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Fractalfest - Terraphorm [Profile]
Perched atop an old rock wall overlooking the field at Page Farm in Croydon, New Hampshire, I sat with a new acquaintance, Tovia Ben Shapiro aka Terraphorm at the Psychedelic Sleepover. Terraphorm spun an early afternoon dubstep set on Saturday at the Sleepover, but on Friday on the rocks in the shade it was another festival that dominated our conversation; Fractalfest 2018 <Art/ificial> coming up on July 12-15 in Stephentown, New York.
Tovia Ben Shapiro aka Terraphorm performs alongside A Hundred Drums at Citadel, Shapiro's new event in Boston that hosts international talent to promote roots dubstep and bass music (Credit: Adrian Feliciano)
Perched atop an old rock wall overlooking the field at Page Farm in Croydon, New Hampshire, I sat with a new acquaintance, Tovia Ben Shapiro aka Terraphorm at the Psychedelic Sleepover. Tovia’s thickly dreadlocked, spindly personage could be seen strolling the about Page Farm all weekend, hanging with the sound guys and chatting with other party goers. Terraphorm spun an early afternoon dubstep set on Saturday at the Sleepover, but on Friday on the rocks in the shade it was another festival that dominated our conversation; Fractalfest 2018 <Art/ificial> coming up on July 12-15 in Stephentown, New York.
Tovia has been playing deep tunes under the Terraphorm moniker for years, and more recently he began throwing parties in Boston called C:\tadel. This series is dedicated to showcasing a wide spectrum of sound system music, and hosted N-Type, Biome and A Hundred Drums during its most recent iteration in May. Not unlike Fractalfest, C:\tadel offers a space for rare and often international talent to perform. Tovia seeks out weighty sound from all over the world for his DJ sets, and through C:\tadel he can showcase these sounds and their authors in a welcoming live setting.
In tandem with these hustles, Tovia is embedded within Fractaltribe, the crew behind Fractalfest and a whole lot more. Based in Worcester, Massachusetts, Fractaltribe eludes description in some ways. Tovia explains it be a community of DJs, producers, event promoters, visual artists and other various creatives and characters.
The group has been hosting highly curated and cultured parties in the Northeast US for years. Their 10 year anniversary party took place in Brooklyn in April, where Terraphorm offered a special DJ set. July will see the sixth iteration of Fractalfest, which began as a day party in Worcester but is now a full blown four-day festival in the woods of upstate New York. “What I would tell a lot of people is you’ll see certain things that you love about other festivals at Fractalfest,” Tovia says, “and you’ll also see things and experience things that are a little bit different.”
Fractalfest encourages participants to engage themselves intellectually through the party’s theme.
The theme for our party informs the deco and the ideas behind it as well as the bookings. The theme this year is Fractalfest <Art/ificial>. Essentially we’re exploring what technology means for humanity and art. You were seeing academics as early as the 1950s trying to figure out what artificial intelligence is and what it means. At what point is something intelligent? At what point does this intelligence mimic humanity perfectly, and after that, what are the things that distinguish us from it. Is it creativity, our emotions? These are some of the questions that have guided our theme for Fractalfest <Art/ificial>.
Tovia's lithe and linear face is wrapped in big black Oakley sunglasses as we continue our discussion. He speaks with the humble confidence of someone who's seen much in his time.
“These ideas are being explored very often today with the rapid developments in artificial intelligence in ways we didn’t imagine 10 to 20 years ago. You know, we had The Terminator, but today a lot of artificial intelligence is algorithms and things that feed into the information IV through social media and other things.” Social media is obviously an invaluable tool for promoting parties. While Fractraltribe utilizes this medium well, the group is unique in today’s environment because its reach manifests mostly through personal associations and word of mouth. “We’re also exploring the deeper question of what it means to not be artificial. We invite people to come out to Fractalfest and explore this in the party environment.”
Fractalfest is a leave-no-trace event. Attendees are expected to properly dispose of any trash they create during the festival. To this end, the event organizers provide every attendee with a garbage bag when they enter the grounds.
Fractaltribe is known to emphasize psytrance in their musical curation. Their lineup features Grouch and other members of the cream of the psytrance crop. This focus by no means excludes other forms of electronic music, though. The lineup also features the North American debut of the Grouch in Dub Live Band, for example. Tasteful bass producers and DJs including Dela Moontribe, Dreamwalker, Saltus, Shanti, Somatoast and Spacegeisha will be spinning in the Fractal Forest, not to mention Terraphorm himself, who treads through the deep and mystic realms of 140 bpm. Fractalfest offers a taste of almost everything in electronic music. For those rooted in bass, it can be an opportunity to experience something new. “Sometimes we, including myself, can get stuck in a pattern of liking what we like and not really going to explore and check out new music,” Tovia remarks with great insight. “There’s so much amazing music going on just within the world of electronic music. It’s almost a disservice to centralize so much and not check out the new stuff.”
Fractalfest separates its bookings into two camps; live sets and DJ sets. Terraphorm will spin two DJ sets at the festival. Although he's produced a tremendous amount of music throughout his eight or nine years of performance, Terraphorm prefers to remain on the selector’s side of the fence. “What I found is that you can end up offering a better product as essentially a human jukebox curator on stage.” By selecting and remixing other people’s sounds, Tovia can focus on creating a special, consistent vibe, “an experience that is more than the sum of its parts,” as he puts it. “One thing I enjoy about DJing especially in front of a crowd is the spontaneity and the interaction with the crowd.” There’s advantages to some pre-planning, he says, but spontaneity and moving with the moment is really where it’s at. “Sometimes you want that ability to read and interact and change with the crowd. I enjoy that spontaneity, and I think it’s resulted in a lot of my favorite moments as a DJ.”
“I’m involved in many ways and it’s stimulating," says Tovia Ben Shapiro aka Terraphorm. "It keeps you from doing the same thing too much and helps you have a more holistic role in these parties.”
Administratively, Fractaltribe is a fluid organization. Like most members of the group, Tovia wears many hats. In addition to being a resident DJ and promoter, Tovia performs administrative work and helps to build the group's art projects and stages. “I also spent a number of years doing landscaping,” he adds, “so we do really cool landscaping to create a special vibe in the Fractal Forest." What is the result of all this multifaceted work? A festival experience which, for its size, is apparently unrivaled in terms of attention to detail, visual presentation, and the ability to create a holistic atmosphere. “Our music is carefully chosen and curated, but there’s also a more physical, visual vibe from our custom projection-mapped stages, which we build more of every year, to our art galleries. We’ve had both a fine art gallery and, to use a loaded term, a visionary art gallery.” Take a peek at the photo gallery on Fractaltribe’s website (linked below) to glimpse the immersive atmosphere of the Fractal Forest.
Beyond the music and theme-driven installations, though, even deeper threads run through Fractalfest that Tovia is quick to highlight. “We want to create a place where music can be enjoyed in a fun, safe, healthy and community-oriented manner. That intention is reflected behind a lot of our art and the setup that happens out there.” Indeed, Fractalfest promotes health, safety and self-awareness more aggressively than any other festival in the region. When in this context the festival was unfortunately interrupted by New York State Police last year, the raid appeared quite out of place. Members of Fractaltribe defended the event and the culture unabashedly at a news conference organized afterwards by law enforcement. "We don't sell alcohol. We don't condone people being intoxicated. We actively promote sobriety, health and wellness," declared Fractalfest co-organizer Kyle Rober.
For his part, Kyle explained aspects of Fractalfest to me at Disc Jam Music Festival in early June. Fractalfest shares the same property as Disc Jam, although the Tribe utilizes the land differently, establishing most of their stages and installations within the woods. “Those two people,” Kyle said, gesturing at a young couple with whom he was just speaking, “would not only have an amazing time at Fractalfest, they would excel as human beings.”
The organizers strive to make the festival as accessible as possible. “All these things take money to happen," Tovia says. “For Fractalfest, we’ve always worked to keep our production value high and our tickets affordable and accessible. It’s really important that all this music and art doesn’t get closed off from people and become this luxury that’s only enjoyed by a few.”
Fractalfest is far from the largest or most well-known festival in the region, but it may be the most thoughtfully curated one. “These festivals are celebrations of art and celebrations of people. I think if you go back to the earliest festivals, before there were music festivals like this,” Tovia says, sweeping his arm in front of us to capture the flurry of activity in the field at Page Farm, “I think what they all share is a celebration of the human need for social contact.”
By mining the intersection of art, humanity and technology, Fractalfest <Art/ificial> will indulge and at the same time examine this undeniable need for social contact. Terraphorm will use his shamanic dubstep selections not once but twice throughout the weekend to speak to this idea. If you’d like to experience something a little different this festival season, join him in the Fractal Forest. Visit Fractaltribe's website (below) for day schedules, maps, and more.
FOLLOW Terraphorm: Fractaltribe Spotlight / Soundcloud / Facebook
FOLLOW Fractalfest <Art/ificial>: Official / Facebook / Tickets
Artists to Watch - Psychedelic Sleepover Undercard
Headliners grab headlines for a festival, but its often the strength of the undercard that makes a great musical experience on the ground. By their nature, undercards carry unfamiliar names. There's value in wandering festival grounds hither and thither drifting towards whatever catches your fancy. In fact, we recommend this approach. But The Rust Music was designed to give unheard artists an audience, so we took a magnifying glass to the undercard at Psychedelic Sleepover.
Page Farm in Croydon, New Hampshire (Lucid Photography)
"Who are these people? What do these words mean?" "No clue." Frequent refrains from festival-goers examining an undercard. Headliners grab headlines for a festival, but its often the strength of the undercard that makes a great musical experience on the ground. By their nature, undercards carry unfamiliar names. There's value in wandering festival grounds hither and thither drifting towards whatever catches your fancy. In fact, we recommend this approach. But The Rust Music was designed to give unheard artists an audience, so we took a magnifying glass to the undercard at Psychedelic Sleepover.
This exploratory bass music showcase takes place on June 1 & 2 in the woods of New Hampshire. It's hosted by northern New England's best bass crew, Taproot Productions, who stuffed their bill with talent. It's a small gathering, so the undercard is no 60-artist rabbit hole. Northeastern folks are probably familiar with at least a handful of the names. Still, to acquaint audiences with underground sound, we offer 10 artists to keep your ears on from the bottom half of the Psychedelic Sleepover bill. For a further taste of the undercard's energy, we assembled a playlist containing a cache of psychedelic grooves from these 10 performers.
ALEJO
Alex Hinger aka Alejo is a psychedelic bass heavyweight from the Midwest with reach from coast to coast. Coming out of Cincinnati, Alejo is a co-founder of ThazDope Records and has additional releases on Street Ritual, Shadow Trix, and Wormhole Music Group. With multidimensional down to mid tempo and halftime bass music, he pries open sonic spaces and slices through mental states. Alejo can act with force, as on "Phonetic Flex", or with delicacy, as on "Inciting Ferdinand". Aqueous downtempo soundscapes run into fuzzy neuro halftime business within his mixes, which include a superb session with BeatLab Radio. Alejo has performed at a solid cross section of festivals including Infrasound in Wisconsin, Bloomtown in Minnesota, Resonance in Ohio and Stilldream in California.
FOLLOW Alejo: Official / Soundcloud / Bandcamp / Facebook / Instagram
Malakai performing at Ode to Earth in Philadelphia (Panda Media)
MALAKAI
Malakai performing at Ode to Earth in Philadelphia (Panda Media)
There's a mysticism to Malakai's music that's amplified when brought out from the night club into the bright fields and foliage of a festival. Ranging from downtempo to midtempo, at times dipping into ambient but always equipped with an edge, his music appears invigorated by fresh air. Fortunately Malakai is no stranger to the northern New England woods. He's a familiar face in Portland, Maine, the home turf of Taproot Productions. As a veteran of Wild Woods Festival, a cousin to Psychedelic Sleepover, he's perhaps played Page Farm more than any artist on our list. Lately he's been holding down New York City and the Tri-State and testing a bit of new and unreleased material. His music borders on many styles, but ultimately cultivates an energy all its own.
FOLLOW Malakai: Soundcloud / Spotify / Bandcamp / Facebook / Instagram
MATT CAREY
Matt Carey's debut LP was called Born into Bablyon. He chooses not to stay inna babylon, opting instead to journey back to roots guided by minimal, earthy house music. Hailing from Boston, Carey will hold down the local support along with so many others. Save for other locals like Moses and a few more, the diversity on Psychedelic Sleepover's lineup is mostly limited to broken beat music. Carey's four-on-the-floor movement should be a delightful departure, then. Hand drums and woodwinds mirror drum machines and synthesizers in his drawn-out, slow-developing tunes. There's a touch of glitch in all the right spots, too, especially on "Future Sound". The vibe is energetic and sexual, the presentation peaceful and serene.
FOLLOW Matt Carey: Soundcloud
MAXFIELD
Jake Maxfield has been dropping diverse strains of intriguing bass music on a consistent basis for the past year from his home in Boston, Massachusetts. His offering ranges from neuro to glitch and quasi-dubstep, and even a bit of purple vibes come through based on the synthesizers he chooses. He truly queers typical genre classifications, and just goes for the jugular with his own unique one-off arrangements. There's danceability and psychological complexity in his music; a devilish combination He's represented by the folks at Taproot Productions and as such he's playing two of the Sleepover's pre-parties including the New York City warm-up with Kalya Scintilla presented by The Rust Music. It's rumored that he has a stack of unreleased goodies prepared for these performances and the Sleepover itself.
FOLLOW Maxfield: Soundcloud / Facebook / Instagram
SHWEX
Shwex released his first EP before graduating high school. Since then he's been steadily elevating his sound and reputation within the psychedelic downtempo universe. Some downtempo can be overwhelmingly in its complexity. Shwex gets complex, with the intense, industrial "Square One" as an example. But there's also relaxation and a unique simplicity in his composition, as on "Aurai". His developing side project anomly seems to balance both these extremes. Recently he's been introducing IDM and glitch vibes into Shwex music where psy influence was once more prevalent. We imagine the energies within a Shwex performance would be ripe for release in dead of night or the spring of early afternoon. He resides in Olympia, Washington, so for him the Sleepover is a rare East coast excursion not to be lightly overlooked.
FOLLOW Shwex: Soundcloud / Spotify / Bandcamp / Facebook / Instagram
SOMATOAST
Somatoast relaxing
First, Somatoast's name is righteous. One could say the "soma" refers to the sedating downtempo that he's been producing for the past five years, while the "toast" hints at the charred state of the collective audience brain after he's through throwing his psych funk uptempo offering. Like many artists on the Psychedelic Sleepover lineup, Somatoast is comfortable across tempos and blurs lines between them within his complex performances. Hailing from Austin, Texas, Somatoast aka Mark Rubin is a multi-instrumentalist. This acoustic training adds earthy dimension to his music, an example being his cut "Unraveling" featuring Zonra off Aquatic Collective's Standing With The Waters compilation
FOLLOW Somatoast: Soundcloud / Spotify / Bandcamp / Facebook / Instagram
TERRAPHORM
Here's a great opportunity to catch some of the gratuitously deep and spaced-out dub music that's less available in the festival's first two tiers. This fellow offers deep, dark, rootsy dubstep. He's from Worcester, Massachusetts and recently began hosting shows under his brand called Citadel Bass. He's rooted deeply in Fractraltribe, performing in April at that group's 10-year anniversary bash in New York City. His sets are rumored to spellbind, offering a dance floor experience that's "transformational". Terraphorm's available music, mostly made up of past sets including an immense FractalFest 2017 Minimix, point in this direction. It's deep stuff. That only a small but rich taste is available from Terraphorm intrigues us even more. You won't know exactly what's coming, just that it's got weight.
FOLLOW Terraphorm: Soundcloud / Facebook / Instagram
TSIMBA
Deep roots generate plump, wholesome yields. Mark Evan Musto aka Tsimba has for years driven forward his future roots sound - a hybrid of dubstep, drum and bass and neuro - and today its bearing juicy, delicious fruit. Mark is from Connecticut and cut his teeth in that state's burgeoning community with Elemental Minded Promotions. Now residing in Brooklyn, he's become a regular performer in New York City, a roaming resident one could say. His DJ skills are rock solid and he performs with mostly original music save for a few choice selectors, usually tunes from his peers. Being a drummer by trade, Mark spares no effort in crafting hard-hitting and well-rounded percussion, just the sort that keeps a crowd engaged and moving during a live performance.
Tygris cutting up
FOLLOW Tsimba: Soundcloud / Spotify / Facebook / Instagram
TYGRIS
Tygris' live performance continues to evolve, but its authenticity and quality is established. The heavy hip-hop influence in his studio music really manifests itself during his performances. The tempo often stays at a steady bop, and all sorts of screwface neuro synthesizers are woven through the beats. His original tunes bang, especially those off his recent Redefined EP, and he mixes these up with choice selectors from the glitch hop hall of fame. Tygris aka Zach Plocic from Long Valley, New Jersey, also uses skillful live record scratching to set off the hip-hop vibe even more. He's been known to sit in and scratch with other artists, so we wouldn't be surprised if he hits the stage more than once at the Sleepover.
FOLLOW Tygris: Soundcloud / Spotify / Facebook
WESSANDERS
Being unfamiliar with his performances, our zeal for Wessanders is based almost exclusively on the strength of his "Christmas Miracle Mix" from this past December. It's just twelve minutes of original music, but its twelve minutes of unequivocal heat. The young man, whose real name is Kai Felsman, is clearly cooking with gas though he hasn't served up many plates yet. We hope his Sleepover set will be an opportunity for audiences to explore his sound, which is clearly cutting edge and very visceral. Like his collaborator Maxfield, Wessanders is held down by the Taproot team.
FOLLOW Wessanders: Soundcloud / Spotify / Facebook / Instagram
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