UFO95

UFO95 channels techno back to its core traits of relentless, entrancing beats while embracing an improvisational spirit. After issuing his opening album Popularity Is Overrated in 2020, the producer and multi-instrumentalist began refreshing his nightclub sets by weaving in live playing instead of simply replaying tracks from decks or a computer.

Kilian Vaissade was born in Paris, where dance music surrounded him from childhood because his parents operated a club in the space below their home. He mastered several instruments, performed with rock groups as a teenager, and studied audio engineering before committing to the European club sound; under the names KVD and Pursent he began recording and delivering live performances, also linking up with the Paris-based RGS Collective.

His earliest UFO95 material, the acronym standing for “Unidentified Fabulous Object,” appeared in 2020 on Popularity Is Overrated. While clubs remained closed, the album reached a wider techno audience through trance-tinged cuts such as “On/Offline,” a joint effort with fellow French DJ Anetha, whose Mama Told Ya label put out UFO95’s first releases. Two years later he followed with Use Your Difference to Make the Difference, which again featured Anetha on “Wet for It.” Vaissade started his own ARCHIVE label in 2023 and released two 12-inch records under it; the next year he joined Tresor and issued the EP Backward Improvement, an explicit move toward a stripped-down techno aesthetic.