The Love For Electronic Music _ Interview with Exium
In 1999, Valentín Corujo and Héctor Sandoval decided to work together as the successful partnership Exium (which is derived from the Latin word ‘exitium’ which means ‘destruction’, ed.).
Their early work quickly attracted the attention of the Spanish labels Tsunami Records (of Christian Wünsch) and Oscar Mulero’s Warm Up label. In 2003 Exium took part in Oscar Mulero’s Warm Up Tour and in 2008 they set up a new project called “Sellección Natural together with their fellow countrymen Reeko, Christian Wünsch and Oscar Mulero, himself again. This laid the foundations for a great relationship and friendship between the five, which has endured for over ten years, and whose work makes up a very important part of the best and purest Techno that has been produced in Spain over the last decade.
In 2010, this alliance of friends and colleagues created PoleGroup; a platform and record label that is becoming more and more essential in terms of Techno today.
In the meantime Exium and their music have evolved also, changing from their original hard, rough and minimalist direction to a more downtempo, Detroit, electro orientated sound, with more focus on detail and emotion. This resulted in their new (second) album ‘A Sensible Alternative To Emotion’; a new milestone in the careers of both.
Words: Colin Kraan
Photos: PoleGroup
You have just released a new album, named ‘A Sensible Alternative To Emotion’. Can you explain the title of the album to us?
It´s related to our first album which was 100% Techno, aimed at the dancefloor and designed to be spun. With the new album, we wanted to offer an alternative to that, keeping the Exium sound but with more nuances.
The music on this album is a bit different from what we normally hear from you. Why?
After all these years of making music mainly oriented to the dancefloor, we wanted to make an album that kept the Exium personality but at the same time explored other textures too. We found it interesting to seek out other records and make a more complete album.
Which track on this album does express your personalities the best? And why?
We could not decide on just one, the whole album reflects our personality, although some tracks are different to our well known or popular sound, all have the Exium’s soul inside.
Will you use some of the music on this album for the club? Or does it have a different purpose?
Yes of course, we are already using some tracks in our sets and according to the feedback received, many of the tracks are being played by other artists. Other tracks are aimed more at home listening rather than club action.
