Khainz: Finding Infinite Space

Swiss DJ and producer Khainz is a major force in the contemporary techno scene, with releases on leading labels like Spectrum, Tomorrowland Music, Eleatics, Katermukke, and his own imprint Module.

​Khainz's music has been featured at prestigious festivals such as Tomorrowland, Time Warp, Sonar, Exit, and Awakenings amongst many others, and he has collaborated with some of the biggest names in the industry, making him one of the most exciting and innovative artists today.

Type < / 01 Magazine sat down with Khainz to learn more about the drop of two of his latest EPs, including his double-tracker with KhoMha for Joris Voorn’s Spectrum, his own Module Music imprint, his take on the current state of the scene, AI, and more.

Hey Simon! How are you doing? Thank you for joining us today. It’s a pleasure to have you here.

Hello Axel! I'm doing great, although this week has been a little hectic because we had a lot of preparations to make for the Friday release on Spectrum. I appreciate being here.

Sounds like exciting times ahead! First of all, congratulations on the recent release of your electric new single, “Find Me”. So, how are you feeling about this one? What has the initial reception been like?

There's usually a lot of excitement around new releases, especially ones from my own label. We recently entered the Beatport Top 100 in Melodic Techno, which is always a positive indication. The single has been perceived very well from what I’ve seen so far.

“Find Me” seems like a very suggestive name for a track. How did this one come about? There’s a very cool hook to it…What was the creative process to get there like?

I stumbled upon the vocal sample a while ago and felt it was quite catchy, so I imported it into the DAW and built a track around it. As the vocal is quite rhythmic, I decided to go with something that has more of a progressive pattern. The name I actually chose because I feel that with all the music getting released nowadays (on Spotify it surpasses some 60000 releases a day), you gotta dig deep to find the music you like.

And “Find Me” is out via your own Module Music imprint, signaling its 6th release. How would you describe this start for Module Music? What drove you to pursuing your own label?

I started Module almost two years ago (the idea was actually there since 2016) in order to encourage up-and-coming artists and release my own music. However, I might be a little too particular about the music I release…as of late, I've solely released my own songs. When I worked with other labels, I didn’t like the fact of having to wait a long period between finishing a track and its release. Sometimes you want the music to be published as long as it sounds fresh to you.

So, what can we come to expect from Module Music? Where would you like to see Module Music in 5 or 10 years time?

I would like to release songs on a somewhat more regular basis; currently, I release a single every two to three months. So I definitely want to work on that.

At some point, I also want to have a few artists that can call Module their home and also do label showcases. There is still room for improvement but I feel after every release it’s getting better and I learn a lot of things over time.

By the way, as you said, we’re also on top of the drop of your new Spectrum EP, Infinite Space. Congrats, again. What can your fans expect to find on this one?

It’s a 2 track EP in collaboration with my friend KhoMha from Colombia. The lead single has been received great support by many artist and we have quite high expectations for this release. It’s a mixture of progressive house with some elements of techno and trance.

As mentioned this one sees you linking up with KhoMha. What was that process like? What would you say are some keys to a “successful” collaboration?

I received a message from KhoMha on Instagram asking if I would be interested in working with him. It was a really easy procedure because our perspectives on music are similar. We discussed some of the projects that we had each started and decided which ones had potential. So in the end he completed one of my projects and I did one of his, and we both were very satisfied with the outcome.

Khainz & KhoMha - Infinite Space EP

By the way…how do you feel about the use of AI in music? Have you implemented any form of AI in recent productions? If so, how do you feel about the results?

AI is a great tool to help you with things in production, like plugins that use AI to detect things that can help you with mixing records, for example, or even to get inspiration from different chord progressions or vocal ideas.

In a way, it’s a bit scary to see how far it has advanced in the creation of music. With a few simple “prompts” it can write you a full song - mostly something quite generic thought. I think as AI learns from music that has been done by humans, it never will be able to do its own creative process and the “human touch” will be missing, even if its difficult to detect whats done by AI in some generic genres.

Spotify already has taken down tens of thousands AI generated tracks - as they had to pay out royalties for those. There is no tool yet that can detect all of it. So. people are still making millions with AI-generated music on different streaming services.

Since we’re on the production front…where do you usually go to for inspiration? Do you have any routines or activities that help you open up creatively?

Since I work in the studio practically every day, my inspiration primarily comes from my emotions on that particular day. I often have 5 - 10 different tracks with distinct moods I’m working on at the same time. So I always have something to continue producing when I’m in the right mood for a specific project.

Stepping outside of the studio now…How do you feel about the current state of our scene?

I believe the last several years have seen significant growth in the electronic music scene. There was a shift following COVID-19 - larger productions and, in my opinion, an increase in the number of people drawn to electronic music.

Currently, I feel that there's a lack of personality. Everything that is created and gets “big” seems to be replicated repeatedly, in my opinion. Additionally, a track might become outdated in just one month. Some individuals frequently follow trends blindly, moving on to the next “big thing” as soon as the last one fades.

Having gone over the recent past and the present, what’s next for Khainz? What new milestones are you looking forward to? Where can your fans catch you next?

I have a quite packed agenda for the next couple of months, playing at Ushuaia for Tomorrowland, ADE and an upcoming tour in Mexico…definitely shows that I’m really looking forward to. I’m also planning the next release from myself on Module for October.

We’ll keep an eye out then! Thank you for your time, Simon! Catch you soon!

Thank you for having me!

Khainz & KhoMha’s Infinite Space EP is out now via Joris Voorn’s Spectrum. Find your copy here.

You can also check out Khainz’s “Find Me“ here.