Track of the Week: Von-Tek… The Blade Bloodrave, Schranz, and the “Last Shot” at Music

Bringing heavy metal aesthetics and relentless hard techno to the Perth underground, Cameron Bowden is giving his Von-Tek project everything he has.

Cameron Bowden, the force behind the Von-Tek project, has been DJing for 16 years. If he had to describe the sonic vibe of his sets, he paints a very specific, visceral picture: “The Bloodrave at the beginning of Blade”.

While he admits to going through a phase of playing “the most hardest industrial raw techno,” he eventually toned it back, realizing that an hour of “industrial garbage cans smashing isn’t all that exciting for anyone”. Today, his sound is constantly evolving, blending dark aesthetics with a high-energy dancefloor focus.

We caught up with Von-Tek to discuss the pressure of forced content creation, winging his first-ever techno set, and why he’s treating this era as his definitive shot at the industry.

⏳ The “Last Shot” Mentality

For Cameron, the Von-Tek project carries a massive personal weight.

“I think the main ideology I am having for this project is to just be consistent all the time and that I have nothing to lose,” he explains. “I’m 33 and this is pretty much my last shot at music, I’ve spent such a long time saying no to things or just refusing to do them for no good reason and also being extremely inconsistent and then wondering why it didn’t work”.

Armed with a student mentality, he is using the mistakes of his past to ensure this project has the best chance of succeeding. His advice for newcomers reflects this grounded perspective: “Learn how to beat match, have a student mentality and don’t be a dickhead”. He emphasises that if your reputation is ruined before you even begin, you have no chance.

🩸 Winging the Bloodrave

Taking risks has already paid off for the project. When asked about his most memorable gig, he points to his debut as Von-Tek at Signal at Geisha last year.

“I ended up playing an hour longer than I was booked for, the energy for the whole set was crazy,” he recalls. The wildest part? He had never actually mixed techno before that night. “I just loaded up my USB’s with tracks I’d picked and winged it, went pretty well I think!”.

Lately, he has been heavily experimenting with mixing schranz, noting that it reminds him of his years mixing drum and bass, allowing him to double drop and chop songs much more aggressively. When planning these chaotic, high-energy sets, he puts 95% of his effort into planning just the first 10 minutes to dictate the vibe, and then mostly plays the rest on the fly.

🛑 Culture Over Content

With over a decade and a half in the scene, Von-Tek has strong opinions on the current trajectory of the industry.

While he is loving the massive turnouts and the upward trajectory that hard techno and hardstyle are currently experiencing in Australia, he hates the modern digital hustle. The one trend he wishes would completely disappear? “Everyone being forced to be content creators, it’s super lame”.

🔊 Track of the Week: Hear The Noise

Our Track of the Week is Von-Tek’s Hard Techno weapon, Hear The Noise.

Produced heavily using the Serum 2 plugin, the track took six months to finally take shape. “The original sounded absolutely nothing like the finished version,” he admits. The ultimate breakthrough happened when he added the first breakdown leads, finally giving the track its identity and allowing him to finish the final version in under a week.

⚡ Von-Tek Quickfire

🔌 Pass the Aux

We ask every feature guest to answer a question left by the previous interviewee.

Incoming Question from LUST:

“What’s your most overplayed track in your playlists?”

Von-Tek:

“Master At Work – Golpe. I’ve been thrashing it lately.”

Outgoing Question for the Next DJ:

“If your DJ style was a fast food order, what would it be?”

Follow Von-Tek: [Instagram Link] and [Soundcloud]