A creative relationship that began with a remix has developed into something considerably more substantial for David Castellani and Ken Ishii. Three years after the Japanese techno pioneer reworked Castellani’s Hyperstop, the pair have completed their first collaborative EP, Obia, a three-track meeting of different musical perspectives built from spontaneity, analogue experimentation and a shared instinct for where techno can go next.
Released on Castellani’s Noetic imprint, Obia traces its beginnings to Los Angeles in November 2024. Ishii was in the city for an extended stay that included an appearance at Noetic’s first LA showcase and after years of talking about working together, the opportunity finally presented itself.
“It happened pretty naturally over time,” Castellani explains of their relationship. “Ken remixing Hyperstop was really our first creative link, and after that we stayed in contact. We got together in LA during his visit and just experimented. No big plan, just seeing where it would go. Some of those first ideas really stuck with us. We kept going back to them, and that’s what led us to shaping a full EP.”
Collaboration can easily become a negotiation between established creative identities, particularly when both artists arrive with highly developed ways of working. Ishii and Castellani instead found a rhythm that left space for ideas to develop without either producer attempting to dominate them. “It flowed because we both listened and left room for the work,” says Castellani. “Ken’s approach is focused and calm, so nothing felt forced. We tested ideas, responded quickly, and moved on. That kept the process fluid without overthinking it.”
The results unfold across Eidolon, Obia and Phantasma. The opening track builds patiently through shadowy atmospheres and hypnotic pulses before the title track applies greater pressure, its forward momentum punctuated by details that appear fleetingly before disappearing back into the mix. Phantasma, meanwhile, closes the EP with mechanical propulsion, shifting tension and descending tonal forms that lend it an otherworldly quality.
Despite their shared origins, Castellani doesn’t regard them as three variations on exactly the same idea. “We recorded a big pool of material together and from that selected what felt strongest,” he says. “Each was then developed into its own piece. They still share the atmosphere of the original session, but each stand on its own with its own focus and identity.”
Hardware was fundamental to establishing that atmosphere, although Castellani is reluctant to reduce the record’s character to a particular synthesizer or piece of equipment. “It wasn’t about one particular machine defining the record,” he says. “We captured a lot during that session, using modular, external hardware, plugins, whatever was useful in the moment. The sound came from collecting those ideas and choosing the moments with the strongest character. The hardware mattered, but mostly because it kept the process physical and reactive.”
That relationship between physical unpredictability and digital precision sits at the centre of Castellani’s wider practice. The Italian-born producer, modular synthesist and multi-instrumentalist has made hardware-led techno a defining element of both his productions and live performances, but his approach is not based on rejecting software in favour of analogue purity.
“For me, it’s about the different ways you can make music across digital and analogue spaces,” he explains. “Inside the computer, you can control every detail. In modular or analogue systems, you’re building a network of interactions that you respond to. I think the sweet spot is moving between those modes, precision in digital and spontaneity in analogue.”
His fascination with those interactions has extended beyond using instruments to designing them. Through Anti-Kulture, Castellani developed the Precision Disrupter modular sequencer, an instrument now found in studios including Richie Hawtin’s. Designing tools has, in turn, altered the way he considers the structures underpinning his own music. “When you build a sequencer, you’re formalising certain musical behaviours,” he says. “It forces you to ask what patterns matter and why. But for me it goes deeper than just looping back into how I compose. It’s really part of the foundation of the whole process, finding different pathways toward the most exciting musical ideas I can uncover.”
His description of creativity moves quickly beyond technology itself. “I treat music like a living thing. I’m always trying to dig deeper and find the source of what moves me and every tool, every system, every structure I build becomes another way of reaching it. The more I do it, the less it feels like I’m the source. I’m more like a facilitator. It’s not about brief flashes. It’s about drowning in it, endless waves you can live inside of. That’s the pull.”
That philosophy also feeds directly into Noetic. Castellani launched the imprint in 2021, initially establishing it through his own releases alongside remixers including Redshape, Matrixxman, Voiski, Etapp Kyle and Truncate. Five years later, he sees the label developing an identity beyond being simply a vehicle for his own productions. “Running the label became a way to clarify my voice by being in dialogue with other artists and the community and letting that exchange shape me,” he says. “Now Noetic is starting to stand on its own. It’s bigger than me, a little world where different voices can meet and grow. And that feeds my own work too.”
Releasing Obia there consequently carries particular significance. Castellani and Ishii initially considered taking the project elsewhere before deciding that Noetic was where it belonged. “It was never about compromising. In the studio, the focus was simply whether the music was working,” Castellani says. “Early on, we talked about trying other labels, but as the record took shape, it felt like releasing it on Noetic was actually the strongest move. Having Ken on the label is a very special thing for me. It also marks a strong moment for where Noetic is going.”
Another significant step will come with LA producer John Rojas’ forthcoming Skin EP, the first original solo Noetic release from an artist other than Castellani. His criteria for expanding that community have less to do with stylistic conformity than the mindset behind the music. “For me, it’s about artists who are really inside the music. Not just making tracks but chasing something through sound. There has to be curiosity and a kind of openness where the music starts revealing its own shape.”
Increasingly, that philosophy extends beyond records. Noetic’s showcases have developed a physical dimension to the label, while Castellani’s modular performances deliberately challenge the conventional separation between artist and audience. “Live events matter because that’s where music stops being a product and becomes a shared space,” he explains. “With my live modular sets, I want to be in the centre of the dancefloor, with people able to come close, get personal with the process and actually participate in what’s happening. And honestly, the more I do it, the more I feel like I’m a spectator too. We’re all inside it together.”
It is an outlook informed by a career that has crossed cities, disciplines and roles. Chicago gave Castellani what he describes as “a foundation in rhythm and discipline”, while Los Angeles provided “space and scale” for Noetic, his instruments and live modular work to develop. His move to Lisbon represents another deliberate shift. “I moved here partly to rebuild with focus, a new studio, a stronger system but also to be closer to the European community and to share more everyday musical life with friends, collaborators and fellow artists here,” he says. “I’m not looking to slow down. I’m pushing further, just more connected.”
Learning has remained another constant. As a teenager, Castellani studied drums with Juma Santos, the renowned percussionist whose credits include Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew. Castellani later spent almost a decade teaching at Columbia College Chicago and has continued that educational thread through modular workshops and music outreach. “Working with Juma taught me that education in music is more than technique. It’s transmission,” he says. “It’s someone letting you feel the weight, history, discipline and joy behind the music and it made me hear music as an institution we all participate in.”
Teaching and learning, for Castellani, ultimately belong to the same continuum. “I don’t really separate teaching from learning. For me, they’re part of the same process. Even when I’m sharing information, I’m still inside that space of discovery. Teaching forces you to organise what you know, question it and go deeper into it.”
That willingness to keep following ideas has taken his practice through techno, modular instrument design, contemporary dance, film, graphic design and fashion. Music remains the centre, but Castellani appears increasingly interested in what can happen when the boundaries around it become permeable. “I’ve always been drawn to deeper creative processes, not just making things, but really following ideas wherever they want to go,” he says. “Music is the center of it for me, but creativity doesn’t have to live in only one shape.”
Obia feels particularly representative of that philosophy: a project without an imposed starting concept that emerged through experimentation, exchange and a willingness to follow the strongest ideas. What began in a room in Los Angeles has travelled through Tokyo and Lisbon before arriving back at Noetic as an important marker in the label’s development.
As for where Castellani goes from here, there is little suggestion that he sees any meaningful finish line. “Creatively, it’s about continuing down the path I’ve been on. Growing, staying curious and sharing my life with this thing that keeps pushing me: music,” he says. “Moving forward, that means new projects, new collaborations and building something meaningful around sound. It’s still the same drive, just expanding into new spaces.”
David Castellani & Ken Ishii – Obia EP is out now on Noetic. Grab it on Beatport HERE.