago classicism. These analogue sounds arrive on labels like connoisseur Dutch imprint Rush Hour as well as Modeselektor's 50 Weapons and Untold's hotter-than-hot Hemlock, but are a stylistic mile away from the sound with which the man first emerged.
Back in 2007, when known simply as TRG, a breakthrough came courtesy of ''Put You Down''/''Broken Hearts'' - the track which launched Ramadanman, Panagea and Ben UFO's now much lauded label Hessle Audio. The ensuing years have seen Cosmin's sound in a state of constant flux, ever shifting through previously undefined sonic territory.
Although they say certain styles of music are native to certain cities, this producer is proving otherwise in the way his music draws distant parallels with 90's Warp, naughties London and du jour Berlin imprints like Fachwerk. ''There is no template in mind'' he says of his idiosyncratic sounds, ''we all have our own little strategies, but for me it's just about making it personal.'' A simple but effective approach, it's one that's working wonders for Cosmin who is now found DJing everywhere from Fabric to Sonar to Berghain on any given weekend.
As well as a debut album is coming late August 2011 on 50 Weapons, the restless creative's live setup is also evolving, endeavouring to create an ever more immersive and unpredictable soundtrack in the club. Though impossible to pin down, there's a distinguished and distinguishable sonic personality about all to that which bares Cosmin's name, and it's that which makes him the essential electronic talent that he is.
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