Abstract Division

With over 25 years of collective experience under their belt, the established duo of Abstract Division is bringing deep and energetic techno sets to any club, rave or festival. During their 10-year collaboration, the duo managed to create their own, unique sound. Their in-depth knowledge in sound engineering enables them to release year after year clean, yet refreshing productions and each new track marks a subtle evolution in sound. In the past decade, the duo has released 45 tracks and 10 remixes in total and their tracks have been remixed by artists like Albert van Abbe, Area Forty-One, Ben Buitendijk, Ben Sims, Dasha Rush, Delta Funktionen, Deepbass & Ness, Forward Strategy Group, Function, Haeken, Jonas Kopp, Matrixxman, Marcel Fengler, Michelangelo, Mike Parker, Mike Storm, Milton Bradley, Norman Nodge, Lewis Fautzi, Tensal, Pacou, Peter van Hoesen, Perc, Psyk, Re:Axis, SHDW & Obscure Shape, Shifted, Stefan Vincent, Oscar Mulero (Trolley Route) and VRIL. While Paul is the label-boss of the Dynamic Reflection imprint, its (digital only) sub-label, The Nursery (former Digital Reflection) which aims to bring focus on talented, upcoming producers, is mainly Dave's responsibility. As a dj duo, their sets are energetic with a consciously built story line and evolving flow. Abstract Division likes to surprise, but never loses the interaction with the crowd. Since 2016, the duo is organising their own DECODE event series in different venues around Rotterdam. EARLY CAREER Before they started their long-standing collaboration, both Dave and Paul have performed and produced together with numerous other Dutch artists. Paul's first musical collaboration was together with Marco Rane under the alias Dynamo. Together they have released on labels like Aftertaste Recordings, Planet Rhythm Records and the sub-label of Bas Mooy's and Jeroen Liebregts' Audio Assault Recordings, called ARMS.Dave got known in the scene for his label, Audiosculpture (which he founded together with Damian Keane, Eddy Kreischer and Sicco Bosscher), for its electro sub-label, called Visitors Records and for his longstanding career of vinyl-only sets as part of the duo of Miller & Keane. Under the same alias, together with Damian Keane, he got to release on Radio Matrix - the label of the Dutch-born, Berlin-based electro artist, Delta Funktionen. The three of them also produce as a trio named the 'Phantom Regiment'. THE BEGINNINGS Paul and Dave met in 2009 in a club called Poema in Utrecht, where Paul worked as a booker at the time. He booked Dave as a solo performance for a Detroit special where he closed the night after Robert Hood. The very first time they sat together in the studio, they've experienced such a productive flow that the first track they've ever made, took them only 3 hours to finish. In the beginning, Paul and Dave ran under the alias Miller & Boex, but after deciding on starting a collaboration together also as a dj duo, they opted for a name change. Ultimately, they have chosen for the name Abstract Division. The phrase 'abstract' was important, because both René and Paul have always perceived techno abstract and 'division' as although their is a generational gap between the two of them, their co-productions show a high level of congruity. Their first debut under their new alias was at the Dutch Soenda festival in 2013. INTERNATIONAL BREAKTHROUGH While grasping every opportunity to play at clubs and festivals all over the Netherlands, they've simultaneously started working on two separate trilogies, titled Form and Function and Time and Perception. Both trilogies received a lot of support in the Berlin underground scene around the time. One of their tracks, titled 'Compound Statement' was even used as a soundtrack, after being discovered by the producers of the Netflix series 'Sense 8'. This success was followed by numerous remixes and releases on international labels like Semantica, Enemy Records, Raw Waxes or Lanthan Audio. After the trilogies, the duo started working on a new concept of a double EP they named Contemporary Spaces which was released in 2016 on Dynamic Reflection, along with 2 more EPs dedicated for remixes done by other musicians, like Matrixxman, Lewis Fautzi, Perc, Stefan Vincent, Tensal etc. The year 2017 brought an even wider support in the scene for their productions, when the founding father of the techno collective Underground Resistance, Jeff Mills opened the Rotterdamse Rave with their track Convergent. The same year, Richie Hawtin named in a BBC One Radio interview their track, Out of Alignment (released on Figure Jams, the sub-label of FIGURE) amongst his 10 favourite tracks of 2017. 2018 was another important year for Paul and Dave as the duo celebrated the 10-year anniversary of their label with a unique concept - a special box set of 5 EPs with the contribution of artists like Blawan, Donato Dozzy, Jeroen Search, Shlømo, Steffi etc., titled 'Continuum'. In the beginning of 2019, Dave celebrated his 50th birthday by hosting a new edition of DECODE in the duo's beloved club, Cultuurpodium Perron in Rotterdam which was re-opened again. Until today, Paul and Dave live in two different cities. Therefore, to be able to produce during the weekdays as well, they have their personal computers connected in Ableton. Before upcoming events, they prepare their track lists separately from each other and they usually don't agree upfront, which direction a set should go, but they intuitively adjust it according to how their crowd responds. That is why each of their sets is more like a spontaneous b2b, but between two experienced, like-minded dj's.