British-Armenian artist Hagop Tchaparian makes organic techno that incorporates traditional acoustic instruments and field recordings along with analog synths and dance beats. A longtime associate of Four Tet and Hot Chip, he released his 2022 debut album, Bolts, on Kieran Hebden's Text Records.

As a teenager, Hagop Tchaparian played guitar in Symposium, a London-based pop-punk band that received an enormous amount of hype from leading U.K. music weeklies NME and Melody Maker. The group reached the British Top 40 with two albums and a handful of singles, and opened for major American bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers, No Doubt, and Metallica, additionally performing stateside as part of the Warped Tour. Symposium disbanded in 2000, and Tchaparian, tired of the entertainment industry and guitar-based music in general, became enamored with dance music, and started frequenting clubs like Ministry of Sound and Fabric. He became close friends with Kieran Hebden (Four Tet) and Hot Chip, and eventually worked as tour manager for both. Tchaparian gradually worked on music of his own, crafting techno utilizing samples of instruments such as dhol drums, zurna, and qanun. Hebden's Text Records released several singles by Tchaparian, as well as a Four Tet remix of the song "Round," before the full-length Bolts arrived in October 2022. ~ Paul Simpson