Pris

British techno producer Pris conjures a dark, thick, textural form of techno which he took his time perfecting, slowly, releasing a small but perfectly formed body of work. Pris was born Jake Woodhouse to young parents who continued to enjoy the clubbing lifestyle and introduced him to it even as a child. He grew up with electronic music and, enraptured by its limitless possibilities, was eventually drawn to techno as his genre of choice. Whether by design or not, his project fittingly shares its name with the beautiful and deadly replicant android from the classic sci-fi film Blade Runner. Pris sent some of his early demos to Sigha; the more experienced producer introduced him to Avian label boss Shifted, who gave him advice on setting up his own record label. In 2013, Pris launched Resin with his debut EP "Unbeknown to Us," following up with "A Shot Across the Bows" the next year and "For a Better Understanding" in 2015. These early releases were more straightforward dancefloor tools, but contained some of the textural elements that he would go on to explore more fully on later releases, such as dense, polyrhythmic percussion. After moving to Berlin, he joined the Avian roster, releasing two EPs for the label in 2016, "This Heavy Heart" and "Love, Labour, Loss," which delved deeper into his experimental side. That year was his most productive yet, as he also put out two EPs on his new label Unbeknown to Us, named after his first release. After that his work rate slowed again; a promised album on Avian never materialized. 2017 saw the "Faith and Honor" EP on Semantica and a remix package on Resin of "For a Better Understanding" with versions by Blawan, Shifted, and Reeko. The "Flagrant Foul" EP appeared in 2018 on Non Series. ~ John D. Buchanan