Roman Poncet

French techno producer Roman Poncet created a staggering amount of work in the space of just a few short years. Recording everything from light tech-house to heavy, immersive techno under a multiplicity of aliases, he swiftly built a reputation as a name to watch. His debut album, Gypsophila, appeared in 2018. Born Romain Reynaud in Avignon in the south of France, he moved to Paris and launched his career in 2011 under the minimal tech-house alias Traumer with the "Relief" EP on Skryptöm. But it was two years later that he really attracted wider attention, when he was approached by Berlin techno institution Len Faki, who encouraged Reynaud to record something for his popular Figure label. The Roman Poncet alias debuted in 2013 with "Route of Pain," an EP of tough, jacking, functional techno; it was followed by a package of remixes from Truncate. After Poncet's 2014 EP Opening Moment for fellow Frenchman DJ Deep's Deeply Rooted label, the pair teamed up in 2015 to form the Adventice project, recording a trilogy of EPs for Tresor. That year they also launched another alias, Sergie Rezza, releasing an eponymous album on Desire. Meanwhile, Reynaud continued with the Traumer alias alongside his other work. In 2014 a full-length album, Takt, appeared on Herzblut; in 2016 he launched his own GetTraum label. After two further Roman Poncet singles, "Asua" (with Len Faki) and "Marguerite," the debut album from the project, Gypsophila, dropped in 2018 on Figure. Broadening the scope of his sound, it had the distinction of being only the second full-length released by the label in its then almost-ten-year history. ~ John D. Buchanan