With his track “Oceanium” San Francisco based sound artist Federsen is giving his debut on Etui Records. His music can also be found on labels such as Telrae, Tiefenrausch, Waehlscheibe or his own vinyl imprint Fifth Interval Recordings. Time for us to have a chat about his analog synthesizers and tape machines.

Do you remember the key moment that got you into house and techno?

I was a teenager in 1989 as acid house and detroit techno hit the shores of the UK which is where I am from. It was a massive cultural musical movement and being right at the centre of it was hugely inspiring. A good friend of mine who was a DJ at the time and very connected to the scene gave me a tape to listen to. It was a demo tape by someone called Derrick May and it took me to another dimension! That combined with the same friend having a great studio with synths and drum machines was my introduction into electronic music.

What is the idea behind you track “Oceanium”? Can you take us through the production process?

I originally wrote this for my live performance with Fluxion in Public Works in San Francisco last year. I wanted to be able to play out a few new tracks live so wrote it for the live performance. I brought it back to the studio and decided to tighten it up for a release. It is based around a simple evolving chord structure and the name reflects the changes in the ebbing and flowing of the chord like an ocean swell as it shifts sonically over time.

I have a a lot of synths and other drum machines that are synced to a super tight midi clock ‘Acme SND’ the heart of my studio. Everything is written and performed with multiple machines working at the same time. I love to use LFO’s on various sounds to allow them to evolve and grow in random directions. Then everything is fed through my SSL desk and into a couple of outboard compressors and I record live dubbing with tape delay, phasing and other FX. I only use the computer at the very end to tighten the arrangement and apply LFO’s and some subtle EQ, FX and compression. I have always found it difficult to sit in front of a computer and write music.

I love being able to walk around my studio as all the machines are running and manipulate and nudge and push each one with live mixing FX on the desk.

Your describe your music as “deep hazy dub influenced techno with vintage tape delays and analog synthesizers”. Tell us about your studio setup.

My studio evolves subtly each year however the centre of the studio is the ACME SND and SSL X desk. The SSL lets me track and sum in and out of my Universal Audio Apollo DA/AD convertors and then into Ableton to record every single machine that is running.

The majority of my music is a combination of samples I make myself from various sound sources. I also spend time with subtractive synth programming and sequencing drum machines and running a lot of Elektron gear all running at the same time but running at slightly different timings to humanize the rhythm. I recently got hold of an old Prophet 5 which has become the main chord synth, It is a truly amazing synth with deep powerful resonance and cutoff frequency for chords. FX are crucial to the process as everything is fed through a chain of FX from old Roland and Korg tape delays to phasers, delay pedals and reverbs etc. I recently got some unique delays from OTO and Polymoon.

From what do you draw your inspirations?

I draw inspiration from living here in the Bay Area, from its beauty and nature to living near the pacific ocean. The drives walks and hikes here are incredible. And then there is the rich diverse culture of S...