A young producer from Catalunya is making serious waves in the techno scene. Before he hits Hong Kong Oliver Clasper uncovers the man behind the name

There must be something in the air out here in Hong Kong, or at least in the harbour water, as 2010 is shaping up to be a magnificent year for electronic music – both from inside the studio and from up on the stage. And as the mild spring makes way for the incessant heat and fug of the summer, the city is throwing its arms around a producer who is aiming to bring his own glow to the metropolitan hearth.

Hailing from Girona in Catalunya, Dosem’s signature tracks are awash with sun, sea, surf and the buzzing and infectious festival atmosphere of his hometown in the summer – like a ray of hot, incandescent light filtered through a bubbling 4/4 beat of pure energy. 2008’s 12” Beach Kisses was full of lush and dreamy synths, while the more recent Silent Drop on Hong Kong’s Sino Records took it one step further: a slow-building gem of a track that fills every void with pulsating drums and contagious vibrancy. The xylophone tinkles and stirs, while the bass is still heavy enough to skank out to. And as Dosem openly admits, it’s the sound that works best for him right now, after years of tinkering with various moods: “I was doing melodic techno and house when everyone in Europe was doing minimal music, because I believed in my concept until the end. Happily the minimal trend there was over and right now everything is much more open in terms of sound.”

Prior to his set at Wan Chai’s Vertigo, the producer and DJ explained how much the idyllic surroundings in which he grew up influenced his sound: “I’m completely into warm, optimistic, enlightening music. I used to dig much darker music but now I’m more interested in sound that transmits a positive message that’s full of hope.” This vision of sound is evident on one of the best tracks on the forthcoming Technasia album, Central (the formerly Hong Kong-based producer’s third installment, and first in five years). Arriving just after the first single from the album, the electro funk rhythm of Esperance, comes Movement, which is co-produced by Dosem.  It is a relentless build-up of drums and snares, snipped vocals and filtered synths, until the main piano loop drops. And pulsating out of the Detroit and Chicago house sounds, by way of Paris, Girona and Hong Kong, we have a dancefloor demon for 2010 – one on which the up-and-coming star of Spanish electonica can be seen and heard all over.

Interested in how the two producers hooked up musically, Dosem recalls how it all came together not so long ago: “It was really magic. I’ve been always a big fan of the label Sino and I’m really interested in Asian culture, so when Charles Siegling (of Technasia) came to me in a festival asking for some demos I couldn’t believe it. But it was something natural, we started to talk after a gig in Spain and we felt we really matched each other. So I sent him Silent Drop together with other tracks and he instantly proposed a deal with Sino Records.”

Music has always been in Dosem’s vernacular, in his surroundings and in his psyche, as he illustrates: “I spent a lot of my childhood with computers, programming and all that stuff. I first got in touch with music composition programs with Atari computers and my PC. My father also kept a really nice collection of movie soundtracks on vinyl and I fell in love with them. I was really obsessed with movies like Tron, Blade Runner and Akira.”

More tracks to be released on Hong Kong’s Sino are expected later this year, while the intriguing prospect of his remix of Technasia’s seminal classic, Force, which was first released back in 2000, is getting people talking: “It’s an official remix competition initiated by Technasia. I’m very proud he proposed for me to be part of this project. I tried to do a lot of compromises with it because it’s really a classic tune. After a lot of work we have selected the final version of the remix, which turns out to be some kind of re-actualised version of the original track. I really cannot wait to see it released. At least you’ll be able to have a first taste of it during my live performance in Hong Kong.”

So, the summer officially starts here, and my word is it going be a good ‘un – especially if Marc Dosem has anything to do with it. As the Catalan man himself says: “Just be yourself, and something magic will come out of it.”

Dosem plays Vertigo Ultralounge on Friday May 28.