79 Ancestors [Profile]

Last week we put out a spotlight on the duo A.M. Architect, who just released Color Field, an audiovisual album composed of 10 tracks and accompanied by a 15 minute short film, released through the interdisciplinary label 79Ancestors. Today, we want to take the time tell you some more about what the label is up to and those involved behind the scenes.

79Ancestors is a record label that was launched in 2016 by Benjamin Wynn, Anthony Ciannamea and Yaniv De Ridder. In their words, “79Ancestors is a hybrid label focused on the production of highly-personal objects and experiences, designed by artists working at the intersection of music composition, performance, cinema and code”. Their first LP release, A Soundtrack to Imaginary Landscapes is a compilation album of eight different musicians including Shigeto, Telefon Tel Aviv and A.M. Architect. If one purchased the vinyl early, it was bundled with a customized 79A Cardboard Virtual Reality viewer (that is now sold out). The goal is that, eventually, each of these songs will have an accompanying visual element to be viewed in virtual reality. Thus far, there is one released for Shigeto’s song (watch here), and four other “episodes” are in the works.

Benjamin Wynn aka 'Deru' by Tim Navis

Anthony Ciannamea is both a filmmaker and designer, and currently runs the design and motion studio EFFIXX. Ciannamea has an impressive history of work in the creative field and has collaborated with many artists, including Prefuse 73 and members of Ghostly International. Ciannamea and Benjamin Wynn have worked closely together on many projects and 79Ancestors is just the latest from these two.

Commonly known as Deru, Benjamin Wynn is a musician who wears many hats. His life of music began in college where he earned a degree in music technology at the California Institute for the Arts. Since then, he has scored for film and television, composed for a ballet called Genus, and released a plethora of albums. Wynn is constantly pushing boundaries, and the more one delves into his work, the more this becomes evident.

The flyer for the third installment of The Echo Society. March 12, 2015

Benjamin Wynn has released four LPs under his Deru project, and there is word that the next album will be released in early 2018. Avid fans of Deru will tell you that his music leans towards atmospheric-based beats with a keen edge for sound design, infused with elements from a multitude of other genres, including trip-hop and IDM. The emotion, texture, clicks, and glitches within his ethereal beats simultaneously uplift and catalyze a longing for the past. It is this dichotomy in Deru’s music that makes it so unique and fascinating.

Beyond Wynn’s personal projects, he is also a founding member of The Echo Society, a non-profit collective of seven Los Angeles-based composers. Anthony Ciannamea as EFFIXX is also a member of The Echo Society, and serves as a lead visual designer. This collective presents one-night-only performances of visual and sonic art, both orchestral and electronic. So far there have been six installments in this series.

The creation of 79Ancestors was inspired by Deru’s concept album, 1979, which also alludes to the name of the record label. It was this project that convinced the founders that listeners are willing to engage more deeply with music, whether that is through visual reality, through a tangible artifact, or through a different lens. This is the intention of this label, to take the idea of an album and to elevate and expand it.

It is clear that 79A is pushing artistic boundaries and will continue the marriage of sonic art with other forms. 79A values the magic of collaboration and the potential of a collective of creative and passionate minds. We are excited to follow along and see what this label has in store; this is only the beginning.

FOLLOW:   79Ancestors   /   The Echo Society   /   Deru - Website & Listen   /   EFFIXX   /   Color Field - A.M. Architect