With the release of his upcoming album REELUV, Luciid is stepping far beyond the boundaries of hard techno. Blending raw schranz energy with emotional melodies, breakbeat influences and deeply personal storytelling, the project feels like his most honest and ambitious work to date. We spoke with Luciid about the creative process behind the album, the current state of the hard techno scene, and why stepping outside of comfort zones is more important now than ever.
Hi Luciid! We’re really happy we can chat with you, especially at a moment when you’re about to release your album REELUV. How are you feeling right now, and what does this project mean to you?
Thanks for having me. I’m feeling really good about the album and I’m excited for my fans to hear a different side of my music that they might not have heard of before. Even though I’m really excited I’m also a little bit nervous to see what the reception will be like because a lot of these tracks are pushing my sound further than I ever have before. But overall I’m really excited for this project to finally come out as it’s been in the works for over two years.
REELUV doesn’t feel like a typical hard techno release. It feels more layered and emotional. When did you realize you wanted to go in that direction?
I think it doesn’t feel like a typical hard techno release because that’s exactly what I was going for. I wanted both my hard techno sound to go hand-in-hand with other styles and genres that I’ve been producing over the years. While I’m still producing schranz which can be considered in the hard techno world, I do think it’s important that what I’ve been producing since I started get a chance to shine. I think I realised that I needed a project away from hard techno because I got a little bit bored of the direction that the genre was going as a whole.
I am much more than just a hard techno artist, and I want this body of work to show this.
With all the emotion and contrast in the album, it feels like it might be coming from a personal place. Was there a specific moment that really shaped it?
Yes, I think it was 2024 when I was feeling a little confused and lost in the music world and I felt like my productions were no longer standing out. I felt like I needed a project to recognise my love for producing music and I thought the best way to do this is to experiment with different styles and go back to styles that made me fall in love with this kind of music. In the album you can hear a lot of emotion because that’s how I was feeling at the time and I think it was a rare case where this emotion really glowed through the productions.
The title REELUV is quite intriguing… what’s the story behind the name?
REEL Love, Real Life and the fight for real music, its about being the antisepsis of the current online only harder musical world hard techno finds itself. The online only relevance seams to be the only thing that matters these day and I wanted to make a statement that shows, the music showed always be the reason we all have careers, not the constant attention seeking the scene finds itself in.
If you had to describe the album in three words, what would they be?
Raw, emotional & unapologetic.
There’s a strong contrast in the album, with raw energy mixed with more euphoric moments. Do you feel like that balance defines your sound right now?
Yes, I think right now I’m producing schranz which is a genre that is really deep rooted in a more raw and unfiltered sound compared to a lot of the polished tracks that we see dominating the charts today. While I like having a really raw energy I do think that my productions do you have a certain sense of polish that can create a good balance between both.
But I would say that this balance probably defines my sound and it’s something that I want to explore further even passed this album.
Emotion plays a big role in your music. Where does that come from for you?
I think it’s important that producers use their emotion and feelings when making tracks as maybe it’s something that’s been lost recently.
For me like everyone else, the emotion comes through every part of life. Whether it’s relationships, good and bad times in life or how I’m feeling directly about music this can all influence what I end up producing that day. I think it’s important for producers to tap into their emotions and use it to their advantage when writing music and this is exactly what I have been doing recently and with this album in particular.
Is there one track on the album that feels the most personal to you?
I think the track from the album that stands out for me the most is REELUV and it’s the reason that I named the album after this track. This track for me really stands out because it’s a genre of music that I was producing a lot over the pandemic before I was releasing hard techno. This kind of emotional break beat Style track is the genre that really taught me how to produce and how to arrange tracks and also portraying emotion through melodies. I think this track may be slightly divisive for people who aren’t expecting this style but that’s the whole point of this album, to take people out of their comfort zone and get them to give other genres a chance.
This is an album, one that is fluid of genre and is asking to be listened to in full at the once time.
Did the creative process of this album feel different compared to your previous work?
Yes, I think with an album it’s going to feel a lot different than any other usual release. Because so much work went into this project it meant that we have to plan everything much more than we usually would. This included what way to release the tracks as we went for a waterfall release instead of a full release. Decided some extra work was warranted, as we wanted to make sure that the way in which the album released felt cohesive and made sense to the listener but it also meant that we could create more of a narrative than the usual release.
These tracks deserve a longer time to shine each in there own way.
With this album it wasn’t just about audio I also wanted the visuals too much the vibe of the tracks and tell a story throughout. I was lucky enough to work with such a great team of guys in Paris who really brought the vibe on the vision of this album to life. This is much more difficult than the usual release because there’s so many moving parts but overall it really felt special and it never felt like work.
How do you personally see the hard techno scene right now?
I’m a little bit split on the hard techno scene right now. On one hand it’s great to see so many young talents get a chance to play on the big stages and to get their tracks heard by so many people. But on the other hand, I’m not a fan of how hard the music has become. While hard techno has always had a really balanced mix of techno and the harder styles, I feel like the scales have tipped far into the harder world and it’s just something I’m personally not a fan of. As long as everyone is satisfied and happy with what they’re doing, then it’s cool. I’m happy to be in the schranz world now.
You’ve been getting support from some of the biggest names in the scene. Has that changed anything for you, mentally or creatively?
Getting support from bigger DJs used to be a really helpful and career boosting thing. Now I don’t really look to see who’s supporting my tracks. Obviously it’s a good sign if DJs are supporting your tracks but I don’t think it’s something that should affect you creatively mentally or in any other way in your producing career.
Artist need to focus on your own journey and find your own direction because if you’re constantly chasing support then you’re just constantly chasing trends.
I suppose this record is my way of signalling to the world that im an artist, in every sense of the word, a notion that has really fallen off in the last few years. Nobody has done a project as diverse or wide reaching as this, and I guess this is my way of showing things can be different in this scene.
What do you want people to feel when they listen to the album from start to finish?
I want them to feel like the experienced not just one genre but a journey through different styles.
I want people to be able to feel a myriad of emotions, I want the listener to have a deep personal listening experience that can help them in the madness of day to day life in 2026.
Looking back at the whole process, is there something the album taught you about yourself?
Yes, I really focused on my art here, in this crazy world, REEL art can be replicated, traded or bought, and I wanted to highlight to any artist whom has the talent that stepping out of their comfort zone is where real art and real music really get the chance to shine and not to be forced to conform to normality.
