Chris Veron is a techno artist from Freiburg in Germany, and he also releases music under the alias, AXXX7en. His peak time style of techno mixes powerful percussion with invigorating synth lines, and he has featured on influential record labels such as Unrilis, Set About, Say What?, Codex, Riot and Reload. Chris Veron also runs his own record label called KickFire, and he recently dropped a new dark and driving single titled “Your House”. We invited him for this interview so we could learn more about his new release and other projects…
Hi Chris, it’s great to be talking with you today, can you start by running us through your background in music?
Hey, thanks for inviting me. My musical background takes us way back to the ‘80s. I didn’t grow up in a family of musicians or anything like that, but I learned to play the piano at the age of 5, and even then, I was a fan of the synthesiser sounds of Walter Carlos. I quickly became a fan of the Euro Dance of the time in my youth and started making my own stuff with Fruity Loops in the nineties. In the mid-nineties, however, teaching myself to DJ came to the forefront after I finished school. It wasn’t until 2001 that things really took off with gigs and my first residencies.
In 2016, I completely reorganised myself and have been in the studio regularly ever since. There are many new projects and there will be a lot more to come this year, much of it on my own label KickFire.
Tell us about where you live, and how the local scene has influenced your own music?
I have been living in beautiful Freiburg im Breisgau since the beginning of 2000, from where I have built up my career step by step. The 2000s and my residency at the Parkhaus in Kenzingen (one of the best clubs in Germany at the time) had a major influence on my musical path, as I was regularly supporting DJs such as DJ Rush, Chris Liebing, Monika Kruse, Slam and many more. Later, however, less so, as I’ve always been a music junkie and didn’t focus on just one direction. Drumcode and Adam Beyer in particular have had a major influence on me, as they still do today, although I have also been using other pseudonyms such as AAD (DE) for my melodic project for a year now and AXXX7en for the harder sound since this year. So, let’s see what comes next.
At what point in your life did you decide you wanted to become a DJ and start producing techno?
That was very early on, because as a teenager I listened to the HR Clubnights (I grew up near Frankfurt in the ‘90s) with DJs like Sven Väth, Taucher, Talla 2XLC and other DJ heroes of the ‘90s. In 1996 I had the opportunity to hear them live for the first time at the Hessentag. When Faithless “Insomnia” was played by one of my DJ heroes, I was hooked after that evening, and decided to start mixing records myself. The first steps towards producing followed at the beginning of the 2000s but I only really got into it with a new start in 2016.
Talk us through your new single ‘Your House’ and what inspired the track?
It’s really easy to give an answer. As a ‘90s kid, I’ve always been a big fan of old rave and big anthems, and last year I was driven to make a new, faster number, in that style and combined with an old rave track. So, I had the idea to combine it with the great vocals of “My House Is Your House.” I asked if I could use them and with the condition to rename the track and only release it on my label, I got the GO. I was really happy about that and I’m super happy with the result, as I think it’s very contemporary and is already getting a lot of support around the world.
How are things going with your record label KickFire, as I understand you decided to use the imprint to release ‘Your House’?
For legal reasons, I released “Your House” on KickFire, but in the end, it was a good decision, because my label, which is just now at release number 13 (the sublabel at release number 5), has really grown a lot within only 16 months. I’m really proud of the development and also of the great releases of the guest artists, all of which were in the Beatport charts. But above all, the streams are a huge success and we have just broken the 2.5 million mark. That’s really amazing and based on the chart rankings, KickFire is one of the top 60 techno labels worldwide. There are more great releases and artists planned, and I will be releasing at least 3 more singles this year and maybe my first album is planned for 2025.
What other record labels have you worked with, and what’s coming up in your release schedule?
I’ve worked with some really big labels now, and I would definitely highlight Codex by Spartaque, on which I also had my number 1 hit “Drift Line” in 2021, then Say What? by Ramon Tapia on whose label I had two very successful releases, then with my Italian buddies from Unrilis, on which I have already released 3 tracks.
I’ve also been on big labels like Phobiq, Orange, Set About and a few others, but the focus is now clearly on KickFire, as it’s simply the most rewarding for me. However, I only ever send my new tracks to a few selected major labels and DJs and that’s my goal for 2024. I’m constantly trying to improve, develop and find new ways to take a step forward.
Thanks for taking the time to talk with us today, is there anything you would like to add before we finish?
Really, thanks a lot for the nice interview. I really would like to thank all the people who supported me and believe in me since the beginning. Maybe if you did not know, I am now a specialist for Spotify, and I am doing 1 to 1 private courses for electronic artists. So, for everybody who is interested to grow their streams and monthly listeners, I am here for everyone, so get in touch via Instagram. Be free, be yourself and stay techno!
