Max HeyraudChloé Lula joins Mord with a mini LP that captures techno at its most textured, hypnotic, and disquieting.
San Francisco-born, Berlin-based artist Chloe Lula presents one of her most impressive works yet in a career defined by defying convention. The DJ, writer, producer, and composer steps up to Bas Mooy’s Mord label with Ego Sum, a mini LP that stands as a testament to her non-singular approach to techno.
Ego Sum feels quintessentially Mord—rough and rugged, built for high impact. It’s carnal, gnarly techno, yet it avoids falling into industrial clichés. Instead, the record is textured and kinetic, alive with movement and tension. Its screwball, off-kilter rhythms seem designed to unnerve as much as to move, creating a physical yet cerebral listening experience.
Chloe’s influences from Silent Servant to Coil can be felt throughout. The result is murky, noisy, and atmospheric music crafted for the darker corners of the club. Her artistry extends far beyond the techno sphere. A classically trained cellist with a love for droning ambient soundscapes, Chloe channels subtle emotional undercurrents into her work. Every movement feels like it’s driven by an unseen energy, delicate yet brooding and impactful.
I know track names are important to you and often reference literature you enjoy. Could you share where and why Ego Sum came from as the title for this mini-album? Was there a key concept guiding the project as a whole?
The title Ego Sum actually came from an ensemble piece I’ve been touring over the last year with the composer Billy Bultheel called A Short History of Decay. The performance is based around a book by the Romanian philosopher E.M. Cioran. While the book—and the piece—are loosely about human decadence and civilizational decline, the reference was more of a nod to how much I’ve enjoyed playing the composition rather than a commentary on the collection of essays (which is quite dark!).
Aside from producing techno, you also perform the cello extensively. How do you navigate these two worlds, one rooted in melody, the other more atonal, when they remain separate parts of your musical practice?
I actually don’t see them as being different, and I’m increasingly trying to bring them closer together! The piece I mentioned above, for example, uses a lot of electroacoustic and feedback techniques to create very surreal drones. These are very much the same textures I’m using in the dance music I make; both are abstract and atmospheric, but one is more structured and functional for the dance floor. The releases I’m preparing to put out next actually use electroacoustic recordings made on stringed instruments as the main synth textures, and all I did was add percussion.
The mini-album nods to artists who have pioneered minimalism in other forms; Philip Glass and Steve Reich come to mind. Would you say that’s a fair assessment of your influences here?
I feel like it might come across as extremely pretentious to claim that this LP directly references artists like Steve Reich haha (since it is ultimately just a dance music release), BUT these composers totally influence my approach to music and art in all forms. I love the concepts pioneered by John Cage around seeing silence, noise or sounds from the ambient environment as music. Glass and Reich were also all about gradual, additive change and using slightly offset patterns to create shifting and unexpected textures. My favourite kind of music (whether it be techno or drone) uses these principles. I also recently discovered my love of Japanese architect Tadao Ando, who brings very similar approaches into his designs.
I had the chance to play Myopia over the weekend, and it surprised me in a very good way. The track is so textured and enthralling in its sound design, but it also has a real physical impact when played in context. How important is that sense of physicality in your music?
Thanks so much! It’s definitely important. I feel lucky to have played and danced on many dance floors with fantastic sound systems, and the way you experience music in these spaces is so much more powerful. I’m flattered to hear that I’ve somewhat accomplished that.
Why did you choose the name Myopia? Does the idea of near versus far vision relate to the track or the album?
There actually isn’t a deep answer here haha, I keep a list of words and phrases that I like on my phone, which I’ll update as I come across them in things I read. “Myopia” made its way onto the list. If I were to venture why I chose to write it down, it’s probably because I generally go for names that are a bit on the darker side, and this word definitely resonates with the time—shortsightedness in terms of how we relate to the environment, to the politicians we elect, to the way we see our habits of living ultimately affecting us as individuals and a society, etc.
Your music has been shaped in part by Silent Servant, both as an inspiration and mentor. Did you find yourself thinking about him while making this record, or drawing on any advice or conversations you had with him?
I’m not sure if there was any particular conversation with Juan that I was thinking of when I wrote these tracks, but some of the tracks on here that are more atmospheric (like Sepiatone, Order of Magnitude and False Absolutes) are totally inspired by Sandwell District and the specific kind of melancholia Juan always brought to his music. He and I saw eye to eye in that way.
This release is your debut on Mord, a label that feels like a natural fit for your music. Why did you decide to release this particular body of work with them?
I’ve been following Mord for such a long time, it’s always been one of my favourite labels! These tracks definitely lean a bit towards the “tougher” end of the techno I’ve made in the last couple of years, so I thought they might be a good fit and sent them to Bas. So thrilled to be releasing here.
I’m curious about your process as well. Do you write music while travelling, or is it mostly studio-based? With how much you move around, how do you strike that balance?
I probably write the majority of my music on the road, and my productivity comes and goes in waves depending on what else I have going on. Many of the tracks on Ego Sum were written on headphones while waiting for a plane, on an Airbnb sofa, sitting at a kitchen table … I definitely have to get creative with where I work since I’m rarely at home.
Your debut album came out in 2023 on Subtext. While this isn’t a full-length, it feels stylistically and aesthetically different. What would you attribute this shift in sound to?
I see these as two totally different projects and not necessarily a “shift” from one sound to another (since I’ve been putting out techno for quite a few years). I’m usually writing different styles of music at the same time. I’m back to focusing on techno right now because that’s what’s been inspiring me, but maybe next album will be ambient / drone again!
