RB Exclusive Premiere: GAIST Provides A Taste of Techno With Their 2015 Mini Mix

I think if we can truly give a label to 2015 it has got to be the year of the resurgence of pure techno music. This is not me saying that techno ever disappeared, because it surely did not; however, 2015 saw festivals dedicated entirely to techno music on a mainstream level, the announcement of a Carl Cox ran music festival in Australia, the inclusion of the Resistance Stage at Ultra Music Festival, and an impressive amount of artists making it into public consciousness with the power of techno music including, Maceo Plex, Seth Troxler, Get Real, and many more.

2015 also gave rise to a techno duo resting just under the surface of worldwide recognition. This duo comes from the UK and consists of Stu Allan and Adam Wagstaff, otherwise known as GAIST. These two techno affectionados live, breathe, and eat techno music, having played festivals this year including We Are FSTVL, Zoo FSTVL, as well as at Sankeys Ibiza. In addition the duo has received tremendous support from Claude Von Stroke who charted their track “Kode” on Beatport earlier this year.

After ghost producing for a number of year, including each others tracks prior to meeting, GAIST, meaning “ghost” in Gaelic, took to creating a game plan for the two of them to achieve success. What this entails is developing a syndicated podcast, their own record label, a number of productions, and finding support from other artists, all before even signing a manager. With a clear roadmap, 2016 will prove to be a easy hurdle for GAIST to overcome on their way to world-wide recognition. As a special thank you for a phenomenal year, GAIST has released a mini mix representing their year in live performances and Relentless Beats has the honor of premiering it to you all! The mix is full of everything techno, so sit back and let it take you away:

As a follow up, I had the opportunity to chat with GAIST about themselves, their love for techno, what’s coming up in 2016, and their amazing 2015, check out the interview:

So you guys are all about techno! What is it, to you two personally, that makes techno music so compelling and what artists have influenced you in your productions?

“Techno for us is an experience. It’s not just the music, Its much more than that! It’s the whole experience of finding new artists, new music, and new techno nights nestled away in hard to find venues in cities across the world. Its also about the scene! The Techno scene to us is like a family, a very big one with your awkward Uncles, cheeky Dads, philosophical Cousins, crazy distant relatives, and at times it can be a pretty dysfunctional family but that’s where it gets interesting!

When it comes to the music we’ve been influenced by too many people to mention, but the likes of Richie Hawtin, Sven Vath, Seth Troxler and Ricardo Villalobos are names that spring to mind. It is all about completely giving yourself up to it; good techno can get you completely lost within yourself, you can be on a dancefloor for hours and it can feel as though you have only been there for seconds, you lose track of everything and just experience the frequencies. Not wanting to sound too deep but it is a pretty emotional experience.”

And you guys have prepared yourself for success with a well drawn-out and specific blueprint in mind. Before even finding management you were able to basically set yourselves up for success. Can you go into your thought process a bit, having mapped this all out before even finding management to aid in sorting all of the inner-workings of your brand?

“Both inside and outside of music we are both really hardworking and driven people, we have goals and plans to meet those goals. When we get an idea in our heads, its pretty difficult to move on until we have figured out the best way of doing it, and then putting that plan in place.

When it comes to GAIST we found that because we 100% believed in ourselves and what GAIST stood for, the plan was easy to form, the execution however is the tricky part. It’s still ongoing but everyday we make progress. We are huge believers that; if you’re not moving forward then you are standing still, and if you’re standing still the world is moving forward without you!

This keeps us on our toes. Keeping your feet firmly on the ground helps a lot too!”

Can you give us a little bit of a rundown on your plan with Kontakt Rekords and what releases we may see on it in the near future?

“Kontakt Rekords has taken a break for the tail end of 2015, simply because we had to focus on GAIST. But plans for releases through 2016 are already underway. The focus for next year is new talent. We work with a host of great artists and we really believe that their music is on point. So you can expect lots of fresh new material. We have put some GAIST tracks aside for Kontakt Rekords too so keep an eye out in summer for the follow up to the Kode EP. We are also working with names that are really well known about guest appearances on the label too!”

As far as DJing goes, you are a duo, so how does the fact that there are two of you up there effect the way you DJ. Do you ever try to one up each other with the next track? Turn it into a competition at all?

“Fundamentally our sets have to be fun and enjoyable for us so we don’t prepare a set, we like to keep it fluid and adaptable. We never really know where the set is headed until it gets there. We both have tracks that we have been given by other producers or off mailers etc. Sometimes one of us might drop a track that the other hasn’t heard before, this usually creates energy in the set, It never ends up in a competition really, more of a showcase of our crate digging abilities. There are some cheeky low fives in the booth when one of us drops an absolute bomb or a track that hasn’t been heard in a while.”

What was your favorite show you played in 2015 and why?

“All of 2015’s shows have been incredible, but I think one that stands out a lot is our set at We Are FSTVL. To play the same festival as the likes of Adam Beyer, Sven Vath and Loco Dice was pretty special. It coincided with our track “Kode” being charted by Claude Vonstroke on Beatport too. We literally woke up the next day in the hotel to the news. So all in all a pretty memorable weekend.”

With this mix that you sent over to us, it is basically a mix representing GAIST’s year in live sets in 20 minutes. How did you narrow it down to these specific tracks and is there anything you left out of this mix that you feel would have added to this representation?

“This mix started life as exactly that, we wanted to keep it to 20 minutes just because we knew any longer and we would get carried away. We went into the studio and switched on the decks and just went for it. Both of us and prepared a usb with some of our favorite tracks on and with 4 CDJs and 2 mixers we hit go on the stop watch. Needless to say there were a lot of tracks we couldn’t squeeze in there but that’s always the story. You guys could be listening to an 8 hour mix from us. Maybe we can do that one for you next time?!”

I’d say that 2015 was a pretty solid year for the you guys, you played all around Europe, you released a number of originals to fantastic acclaim, and I’m sure you’ve got more planned for us in the future. What does the next year hold in store for GAIST?

“We are so excited for 2016. We can’t even begin to explain how much fun next year looks already! We are back to that list we created, ticking off those goals! We have collaborations with heroes of ours, shows at venues we love, remixes for great artists, our new studio is being built, and we have a few other surprises up our sleeves too!

Bring On 2016 ! ! !”

Do you have any feedback to give to aspiring producers out there who know that production is their thing, but are having a hard time getting their foot in the door?

“Work as hard as you can! Never stop learning and keep your feet on the ground even when you are doing well. Always help and respect other artists! We all get into this industry because of a love for music so stay true to what you want, and remember that it’s important to enjoy every second!”

Thank you very much!

“No, Thank You!”

Stay Connected with GAIST:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GAISTProducers
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GaistDJs
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/gaist