"The biggest lesson I learned is that it’s possible to make an album with limited gear and poor skills in abedroom which can be talked about 30 years later": Ken Ishii on Reference to Difference

Ken Ishii.

For his second full-length album, and his first on a homegrown Japanese label, legend ambient techno producer Ken Ishii wanted to up his game. Motivated by the need to deliver something new, experimental and exciting, he began building on the lush and low techno templates of his debut – 1993’s Garden on The Palm, released on the cult R&S Records imprint. Adding in new textures and influences, showcasing many more sides to his sound. 

“I aimed to make something I hadn’t shown on my first album and bring it out to the world,” says Ishii. “I wanted Reference to Difference to be more diverse, so I started to combine these melodic, ambient and fierce elements together with my techno-influenced sound.”