Techno in its purest form is thriving at Stone Techno Festival

It’s a not-uncommon rainy German Friday in the height of July and I’m standing smack in the middle of the Zeche Zollverein coal mine complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site, listening to DVS1 play a three-hour techno masterclass. It feels bizarre attending a festival on such significant ground to the local Ruhr Area, yet the music works harmoniously within the surroundings — and it is at the sweet spot of this surreal contrast where Stone Techno Festival cements itself as a festival doing it differently.

Now in its third year, taking place across three days for the first time, Stone Techno Festival is an event launched by The Third Room, an Essen-based label, studio and event series founded by Ahmet Sisman. Stone Techno was first devised in 2021 as a release series where contributing artists were invited to sample, create and release music made out of literal stones, before the first festival instalment followed in 2022 at Essen’s Zollverein complex as a two-day affair.

“Since the first edition we have learned a lot and have constantly developed the concept further,” Sisman tells Mixmag. “This year is the first year where I am actually pretty happy about the outcome of the production. We have listened to the feedback from the past two editions and made almost everything right. The aim is to get better every year and [keep] pushing ourselves to reach our full potential.”

The industrial setting is perfect for the pure, raw techno on offer, and the strategic implementation of the stages - named Kokeri, Werks-Schwimbadd, Eisbahn and Salzlager after their respective areas of the Zollverein complex - immediately signal the festival’s intention to work within, rather than intrude upon, its historical setting. Soundsystems are carefully nestled into the ominous steel structures and where chimneys once billowed smoke into the sky, dancers - a real mixture of ages and demographics, who are, refreshingly, mostly sans-phone camera - let loose beneath.

“The UNESCO World Heritage Zollverein is the landmark of the Ruhr Area,” adds Sisman when I ask him about the area. “The symbol of this region, its past, present and the future. It is a big responsibility to host such a festival at a worldwide unique location. It doesn’t matter what age or background the visitors have, everyone is so impressed by this venue. It deserves to shine in a new transformative way and attract people from all over the world. That is actually our mission. To combine the techno culture with the industrial heritage of this region, because they are literally meant for each other.”

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On a personal note, hailing from a family of miners in the North East of England, I find it particularly resonant to witness the embracing of grounds almost identical to those in which my loved ones once worked. A nice touch is a small area close to the Salzlager stage, succinctly called ‘Science’, where local initiatives, the university, and those who work at the on-site museum share and offer interactive insights to learn about the Zollverein complex and Ruhr Area’s history and purpose over the years. There’s freebies, opportunities to play instruments made from minerals found on-site, and you can handle million-year old artefacts (brave move at a festival) – all soundtracked by the bouncier soundscapes of Salzlager. Working with the local community feels a core value of The Third Room throughout its productions, and in the case of this festival, creative installations from nearby designers and close involvement with stakeholders from the museum and Essen University helps to ensure a respectfully-run festival that affirms their love for the area in which they come from.

Once you get to grips with the immense setting and history of Stone Techno Festival, it’s time to go for a dance, and the line-up for this year is something to behold: names including Ellen Allien, DJ Nobu, Oscar Mulero, Polygonia, Blawan and Anetha are only a handful on the billing. I see, and empathise with, many an attendee staring at the set time posters in simultaneous awe and stress as they establish how to navigate clashes between stalwarts including Freddy K b2b The Lady Machine, DVS1, Skee Mask and Job Jobse.

A particular standout set comes from Chlär b2b Dax J on the Saturday, who play on Kokerei – a stage which, at the back, boasts a swimming pool for all to use. The offer is mostly taken up on the brighter Sunday, but it’s a fun touch nonetheless. The respectively Swiss and English DJs’ set is widely anticipated ahead of them taking to the booth, and it’s equally widely praised in the day that follows as the duo playfully experiment with tension and release, much to the packed out crowd’s glee, across the three hours. Some minor teething issues with the stage’s soundsystem from the day before are fixed and wherever you stand, you’re in for a truly immersive experience.

“Playing with Dax was great,” Chlär says as the dust settles after the festival. “We already had a few great back-to-backs before but with this one we reached a complete new level! We never prepared anything and it’s always impressive to see the synergy when we play together. It’s not a typical set where each artist plays one track after the other; here we constantly build on top of each other’s musical choice, as if we implicitly knew where the other wanted to go or do. But most of all: all my gratitude to the crowd and the festival, the vibes were amazing and this also definitely inspired us to play the best we could.”

Across the weekend, the festival invites a number of hosts to selected stages. Saturday welcomes Fuse Brussels to the Eisbahn stage, a favourite among many a festivalgoer due to its surreal lighting and intimate set up, boasting a line-up including Altinbas, GiGi FM and Ben Sims. Nearby, the Werks-Schwimmbad stage - where, if full to the brim, you could occasionally hear more dancefloor chatter towards the back - is hosted by Vault Sessions who curate a billing of VSC, Blasha & Allatt, Grace Dahl, Alarico and Yanamaste. The following day, the same stage is hosted by Mala Junta with Yazzus’ set particularly resonating with dancers, while Anetha’s Mama told ya hosts the Kokerei much to the delight of the brand’s dedicated audience.

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It would be a disservice to Mancunian duo Blasha & Allatt to not address their set, which receives one of the most emphatic responses of the weekend. The undercover Werks-Schwimmbad is full to the brim by the end, and euphoria bubbles over into cheers and yells as they drop Lars Huismann’s ‘Neural’ at just the right moment. All stages at Stone Techno Festival allow dancers 360 degree access around the booth, which makes Blasha & Allatt’s set a particularly special exchange of energy between the duo and the crowd. “Stone Techno was always going to be a highlight,” the pair tell me after the weekend, having also played back-to-back with Ben Sims at the afterparty venue, Mischanlage. “But, nothing prepared us for that!”

It’s an additional small charge to attend each afterparty at the on-site Mischanlage, which run between 11:PM and 7:AM on both Friday and Saturday night. Beste Hira b2b Sandrien are a real highlight and set the tone for the eight-hour affair, while DVS1 b2b Freddy K creates a core memory for many a dancer as the sun rises to their euphoric chords. It does become apparent that to feel the full effect of the soundsystem in this space, you need to stand in the centre of the room between the imposing concrete structures; however as more dancers clock this and move more centrally, there is never a sense of overcrowding. Instead, there’s a feeling of fluidity and movement as one.

When Sunday rolls around, Dasha Rush b2b Adriana Lopez are unsurprisingly popular as dancers (and, if you look closely, other DJs on the billing that day) spill onto the nearby pathway from the Eisbahn to witness a schooling in proper techno. With proper techno comes an equally proper crowd, and this year’s attendees of Stone Techno Festival are just that. The lack of phone usage couldn’t be further from some of the UK crowds I’ve frequented lately, and the openness and lack of judgement towards others is something which, while in theory a minimum requirement, feels like a lost luxury in an era of social media. It’s a tough time right now for club culture - The Third Room has since cancelled its eponymous festival scheduled for mid-August, citing low ticket sales and difficulties with the proposed setting of Henrichshütte Hattingen - so those doing it right, whenever they can, deserve appreciation.

On the logistics front, there is a small area offering a selection of healthy fruit, plus warm food stalls - if you’re a fan of chips, you’re in for a winner - open ‘til late, with little, if any, queueing. And while the festival run a shuttle bus system for the return journey from the event to Essen central station (the last bus leaves at 4:30AM, although the final DJs finish at 7:AM so those who stick it out are encouraged to rely on public transport), attendees are to make their own way to the festival. With this in mind, looking forward to next year, it could be beneficial to add a shuttle bus running from the station to the venue to ensure ultimate ease as the Stone brand grows in more popularity and, ultimately, welcomes more attendees unfamiliar to the area.

At its core, Stone Techno Festival is a space where techno in its purest form is thriving away from the noise of online, whereby the perception - or, depending on your cynicism, projection - of techno as a genre feels increasingly skewed, harder and faster. Though still in its early years, with 2024 marking the third instalment, the festival’s positive reputation thus far is certainly warranted – not only due to its second-to-none programming, but also its centrality and importance placed upon its surroundings, and festivalgoers’ positive reception to such. The sentiment to respect and honour what comes before you is a lesson to take into many different walks of life; and it’s safe to say that Stone Techno Festival preaches this in its own industrial, techno-fuelled manner.

Niamh Ingram is Mixmag’s Weekend Editor, follow her on Twitter