No-Tek Interview (1998)

Interview with the French hardcore music collective No-Tek from 1998 about their punk roots and experimental approach.

No-Tek: Three musicians: Gab, Fred and Cyril.
Gab scenic designer and he became soon a sound technician. Fred is the computer specialist of the team, and Cyril, who has been a guitarist, is specialised in the harmonic elements of the tracks, although they are all polyvalent.

datacide: What are your musical origins?

no-tek: We are very eclectic, and all of us have listened to the same sounds. Everything really, and mainly punk. From Ministry, Gainsbourg, via Reggae, Hip Hop, alternative Rock, New Wave, Gothic, Jazz, Trash, Industrial, Hard Rock and other things without labels if you see what I mean.

datacide: How did you come into tek and which evolution brought you into Hardcore? Why Hardcore?

c: I arrived through curiosity with Fred.
f: The first time, I think it was to find a pill (laughs) – the real first time was in 1991 for my first musical collaboration on one of the first french labels, Rave Age; it was an excellent experience, a rebirth, a revelation which has been changing my whole life.
g: It was in ‘87, an acid rave in Spain, then in Parisian gay clubs, like Studio A and Broadside or Le Boy etc. Then it stagnated a bit, so I moved to Bruxelles in ‘89, where it was my real beginning into Tek and New Beat.
c: Hardcore is freedom of expression, and there are no limits to it..
f: I think the Techno opening could only have driven me into Hardcore by rebuff of non-evolution.
g: Because I don’t think I could do something else than Hardcore and also because I find an outlet in this and I think it’s the best way to unload my internal violence, because I enjoy the universe of extremes in music and images.
no-tek: And certainly also because of the music we listened to before.

datacide: What next pushed you to insert breaks into your hardcore, was it just because you like it or by philosophy? If by philosophy, can you explain it.

f: For musical effectiveness, and naturally because it’s a pleasure and maybe an unconscious idealism.
c: It’s groovy, it’s musical, it’s kicking, for me mainly ‘cos I like it.
g: By culture, because I really like Hip Hop and because after a while we saw Tek stagnating, becoming too linear, then we decided to break all of that ! It’s urban music with black tendencies. Protest music that I personally associate with Tek, and is mainly dedicated to all my friends from the Banlieue, to all life’s galley slaves, because I know that if I make a breakbeat, they’ll enjoy it. But especially not for fucking fascists, that’s for sure.
f+g: Break is born from Hip Hop and other black music, we’re not creating that, because it’s not our culture, but part of it. We bought our first records by Africa Bambaata or Grandmaster Flash when we were 12. Maybe one day we’ll do it.
no-tek: We are from the Banlieue, and we say it loud!!!
f: Because I insist that there is a big difference between Parisians and Banlieuesards.
g: There’s a segregation for a long time by the Parisians from the Banlieuesards, felt particularly in clubs and public areas! I denounce this Parisian sectarianism that I find unbearable.
together: Fuck That!

datacide: How is the Hardcore scene here and does Hardcore find its place in Free Parties?

no-tek: Timidly, because of police repression, Hardcore has two speeds:
a – Parisian DJ’s products sold to clubs for CD business returning to majors,
b – People who lock themselves in a cellar with a sampler to create good music and do it. That’s important! There are more and more good labels in France and that’s cool.

datacide: What about Gabba?

unanimously: We don’t like it at all!!! Here also two speeds:
a – Happy shit
b – Harder but not noisy enough.
g: At the beginning Rotterdam, Joe Doe etc. were o.k. but the reproach we can make is that it’s like a recipe that they keep remaking, only with different sauces. And after 5 years it still goes on. That’s stupid, boring and it becomes “Musette” (Musette is old French accordion variety-music)
f: It’s hardcore-musette!
g: It’s hardcore variety!

datacide: Are there many police interventions, which strategies are they employing, is there enough strategy on the other side to respond?

g: I believe that police intervention has become more and more violent, for example I have been given a 2’000 francs fine and three months probation, with seven other musicians for simple presence. In fact I should not park my truck backstage, haha! What intelligent behaviour by the police. It’s unofficially forbidden to make or even go to parties, but there are no laws against them in France. Police and government carry out a strategy whereby they push organisers to their limit and stop people helping them by implementing fines or sentences on them.. A strategy based on time with sentence after sentence. People get bludgeoned, organisers get sentences.

datacide: Where do you get your sounds from?

g: Every sound source is usable and interesting.
c: We use natural sounds, rubbings, everything striking our ears, because we enjoy sampling anyway.
f: we make sounds ourselves with voices, objects falling down, scratched etc. For example we did a track made of out own voice samples, even the kick. We love sampling.

datacide: What’s your political concept in relation to the movement, and what’s your political vision of the Parisian scene?

no-tek: Punk marked us deeply! Our concept:
– Mainly stay independent and self-produced.
– Musician collective with good wills.
– To always love music.
– Not necessarily wanting to live from it.
– Not to sell out ourselves or our music.
– No compromises.
– Political anarchists with revolutionary tendencies.
And to know our political vision of the Parisian scene read Fred’s resume below:

• Death to pseudo bourgeois technoid elitism
• Death to the elite
• Death to the media whore that parasitically rots us!

Our music comes from the core (the heart), the Elite brew, use, and then spit on the underground from the top of his throne by trembling to loose it. But it can feel reassured, his throne, we don’t want it. It stinks like they do; like their henchmen.

Thanks to all the artists, Djs, musicians who when we dance are not afraid to surprise us, to wake us up!

2. Music’s: the music who come from the core
the music to serve the self

datacide: I think there are no Djs inside No-Tek. Is there any particular reason, why not? What do you think of the Dj role in parties?

No, no real DJs in No-Tek because we haven’t got turntables. But it will be our next purchase. Because me (Gaby) and Cyril wants to mix. Beside Cyril and Fred played at the Compressiv Accelerator party in Concarneau.

f: Notek forcefully in the mix! The Dj role is very important, as long as he mixes good records with a good technique.

g: the Dj’s role is to no play a star game, it’s to give us pleasure and mainly make us dance.

f: the ancestral Dj’s role is to make people understand who they are through his music, to make them trip and to make them discover many things.

g: Yeh.

datacide: When you did the live sets at Teknivals what did this experience give you artistically and did you find what you were searching for? What do you think about this concept?

Yes we did live sets with R-Zac and Explore Toi at Teknivals and we found total freedom of expression.

g: What I find interesting in this concept is, for example, is if somebody comes, listens and does not enjoy then that’s no problem. They’ve got the choice to go somewhere else. What means if a dancer comes and dances to freak out knowing nothing is imposed on him. He really enjoys himself and that’s wicked! For the dancer who feels free and for the satisfaction of the musician. That’s the beauty of the thing. Do what you want to do.

f: The social side of the concept seems very important to me. I’m very happy to see a popular concept in techno coming myself from the popular caste. That I defend, here is the personal outcome for me.

datacide: Have you got a project for the next Teknival season?

Yes we actually prepare a live set for it. We’re deeply into it!

datacide: Any other projects?

Yes, two hardcore video clips that we’ve produced ourselves. We want to do with the visuals the same thing that we do with the sound. We have other projects to open ourselves up to, but because of the commercialty in the movement we’ll let you be surprised by not talking about it. Sadly we must protect our ideas.

Fuck them!
Fuck their system!

Interview by Oks
Notek 6 is out now.

• No-Tek label discography on Discogs
• No-Tek artist discography on Discogs

SUPPORT DATACIDE – ORDER A COPY, TAKE OUT A SUBSCRIPTION OR MAKE A DONATION – You can do all this through the form on the right of this web page (on mobile devices scroll down), or by clicking HERE for more information and payment options. THANKS!

Related Posts