Mickman on a Mission: A Conversation with Cameron Ingraham

In late October, the elusive electronic musician Mickman played one of his biggest gigs to date opening for Jade Cicada at the PlayStation Theater in Times Square in New York City for a sold-out crowd of 2,200 people. Since he began performing in mid-2016, Mickman has gone from bedroom producer and one of bass music’s best kept secrets to a real rising star because of a crazed, obsessive, and fiercely independent approach to music found in few, if any, other people. 

For a long time, Mickman was an enigma. Four or five years ago fans marveled at his heavy-hitting SoundCloud discography, but he had never performed live. His prolific productions were sort of a secret among the bass music literati. Even as he’s become more popular, he still barely promotes his music. But beneath this blurry public image is a deeply intelligent, fiercely independent and fiendishly energetic man - Cameron McMahon Ingraham. At the PlayStation Theater, I sat down with Cam - a friend since his first New York show in 2017 - to peel back the layers of his career and craft. 

Mickman performing at Summer Camp Music Festival in Illinois in 2017 (Credit: Emerald Tide Photography)

We’re sitting in a green room after soundcheck and before doors open for the night. There are beers in a mini-fridge. “I want to see if I can have one of these,” Cam says. He goes to ask the man in charge if he, one of the main draws that evening, can have some beers. He comes back and settles onto the couch with a Modelo, characteristically dressed down in a black Mickman hoodie, jeans, and skateboard sneakers. Curly brown hair hangs down well past his shoulders. 

Along with other recent milestones including a slot at Infrasound Music Festival and a headlining performance at the Black Box in Denver, this PlayStation performance is the product of years of single-minded hard work. Since one “defining moment” around New Years Eve in 2012 when Cam knew he needed to make music, he’s climbed towards success without a booking agent, manager or any formal musical background.

“Looking back to that time,” he reflects, “basically not having a job, fresh out of high school, I’ve never been more inspired and I’m still riding that wave of inspiration. I’ve normalized it now. But when the fire gets sparked again, like right now anticipating this performance…I’ve literally had butterflies all day and my energy levels have just been off the charts.”

Anyone who’s spent 30 minutes around Cam is familiar with his frenetic energy. It’s one of his most memorable character traits and also a defining factor behind his success. The depth of his obsession with production is matched by the depth of his energy reserves. He points a thumb across the green room at Eric Mallon who’s on another couch quietly sipping a Topo Chico mineral water and looking at his phone. Eric is a close friend, consigliere, and frequent sound engineer for Cam. “This morning, I woke him up with a water bottle and a trash can just slamming them together. ‘Let’s go! Let’s go!’”

For some, Jade Cicada and Mickman go together like peanut butter and jelly, though many attendees that night were either unfamiliar with Mickman, or they knew him but were just now catching their first performance. No one left disappointed. The energy in the air at PlayStation was already feverish by the time Cam took the stage, but he sent it into orbit, provoking gasps and hollers from the crowd with quick-footed breakbeats, unexpected drum and bass, and gigantic glitch hop bangers. 

Cameron grew up in Rockport, Maine, a town of 3,300 people. He describes it as an “an everyone-knew-everyone situation,” and perhaps it was the type of rural, far north place that breeds independent thinking. Andy Widdecomb aka DeeZ grew up one town over. “We were listening to Prodigy together, and he and a couple other friends of mine got sucked into this stuff,” Andy says. “We would hang after school and talk music. He ended up moving away to Illinois before I graduated. After a year or so, I found out that he’d also been making music - secretly, kind of low key. His sister told me, ‘he never leaves his room, he’s trying to be a dubstep producer.’”

That was almost eight years ago. “As the new year hit going into 2012, I was pedal to the metal balls to the wall,” Cam says. “Every day, all the free time I had was going directly into making music. After the third or fourth year, I started becoming more comfortable with my sound and my knowledge about music.”

I first came into contact with Mickman’s music through a vocal sample from Terence McKenna about an “ocean of pure, vibrant consciousness” in a mix by Brian “Levitation” Jones. Unaware of the song or sample source, I asked Brian about it. “That's actually part of one of my favorite tracks of all time, “Dissolution” by Mickman,” he wrote me. “This guy is a production tank and every song on his SoundCloud is just fire. He actually doesn't even perform, just an awesome dude who sits in his room cranking out tunes.” That was the Summer of 2015. Just under one year later, Cameron would perform for the first time at a show he and Eric threw in Peoria, IL. It would be the first of many shows that Cam put together himself. 

“I think there’s a curve for people once they really start saying, ‘okay I think I’m onto something.’ You’re becoming a little more comfortable rather than being shy and bashful showing someone your music. That’s when I gave up the notion of, ‘well, I don’t have a musical background.’ That means nothing.”

Cam’s approach to sound design is stripped-down. “Less is more,” he says. Andy, who is still the only producer to officially collaborate with Mickman, touches on this. “Many times we’ll go over a tune and I’ll ask him how he made something sound so cool. It will be the simplest thing like a square wave with some reverb just tweaked in an interesting way. Nothing crazy or complex that takes a lot of time. I think he’s one of those people who is pushing things forward with composition, although he also has great sound design. Composition is one of his strong points.”

His sound design is absolutely ferocious, but as Andy alludes to, it’s Cam’s songwriting that sets him apart. His melodies are straightforward yet infectious. His note relationships are simple but undeniably powerful. His songwriting prowess perhaps shines brightest on Mending the Riven. A primarily downtempo album with just a few dance floor bangers, it finds Cameron experimenting heavily with time signatures and musical ideas. 

Mickman after his performance at Summer Camp Music Festival in 2017 (Credit: Emerald Tide Photography)

“Riven” means torn or split apart violently. I asked Cam what’s been split and how are we mending it. “I feel like it can be interpreted in many ways. If I were to define that myself, I don’t want to take away from anyone else’s interpretation. But in terms of all the definitions of the words mashed together, I definitely think it was one of the more intellectually stimulating things that I did.”

Mickman music has always been full of messages, from the ocean of consciousness in “Dissolution” to songs sampling Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. “In my older music, I was so definitive about the message that I was trying to get across. I still am, but I’ve definitely toned down the deliberate, direct messaging.” One can hear the drop off in vocal samples over time across the Mickman catalog. 

“If you’re trying to convey a message in music, I feel like you can almost get farther with just the intention and idea you have when you’re making it than with the samples and words you’re putting into it. There’s a big power in the subconscious nature of music. I’m trying to leave it more up for interpretation now rather than being like, ‘you’re being lied to and your mind’s being controlled!!’ That’s a little too on the nose,” Cam says with a chuckle, “but I was super big on it back in the day.”

He was willing to share thoughts about “Branch Point” from the album Ether Excerpt when I pressed him. “I think there’s definitely going to be a branch point, a tipping point, a threshold that we cross when there will be a pretty definitive outcome in one way or another. It’s going to either be a nice, fluffy utopian ride in the park or quite literally the exact opposite. The average person that you pull off the side of the street, I don’t know if they’re ready for it. I think they’re more ready for the latter than they are willing to put in the work to make a better outcome.” Macro perspectives like these on the purpose and path of humanity appear constantly in Mickman’s music. 

Hearing Cameron speak about his career from start to finish, it crystallized in my mind at PlayStation just how crazed and obsessive his approach is. Through sleepless nights, countless hours in front of the computer, long car rides, dozens of load-ins and tear-downs, he made his own lane and did so without compromising his ideals. Once I thought back, I remembered past glimpses of his obsession and his undeniable desire for independence.

He performed at a Rust show in the basement at Brooklyn Bazaar in 2017 when he and DeeZ were touring. Eric was on sound and the three of them were carting Cam’s purple Funktion One rig from city to city. Once the show ended at 3:00 am, there was Cameron spry and ready to carry these gigantic subwoofers back up the slim stair set. Earlier this year he played the early arrival party at Solasta Festival in North Carolina, then flew back to Illinois and threw a show in Peoria the next day, essentially without sleeping. “That was a pretty exhausting mental run.”

Mickman performing at Solasta Festival in North Carolina 2019 (Credit: JV Photography)

What motivates this madness? “The whole chute and ladder game, in terms of, ‘you gotta start off small and play in bars, then open for these people, you’ll get a little bit better and a little bit better and then maybe you’ll get on a show that has some pro audio,’ I just put all of that off the table. I was much more interested in curating my own experience rather than being involved in someone else’s…Trying to materialize and manifest my own vision.”

“You’re mighty ambitious, I said to Cam. “I never truly realized how ambitious, because in person you’re a pretty laid back dude.” 

“Move in silence, baby,” he responded. 

“Like lasagna,” I added. 

“Exactly,” he laughed. We toasted. 

Now, Cam’s career is accelerating. He’s playing out more and more frequently, he’s moving upwards on lineups, and he’s become comfortable enough to get a booking agent - Hasan over at Envisioned Arts. It will be fun to watch how Cam’s creativity evolves as the context around that creativity changes. What’s not likely to change? His obsessive, single-minded focus. On top of priceless musical talent painstakingly developed without musical training, it’s his energy and intensity that make Mickman special. “There have been a bunch of different things that I’ve been passionate about in my life that have ebbed and flowed. Then the whole making music thing came into play, and I’ve just never been more sure about something ever.”

FOLLOW Mickman: Soundcloud / Bandcamp / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

JadeStation: The Last Great Electronic Gig at Playstation Theater

The cream of the crop in contemporary US glitch-hop - Jade Cicada, Detox Unit, Mickman and 5AM - will soon share the stage together on October 26th at the PlayStation Theater in Times Square. Joining them are four supremely talented VJs, some of whom have become intimately associated with this music: Steven Haman, Cullen Hassel, Tenorless and Dr01d. A full-force Funktion One sound system will tie it all together. This will be the last great electronic show at Playstation Theater before it closes its doors at the end of 2019.

There’s a delightful feeling in the air over this event, a sense of alignment. It feels right. A new generation of stand-out producers will ascend to the main stage to curate a new kind of vibe. It’s a fitting end for a venue that always held it down for New York’s electronic community and served as a germination station for many psychedelic electronic passions. 

During the formative years of my own journey with electronic music when my feelings toward the culture were moving from enthusiastic to obsessive, most of the biggest and best shows I went to were at Playstation, which was then called the Best Buy Theater. From the annual Gramatik runs to STS9’s Fall tour appearances to Tipper’s return to New York in January 2015, I and those who came up around me spent many memorable nights in that blue, subterranean space. 

During the formative years of my own journey with electronic music, most of the biggest and best shows I went to were at Playstation, which was then called the Best Buy Theater.

What some consider to be the theater’s “slightly awkward design” I always found as novel. To enter the theater, you ride down a double-flight of escalators. It gave me the sensation of truly entering another place, somewhere set apart that was dimly lit, loud, and exciting. I knew my friends would be running around and that the opportunity to make new connections was ever-present. Times Square might be the place every true New Yorker avoids like the plague, but at least it’s accessible by public transit unlike some other big *cough* Avant Gardner *cough* venues.

Each producer has great history in New York City, as we’ve highlighted before here and here. Almost a year ago, they each performed in the city on the same night, with 5AM, Detox Unit and Jade Cicada supporting Tipper and Kings Theater and Mickman slinging at our afterparty with Sermon. Before that, they were headlining small clubs in Brooklyn. And so October 26th will be a crescendo of sorts: a great leap forward for Jade Cicada and his cohorts and a fitting way to close the books on an endearing venue. 

Tickets / RSVP

KLO, Mickman Offer Glitch-Hop Getdown at Middle East Downstairs

(Credit: James Coletta)

Around mid-day, Friday, April 26th, Rezinate began its familiar controlled chaos at the Boston mainstay venue The Middle East Night Club. Stacks of Battleaxes, Switchbacks, Cannons, and more were loaded into the building by the masterminds from Hennessey Sound Design, the Massachusetts-based company that works essentially as Rezinate’s exclusive partners at the Middle East. Through their long history with the venue, these teams have been able to perfectly adjust their sound set-up to the dimensions of the room. As a result, they consistently provide an expert-level audio experience, and this evening would be no different. This particular night, the collaborative powerhouse glitch-hop act K.L.O headlined in the historic venue’s basement.

The night kicked off with a familiar face, Tygris, a trained audio engineer, producer and instrumentalist. Fresh off a 5AM Trio performance the night prior in Philadelphia, Tygris took the early arriving crowd on a journey rooted in hip-hop, with a seamless flow that allowed the crowd to effortlessly follow the story he depicted through sound. He produces dramatic soundscapes coupled with voice manipulations that echo in the back of our minds and keep us bobbing our heads, especially when Rasp-5 hops on stage and dishes us some fresh lyrics for the brain.   

Next, the Street Ritual label boss took the stage and held the room in a constant wobble. Fresh off a Rezinate guest mix that received a ton of fanfare just a few days prior, spacegeishA was noticeably excited to be rocking it. Her personal tune collection is 50 fathoms deep, boasting names from every corner of far space, and samples galore from many dimensions of the underground electronic scene. She leaves no stone unturned in the worlds of halftime, 140, and psy-bass, and she delivered a crushing set once again.

By 10:15, the room began to swell with people. The sound team had seamlessly transitioned into Vinja’s set, and the room really began to feel more alive. This set touched on just about every concept of free-form production techniques one can think of, keeping the crowd bouncing from beginning to end with flawless scratches, cuts and mixes. Vinja’s primary style draws glitch hop, old-school rap and break-beats, but he can flow in and out of opposing genres while maintaining an overarching sound. This evening it was a deep house track that earned the most enthusiastic response from the crowd, believe it or not.

Direct support came from the one and only Mickman. There was a long turning of the sta turn which that left the room perplexed but not uncomfortable, he came out guns blazing with a set bursting - as always - with new music. Dripping in complex, original trip-hop and heavy psychedelic beats, Mickman brought a vibe that kept the crowd gasping for air between drops and breakdowns.

Hailing all the way from the UK, fresh off of a headlining set at Tipper and Friends, K.L.O. got things moving quickly for their highly anticipated Boston debut. Osmetic and Lone Drum lit up the stage with a style that can be described as none other than “acid scratch”. These two have a flawless technique when in tandem and really represent what high caliber live mixing looks like. Osmetic aka Mike Wallis (one half of Crunch) is an OG in the game and he rinsed out a surplus of selectors. Ben Parker (Lone Drum) was on the turntable duties that evening, splaying and fraying cuts and samples across stereo space.These two know what they are doing, taking the crowd through cerebral warfare with their complex soundscapes, layering endless samples and loops upon one another. It’s no wonder everyone around the country is flocking to see what The Slugwife crew has to offer.

Rezinate was able to display the spectacular visuals of New England native David Schunemann aka Actualize on a crisp, brand new LED. Actualize is a becoming a force in his own right, steadily gaining traction as a respected VJ. You can catch him at Equinox Festival this summer among other shindigs. His smooth transitions and deep reservoir of art to select from created a great audio visual synchronization at the Middle East.

It’s nothing new for this New England team to showcase world-class talent while simultaneously big-upping local artists with supporting roles. They strive to curate a rather avant-garde experience whose fundamental focus is “cultivating deep, reverberating sound for a discerning audience,” and they hit their mark once again this evening. The atmosphere cultivated by Rezinate, Hennessey, the Middle East and all the fans on nights like these helps nurture a wholesome community based around freedom of expression and an appreciation for authentic performances.

FOLLOW Rezinate: Facebook / Soundcloud / Instragram / Twitter / Rezinate HQ

FOLLOW the photographers: James Coletta

Mickman & DeeZ - Invaders [Single]

Mickman and DeeZ each channel their prolific sound engineering ability into "Invaders", an absolute wipeout of a song self-released as the pair prepare to take the United States on their second tour together in as many years. Both producers have outdone themselves here, linking up to push out some of their gnarliest energy and cleanest sound design yet. 

These two go back a bit. In 2013 when they released their first collaboration "Kindred Junket", Andy Widdecomb aka DeeZ was performing under another name and Cameron Ingraham aka Mickman had yet to release his first album Square One. Their second effort came a couple years later as "Schism", an ode to the double-speak of former President Richard Nixon. DeeZ is the most frequent collaborator with Mickman. Well, he's actually the only collaborator with Mickman, at least on a tune that's been made public (besides some cuts by FCW on "Dissolution"). 

The pair appear to be kindred spirits, musically at least. Their styles gel so fluently on this cut. "Invaders" has the Mickman sway, a syncopated groove of hip-hop drums and stinging, interrogatory synthesis that can turn a mind inside out. Except here the synth work leverages DeeZ's sound design, known to be obscene and potentially illegal in Singapore. The mastering, too, was a collaborative effort. 

For an opportunity to hear this live on Funktion One sound, grab tickets to their New York City tour stop presented by The Rust Music with support from Jizzy Fra and Wiseyoungfool. The action gets underway at 9:00pm at Brooklyn Bazaar on Thursday, April 19. If you're too far away or just deadass don't like the smell of New York CIty, they're also up in Chattanooga, Boston, Philadelphia and Maine. The thought of these performances can make one's blood boil. The craftsmanship live and on the record from these two has been grown in bounds since they first hit the road together last year. They're riding the ferocious cutting edge of bass music, and there's no put on - it's all delivery. 

FOLLOW Mickman:   Soundcloud   /   Bandcamp   /   Facebook 

FOLLOW DeeZ:   Bandcamp  /  Soundcloud   /   Facebook   /   Instagram

Staff Picks - 2017

Our collective has an insatiable appetite for new music. We compulsively sift through the depths of the web for tunes we can share with each other and ultimately with you. The sheer volume of music released on a daily basis can be overwhelming. We wouldn’t have it any other way, but after all is said and done there's so much music we never have an opportunity to spotlight. So for a moment we are looking back on 2017 to remind ourselves and our readers of the best drops that went unmentioned in our publication. Each staff member has chosen to share one album, EP, or compilation. Maybe you'll discover something new, or end up reflecting on a favorite of your own from 2017.  

Thanks for staying chooned with us.

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YISHAI | DUFFREY - THE WORLD THAT YOU KNOW (3/1)

Woody Klann’s mindbending adventure through irrepressible dub and stretching tempos was a huge career move for the Bay Area artist. Rarely does a psychedelic LP get dropped on the electronic dance scene, with so many gems that have been playing out for years. Duffrey struggled searching for a label to release his material to a wider audience. To see him release on Shanti Planti is a joy I experienced as fan and friend. Finally, the artist I love was exposed to the world; go check him out!

FOLLOW Duffrey:   Soundcloud   /   Bandcamp   /   Facebook

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MALAKAI | LUSINE - SENSORIMOTOR (3/3)

Lusine has been a longtime favorite of mine since discovering the Ghostly Internationalrecord label a number of years ago. His music really satisfies something that I don’t find in many other places. It has a sort of elegance, simplicity and spaciousness to it while still maintaining a strong, driving energy that is no small feat of balance. Sensorimotor is a masterfully crafted sonic journey that walks that line flawlessly, taking you from the dance floor into the clouds and back again. Composition aside, the sound design and production on Sensorimotor is some of the more evocative, articulate and engaging work I have heard in a long time. It truly lives up to its title, offering a fully immersive sensory and motor experience through sound.

FOLLOW Lusine:   Soundcloud   /   Bandcamp   /   Facebook

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PASQUALE | ALFA MIST - ANTIPHON (3/3)

My foray into the world of jazz music is a long-standing passion and musical influence that I've chased after for about four or five years now. Sometimes, in the course of listening through countless LPs, EPs, and singles, you stumble across that one particular record that forces you to take a step back, re-engage, and find yourself completely immersed in an aural headspace. Antiphon by Alfa Mist is one such record, and really solidified my current approach to and appreciation for avant-garde directions in jazz and other instrumental music. It is a conscientious mosaic of tonal relationships and organic rhythms. Each track on the album takes on a unique and effervescent form, and feels like the culmination of decades of jazz theory and stylistic development; it is distinctly jazz in the 21st century.

FOLLOW Alfa Mist:   Soundcloud   /   Bandcamp   /   Facebook

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KATIN | THE BUG VS. EARTH - CONCRETE DESERT (3/24)

I am a huge fan of droned out guitar riffs and dubstep. That’s why I thought the collaboration between Earth and The Bug was too good to be true. Instead, Concrete Desert makes a statement, and the two styles coalesce to form more than the sum of their parts. Dark and heavy bass music is lifted up with melodic ambience and distorted guitars. The music has a theme that could place you on the American frontier, or appear as the soundtrack to an eerie thriller movie. It is the duo’s debut LP, and follows the Boa/Cold EP that put these two on the map, excellent in its own right.

Two icons, both Earth (Dylan Carlson) and The Bug have each pursued their sounds for more than twenty years. It is to our luck that they saw the potential of forming this collaborative project. It's not for the faint of heart, but certainly is for those keen on the organic meeting the technological in music.

FOLLOW Earth:   Soundcloud   /   Bandcamp   /   Facebook

FOLLOW The Bug:   Soundcloud   /   Bandcamp   /   Facebook

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WYLER | ISZLAI - ROTUNDA (5/27)

Little can be found about Jozsef Iszlai, aside from his Romanian origin and hometown of Csikszereda. He currently resides in Cluj Napoca, the de facto capitol of Romania’s Transylvania region. I managed to gather that he plays guitar left-handed, and has since his mother brought one home when Jozsef was nine. One thing that really stood out is that he produces music for television and film, and is even currently scoring for theater. 

“Rotunda” was released in May of 2017, and is Iszlai’s first full-length release. The album fuses elements of trip-hop, idm, ambient music and deep house whilst also weaving in gorgeously succinct stringwork and organic percussion. A minor eastern influence is also present throughout the release, with interplay between Iszlai’s guitar and alluring asian string melodies. In the past, Iszlai has used foley sound from the city of Cluj Napoca in his music. I’m not sure if that method was integrated into the creation of “Rotunda,” but the slight industrial influence and texturing leads me to believe it was. “Round-up,” my favorite tune from the release, includes what sounds like a Subway car careening along it’s track - an instantly captivating element for a New York City native. The careful rocking of the train is almost soothing in it’s off-kilter cadence and seamless incorporation. 

Each track is narrative-based, with a melodious dialogue between elements that tells a tale of mystery and paradox. Ultimately, “Rotunda” is an impressive first release from a young, dextrous artist with a massive range and a penchant for creating emotionally charged music. I eagerly await a future release.

FOLLOW Iszlai:   Soundcloud   /   Bandcamp   /   Facebook

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FRANCESCO | FOUR TET - NEW ENERGY (9/29)

Kieran Hebden aka Four Tet recently released his ninth studio album, New Energy. New Energy explores a rich combination of acoustic melodies blended with tranquil yet forward moving beats. I instantly fell in love with this album's ability to simultaneously soothe and stimulate the mind. When listening, I find myself in deep contemplation, but with a sense of acceptance.

FOLLOW Four Tet:   Soundcloud   /   Bandcamp   /   Facebook

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MAX | KURSA - YOU CAN EAT WHATEVER YOU WANT FOR BREAKFAST PT. 3 (THE FINAL COURSE) (12/5)

You Can Eat Whatever You Want For Breakfast Part 3 (Final Course) is the final album from Kursa’s recent breakfast-themed trilogy. As one of the pioneers of Neurohop, the Bristol bass legend has gained significant attention in the USA with launch of label SLUGWIFE along with his collaborative project K.L.O. Y.C.E.W.Y.W.F.B. PT. 3 starts off spoon feeding the listener a dose of distortion, glazed with metallic foley sounds, and organized around an assortment of heavily swung '90s boom-bap drum patterns, halftime, and traditional drum and bass breaks.

With a seven-minute “Introduction”, Kursa brings us into a dissonant abyss of thick, watery textures and glistening high ends. Heard in songs “Flabby Fries”, “CANYATHO” and “Green Steal Spork” he uses chopped, distorted, and interwoven bass sounds to carry the melodies of his tracks, turning off-kilter glitch noises into harmonic trip-hop collages. The album tansitions into a sixth track “Wifey” which uses sonic elements similar to “Introduction” to create a cohesive intermission from the hardcore elements of the album. As the record progresses, Kursa's drum and bass roots seamlessly emerge from songs “Dustika” “Coldest Blue” and “Itago” while he continues to interweave the spicy neuro elements that define his style. Although Kursa's breakfast regimine remains highly classified, it is safe to assume that like this record, it is extra chunky, nutrient rich, and uninhibited by societal norms.

FOLLOW Kursa:   Soundcloud   /   Bandcamp   /   Facebook

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MARK | MICKMAN - MENDING THE RIVEN (12/6)

Mending the Riven is the third LP overall, and the second of 2017, from the elusive Illinois-based glitch wizard Cameron Ingraham aka Mickman. This release, Mickman’s longest to date, delves deep into downtempo and traverses time signatures with abandon on songs like “The Human” and “Entelechy” (this unfamiliar word means “the realization of potential”). Mickman’s straightforward and intelligent psychedelia is given fresh room to breathe on “Mending the Riven” with relaxed, low-bpm atmospheres. The record escalates in intensity, however, as it rolls along, with Mickman opening the filters and finally letting one rip on the last song, “Contact”. This progression, the thematic song titles, and a consistency of sound design make “Mending the Riven” extraordinarily cohesive. Despite words appearing in just one track, “Now Exist”, a story undergirds the album. These twelve tracks are an effort to sew together the riven, meaning “that which has been split or torn violently”. But what, exactly, is it that’s been split apart as to need mending? That is for the listener to interpret. 

FOLLOW Mickman:   Soundcloud   /   Bandcamp   /   Facebook