Tech house is a type of house music that includes musical elements from techno. The name "tech house" came from a short name used by record stores to describe a kind of electronic dance music that mixes techno features, like strong basslines and hard beats, with the melodies and rhythms of progressive house. Tech house first used the simple and quiet style of music found in techno from Detroit and the UK.
In the mid to late 1990s, a tech house scene grew in England around club events like The Drop, run by Mr. C (Richard West) and Paul "Rip" Stone, and Heart & Soul and Wiggle, run by Terry Francis and Nathan Coles. Other DJs and artists connected to this music at that time included Charles Webster, Pure Science, Omid 16B, Bushwacka!, Cuartero, Dave Angel, Herbert, Terry Lee Brown Jr., Funk D'Void, Ian O'Brien, Derrick Carter, and Stacey Pullen. By the late 1990s, London nightclub The End, owned by Mr. C and Layo Paskin, was seen as the main place for tech house in the UK. Across the Atlantic Ocean, one of the first people to create tech house music was Lucas Rodenbush (E.B.E), who started releasing records on the West Coast of the United States in 1995.
Characteristics
Tech-house is a mixing style that combines deep or minimal techno music with the soulful and jazzy parts of house music. It also often includes dub elements. Tech-house shares some similarities with progressive house, which can also include deep, soulful, dub, and techno elements. This overlap has become more common since the year 2000, as progressive-house mixes have become deeper and more minimal over time. However, progressive house usually has more energy than tech-house, which has a more relaxed or "laid-back" feel. Tech-house fans often enjoy subtle details and the balance between the strong, rhythmic beats of techno and the more expressive elements of house music. They prefer intricate rhythms over the loud, repetitive beats found in some house music.
As a musical style, tech-house follows the same basic structure as house music. However, certain house music elements, such as realistic jazz sounds and powerful kick drums, are replaced with techno elements. These include shorter, deeper, and darker kick drums, faster and smaller hi-hats, noisier snares, and synthetic or acid-like synth melodies from the TB-303. These melodies may also include raw electronic sounds from distorted waveforms. Some producers add soulful vocals and other elements, such as those used by David Chambers. However, a strong, techno-like kick drum and bassline are common features in most tech-house music.
History
Since the early 2000s, tech house music has grown in popularity across Europe. While techno music, supported by artists like Adam Beyer and Richie Hawtin in countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden, has remained more well-known, tech house has become very popular in Spain. This success is partly because of new DJs like Marc Maya, Oscar Aguilera, and Raul Mezcolanza, who are resident DJs at a club in Barcelona called ROW14. These artists have helped tech house compete with other types of electronic music at festivals like the Monegros Desert Festival and Awakenings Festival. Additionally, DJs such as Carl Cox and Joris Voorn have promoted tech house, increasing its visibility.
Tech house is now a widely popular form of dance music. As of September 2018, the Beatport top 100 chart included many tracks by artists such as Green Velvet, Hot Since 82, Fisher, Solardo, MDNTMVMT, Bedouin, Patrick Topping, and Jamie Jones. These artists often include tech house elements in their music. The rise in tech house’s popularity is linked to the increased use of analog synthesizer sounds and the growing recognition of tech house artists in the United States. Labels like Dirtybird and festivals such as Coachella and CRSSD have helped bring more tech house DJs to the spotlight.
Fisher’s 2018 song "Losing It" is seen as one of the first tech house tracks to gain widespread mainstream attention. This track is also considered an important step in making tech house a major style in electronic dance music. In later years, other tech house artists achieved similar or greater success. For example, Acraze’s 2021 track "Do It To It" and Meduza’s 2019 songs "Piece Of Your Heart" and "Lose Control" became popular in the mainstream.