Please share some of your childhood memories of the “Art of Music?  

I was initially a graphic artist, who did music on the side until music took over my life. I make music  with visual inspiration. I will often have a mood board of art, design, and architecture to reference from. For me, the artwork is almost as important as the song. The two are inseparable. Much like fashion and music are.  

For most of my career, I was in bands. Sometime after moving to London, I discovered that DJing could be done as a solo artist, without guitars and drums and complicated band relationships. I liked the idea of being alone and deciding my creative path and performance.

I have always been fascinated by astronomy. I am forever looking for answers about the evolution of the universe since the big bang, bigger questions about time and space, and the idea that there are presumably billions of life civilizations in the universe that are too far away for us to discover.  

The asteroids brought water to the earth, which in turn helped spark life. The name came out of this,  and the fact I was going by Bryan Black- it just made sense.  

I am one of the only “DJs” that is making techno with a pop/ rock song structure. Often employing guitars and vocals in my productions. As a performer, I try and give my DJ sets the feel and energy of a live concert.  

After Rick Owens (and Raf Simons) started using my music for runway shows— I got sucked into the fashion world, and this further enhanced my brand and approach to music. I am a minimalist, with a  nod to Brutalist architecture. 

I made my big splash in the techno scene in 2011 with the debut of Black Asteroid EP “Engine 1”.

I performed with neon lights, and sunglasses and the industry and freaked out. They never saw a dj perform live vocals, so it took some time before I was accepted.  

After a few years, my style was accepted and appreciated. Italy embraced my energy the most,  followed by countries in South America.

Djing is a craft, and choosing the right music to play in the right order is a skill. I respect being able to take control of someone’s night and tell a story. Initially, I was more interested in 1 hour live shows,  but when I DJ for 4 hours, it's another experience, and I appreciate both experiences equally now.

I was thrown into the DJ world. I just finished a tour with Depeche Mode with my band, MOTOR. I  chose to perform live with Black Asteroid, using live vocals, and playing samples with an APC-40 and  Ableton live setup. I even had my own light show.

This evolved into me djing with 4 decks of music and performing longer sets at clubs like Berghain and moving away from the punk rock live show approach.  

I am somewhere in the middle now- often have a live vocalist join my sets. Currently, I employ modular synths alongside djing on CD-J’s. In my studio, I depend on a rack of modular synths and Logic Audio software. Sometimes recording vocals and guitars as needed. But I create/ design all my sounds from scratch, I don't use presets. This was something I learned from working with Prince.

When I was starting out, I didn't have much experience playing instruments— so I used the computer to make complex music that I couldn’t perform on my own. This evolved over time, so I could record a  live performance, and make it more mechanical and interesting. I think it's very important to keep the element of danger and occasional mistakes in music. I am not a fan of loopy dance music, I would rather be challenged.

Before covid, I played in Tbilisi, Georgia. I was really impressed by the scene there, and the energy. It reminded me of Berlin circa 2002. Colombia has a great scene as well. However, the most exciting place for me to play these days is in Italy- I am always inspired by the architecture, and wine and the people are so passionate.

I am pretty nervous and anxious before I DJ. After 2 songs, I find a groove and then it becomes a  different experience, I really enjoy the 90-120 minutes once I get started.  

How would you describe the relationship between your choices and goals as a DJ and the expectations, desires, and feedback of the audience? How does this relationship manifest itself during a performance and how do you concretely tap into it? 

I try to present music to the audience they are not expecting, maybe they never heard it before. The audience just wants “bangers”. Hit songs one after the other. I try to go hard, then deep, and everything in between. At the moment I play many electroclash songs from 2000-2004 in my sets, which most people have never heard before. I love this challenge.