As part of the underground techno crew Technoir, Ranjit Nijjer has been bringing his own unique take on techno to Melbourne for over 2 years now. Technoir begin their third year of parties with a bash at Third Class in the city. Ranjit takes some time to talk about all things past, present and future.

At the relatively young age of 22, Ranjit Nijjer has achieved more than he says he ever dreamed of in the world of DJing. After starting his own night with friends and fellow techno enthusiasts Tim Boyd and Sam Kearney, Ranjit has also gone on to hold his own alongside some of the best electronic talent in Melbourne, as well as playing alongside international talent like Holland’s DJ Misjah and Ignition Technician from the UK. Technoir has become one of the most successful regular underground parties to take place in Melbourne in recent times, with a couple of stellar warehouse parties last year as well a second appearance at the Lounge in December for their annual Christmas Party. He has also had DJ mixes featured on Triple J on both Mix Up and more recently The Club, as well as on Kiss FM and Syn FM. If that wasn’t enough, he’s had guest spots at some of Melbourne’s best underground nights, such as Lectroland, MTC, and Loud; however his true passion continues to be his own party, Technoir.

At Technoir he’s been able to exercise his position as musical director, creating a highly unique style of techno music for both himself and the party, which in each case is both very eclectic yet very single-minded in its approach. “I find it hard to describe the kind of music that I play, outside of calling it techno, however sometimes I find that label somewhat inadequate because these days techno has become a little too defined, yet segmented into these styles such as minimal, that kind of takes away from the all encompassing sonic and kinetic possibilities that first attracted me to Techno in the late 90s. Once you get too caught up in listening to and playing particular genres of music, I think it is easy to lose a lot of the freedom and the creative side of the music and become typecasted [sic], because then someone is restricting their horizons as far as what they will experience and hopefully feel”.

These days Ranjit tends to draw a lot of his inspiration from forms of music outside of the dance scene, taking their energy and redirecting back into his DJing. “I find that hip hop, mostly late 80s rap such as Public Enemy and Schooly D, and heavy metal such as early Metallica and Pantera, provide some of the best inspiration when it comes to my techno DJing, as they bring a variety of feelings, rhythms and sounds that I really enjoy bringing out in techno. The highly controlled aggressions of heavy metal, combined with the rhythmic and harmonic interplay of hip hop, have both been a big part of the development of my sound.”

Ranjit says his favorite place to play is his own Technoir parties. “We’ve worked really hard at Technoir to develop and maintain a really high level of quality in all facets of the party. From decor and lighting, to the schedule of the acts and especially selecting our core residency, we make sure everything is top notch. That attention to detail really reflects in the enthusiasm of our punters, which is really amazing to see, especially in the sometimes elitist and apathetic techno community. They always come with an amazing attitude and dance their arses off from start to finish, which just makes them such a great crowd to play for.”

You can catch Ranjit Nijjer playing at Technoir this Saturday 23rd June at Third Class. Doors open 10pm. Photo by Jason Lingohr