STONE TECHNO SERIES 2022

At Zeche Zollverein, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Ruhr Museum and The Third Room, with curators Dr. Achim G. Reisdorf and Ahmet Sisman, have brought together the past, the present, and the future in an unconventional project with the idea to sample the sounds of those natural raw materials and creating a huge sample bank.

All the sounds were processed by The Third Room Studios with high-end analog gear to create the best sound quality possible. And, last year, this sample bank was made available to a fine selection of artists such as Dax J, Efdemin, FJAAK, Hadone, Inhalt der Nacht, Jamaica Suk, Matrixxman, Nene H, Oscar Mulero, RØDHÅD and many more, resulting in several releases with unique soundscapes, atmospheres and rhythms.

In 2022, the Stone Techno Series returns with another exciting compilation. This time alongside a new festival that celebrates forward-thinking artists from 9th to 10th of July at Europe’s biggest coal mine complex under the UNESCO World Heritage Zollverein. The project is exceptional at its core, bringing back excitement and inventiveness to the genre.

This year‘s artists feature New Sample Library recorded and processed by Matthew Herbert and varied new takes on the rich sample library from Adiel, Ben Sims, D. Dan, James Ruskin, Julia Govor, Kink, Lady Starlight, Lokier, Luke Slater, Megan Leber, Out Of Place Artefacts, Perc, Setaoc Mass, Sterac and Tommy Four Seven together with new tracks from previously featured artists VNNN. and Ahmet Sisman in the series.

The project functions as a multidisciplinary ever-evolving experiment that brings different aspects together. Sampling, creating and releasing music made out of million years old inorganic materials which shaped and defined the Ruhr Area like nothing else. “Auf Kohle geboren – born on coal” stands for this region and the so-called „German Wirtschaftswunder“.

The Stone Techno project wants to embrace the history of “the Ruhrpott” while looking into the future as well. Techno Music stands for upheaval and modernity, while coal is the symbol of the Ruhr Area. This unique project will lend audibility to the ongoing process of transformation in the cultural and natural history of this region. Science and museums crossing paths with contemporary electronic music culture.

The Stone Techno project is not shy of its obvious significance. The world-famous Ruhr Museum and The Third Room collective mark a first of its kind of long-lasting collaborations between a techno brand and a cultural institution.

This time the project is conceptually going one step further: Before the final backfilling of the mine at Zeche Zollverein, the acoustic atmosphere of this significant piece of global mining history was recorded 1000 metres underground, not only as an irreplaceable acoustic document but also as preparation for a new extraordinary sample library.

A luminary of the electronic music scene has taken on this mammoth task, the British artist Matthew Herbert, this summer Matthew has sampled rocks and coal seams from the UNESCO World Heritage Zollverein to create a new sample library for STONE TECHNO from the soundscape of the underground world. The finite raw material provides the basis for new creative endeavours coming from previously featured producers alongside new ones.

The Stone Techno Series marks the use of coal mines, its minerals as a boundless source for creative inspiration, and artists displaying a vigorous return, enriching the sound and texture of a sometimes overlooked industrial force.

This year‘s Stone Techno series - Triclinic is out digitally 1st of July and as a special Vinyl Collectors Box in Autumn on The Third Room Label. Previous series were released in a sequence of 12" vinyl EPs.