LA-4A comes out as Ambivalent, launches new label

Why did it feel like the right time to reveal you were behind LA-4A? Well, it was never a conspicuous evasion. I wasn't public about being LA-4A, but when someone mentioned the stuff to me, I didn't pretend. I just preferred to let it grow based on people discovering the music first. Signing an Ambivalent EP on Delft was the turning point. They were tracks that fit the label, but didn't fit LA-4A. The anonymity of LA-4A gave me the chance to have the stuff heard free of associations, but it threatened to become a burden, hiding it from everyone. Some of my closest friends and DJs I really admire were playing the tracks and had no idea it was me. Telling a half-truth seemed more exhausting than anything else. And doing an Ambivalent EP on Delft helped me outline a bit of the label's terrain differently. What do you see as the critical differences between LA-4A and Ambivalent? Like with any of my aliases, I make the tracks first and let my gut tell me where they fit afterwards. As my main and original alias, Ambivalent can be anything I'm feeling, but LA-4A and Amber are much more defined. LA-4A as a name is obviously about hardware, and what I'd call "roots techno." I think Serge from Clone described it nicely as a contemporary twist on acid. It's modern techno with an acid tendency and classic analog toolset (Roland hardware, analog mixing, simplified arrangements, etc.), but it's not consciously pretending to be old material. Ambivalent, by necessity, had a broader palette to choose from and can encompass anything I could fit into a DJ set. Tell us a bit about what you have on the way for Delft and Valence. They both have release schedules that have me chomping at the bit to get the music out. Valence will start with an EP from me of some warehouse-style techno, along with a bit of deep electronic stuff. The next EP after that is one from goldFFinch, which literally destroys every time I play the tracks. They are belters. On Delft, after the Ambivalent EP, we'll do something by Alden Tyrell, then an EP from a duo called The Cause And Effect Men and an EP from Vin Sol. There's an EP coming at some point with remixes of the original LA-4A white label from some members of the crew, so that will slip out when we can find time for it too.