- Living, breathing, banging techno.
- Lindsey Wang, AKA Polygonia, is one of the artists defining the highly-textured new frontier of techno in 2024. You could call it organic, yet her amorphous sound is perhaps best described as harmonious, interweaving unfamiliar elements with a mercurial touch. Wang can make something completely otherworldly sound totally, well, natural.
With a hometown residency at Munich's BLITZ, alongside prized live and DJ slots at Sustain-Release, Dekmantel and Draaimolen this summer, there's an undeniable buzz surrounding Polygonia in discerning techno circles. Yet Wang says she's inspired by everything outside of techno. In a 2023 interview with Truants, she recounted telling a workshop of students to "let go of known patterns and see the world of sound from a different angle." Wang's releases bring this mantra to life; her latest, Da Nao Tian Gong, uses nifty sound design to invoke a beloved childhood cartoon.
Unsurprisingly, Wang is not one to be pinned down. Be it the sound design-anchored project Lyder, her own label QEONE, or co-producing an album's worth of experimental percussion alongside jazz drummer Simon Popp, it's fair to say her personal output matches the feverish energy of her mixes. There's multidisciplinary, and then there's Wang: Poly-disciplinary, you might say.
Wang's RA Podcast is no different, another stellar emphasis of her artistry. RA.955 is a voyage into wild variations of texture, rhythm and feeling, guided along by the principle of endless metamorphosis. Supple driving grooves meet crinkled surfaces, scuttling hi-hats meet chattering sonics, and good luck keeping hold of a consistent beat for long. Behold a living organism raised by the club and the great outdoors in equal measure.
What have you been up to recently?
I've been producing tons of new music, playing super interesting back-to-back sets and discovering loads of new music through the events I've played, followed by intense digging sessions.
How and where was the mix recorded? And can you tell us the idea behind it?
It was recorded in my studio in Munich with four XDJ-700s and my XONE96 with the Big Sky Reverb and TimeLine Multi-Delay pedals connected to it.
The idea of the mix was to showcase my love of mixing groovy yet trippy and cheeky techno together with unique dubstep, breakbeat and electro. I love the crossover of four-by-four and broken beats, it makes each type of beat even more spicy in combination. They work so well together and yet offer an interesting contrast within styles.
What are you looking forward to in the near future?
I'm looking forward to my upcoming tour in Asia and Australia in November and December. I've never been to Australia, but I've always been fascinated by its wild nature and music culture.
My first stuffed animal ever was a wombat which was as big as me as a baby. Since then I've been waiting to finally see them in real life! I hope that I'll get the chance to watch them doing their daily business for a bit, they are such funny animals.
What's one social or political cause you want the world to pay more attention to?
People should stop opposing each other and instead collaborate together in peace to save our planet and nature, which is in the deepest crisis since humanity remembers. It is the biggest danger for the entirety of existence under this stratosphere.
No war will help to solve this problem at all. Let's keep peace at least within our bubbles to be able to work together on this big mission, as reflective conversations and respect for other opinions and backgrounds is crucial for this.
Everyone should check which measures they can take to protect our environment. It is not possible to change everything at once, depending on one's profession and other factors, but a little thing can make an impact if many try to work on this.
What's one club or party that had a major impact on you as an artist?
I enjoy festivals the most. The two that have really influenced my musical, and overall cultural vision, are Freqs of Nature in 2018 and Fusion this year. Both gifted me moments which deeply inspired me, and ever since, I've been chasing this feeling as they changed the way I perceive music, light, stage design and crowd. I can't wait for another experience like this.
トラックリストEhua - Leggera
Traevor - Musgo
Orbe - Radar INE
Scibor - Secret Kuegel
Polygonia - Broken Temptation
Innersha - Konda
Decoder, Barbosa - Sewer
YYARD - Swallow
Montague2 - Jane's Tool
Kareem El Morr - Elements
Amotik - Hara
Polygonia - Never Have I Seen...
Sterac - Solidify
Voorman - Surface Scatter
Biemsix - Healing
Deluka - Plastic Funk
Allen Mock - D4
Tensal - Molecular Base
TWR72 - Applause
Toobris - T169
Metapattern - Gatekeepers
Pugilist - Chrysalis
Ozferti - Mosquito Beat
Sun People - Seul
Dog on Acid - Respect the come up
Henry Greenleaf, Delay Grounds - Calpohol
Peder Mannerfelt - Big Ball
Polygonia - Black Swords
COUNT - STICK N POKE
Bondaruek - Amo verte arder
Symbolism - Erato
DJ Plead - Ambush
Jonny From Space - Never The Right Time
Polygonia - Signo
Sentient - Deadpan
RHR - Estimulus Sonido
Gannein - Hiraeth
Jannik Assfalg - Berlin
Alessio Landini - Arete
Perverse - Seismic (feat. Gantz)
EKSTR - Seek