Technasia

For thirteen years Technasia has created a unique east/west fusion that moves seamlessly from the Paris club scene, to the streets of Hong Kong, to the hippest techno venues in Europe. Founded by Charles Siegling and Amil Khan in 1996, Technasia thrived as a duo for almost a dozen years. Now, Charles has gone solo, taking Technasia into 2010 as a one-man project. Unlike a Hollywood divorce, the parting between Siegling and Khan is truly amicable. Hong Kong-based Khan retired from Technasia to spend time with his young family. “You have to live this scene every single day,” says Siegling, “It’s very consuming, Amil didn’t want that anymore.”Despite the change, Siegling has always been the ‘front man’ in terms of DJing and performing live, so Technasia is as thrilling and full-bodied a live experience as ever. If anything, Siegling is even more determined to infuse every aspect of Technasia with his utter absorption in sound, the passion born of 25 years engrossed in electronic music. Born in Paris and raised in an 11th century chateau, Charles grew up listening to everything from Depeche Mode, Jimi Hendrix to Legendary Pink Dots and Einstuerzende Neubauten.

His music-loving dad even introduced him to early British rave tunes. As a university student he continued his musical education the clubs of Paris listening to the likes of Derrick May and Robert Owens; and taking note of the records Laurent Garnier and DJ Deep played on their radio shows.In the mid-90s Siegling, who did a degree in film studies, went to check out the Hong Kong cinema scene. There, a mutual friend introduced him to Amil Khan and after they discovered a shared taste in electronic music, Technasia was born. They chose to base Technasia and their record label Sino in Hong Kong because there was no scene there, no record shops, no underground, no infrastructure. It was initially a battle for survival, but the location is vital to the Technasia ethos of music as communication.