Tech house is a House subgenre that emerged around the mid-1990s in the UK. Before morphing into a genre, it simply referred to an approach to DJing that tried to find a middle ground between house and Techno. The underground scene was found in London parties, most notably The Wiggle and The End, and was partially born as a reaction to rave music going in Hardcore EDM direction and commercialized house trends like Diva House. Instead, tech house was inspired by the original atmosphere of Detroit Techno and Chicago House.
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Tech house is a House subgenre that emerged around the mid-1990s in the UK. Before morphing into a genre, it simply referred to an approach to DJing that tried to find a middle ground between house and Techno. The underground scene was found in London parties, most notably The Wiggle and The End, and was partially born as a reaction to rave music going in Hardcore EDM direction and commercialized house trends like Diva House. Instead, tech house was inspired by the original atmosphere of Detroit Techno and Chicago House. The term was spread by Swag Records store, which played a fundamental role in establishing and popularizing the genre by the late 1990s. The Wiggle Hosts - Eddie Richards, Terry Francis, and Nathan Coles - became the pioneers, releasing arguably the first tech house records under Housey Doingz, with other notable early artists including Silverlining and The Timewriter. Tech house was defined by minimalistic and repetitive melodies, focus on the bassline, and constant groove set in the 120-130 BPM range, recognizable by very prominent off-beat hi-hats.
From the late 1990s, tech house began to broaden and develop different directions. Californian labels Grayhound Recordings and Tango Recordings pioneered a percussion-heavy, Tribal House-influenced strain, that would find big popularity in the 2000s especially on Ibiza, while the US West Coast scene would be later dominated by Claude VonStroke's Dirtybird. In Europe meanwhile, the genre took strong influences from Progressive House and Minimal Techno, crossing over with then-emerging Microhouse, and forming a scene known as "minimal". Germany became central to that stripped-down, cleaner sound, illustrated by the major hits "Body Language", "Heater" and producers like Stephan Bodzin and Oliver Huntemann. Another key element in the 2000s was the common cross-over with Electro House, which resulted in many popular tracks. Mark Knight and his Toolroom Records were driving tech house further into a "big room" direction in the late 2000s, incorporating features like supersaws and more reverberated sound. However, this strain would disappear after the early 2010s, being absorbed by genres like Big Room House, with electro house influences on the minimal tech house variant in Melbourne giving birth to Melbourne Bounce.
In the early 2010s, the genre was largely popularized by a new generation of British producers, such as Jamie Jones, Hot Since 82, Patrick Topping, and Eats Everything, as well as their respective labels like Hot Creations. Newly founded Spanish events Elrow and ANTS also started to play a big role. Nevertheless, tech house was becoming a globally popular subgenre, with fuller basslines and punchier drums, achieved by modern production techniques, adapting it to the festival setting. While G-House emerged as a darker offshoot, tracks like "Suga" represented the genre's funky, dancefloor-friendly side. The mid-2010s saw the formation of numerous new labels, including Repopulate Mars and Solä, as well established players in the house scene - Defected Records and Glasgow Underground - also moving towards tech house, similarly to many artists, most notably Chris Lake and Eli Brown. The increasing popularity of the genre was best exemplified by the huge success of "Losing It", further spreading the energetic, in-your-face strain, continued by upcoming artists such as Martin Ikin, Biscits and John Summit in the late 2010s and early 2020s.
