Donnacha Costello mixes the latest Bodytonic podcast ahead of his album launch at the Twisted Pepper this Saturday.

Donnacha took some time out to chat with Kenny Hanlon on his podcast, his Minimise label and his new album.

Firstly, could you give us a bit of background on the podcast?

I decided to do something a little different for this one as I knew you guys were open to that. The mix is just over an hour long and consists of emotional music that could broadly be classed as "ambient". For me, "ambient" has always been an important part of what I do and it's nice to get a chance to compile some favourites. Now that I've made it I'll be happy to have it to listen to for myself.

I heard that part of the reason you discontinued the Minimise label was the association the actual name had with the minimal music emanating from Europe over the later part of the decade. But there has also being a certain change in direction in your sound with the new label too. Could you expand on that..

Well, that's true. I felt that the name was working against me, what with a thousand other labels out there called "mini-this" and "mini-that". There seems to have been a trend for a while to just stick "mini" in front of any old word and it was really irritating. I started MINIMISE in 1999 and it was titled not only in reference to minimalism but also in reference to the simplicity and efficiency that came with being able to run my own label.

In fact, it is not discontinued. I relented in the end, we actually have several really good new releases lined up for this year.

When I started Look Long in 2009, it was to give me a new space in which to create, free of the associations and expectations that had built up around MINIMISE. My musical approach with Look Long has been very different to that of MINIMISE and this has led me in some interesting new directions and was probably largely responsible for me making a new album last year.

How have you approached the new album compared with older material as I believe in the past you have changed your set up when entering different phases of music-making?

I'm constantly changing my setup. I really don't like having too much equipment in the studio at one time. There's a limit to how much equipment you need and how much you can be truly familiar with. I've built up a lot of experience with old Roland gear like the 808, 909, 101, 303 etc to the point that I now know them backwards. For that reason, I don't need to own them or have them always here. If I feel like I'd like to work with one of these things now, I buy one in for a particular project and it's like picking up a conversation with an old friend. Then the conversation ends, that piece leaves the studio and I move on. I don't see the point in having lots of money tied up in equipment that sits unused for 5 years and I like to try lots of new things out if I can.

In terms of how I approached the album, I bought a Roland 101, a Native Instruments Maschine, borrowed a Prophet 5 from a friend, put this all together with my Synclavier and basically just let things flow. I played rather than programmed a lot of the synths to try to get a looser feel.

The influences to be heard in your music certainly stem beyond the typical techno sounds. What music has grabbed your attention lately?

I listen to a lot of different kinds of music. I can't pinpoint anything that has massively grabbed my attention lately, 2009 was a pretty busy year so I didn't get too much of a chance to keep up to date.

How do you feel about techno as we enter a new decade, what do you think the future holds for it, as it has now moved from its infancy in the 80s through teenage years of 90s to where it is today?

I think it's important to be positive about it. There are a lot of things with which one could find fault but any such problems belong to the music industry in general rather than to techno in particular.

I think that there are probably interesting things still to be done. I'm very interested in the overlap of Berlin Techno and Bristol Dubstep and I think that's a pretty fertile area.

I also think that Techno's constant insistence on innovation can sometimes hinder it as certain avenues don't get fully explored. It is also worth remembering that sometimes the most arresting or innovative thing one can do is to be traditional.

I'm really interested in what Richie Hawtin is up to with the new Plastikman live shows. Richie has his detractors but I think that his reputation as the chief innovator in techno who drags people kicking and screaming into the future is well deserved. In fact, I think he might possibly be the most important figure in techno history.

In terms of gigging, your music has brought you all over the world now. You played the Labrynth festival in Japan last year. It is building up a near mythical reputation on this side of the world. How did you find it?

Yes, I've been extremely fortunate that my work has given me the opportunity to travel and I'm very thankful for that. I've played the Labyrinth twice and for me last year's was certainly the better of the two. It's a very, very interesting festival and definitely a unique experience.

You re-issued the Pleite 12 on the new Look Long label. Your Modul guise you released on Raster Noton from around the same time hasn't been seen since. Do you have plans on bringing back that project back?

I may well do some more experimental music that may end up on Raster-Noton or a similar label but as far as resurrecting the Modul name is concerned, I probably won't do that.

Do you feel the need to use different names for different projects much anymore?

I don't think I'll be doing that anymore, no. However, I couldn't guarantee that I would never use another alias. I've learned at this point never to say "never" :-)