Aril Brikha

In 1998, Aril Brikha introduced the world to deep techno soul, and his track Groove La Chord expanded the traditional boundaries of what is understood as techno sound. His music has been defined variously as techno to house - it's both and neither at the same time. The track Groove La Chord, which exploded dancefloors, turned out to be eternal, and its success surprised even Aril Brikha himself. For the first time, Aril Brikha heard his work in a Chicago club two years after its release, played in a set by Derrick May himself. It was at this moment that Aril realized he had created a good track. Aril has always been a cultural exile but has never been one to conform. He was born in Iran, and at the age of three, his parents moved to Scandinavia. Aril Brikha showed his musicality early on. At seven, he was given a keyboard, and his father, a pianist, taught him how to play. Long before this, Aril Brikha already had an ear for notes. A bit later, he became fascinated with electronic music - it was the complex sounds of Depeche Mode, Front 242, and Jean Michel Jarre that intrigued him. At the age of 16, he started composing music himself. Friends who heard this material said it was Detroit techno. At a time when the Swedish techno sound was just beginning to be defined and associated with minimal, Aril had already moved far ahead, creating emotional and complex electronic music. His music was unconventional, and that’s why local labels were reluctant to release it. Gaining residency status in several clubs in Stockholm, Aril established connections and got the addresses of a few independent labels, including Transmat Records, founded by Derrick May, and sent demos there. Subsequently, his album Art of Vengeance EP with the track Groove La Chord was released on the subsidiary label Fragile. Since then, Aril is referred to as the new star of deep techno, touring with his live show, playing everywhere from the Detroit Electronic Music Festival to fashionable clubs like Fabric in London and Air and Yellow in Tokyo.