Biography
Rod Modell earned recognition as a foundational figure in dub techno chiefly via the Deepchord endeavor and through his Echospace partnership with Stephen Hitchell, known as Soultek, the pair jointly directing the Echospace Detroit imprint. He has also issued multiple ambient-oriented solo recordings as well as the dancefloor-oriented 2019 album Captagon.
A Detroit native, Modell reached adulthood amid the city’s initial techno wave and formed friendships with early architects of the style including Derrick May, Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson. He first appeared in the mid-1990s as one half of the duo Waveform Transmission alongside Chris Troy. In 1998 he collaborated with Michael Mantra on the Hypnos release Sonic Continuum, while his debut solo album, The Autonomous Music Project, arrived the following year on the Italian label Lunar. During the early 2000s he established the dub techno project Deepchord with Mike Schommer, resulting in a run of highly sought-after 12"s. Throughout the decade he continued releasing further ambient solo albums, the last of which was 2007’s Incense and Black Light on Plop. That same year marked the debut of the Echospace project with Chicago’s Stephen Hitchell; their albums The Coldest Season and Liumin, both issued on the British label Modern Love, earned widespread acclaim. The duo also founded the Echospace Detroit label to document their numerous aliases and related ventures.
Throughout the 2010s Modell continued Deepchord as a solo concern, delivering several highly regarded albums for the Scottish techno institution Soma. His first solo album in nearly a decade, Mediterranea, appeared in 2016 on Echospace Detroit; three years later he issued his debut for Tresor, Captagon. Markedly distinct from his other work, the album presented high-energy, dancefloor-focused material that evoked his Deepchord output played at double speed.
A Detroit native, Modell reached adulthood amid the city’s initial techno wave and formed friendships with early architects of the style including Derrick May, Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson. He first appeared in the mid-1990s as one half of the duo Waveform Transmission alongside Chris Troy. In 1998 he collaborated with Michael Mantra on the Hypnos release Sonic Continuum, while his debut solo album, The Autonomous Music Project, arrived the following year on the Italian label Lunar. During the early 2000s he established the dub techno project Deepchord with Mike Schommer, resulting in a run of highly sought-after 12"s. Throughout the decade he continued releasing further ambient solo albums, the last of which was 2007’s Incense and Black Light on Plop. That same year marked the debut of the Echospace project with Chicago’s Stephen Hitchell; their albums The Coldest Season and Liumin, both issued on the British label Modern Love, earned widespread acclaim. The duo also founded the Echospace Detroit label to document their numerous aliases and related ventures.
Throughout the 2010s Modell continued Deepchord as a solo concern, delivering several highly regarded albums for the Scottish techno institution Soma. His first solo album in nearly a decade, Mediterranea, appeared in 2016 on Echospace Detroit; three years later he issued his debut for Tresor, Captagon. Markedly distinct from his other work, the album presented high-energy, dancefloor-focused material that evoked his Deepchord output played at double speed.
Albums
