In the fifteen years since TRUANTS began documenting electronic music’s most compelling voices, few artists have embodied the kind of sustained evolution that defines Facta & K-LONE. Operating as both individual producers and collaborative architects behind the UK label Wisdom Teeth, the duo has spent the last decade crafting a label aesthetic that explores the fertile crossroads between ’00s minimal techno, contemporary club sounds, and experimental electronics—forging a distinctive space where dubby basslines exist alongside glitchy microhouse edits, and ambient explorations connect to driving rhythms and proto-dubstep styles.

Their curatorial prowess extends far beyond simple eclecticism, with each Wisdom Teeth release met with anticipation from those seeking electronic music equally welcome on packed dancefloors and through headphones at home. Recent projects like the substantial Pattern Gardening compilation exemplify their unique ability to unite over 20 diverse artists around tech house’s many dimensions—from airy, spring-loaded moments that bleed saturated colors through contemplative rawness to bass-heavy meditations that hit with physical weight. Everything carries an interpretive quality, playfully dubby and imaginative, revealing how the most compelling dance music operates through mood and atmosphere rather than rigid functionality.

This collaborative chemistry stems from a musical partnership stretching back to age fourteen, manifesting most powerfully in their b2b performances where years of intuitive understanding transform the DJ booth into a live production environment. Fearless and instinctive yet focused and introspective, they’ve moved dancers in some of the biggest clubs across the world while becoming on-demand selectors at Europe’s most exclusive festivals. Using multiple decks, they extract elements across tracks—vocal snippets, rhythmic foundations, atmospheric textures—sculpting these disparate components into cohesive new forms through careful application of effects and the kind of spontaneous invention that emerges from complete mutual trust.

Facta’s latest album GULP captures the intuitive creative burst that defines their approach—tracks born from sketches written on the road between festival appearances and club nights across the world, where vocal textures stretch and contort while basslines dissolve and reshape with synthetic elasticity. The album emerged from deliberately writing music to test at gigs rather than perfecting in isolation—liberating him from studio paralysis and capturing something both urgently modern and strangely vacant. Like the Pelle Cass photography adorning its cover, GULP presents familiar club elements through a surreal lens, creating music that feels simultaneously propulsive and stripped-back, hyperactive yet eerily calm, with an optimistic outlook that shines through even its most experimental moments.

Their 350th Truancy Volume captures this ethos with remarkable precision. Opening with Facta’s own bright, saturated pulse, the mix illustrates why they’ve become such sought-after selectors, traversing contemporary techno’s hypnotic territories while highlighting tech house’s diverse meeting points. Nathan Fake’s crystalline IDM influences dissolve into moody, hazy vocal cuts, while Basement Jaxx’s explosive “Fly Life Xtra”—which they describe as “completely insane and shouldn’t work but does”—sits naturally alongside deep house meditations and off-kilter electronic explorations. Unreleased Wisdom Teeth material flows seamlessly with carefully chosen classics, while K-LONE’s ethereal edit of Caroline Polachek emphasizes their gift for finding unexpected connections across musical worlds.

The mix embodies their philosophy that the best electronic music exists in the spaces between established genres. As K-LONE explains, even experimental music needs hooks you can latch onto, while overly straightforward tracks risk becoming boring—it’s about finding that balance between accessibility and surprise. Their decade-long evolution through Wisdom Teeth’s 50+ releases demonstrates this approach—from early bass explorations to ambient meditations to the tech house focus of recent projects, always guided by trusting their own vision rather than predetermined categories. It’s a milestone mix fro TRUANTS—celebrating artists whose journey through UK dance music’s experimental fringes has proven that the most captivating club moments emerge when creative audacity meets convention, making the impossible feel inevitable.

Hi, K-LONE and Facta! Thank you so much for recording this mix for TRUANTS and taking the time to answer some questions. We’re longtime fans of your productions and label, and always excited by your latest output. What have the past few weeks been like for you in the wake of these new releases?

Facta: “Thank you! It’s been a whirlwind few weeks for sure—we’ve got these two big releases on the go simultaneously, plus I got married a few weeks ago. I couldn’t be happier, honestly.”

K-LONE: “Thanks for having us! Yeah, it’s great to finally see these projects out in the world :)”

How has spring been treating you both? What has been inspiring you lately, and what’s a recent track or EP that particularly excited you?

Facta: “Not to be that guy and talk about the weather, but it’s been unusually gorgeous here in the UK and it’s definitely made a huge difference. It feels like there’s been a lot to get excited about musically too—I loved that Unspecified Enemies LP on Numbers, and the new Jenny Hval album is great.”

Facta, what can you tell us about your new record, GULP? What sounds or ideas did you want to explore? K-LONE, what were your initial reactions to hearing it? How did you select the photo for the album art?

Facta: “It came together a lot more quickly and easily than is usual for me. I wrote the bulk of it while we were gigging a lot last summer, so most of the tracks started as sketches written on the move as things to try out at gigs. I think the fact that I was writing to play things out rather than thinking ahead about a particular release helped me mute that impulse to perfect and overthink and just chase ideas that I liked and that would be fun to play. It’s really easy to get bogged down by thinking too much about where your music will sit and how it’ll be received, but there’s something really freeing about just writing quickly, intuitively and honestly if you’re lucky enough to find that headspace, this record is testament to that.”

K-LONE: “Yeah, I absolutely love it and can confirm they sound great on a system. Oscar and I spend a lot of time talking about this intuitive way of writing. If you listen to the negative voices in your head too much, it can really get in the way of making anything at all, no matter how good the music might be.

The artwork is by Pelle Cass, a photographer from Boston. He does these amazing multi-exposure photos, layering multiple moments and bringing them together to look like they’re happening at the same time. I think that specific piece is great. At first glance, it just looks like a busy street, but then you notice it’s a bit too organised and doesn’t quite make sense. Working with photographers has been a really nice aesthetic shift for the label. We’re always looking for work that treads the line between analog and digital art. In a similar way to the recent Pattern Gardening artwork, there’s a certain sheen to the photos that almost look too perfect or digitally rendered.”

When did you two first start playing b2b, and what was the impetus? How would you describe your collaborative chemistry from when you first started to now? What’s an important lesson you’ve learned from one another?

K-LONE: “We’ve been playing music together since we were 14, and because we’ve been playing together for so long, we know each other so well. There’s a lot of unspoken moments in the sets, a bit like having some extra hands to allow for more complex mixes. I think there’s often a really nice push and pull with our styles as well. Oscar often wants to play on the more experimental end, whereas a lot of my selection can maybe be a bit more functional. This means we are both constantly trying to find that midpoint, which is the sweet spot anyway.

“I think the focus towards more stripped-back music has a lot to do with our b2bs, so we can do these multi-deck mixes. Our favourite sets have been two CDJs each, almost like having our own separate stations, and the new Pioneer DJM V10 which has amazing filters and effects. But yeah, because the tracks are super stripped back, they lend themselves really well to blending. We can take the groove from one track, some chords from an ambient track, some vocals from another, and dub them in using reverb and delays. It turns DJing almost into producing, where you’re bringing all these separate ideas and sculpting and arranging them together into something new—which would be much harder if we didn’t know each other’s playing styles so well.”

How would you describe your collaborative workflow when managing Wisdom Teeth versus when creating music together?

K-LONE: “I would say, similar to DJing, because we’ve been doing it so long together, we have a lot of the same reference points and are constantly talking about what we find exciting. Our tastes have developed together. I think the label would be very different if we ran it by ourselves, and this push and pull in our tastes is what creates the sound of the label.”

As you’ve explored diverse sounds, BPMs, and genre influences over the years, do you delineate time to focus on specific ideas, or are you constantly experimenting with sounds that later find their place in releases?

Facta: “We both listen to and play a really broad range of musical styles and genres, so we’re always naturally going off on different tangents—whether together or separately. I guess the ones you hear are the ones that gain enough momentum to come together and bear fruit.”

How would you describe your personal sonic palettes? How do they relate to or inform the direction of Wisdom Teeth? Are you consciously creating music that fits the label’s identity?

Facta: “I love stuff that seems quite straightforward but then has one or two off-kilter elements that derail the whole thing totally. That’s the dream scenario for me and something I’m always looking for with the label.”

K-LONE: “I think I’ve got a lot of pop sensibilities when it comes to music. I believe even the best experimental music has elements and hooks you can latch onto, otherwise it can quickly become just a collection of sounds. Whereas if it’s too straightforward, it can become boring, so if you doing both together well, that’s really what we’re often looking for.”

While you’ve mentioned influences like Mosaic and Freerotation, are there other labels or artists outside contemporary electronic music that have shaped your sound?

Facta: “ECM, RVNG Intl, Faitiche, Leaving Records, Black Truffle, Stroom. All big influences.”

What draws you to particular vocal samples in your productions? You’ve recently mentioned experimenting with your own voice in tracks—could you talk about that process and what it adds to your sound?

K-LONE: “I think vocals play a really important role in dance music. It’s the most immediate thing that a listener can connect to and can have so much cultural subconscious information. If you can find something unique to you, I think that’s great.

“The vocal in ‘Each Story’ is my voice processed into AI, then messing around with the formant throughout the track. In Jorg Kuning’s ‘Synthetic Squashies’, he’s got two Alexa’s chatting to each other as the vocal, and I think Oscar’s got a real nice signature sound to the vocals on GULP that really thread the sound of his album together.”

Nature seems to influence the Wisdom Teeth aesthetic, with titles like Pattern Gardening, In Bloom, and organic imagery in your artwork. How do these concepts play into your music and the label’s identity?

Facta: “Plants are pretty and cool! No brainer.”

Could you tell us about how the Pattern Gardening compilation came together? What was the vision behind it, and how does it fit into Wisdom Teeth’s evolution?

K-LONE: “I think we’re both really inspired by some of the old Mosaic compilations on Exit Records. It was my introduction to the label’s techy DNB sound, and I remember learning how to mix with a lot of those tracks as they all sounded very cohesive and were at a similar tempo. Still to this day, those tracks are some of my favourite DNB tracks.

“I think with the compilations, it’s almost a similar thing. Wouldn’t it be great to have a wealth of tracks riffing off the same idea, creating a bit of a signature sound? And luckily we’re in a position where we have connections with lots of our favourite artists and can make it happen. We’d been chatting about it for about two years and slowly got all the tracks together.”

When putting together compilations, how do you approach artist selection or navigate differing opinions? Do you have plans to expand these collaborative projects beyond releases—perhaps into events, parties, or other formats?

Facta: “We generally cast the net out pretty wide and see what comes in and make decisions along the way, and that shapes how the whole thing comes together in real time. We’re usually pretty in sync about what works and what doesn’t. These V/A projects are really fun to do as it means we can involve lots of artists that we admire and create something collaboratively, and create a bit of a community around a project too. Expanding a release like this into a live show or tour would be really fun, we just haven’t had the time to do it yet.”

Many people draw comparisons between Wisdom Teeth and Bristol-area labels. How do you feel about these associations, and where do you see your productions fitting within the UK’s electronic music legacy?

Facta: “I lived in Bristol throughout the 2010s and the label was established there, and we launched at a similar time to labels like Timedance and Livity Sound, so naturally we get grouped together. Those guys are our friends and we’re proud to be part of that crowd, even if we’re not based in Bristol anymore. It’s an amazing city and we wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing without that community. Everyone’s sort of moved off and is doing their own things now, which is healthy, but Bristol always feels like home whenever we return.”

Where are some of your favorite places for record digging or music listening?

K-LONE: “I’m a massive fan of Flashback in London, all the sites have such massive second hand selections where you can get records at a good price. The price of vinyl has gone up so much in the last years I think we’re always thinking if someone’s buying one of our records we want to give them as much bang for their buck, hence doing a lot of these bigger projects on the label.”

What places from your global travels have impacted you most? Any cities or audiences that particularly surprised you? What are your methods for enduring constant travel and late-night sets?

Facta: “Our time in Japan last year was definitely a massive milestone for us. We felt such a connection to the scene there—it feels like there’s this really amazing feedback loop between their community and ours here in the UK. And my top tip for enduring constant travel: secure yourself a b2b buddy like K-LONE.”

Could you tell us about some stand-out sets or festivals from your career? What’s the most inspiring set you’ve seen recently, and what qualities made it memorable?

K-LONE: “In terms of gigs we’ve played we had an amazing time in the US, both Squish and Canary Test felt really special. I think playing all night at Canary Test was a perfect night, we love the all night sets as we play such a varied amount of music we have much more scope to connect the dots of all these different sounds.

“In terms of sets I’ve seen it was quite a long time ago but Leon Vynehall at Love International a couple years ago has really stuck with me, he played a great spread of functional super groovy drum forward tunes mixed with more off kilter tracks. Hearing Joe ‘Slope’ out was a particularly wicked moment as it is just such a strange tune but works so well on a system. He ended on a Beatles ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ and hearing that record that had been produced so professionally, rather than maybe something made in someone’s bedroom, just was amazing, you never get to hear those sorts of tunes on a big club system and fitting it in context with the rest of the set just felt real special to see.”

Are there any records that always stay in your DJ bag, or artists who’ve been particularly significant in your musical development? Outside of the club, what album best represents your ideal home-listening experience?

Facta: “In the club: Roman Flügel whenever possible. Outside of the club: Oren Ambarchi.”

K-LONE: “Braga Circuit has been played in every single set I’ve played for the last couple of years, he keeps coming out with these incredible vocal tracks that have everything I love, soul, groove and sticking with one great idea. I’m obsessed with Napa Sinephro’s albums, both are such amazing start to finish journeys.”

How did you approach creating your Truancy Volume mix? Was there a specific BPM, genre, or track that served as the foundation? Were there any tracks you particularly wanted to include?

K-LONE: “I think we wanted this mix to go hand in hand with the compilation and what we’ve been playing out recently, doing these multi track blends, taking the vocals from one track, groove from another and creating something new from all the elements. Basement Jaxx ‘Fly Life Xtra’ is one we’ve been playing a lot and were desperate to include, it’s so strange, the synth in it sounds real ominous and floats over everything else, the way it develops is completely insane and shouldn’t work but it does and sounds incredible on a sound system.”

What sounds or styles are you currently exploring in the studio? Can you tell us about any works-in-progress or upcoming releases—either personal projects or future Wisdom Teeth material?

Facta: “My wife’s been getting into drum and bass, so I really want to write her a pretty d’n’b record.”

K-LONE: “I’ve got a record on Tempa. out in July, which is a bit of a love letter to the label. I’ve also got a new album out in Autumn which I would say is a longform project of 10 tech house inspired tracks but trying to put them in more of a home-listening context. Will also have a solo club record on Wisdom Teeth out in winter.”

What are you both looking forward to this summer? Any trips, festivals, or personal downtime that you’re excited about?

Facta: “Seeing Lana Del Rey at Wembley Stadium.”

K-LONE: “Super excited to play at Outlook this year for Materials, a bit of a bucket list moment, also Kelburn festival in Scotland, have heard amazing things about it and can’t wait.

“Thanks for chatting to us!”