Nans? & Rødig presents Threshold 33 EP

Some collaborations emerge gradually, without rupture or announcement. Not as a shift in direction, but as a continuation of an existing dialogue. The second joint EP from Shojiki Records founder Rødig and Swiss-based producer Nans? follows this quieter logic. Threshold 33 does not present itself as a statement of intent, but as a deepening of a shared language first outlined on their 2023 Sususwatari EP.

Released on 15 January 2026 as a limited lacquer cut on Shojiki Records, the EP unfolds across six pieces that move between fragile rhythmic structures and suspended, atmospheric states. Breakbeats appear and dissolve, grooves form only to recede into texture, and ambient passages function less as interludes than as connective tissue. The record resists fixation, operating instead in a space defined by transition, ambiguity, and controlled restraint.

Both artists arrived here through processes of departure as much as arrival. After formative years in Berlin, Rødig developed an approach shaped by permeability, allowing elements of techno, UKG, house, and ambient to coexist without hierarchy. For Nans?, the shift was more explicit: leaving hardstyle behind in 2020 in search of a practice less defined by intensity than by resonance. What connects them is not genre, but orientation — a shared interest in movement, atmosphere, and the emotional potential of minimal forms.

With early support from figures such as Radio Slave and Raresh, Threshold 33 marks not a breakthrough, but a consolidation. A record less concerned with defining territory than with inhabiting it.

In this conversation, we speak with Rødig and Nans? about continuity, instinct, and the spaces that exist between established forms.

preview / pre-order HERE

‘Threshold 33’ feels less like a collection of tracks and more like a continuous emotional space. What does the idea of a “threshold” represent for you both at this point in your collaboration?

I think this “threshold” really represents where we are in our lives right now. We have both reached a point where we feel the need for change and for something more meaningful, a stronger purpose. Not in a dramatic way, but in a very real, personal way. We question more, we reflect more, and we want what we do to carry intention.

Music is one of the main ways we express ourselves, so it was natural that this state of mind would translate into the EP. The threshold is that moment where you feel ready to step into something new. It is not about knowing exactly what is on the other side. It is about feeling ready to move forward anyway and take a step through the door of the future.

As for the ‘’33’’, it refers to ‘Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’, an amazing video game released in 2025 and created by a small independent French studio. It received a lot of recognition and gracefully won awards without being backed by a huge triple-A company. As underground artists or small independent artists if you like, we felt a sense of belonging and appreciation to this game and saw a reflection of our own situation in that story.

More than anything, it reminded us that you do not need massive structures behind you to touch people. What matters is sincerity and the willingness to create something that truly means something to you. With Threshold 33, we simply wanted to trust this idea that honest music can still connect in a scene that sometimes feels more focused on image and momentum than on emotion.

This EP follows your 2023 debut ‘Sususwatari’ on Shojiki Records. How has your creative dialogue evolved since that first release, and what feels different this time around?

When we made ‘Sususwatari’, it was very instinctive. We did not overthink much, we were just creating and enjoying the process. There was something very pure and almost naive about it.

Two years passed before we really sat down together to try and make music again. Our friendship stayed the same, but we evolved. Our view of the world, of the scene, and of the role we want to play in it has become more mature. We started questioning more what we actually want to express instead of just what fits somewhere.

This time, the making of these tracks felt more conscious. We felt, more than before, led by our emotions and our intentions. There’s definitely the willingness to try and define our space on our own terms rather than find a place to fit in.

Tracks like ‘Beyond’ and ‘Unit33’ rely on very restrained rhythmic structures, where tension comes from subtle movement rather than obvious peaks. How do you decide when a track has “enough” going on?

Honestly, it’s always difficult to know when something is finished, especially after spending hours working in the same piece. At some point, your ears just stop being objective. So what we usually do is step away for a few days. No small tweaks, no “just one more change.” We come back, press play, and listen from start to finish without touching anything.

If both of us feel something is missing, then we’ll do a few changes. If not, simply worry about getting the mix right.

With “Beyond” and “Unit33,” we actually tried adding more at certain moments. Extra layers, more movement, small surprises. But every time, it felt like we were reducing the impact of what was already there. Those tracks are not empty, they are just detailed in a quieter way. The tension lives in small shifts and textures rather than in big drops and changes.

For us, learning to stop and keeping a track more ‘stripped-down’ was the real challenge. We both have the tendency of wanting to explore many different creative paths when we’re together, so choosing restraint definitely helped us mature as artists.

‘Before Names’ acts almost like an ambient pause in the middle of the record. What role do you see atmosphere and negative space playing in your music, especially within club-oriented contexts?

Including an ambient piece felt natural to us. We already did it on ‘Sususwatari’, and it never felt separate from the more club-oriented tracks. It is just another part of how we experience music, either through techno or more relaxing, reflective music.

If you look back at the early rave days in the UK, you had house rooms, harder rooms, and often a chill-out floor with ambient. It was all part of the same culture. There was space to dance intensely, and space to slow down and reflect. For us, that balance makes sense. It feels complete.

We both love going out, listening to techno, feeling that physical energy. But in our daily lives we also listen to very calm, spacious music. So for us, atmosphere and negative space are not a break from the club world, they are part of it. A moment of space can be very powerful. It allows tension to breathe and emotions to surface in a different way.

“Before Names” is that moment on the record. A pause, but not a break. Just another dimension of the same world.

You’ve both spoken about working more from instinct and emotion than genre. In practical terms, what does that look like in the studio when you’re working together?

For us, it starts with a feeling, more than a reference. We usually sit down and say ‘’how are we feeling today, what do feel like exploring’’. Of course, we will decide quite early on the making of a new track, which genre we want for the track, but this is never a limitation. In fact, we sometimes end up changing completely the direction of a track. We listen to what we feel in the moment rather than force ourselves a certain direction.

Sometimes there is tension or frustration and that naturally turns into something darker or more driving. Other days we feel lighter, more reflective, and the sounds become softer, more open.

Of course, everything new that is created will be influenced by something that has already existed (unless new technology is created, i.e. the birth of computer and the new music that rose from it) such as music, films, conversations, life in general. Nothing exists in isolation. But in the studio, we try not to think in terms of genre boxes. We follow the atmosphere that is forming in the room though our recent experience and baggage and see where it leads us. If it feels honest, we continue. If it feels forced, we stop.

Having both settled in Switzerland after very different personal and musical journeys, do you feel your current environment influences the quieter, more introspective tone of this EP?

Not particularly, or at least not consciously. Switzerland is calm in many ways, but we wouldn’t say we sat down thinking, “let’s make something that sounds like this place.”

If anything, the introspection comes more from reacting to how fast everything feels right now. The scene moves quickly, trends change constantly, and there is this pressure to keep up. We feel that intensity, and sometimes it just feels like too much.

So maybe the quieter tone is a response. Not to a country, but to the pace of things. It is our way of slowing down and choosing not to compete with volume or speed. We just focus on what feels right when we are in the studio together, simply going our own way and enjoying what comes out musically without judgment on how we could fit into something that is currently expected.

‘Confusing Reality’ closes the record with a darker, more physical energy. Was there a conscious intention to end the EP in that state, or did the narrative reveal itself naturally?

It was quite clear to us that it had to end that way, especially since we’re both very connected to Techno since many years.

If the EP is a kind of journey, then “Confusing Reality” feels like the moment where everything becomes rawer and more direct. The other tracks sit more in reflection and space. Ending with the darker, more physical energy felt honest and true to where we come from.

Life is not only introspective and soft. There is tension and weight. Finishing the record in that state felt true to the story we were telling.

With ‘Threshold 33’ being released as a limited lacquer cut and already supported by key selectors, how do you balance creating intimate, personal music with the reality of it being played in very public, physical spaces?

The truth is, intimate music does not always “perform” in the classical sense. Especially in techno. It might not explode on a dance floor or circulate massively online.

But that was never really the goal, hence limiting the lacquer cuts to only 20 copies. Even if certain selectors support it, we know the music we release through Shojiki will probably remain on the quieter side of the spectrum. It does not chase hype. It does not follow edits designed to work instantly in a peak-time slot.

And we are fine with that.

If the music reaches fewer people but touches them more deeply, that feels more aligned with us. For us, the balance is simple. We create something personal first. If it finds its place in a public space, that is beautiful. If it stays intimate and underground in the truest sense, that is also enough.

preview / pre-order HERE

Nans?: Instagram - Soundcloud 

Rødig: Instagram - Soundcloud - Facebook - Spotify

Shojiki: Instagram - Soundcloud - Website