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

Rezinate & The Reliquarium Deliver Immersive Nightlife Experience

Decor at The Reliquarium’s warehouse and event space in Lincoln, RI (Credit: James Coletta)

Electronic music promoters worldwide try to cultivate a feeling of immersion. Whether it’s a claustrophobic dark room or an expansive festival field, promoters want their patrons to be able to lose themselves in the music and vibrations and forget their temporal concerns if only for a set or two. That’s why one often sees productions within existing spaces or venues that try to engage all five senses. Here lies the advantage of hosting an event with The Reliquarium at their event space and headquarters in Lincoln, Rhode Island.

A collective of artists and designers, Reliquarium is regional go-to for stage and event design, having fabricated stages for Elements Lakewood, Fractal Fest, Minus Zero, Wild Woods, and Unifier Festival. They’ve also worked on stages further afield at Burning Man, the 2017 Global Eclipse Gathering, and Envision Festival. As the locale from which all this world-class creation emanates, their event space and warehouse in Lincoln already is the immersive environment that promoters so often try to create ad hoc. Enter The Reliquarium and you’re surrounded by 360 luxurious degrees of transcendent art, design, thought, and music.

On December 1, Boston-based event production crew Rezinate partnered with The Reliquarium to host an evening of curated dubstep and drum and bass in Lincoln. The two organizations have collaborated before, with Rezinate bringing Reliquarium stage designs into the Middle East Downstairs for one show during each of their past two Fall seasons. Besides these direct collaborations, the organizations have known each other peripherally, as both are anchor points for the electronic music community in New England and the Northeast. Rezinate always carefully calculates how they bill and pair talent. This evening, though, their curation clout was approaching a new high, as each of the five DJs were also promoters and curators themselves.

Fractaltribe member and C:\tadel founder Terraphorm warmed up the decks with a set full of mystical 140 bpm music that was both organic and industrial. He was followed by Lenore, a drum and bass legend who for 19 years has been hosting a weekly party called Elements in Boston, supposedly the longest-running drum and bass show in the world. Rezinate’s own co-founder Saltus then offered his deep, experimental fare which varied between dubstep, drum and bass, and some unique, arhythmic bass music that appeared to suspend the crowd in mid-air at certain moments.

Driving through the unassuming town of Lincoln twenty minutes outside of Providence, one’s arrival at The Reliquarium is signaled by purple and pink lights peeking out of the great glass windows of a red brick factory shining out towards the road across a pond. Upon entering the venue this night, one would have been greeted warmly by Ivy Ross, co-founder and matriarch of The Reliquarium, before moving into one of the space’s two main rooms. The entire building is elegantly adorned with hulking sculptures and designs - pieces plucked from the group’s famous event stages - and some pieces that are likely fabricated just for the event space.

The Reliquairium’s warehouse and event space in Lincoln, RI features their famous stage designs functioning in the space where it’s created (Credit: James Coletta)

One room houses a vaulting, illuminated main stage that rivals in beauty if not in size any design that the team has taken on the road. Terraces flank the stage offering space for dancers and LED performers to spin and twirl and creating a nightclub dynamic. Beneath the terraces stood Hennessey Sound Design stacks. Their designer Sean Hennessey could be seen moving through every square foot of the room throughout the night, gauging the strength and fidelity of the sound. In one corner, a gigantic, fabricated face lords over the dance floor. In the opposite corner sits a grand piano next to a dark wooden bookshelf where tarot decks and texts on art and pharmacology share space with “Home Remedies for Dogs and Cats”, the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book, and “Natural Healing Wisdom and Know How”. More hand-crafted and illuminated installations on the walls and ceiling change colors throughout the night, helping to create a space that is as dynamic and alive as the 200 or so people dancing within it.

The second room, formerly an artist’s apartment, houses a second gorgeous stage, although it was not utilized on this evening. Instead of a dance floor, then, there was an expansive living room environment with sinking leather armchairs and antique coffee tables, plus an elixir bar and third party vendors and painters aligned along the walls. Sound from the main stage is pumped into this second room at an audible but not overwhelming volume. The result of all this? One can enjoy the evening’s musical fare from the comfort of a couch, dazzled by live painting or an illuminated Reliquarium stage design, while catching up with friends and enjoying a homemade elixir (the “Love Potion” came highly recommended, with a shot of espresso and a dash of lavender syrup).

Headlining the night was The Librarian, co-founder of the Pacific Northwestern festival Bass Coast. She, too, offered a hodge-podge of styles mixed with effortless grace and an impressive attention to detail. Our favorite set of the evening, though, came from Naasko, a sonic journeyman and one-time curator for the Canadian label Interchill Records. He played approximately 50 minutes of slicing, intergalactic drum and bass full of masterful sound design. For the last ten minutes, he scaled down to dubstep and dropped the weightiest and most spacious bass of the evening to cap off the show.

Keep your eyes out for events hosted at The Reliquarium in 2019, for more well-curated nights from Rezinate, and for potential future “Reziquarium” collaborations. With a keen sense of self-awareness and an abiding respect for one’s hosts, Northeastern heads who enjoys psychedelic electronic music and its corresponding counter culture should make a pilgrimage to The Reliquarium’s headquarters at least once.

FOLLOW The Reliquarium: Official / Facebook / Instragram / Twitter

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

FOLLOW the photographers: James Coletta / Philosopher in a Vest

Sound of Solasta - Saltus

Come mid-August Solasta Festival is slated to return to its pristine stomping grounds of Spirit Crossing in the mountains of eastern Tennessee. Solasta has positioned itself amongst the ecosystem of transformative art festivals as a premier domain for conscientiousness and communal values. Its musical lineup is filled to the brim with major contributors to electronic music's past and present including Solar Fields, Grouch, Jade Cicada, Detox Unit, Bluetech and so many more. Above all else, it's being presented by a plethora of industry players who explore their own artistic expression within music, as well as curate and operate various audio-focused companies of their own. Ranging from labels and production companies to publications and professional audio crews, the talent undergirding Solasta in 2018 is no less than exemplary. Through the Sound of Solasta series we'll explore the inner machinations of these multifaceted individuals and their outlets. For the first installation we're casting a spotlight on the weighty northeastern producer Saltus. 

Beyond his amorphous musical project, Will Saltus is the co-founder of Rezinate, a Boston-based label and production company. Rezinate has been providing New England with top flight electronic artists for the last four years steady with no slowdown in sight. They've been brought onboard the Solasta team to assist in the operation at hand. On top of being graciously provided his smashing set from Solasta 2017, The Rust had the opportunity to prod a bit at the brainwaves of Saltus, and he most certainly responded in kind.

The Rust: Tell us about Rezinate. What’s Rezinate’s position within the Solasta infrastructure?

Will: Rezinate is a bass music focused brand & community, cultivating deep, full, reverberating sound for a discerning audience. Based in Boston, MA, we host a range of international acts in town on the Hennessey Sound System, and curate music and original content from guests & residents.

We had been doing MASS EDMC (est. 2007) for a while and growing that brand. Always digging for new, unfamiliar and forward-thinking sounds however, we felt the need for a project that more closely represented our musical interests and the direction bass music was going in. Adam and I then came up with the idea for the Rezinate brand & concept at Envision Festival in 2014. That is Rezinate: music which resonates with us - innate, second nature, deep, and psychedelic. 

As to our connection to the festival - Hasan of Solasta is actually my good friend from high school and college. Ironically enough, in High School we were both ‘the guys who were really into music'. I remember when he told me about Bassnectar back then and I was like “who?” I think thats when 'Mesmerizing the Ultra' was out and that sent me for a crazy trip.

We’ve been close ever since & remained in touch as we progressed through our respective music journeys - and as our roads began to cross more frequently after college, whether it be through booking artists Hasan represents, Bassnectar related activities, or in the jungles of Costa Rica, we increasingly spoke of collaboration.

We are proud to lend our support to Solasta Festival through our marketing & the Rezinate community. We love what Hasan has put together with Solasta - it’s mission, musical curation and all - and it feels like a collective network of our friends, creatives, and peers. Our values are closely aligned and we’re thrilled to be a part of the festival’s growth.

The Rust: What were your impressions of Solasta last year? What are you looking forward to this year?

Will: Aw man, it was the last festival of the summer for me and it was so beautiful and the perfect way to cap off the season. About a half hour out on the drive I knew it was going to be special. Wait until you see these grounds: a pristine stretch of land surrounded by woods and a river that runs through it - which I believe is actually the cleanest in the United States! The Funktion-one system was incredible of course. That paired with a small fest of friends & family and a curation of amazing international talent made for one of my favorite festivals from last year, for real. Can’t wait to see how they step things up this year. I actually really look forward to hanging out with the owner of the grounds again. He’s a really cool guy. I spent some time exploring his crazy array of instruments and learning from his history rooted in Nashville guitar culture. Aside from that, there are too many artists on the bill to mention that I’m excited to see!

The Rust: Talk to us about your gradual evolution with tempo. Where did you start, and what pathways did you eventually follow?

(Credit: Nachturnal Images)

Will: The Saltus project began with exploring 85 & 140 tempos, and still today those are the two main tempos I focus on & play in my sets. Recently, most of the music I’ve been writing is 85. I don’t know, I am so fond of the tempo and I find there to be so much room for me to grow in it. 
I will say though, when I began playing gigs in the past two years or so, I became more drawn to write music that moves people & dance floors. Before, I was just writing to write and for any listener who may want to tune in on the other side. So now it depends on my mood, sometimes I want to write a banger, and sometimes I just want to express myself or an abstract idea. 

The Rust: What’s the ideal environment to experience a Saltus set?

Will: Where people feel the most comfortable and lucid to experience music, so probably the outdoors. Somewhere you can kick off your shoes and really let loose and immerse your spirit into the music. Don’t get it twisted though, I also love rocking renegades, house parties, and basements where it's dark and people loose sense of time & everyday bullshit. 

The Rust: The Saltus project seems to be rife with experimentation and you don’t seem to have boxed yourself in to any one style. Can you speak on some of your influences with your own musical endeavors, and your personal vision for Saltus?  

Will: Well, to tell this story I’ll have to rewind it to the beginning, when my Dad put me onto the classical guitar in the third grade. He’s been a guitar player most his life, with a focus on blues, bluegrass, & folky kind of stuff. I might have been drawn to the guitar anyways but he had a major influence on me and that was my introduction to music. He would always play my sister and I Jazz to fall asleep.. and lot’s of Bob Dylan. So yea, I was nine at the time and once a week I’d go to the classical music school and take lessons (I did this until I was 18). I began writing some original stuff onto sheet music and learning basic music theory. In Middle School I bought an electric guitar and learned some tablature and the classics. Shortly after I started jamming regularly with my friends. Fortunately one of them, who is in a talented family of drummers & musicians, had a jam room that we could practice in whenever. We started a band that was inspired from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, I was really really into them. Our band evolved into another group in High School and that’s when we started writing a bunch, playing gigs, and learning how to record and mic ourselves. We were jamming every day, and looking back I realize how profound an impact this had on me and the way I approach my music. Searching for that peak riff or chord progression and that synchronistic moment when the music takes you deeper and your eyes start to roll to the back of your head.. and then you hit the record button and try to capture it as best you can.

Ironically I got kicked out of the band for not being good enough and I dropped music completely for the rest of that year. The next Summer I went to Italy, my first international trip without my parents to visit my cousins in Rome. I was 16 and we got drunk on Sangria one afternoon. I had somewhat of an epiphany watching an Iron Maiden Live DVD at the apartment afterwards. I had heard them in Guitar Hero 2 and it totally blew my fucking mind (I’m a big gamer, which I’ll touch on later). I picked up my cousin's guitar which was missing a string, fixed it up, and that night learned their song "The Trooper”, which was by far the most complex electric guitar piece I had learned at the time. Iron Maiden can be considered “Neo-classical”; they play mostly in minor and are rooted in classical influence. I think their music appealed to my musical background and eagerness to rock out. This moment really kicked my passion for the guitar and music back into gear and soon lead to exploring more old school metal and then metalcore, most noteably As I Lay Dying. This was when I realized I loved dark & heavy, yet beautiful & emotional music. Contrasting energies. During this same time Electronic Music was growing on me. My friends and I wanted to throw a ‘rave' for a birthday party, and we downloaded a “Top 50 Techno / Trance Anthems” compilation from iTunes. I’m pretty sure we just typed 'Techno’ into iTunes. That record changed my life for good too. I remember the first time smoking weed to it in the car (we had just gotten our drivers permits) and it was a big kapow. I distinctly remember beatboxing & humming where the beat was going and my friend said, “How did you know it was gonna go there?” That definitely made me reflect, “Huh? Do I have a knack for this?"

When I got to UMass Amherst it escalated of course. I found Pretty Lights, Rusko, Deadmau5 and rode that Skrillex, Zedd, Porter Robinson Electro & Circus One Records phase like a lot of other people. I actually had Pro Tools & Ableton in High School, but didn’t dive into it all that much. But when Skrillex started releasing music, I was in my Sophomore year at the time, it really inspired me and I began spending time in Ableton and writing Electro & Dubstep. I spent many late nights writing in College and watching Youtube tutorials during lecture halls. Soon after I was introduced to MASS EDMC and met Adam & Bobby. MASS EDMC and its story/role in my life is its own entire conversation - Adam and I still dedicate a lot of our waking hours to the company. But yeah, I remember feeling how exciting it was to be able to share music and talk about it for hours with people who were even more passionate about it than me. Bobby heard that I was learning Ableton and wanted to trade production lessons for DJing. I learned a lot from his philosophies and general energy as a human being. He taught me all the basic 101 about DJing and pushed me to begin playing at house parties. I will never forget when he suddenly left the decks mid-party after a MASS EDMC event to go chase a girl. He said, “you’re ready” and put the headphones on me and took off and left me to keep the party going. He really believed in me and my music and that meant a lot to me. The next year (my Junior year) my beats reached a point where they were at least somewhat enjoyable and had a few minutes of an arrangement. I was essentially jamming on my guitar, and then transposing the melodies and progressions I liked to Ableton. I started playing some open mic nights on campus and sharing my music. I had an idea to keep my guitar on my back while I was DJing and then I’d mix in some of my tunes and shred a bit, and then back to the decks. This was definitely the first foundation & ‘vision' of the Saltus project; classical & metal influence, live instrumentation, and dark and emotive soundscapes.

(Credit: James Coletta)

Mr. Carmack, Emancipator, and similar producers were a huge influence for me in this era - showing me further how beautiful and expressive music can be. I always imaged Mr. Carmack to be writing music on the beach in Hawaii, pouring his heart & feelings into his music. His work was so beautiful... I listened to it on repeat. Writing has always been a form of self-therapy for me, channeling my emotions into the music, so I really resonated with what they were doing. When I moved to Boston after graduating college, I finally had a creative space that I could call home. I increased my focus on collecting gear and putting intention into my room. I was still writing music based mostly on my guitar, but I knew I had to learn real sound design & engineering in order to take it to the level I wanted to reach. I started to put my head more into audio effects, processing, mixing, collaborating & learning from others, etc. and my guitar took the sideline for a bit. 

I think the next influential turning point for me was discovering Synkro and seeing him perform at Shambhala in 2015. I had never heard anything quite like it - dark, dubby, industrial, inexplicable sound design & quality, ridiculous percussion & break beats, and above all how deep & intelligent his music was. I gained a profound respect for him, Indigo, Samurai records, Cosmic Bridge, and half time drum & bass as a whole. These cats weren’t afraid to push the limit on abstract & emotive boundaries and it was crazy inspiring. They are still some of my favorite producers, and this realm of sound is one of my primary focuses in my productions & performances. After Shambhala I became more passionate about producing; I was writing more frequently and started to find a balance of working it into my daily schedule. I was determined to express a deeper-self through my music. This translated into my first body of work, “inhalexale," which I am still very fond of. It was the first time I was recording my own samples and blending them with pads & ambient soundscapes. I had purchased a Tascam DR-40 and was recording samples on my travels. I grew a sentimental connection to these recordings and my ear for catching sounds was improving. This definitely inspired my music further, it was exciting to be forming an original palette & direction. Generally today, every song I write incorporates field recordings. I always have my Tascam or phone with me and recently I’ve been honing which recording devices to use when, to capture a specific result. To be honest for a long time I considered producing to just be a private hobby. I feared sharing it with anyone or anywhere (outside of quiet releases on Soundcloud) and didn’t really care to unless you were a close friend or came to my room one night after a party and caught me jamming. Fortunately I have amazing friends, and they pushed me to begin releasing my music and share it with people. After snowboarding one day I was showing my friend my music, and he said, “My mom once told me, live life with no regrets. If you don’t go for it and at least try, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.” That hit me hard. 

The last piece I’ll share of my ‘vision’ for the Saltus project is that I’m a big dreamer. I’ve been reading fantasy books & playing video games since I was really young and developed a bit of a habit for lucid dreaming in college. I find that there’s an intense cross-over between our imaginations, dreaming, and creative endeavors like writing music or any sort of art form. When I write, I try to take the flow as deep as possible to reach a place where I’m no longer present, totally lost in the music and focused on exploring the visuals in my head and the feelings the soundscapes give me. It's kind of like daydreaming I guess. In the past year or so I’ve been trying to hone this skill more explicitly. For example, my song “Arrival” was inspired from watching the movie Arrival; I looped certain scenes from the movie while I wrote the track to preserve my imagination & inspiration from the film as long as I could. To summarize... deep & emotive bass music with a focus on field recordings, experimental resampling, organic sound design, live instrumentation, and classical music influence.

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Understanding the people behind Solasta is in and of itself part of the ethos of Solasta. Behind the speakers, the decks, the sound pits, the lineup and the  logos are individuals answering their own personal calls to action. They're finding ways to give back to a community that empowers everyone involved. Saltus was more than generous to provide such articulate insight into the noosphere of his art and business, but it's just the tip of the spear. Be sure to catch Saltus perform at Spirit Crossing this August 17-18 if you make the expedition to Solasta, as he's sure to deliver a most unique interpretation of bass-weight. 

FOLLOW Saltus:  Soundcloud  /  Bandcamp  /  Spotify

FOLLOW Solasta:  Website  /  Facebook  /  Tickets