Fran Hartnett

Fran Hartnett is one of the most recognizable faces in Dublin’s techno scene, and has been playing techno in countless Irish clubs, one-off events and raves since 1997. Through many years of DJ-ing at, Fran enjoyed massive popularity under his then alias of ‘Azrael’. He supported internationally renowned artists such as Joey Beltram, The Advent, Kevin Saunderson, Billy Nasty, Marco Carolla, Rolando, and also gained a reputation as an accomplished DJ in his own right.
As his own music began to mature, Fran eventually moved away from this moniker, and by 2007 made his transition to playing live, something that he has been doing regularly around the country since.

Known for his penchant towards deeper and darker industrial tinged techno, Fran’s tastes are also rooted in ambient and experimental electronic music – flavours very much apparent in his powerful hardware based live sets.

The first half of 2009 saw the release of a number of remixes, in- cluding a remix of ‘Angles’ by Dutch techno legend Orlando Voorn, on Nice and Nasty Records. Later in the year, an original track by Fran called ‘Alpha’, appeared on ‘Trapdoor Material Part 2’, released on 12” on Dublin’s Mantrap Records. This track has seen support from techno heavyweights like Surgeon (who has been playing it in his sets everywhere from New York to Berlin over the past few months), Inigo Kennedy, Rob Hall, Kr!z, Jerome Hill, Paul Mac, Grovskopa, Charlton, and many more..

2010 looks like it’s going to be a busy year for Fran who is pushing his live sound further in his live shows, DJing whenever he gets the chance, and working hard on his material for the next lot of releases. So far confirmed is a track on the second release of Irish digital label Stasis Records, a track on a compilation for Spanish label Sub- sist, and Fran also hopes to soon finish an EP for infamous Dutch label Audio Assault, who have taken an inter- est in his recent material.

Fran is also excited that number 53 in the legendary Fabric mix CD series - a new mix by Surgeon (set for re- lease in July 2010) - will include an unreleased track of his called ‘It Was Written In Vapour’. This mix, sure to be heard by thousands, should give Fran a great deal of exposure and hopefully the chance to really step onto the international stage and show the rest of the world that Ireland is not just home to the softer shades of techno, but that there is indeed a rougher shade of green to be heard!