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INSIGHT 012

MIRO PAJIC


Three decades deep, Miro Pajic is still chasing the same sensation that pulled him into techno in the early ’90s — even if he views it through a broader lens. In our latest Insights interview, he unpacked his path from Frankfurt’s hardcore surge to Berlin’s minimal era, leading to the focused, high-tension world of his MSDMNR project. We dug into the nuts and bolts of his process: why everything still starts with drum machine and synth, how years of working “in-the-box” reshaped his approach to arrangement and automation, the importance of building a loop that can hold its own, and how he constructs depth with delays, reverb, and careful balance instead of quick-fix stereo tricks. Our discussion circled around tension — between groove and abstraction, control and chaos — and the discipline required to turn raw ideas into club-ready, narrative-driven techno without losing the spark that made him start in the first place.

MFA: You’ve been active since the early ’90s and your sound has gone through multiple transformations, from hardcore to minimal to more experimental techno. How conscious have those shifts been for you creatively? Are they driven by personal evolution, technical curiosity, or something else?
MP: It all started in the early ‘90s, when techno started to become a thing and sucked me in. Hardcore didn’t exist yet but I was fascinated by the more intense productions that I’d heard. From around ‘94 the scene moved in different directions and I started to be a part of the PCP crew, which moved more towards harder sounds and eventually ended up in various forms of hardcore. I went with it automatically, while releasing one vinyl release after the other. This went on until the early 2000s where I reached a personal point of not feeling it as much anymore. Although I was a well known figure in that scene, my heart was beating more for what it all started with: techno. In the mid-2000s minimal was the new big thing and labels like Minus were at their peak. It totally infected me. I moved to Berlin and started releasing under my real name. I guess the bottom line is that I love great music, and in my case, have dedicated myself to several genres over the decades.

I love that approach. As they say, there’s only two kinds of music: good music and bad music. But so as someone who came up under the PCP umbrella that helped shape the Frankfurt hardcore scene, how did that environment shape your sensibility in the studio? And since relocating to Berlin, has that context changed the way you produce or think about club music?
In my first years I learned all the basics of producing very quickly. I am not sure if the genre itself had a lot to do with it, besides becoming an expert in shaping a sound in various ways — especially when and how to use distortion, equalization, etc., to get the sound I was after. When I moved to Berlin and fully dedicated myself to DJ-compatible underground dance music, arrangements and structures started to become more refined. I started working much more “in the box”, which opened new possibilities like automation, crazier effects, or even just being able to work on several tracks simultaneously. But to this day, the core of my work will always be based on what I have learned from the very beginning: drum machine, synth — and the rest follows from there.

Drum machine plus synth is an undisputed foundation, no doubt. You’ve used multiple aliases over the years — Hypnotizer, E-Man, Jack Lucifer, and now MSDMNR. What makes MSDMNR distinct in terms of production approach or artistic intention compared to those earlier projects or work under your own name?
In my PCP years, me and Marc (co-founder of PCP) covered many of the PCP sub-labels, which all had different styles of music. We both used many different aliases, without letting the world know it’s all just us. It was fun and let us explore different personas.

MSDMNR was started later, when I was frequently visiting Berghain in the early 2010s, and thought to myself “I have to make true techno” in a way I had never focused on before — with full dedication. I loved the feeling of imagining UFOs landing and surreal, crazy vibes of excitement and tension that you can get in a place like Berghain. I had to let that feeling out, and started the label MSDMNR, which I continue until now. It’s my personal take and signature of techno.

It’s distinctive for sure. Looking back at your body of work, there’s a constant tension between control and chaos, groove and abstraction. When you’re working on a track, how do you balance those forces? Do you aim for a specific mood, or is it more of a discovery process?
These things vary, with what mood I’m in and how I approach it. The core of my music mostly starts with raw basics, and I build the world around it in the process. It’s always the balance of sticking to the groove or main dance element and building the sound design, atmosphere, and mood around that. This can sometimes get a bit crazy; other times I feel like keeping it more simple but I must admit I have a tendency to create stories rather than tools.

That narrative component is so crucial. Your album Systematic feels surgically precise but also sonically unhinged in a way. Can you walk us through how you approach arrangement — do you begin with rhythm, textures, or something more conceptual?
The concept was to create a story with build up phase that slowly evolved into a dramatic territory of more mind-bending peak techno. My approach was as usual, playful and starting with basics such as creating the beat and building around it. Often I like to have the lead synth set the tone and see what I build around that. In some cases it’s the accidental background sounds that set the tone and I adapt the rest to it. For that album it was just important to me to slowly build tension over time, finally ending the album with one or two tracks that calm the mood down again.

Your tracks often hit that sweet spot between hypnotic repetition and evolving detail. What kind of tools or workflows help you keep a loop interesting over six to eight minutes without losing its core energy?
The basic loop should be so good that listening to it for 20 minutes in the studio should be great — and have the same effect the next day too. If I’ve got that right, it gives me the foundation to make more out of it. Evolving details are a mix of experimenting, recording synths and processing them with effects and automation. I have no strict formula but surely some tendencies like adding huge long effects like reverb, pitch-delays, etc. onto textural sounds and then massage in even more effects. 

That’s a fun way to get some cool textures. You’ve been hands-on with hardware since the early days, but also fluent in modern DAWs. What’s your current production setup like — are you working in a hybrid environment, or do you prefer staying in the box?
For the past 20 years I have been mostly in the box but I’m happy that I started with hardware because it taught me many things about creating much with little possibilities, sound quality, and how to “get there” which I try my best to implement when I work in a DAW. Over the past couple of years I got myself several hardware synths, a drum computer, an old Mackie mixer, effects, etc. which I either play together as one and record the hardware session, or just record a synth here and there for further use in an existing track in Live.

When you’re shaping low-end, particularly for heavier techno, what techniques or tools do you rely on to keep it club-effective without overwhelming the rest of the mix?
I think having a good selection of sounds, shaping and balancing things right is the foundation of a good low-end and mix in general. Of course, sometimes I use gentle sidechain compression, but don’t fully rely on it, and avoid any obvious pumping effect.

A lot of your music has a raw, almost alien character to it — metallic textures, disorienting effects, stuttering rhythms. What’s your approach to sound design when you’re working on those more unorthodox sonic elements?
I like recording synth textures or sounds and processing them in several steps, recording them again for further processing. I keep things playful and child-like with a mix of controlled professionalism combined with, “I have no idea where this is taking me.”

That sense of adventure the process is so key to keep things interesting. Let’s talk about spatial processing. Your mixes often feel very three-dimensional — what’s your thinking around reverb, stereo placement, or psychoacoustic effects when building that kind of immersive atmosphere?
I don’t rely on stereo wideners. It’s more about well-selected short (and longer) delays, reverbs, and panning. The balance of what’s in your face and what’s subdued and more in the back (thanks to EQ) helps me create depth as well. 

Nice. Shifting gears, given your history as both an artist and a label head with Lazerslut, how has curating other people’s work shaped your perspective on your own output? Does being in that A&R role affect how you produce?
If I’m being honest, I have phases where I don’t hear very inspiring music. Other times I discover an artist or label and get huge inspiration, which I am always grateful for. In terms of artists on my label, it is mostly artists I know or music I like but in the end I make the music I make and just continue to do so.

You’ve collaborated with artists across vastly different stylistic spectrums. What’s a particularly instructive collaboration you’ve had — one that changed how you think about production or altered your studio habits?
Collaborations can get tricky and I need to really feel we are on the same page, like in a relationship — and have a good flow. My collaborations with Oliver Chesler (The Horrorist) have been a pleasure. Our first record was made in 1996, when we first met. In that case, he writes down his lyrics, while I provide 90% of the music. After recording his vocals and editing them the track usually develops quickly. Often he recorded some crazy industrial hardware sound effects that we add to the track and wrap it up.

Ahh that’s so cool to layer in the found sounds too. Didn’t realize that was part of your collaborations. Meanwhile, techno is often accused of becoming too formulaic. How do you avoid falling into patterns or habits that make tracks predictable? What keeps you curious?
Sometimes it’s okay stay formulaic, to some degree. Many succesful artists just follow a formula that works. On the other hand artists like Luke Slater always inspired me with their insane unpredictable alien masterpieces, which are a good reminder of what techno can deliver: pure art, a journey into mind-bending art. Like a drug-trip.

Is there any new gear or tools you’ve been inspired by? Any new tips or tricks to share?
I love to combine Ableton’s internal effects a lot and see what happens. I think Native Instruments’ Reaktor is always a source of inspiration even after many years of using it. Some of my Hardware synths like the Behringer 2600 are a great source of inspiration. Besides that I love companies like Valhalla DSP, Eventide or Soundtoys. Recently I discovered the fabulous tools from Manifest Audio — your catalog is huge but I’ve used several already on a regular basis. So far, Pattern Engine for sequencing, Tactum for drum synth sounds and several of the X-FX are in heavy rotation.

That’s awesome. Psyched to hear them in your pack. But so in general, do you write with the club in mind, or is that something you think about later in the process? How do you adjust or adapt a track depending on whether it’s meant for a system or headphones?
Since the beginning of my career I have imagined how the track I am working on would feel in a club scenario. It’s a fantasy that always gave me a certain motivation.

I can relate. You just recently released a Splice pack with us. How do you approach sound design in general, and was there anything unique to share about that project specifically?
As usual, I try to balance basic techniques combined with creative experimentation. I tried my best to create mix of useful tools and strong signature sounds. I suppose I do have a signature and hope it will be useful and fun to use for people out there.

Nice. If you had to describe your sonic “fingerprint" in a few technical or aesthetic traits, what would they be? And how intentional is that fingerprint?
My intentions are to deliver an exciting, fun, intense, creepy, sexy, dance-y experience. More like a rollercoaster than “easy listening”!

That’s for sure. So how do you measure when a track is “done,” especially in a genre where subtlety and detail often carry more weight than hooks or obvious resolution?
That’s a complicated topic. In cases where the track structure is relatively simple, I can call it done relatively quickly. On more complex material it can take a few days (or sometimes weeks, if I let it rest for a while) until I ironed out anything I wasn’t satisfied with, or simply fine-tune all the necessary elements. Once that’s done I close the case. I don’t like the feeling of being “stuck” on a track so I do my best to get from A to B as efficient as possible.

Yeah, I think it’s healthy to put things behind you before that stuck feeling sets in. Is there anything you’ve unlearned over the years, whether in terms of technique, mindset, or expectation, that’s been key to staying creatively vital?
I need to remind myself every now and then, to not forget to stick to the basics, keep it simple in the beginning and then eventually get carried away. Some things just always work, but in todays endless possibilities it’s easy to drown in options and forget to stick to your favorite tools. 

Love that — too much complexity and friction can definitely prevent flow; keep it simple to get swept away. So last but not least, besides our Splice pack — what have you got coming up? Any new projects to share?
I have several new Lazerslut releases as Miro Pajic coming up in March and very much looking forward to those.













MY MUSIC MOSTLY STARTS WITH THE RAW BASICS AND I BUILD THE WORLD AROUND IT IN THE PROCESS.



































SINCE THE BEGINNING OF MY CAREER I IMAGINED HOW THE TRACK I’M WORKING ON WOULD FEEL IN A CLUB SCENARIO. IT’S A FANTASY THAT ALWAYS GAVE ME A CERTAIN MOTIVATION.




































THE BASIC LOOP SHOULD BE SO GOOD THAT LISTENING TO IT FOR 20 MINUTES IN THE STUDIO SHOULD BE GREAT — AND HAVE THE SAME EFFECT THE NEXT DAY TOO.







































I’M HAPPY THAT I STARTED WITH HARDWARE BECAUSE IT TAUGHT ABOUT CREATING WITH FEWER POSSIBILITIES.