Viclan Delivers Industrial Energy and Mechanical Precision from Manchester’s Underground

Manchester producer Calvin Whittaker has never been short of aliases, but Viclan feels different. Where previous projects such as Siege or CWS were tightly bound to straight-ahead techno, Viclan operates more like an open circuit, a space where industrial rhythms, breakbeats, electro funk and hip-hop textures collide without apology. With his second outing on R&S Records, the single “Checking In,” Whittaker isn’t just releasing another record; he’s cementing an identity that he now describes as permanent.

The shift toward Viclan emerged less from strategy and more from creative restlessness. Whittaker recalls reaching a point in the studio where repetition had dulled his enthusiasm. “At the time, I had become bored of the stuff I was writing in the studio and wanted to do something different,” he explains. What began as a personal exercise in experimentation quickly became a broader artistic pivot. He describes the early phase as “just about making music for myself,” drawing freely from “Breakbeat, DnB, House, Techno, Electro and Hip Hop to name a few.” The distinction, in his mind, was clear: where Siege and CWS were “primarily just Techno,” Viclan allowed him to be “more creative and musically diverse.”

Geography, however, still hums beneath the surface of his sound. Born and raised in Manchester, Whittaker carries the city’s long industrial and club-music lineage with him, even as outside influences seep in. The Detroit connection, often cited by listeners and critics, is something he acknowledges but resists overstating. “The Detroit sound is just one of many styles that have inspired me,” he says, laughing slightly at the idea of strict lineage. “The majority of Viclan is rooted in my own personal sonic universe.” It’s an answer that speaks to both humility and autonomy: the recognition of influence without surrendering individuality.

That independence also defined his approach to labels. When the time came to share finished tracks, he found himself at an impasse. “I literally had no idea which labels to send them to,” he admits. The eventual connection to R&S Records was almost casual in its inception, a demo sent to an A&R contact, then forwarded to label owner Renaat Vandepapliere. Yet the partnership quickly proved fitting. R&S’s legacy in techno and electro is formidable, but what resonated with Whittaker was not its history alone, but its openness. “My mindset is to try create something that is different from the usual,” he explains. Knowing the label embraced experimentation “helped the process.”

That ethos is evident throughout his recent output. Tracks like “Self Manifest” reveal a fusion of Detroit-style stabs with breakbeat energy and industrial funk. Whittaker describes his productions as consistently aiming to “inject some funk” while maintaining “a machine type feel.” Interestingly, he notes that the Detroit-leaning melodic character of “Self Manifest” wasn’t pre-planned. “It came later by chance after playing about with the stabs. I liked the slight melodic feel it gave the track.” Inspiration, for him, often arrives through accident rather than intention, a workflow that privileges exploration over rigid design.

Still, his admiration for Detroit’s pioneers remains unmistakable. Asked about influences, he lists “the usual suspects” with a knowing brevity: Jeff Mills, Robert Hood, Underground Resistance. These names echo through the mechanical precision and rhythmic austerity that define much of his work, even as he insists the final shape is uniquely his own.

With “Checking In,” that balance between influence and individuality reaches a particularly focused intensity. The track’s pounding industrial drums and scattered vocal fragments create an atmosphere of relentless propulsion. Whittaker frames the piece as existing “between Industrial Techno and breakbeat,” with vocal elements lending “a hip hop, street type feel.” Momentum was less a technical decision than a thematic anchor, an energy he held in mind from the outset. The result is a track that feels both rigid and alive, mechanical yet restless.

The B-side extends that philosophy through reinterpretation rather than reinvention. Viclan’s reworking of Casual Violence’s “Briefly Sexual” is steeped in personal history as much as sonic ambition. “Steve is a long-time close friend of mine, we used to DJ and produce together under the name ‘Solitude Suite,’” Whittaker explains. The remix came about almost accidentally while he was stuck on another composition. Discovering that the original vocal fitted seamlessly into his new project transformed the experiment into a full reimagining. He ultimately preserved key vocal and synth elements, allowing the past to inform the present without overshadowing it. “I’ve always loved the original track and thought it would be cool to do a new revamped version aimed firmly for the floor.”

Descriptions of Viclan’s music often highlight “mechanical precision” and “taut rhythmic construction,” phrases Whittaker doesn’t dispute. “A bit of both,” he says when asked whether that rigidity is intentional or emergent. His style has long been described as “tight and rhythmic,” suggesting design plays a role, but spontaneity remains equally important. This duality mirrors his broader stance on genre trends. Industrial and electro aesthetics, he believes, have never truly disappeared. “They’ve always been present underground and for me that’s where they belong. I’ve no interest in anything mainstream.”

That underground allegiance extends into his technical process. There’s no preference for specific hardware or brand-name gear; instead, experimentation is his guiding principle. He frequently runs sounds through various plug-ins while recording, searching for unexpected textures and supplements digital production with field recordings to capture organic grit. Hardware and software “both play their part,” though software currently dominates his setup. The tactile, metallic quality that defines his tracks emerges less from equipment lists and more from a process of repetition, manipulation and instinct.

Despite his deep involvement in production, Whittaker identifies first and foremost as a DJ. “That’s my 1st love,” he says plainly. His journey into making tracks began as a way to strengthen his sets, and his future plans reflect a desire to return more fully to the booth. With additional releases and an album on the horizon, Viclan is not a fleeting chapter but a long-term commitment. “There’s no other aliases now, just Viclan. All my energy is going into this project from now on.”

Dream collaborations remain on his radar, with a particular enthusiasm for Ben Pest, while labels such as Ilian Tape, Tresor, Token and Blueprint represent aspirational homes for future work. Yet even with ambitions in sight, Whittaker’s method remains grounded. Before finalising a track, he subjects it to repeated listening across different sound systems, stepping away and returning with fresh ears. “Most of the time I’ll end up tweaking bits or taking things out,” he admits, a reminder that precision often emerges through revision rather than certainty.

With Viclan, Calvin Whittaker has found a vehicle that reconciles his past with his present, a project that absorbs Manchester’s industrial pulse, Detroit’s rhythmic discipline and his own eclectic instincts into a singular voice. “Checking In” doesn’t just announce another release; it signals a producer settling into an identity that is at once flexible and definitive, mechanical yet deeply personal.

Viclan's Checking In is out now via R&S Records. Buy it on Beatport.

Read the full interview with Viclan at The Night Bazaar HERE.