Elements Lakewood Creates a Musical Melting Pot

In a world bursting with musical trappings, tastes, intrigues, and developments, where does one find the nexus of it all? Music is, as it always has been, a labyrinthian mosaic that pushes and pulls at our fluid emotional states, and for every person on the planet, there is some tone that rings just right in his or her ears. As a natural result there’s a multitude of social scenes and collectives that create their own bubbled zions of aural stylings, so as to connect with like-minded individuals and explore the depths of familiar genres. The modern music festival often attempts to cross-pollinate various music cultures, but Elements Lakewood Music & Arts Festival achieves this vision to its fullest capacity.

Elements Lakewood, hosted during Memorial Day weekend by NYC-based production company BangOn! NYC, is an experiment in combining the often at-odds camps of broken and steady beat electronic music. On the surface these collectives could not be further apart; from phenotypes to vernacular, waves of influence, venues, clothing, and demographics. The 4x4 dust-kickers and heavy bass head-nodders seem like spiritual opposites. This dichotomy is, however, only skin-deep. Push past the vain and perfunctory surface of either music scene and you’ll find that many of the same speaker creatures inhabit both worlds simultaneously out of their sheer love for all things boisterous within the wildest music of our generation.

Elements Lakewood is situated in a pastoral rural community in Northeastern Pennsylvania that is its namesake. The grounds themselves are a wondrous cornucopia of rolling hills, forest glades, throughways swampy and dusty surrounding a petit, picturesque lake. Across the expanse of property are the familiar trappings of any purebred American summer camp, all of which would be leveraged to create a well-organized and immersive festival experience. The facilities and materials were all available, the proper permits were filed, all the revelers were gathered. From the start of the weekend, BangOn! and a host of collaborative production companies presented a multifaceted aural adventure offering passage through every rabbit hole imaginable. Backed by eight stages of varying design, power, and vanity, the force of over 100 musical acts was unleashed on a torrent of jubilous weekend warriors. Each stage was tailored to curate a particular atmosphere and headspace, but was simultaneously inviting to anyone who wandered close enough.

Wax Future were part of a small handful of livetronica acts to rip the Earth Stage

The Reliquarium worked wonders on the Earth Stage for the second straight year

At the entrance to the festival, you’re presented with the most technologically equipped stage at the event. Conceived and designed by The Reliquarium and Rhizome, the Earth Stage presented a formidable array of well-tuned speakers, lasers, lights, projection mapping, and fidelitous LED screens. Surrounding it stood a series of art cars and asymmetric structures that created the natural boundaries of the dance space and added dimension to this particular party. The soft earth bore the wounds of a thousand boots, birkenstocks, and bare feet kicking and pounding at the grass and dirt below, a sure demarcation of the round-the-clock revelry at hand. The talent featured here varied stylistically, but was unified under the theme of broken-beat bass music and eclectic livetronica acts. Some of the movers and shakers tapped to perform on the Earth Stage included Detox Unit, Wax Future, Somatoast, Charles the First, DeeZ, Smigonaut, and the legendary Stickybuds, whose first Northeast US set in four years exceeded expectations. As the result of a last minute cancellation and some help from a few friends, 5AM assumed the stage and pulled off a surprise slam-dunk performance to close out Saturday night.

Bad Ginger offering her presentation Mushroom Madness: Into to Mycology in the WellNest

Rolling past the Earth Stage one arrived at center camp surrounded by a host of repurposed cabins and structures inhabited by festival staff and some of the various companies recruited to add their flair to Elements. Harm reduction organizations DanceSafe and Harmonia set up shop around center camp and maintained staff throughout the day and night to keep folks safe, educated, and at an advantage in this complex, indulgence-laden atmosphere. Here was also the WellNest, a multifaceted workshop space that supplemented the overarching theme of health, cognizance, and connectivity with yoga, flow workshops, meditations, and lectures on everything from consent to mushrooms. A stone’s throw across the road from the WellNest was an innocuous front porch with an equally innocuous name; the Porch Stage. A laid back alignment of singer-songwriters and groovy instrumental bands cycled through here during the day. By night the building came alive as the Wub Hub, welcoming a host of deep frequency freaks seeking prime cuts of contemporary low-end production. Saturday evening saw Good Looks Collective and Sermon join forces to present another installation of NYC’s beloved After Dub events, bringing along the talents of Honeycomb, Brightside, Ethan Glass, Saltus, Zoo Logic, and Doctor Jeep.

Descending from center camp towards the lake, the Water Stage hosted light fair during the day. Party-goers were splayed along the beach lounging in the sun, washing down crab cakes with obscenely overpriced Modelos, dancing and bouncing atop a docked pirate ship, and occasionally testing the water on one of many free kayaks, canoes, and rowboats. This stage featured no flashy fanfare, just a DJM mixer, a few CDjs, and a full serving of bread-and-butter house DJs to maintain the vibe during those peak daylight hours. Noteworthy musical curations were provided by Agents of Vibe, The 1989, NSR, Trotter, and Dropkat.

Fun in the sun is usually fun for everyone, but we all need reprieve from the heat. Lucky for the sandy-haired shufflers, the bounty and sprawl of the neighboring woods would provide more than just shade. One step into the forest at large revealed a bevy of art installations and visually-appealing structures. Here among the scattered branches and curious forest pathways one felt immersed in the core of Element’s creative ethos. The deepest layer of this topographical adventure housed the Air Stage. Constructed from a plethora of reconstituted wood and miscellaneous building materials, this organic structure overlooked a muddied glade that would host all manner of delinquents, dragon-chasers, ravers, techno heads, and casual party crawlers. A treehouse and a series of canopy walkways loomed over the stage creating a delightful spatial dynamic and morphing the traditional one-dimensional dancefloor into a true woodland hideaway. Swaying to the sounds of Lemurian, The Alchemist, Experiment.al, Maceo Plex and especially Lee Burridge in these woods was a nearly unparalleled pleasure.

Doubling back deeper into the woods a rising hill gives way to the Alchemy Stage. A small pavillion decorated with medieval flare, a few strong speakers, a fire pit, and a curious tent housing the mobile shop of Ambrosia Elixirs created a self-contained but welcoming atmosphere. This nestled space served as a resting ground during midday and a hip-shaker’s battleground by night. The earthy aroma of those organic elixirs filling the nostrils of passersby. As the sun passed its midway point in the sky above and the surrounding air began to cool the Alchemy Stage would spring to life. So began the longest running micro-party of the event, running nonstop until 10:00 AM the next morning on the first day alone. Psychedelic variants of house and its related genres pulsated from the sound system forcing every passerby to give themselves up to the aural journey at hand for at least a few minutes. Here the disparate audiences from the four other elemental stages were fused into a new micro-community; alchemy.  Some of the performers elevating the vibrations here included Soul Potion, Eli Light, Bushwick AV, and Devotion.

Emerging from the tree line past the edges of the Alchemy Stage, a grassy knoll overlooking the vast expanse of the festival bore the weight of the final stage and its vivacious, feet sweeping crowds. Created from an amalgamation of Incendia domes and light fixtures, surrounded on all sides by massive art cars and makeshift lounges, the Fire Stage lived up to its name figuratively and literally. This space hosted the most bawdy and brawny of the weekend's house music as oncoming waves of libidinous dancers took to the blasting pyrotechnics like moths to a flame. The rumble of high-powered subwoofers was felt far enough away to get a body moving with nothing more than rhythm alone, and once fully submerged in the growing mud marsh in front of the decks, there was absolutely no escape. Serving as the yin to the Earth Stage’s yang, the Fire Stage featured some of the most esteemed 4x4 producer/DJs currently running their slice of the scene, including Lee Reynolds, Chris Lake, Ardalan, and the venerable Claude Von Stroke.

It could be assumed that respective heads would gather primarily at the stages curating their particular flavor of electronic music, but that assumption would be not entirely correct. The extent to which true cross-pollination occurred within Elements Lakewood cannot be overstated. It was evident that every corner of the electronic music counterculture was well represented at all stages simultaneously. Elements Lakewood wasn’t just a hodgepodge of fandoms finding common ground with one another, but a destination sought by audiophiles and countercultural types aware that the worlds of steady and broken beat music and their corresponding cultures exist as one wide culture of which we’re all a part.

BangOn! set the stage for the 2018 festival season, and has since received a roaring response from all involved parties. With travelers coming in from seemingly the world over, BangOn! created a true melting pot and stirred it properly. Elements Lakewood has made an indelible mark on the community that propped it up in the first place, solidifying itself as a major contender for the affection and adoration of the Northeast US counterculture. With production companies and wellness services coming together across the board, this festival provided a fully engaged, responsive, and dynamic experience for all who made the trek.

FOLLOW Elements Music & Arts Festival:   Elements Lakewood   /   Elements NYC   /   Facebook   /   Instagram

Maru - Whack Lack Vol. 2

Like well-tuned clockwork Slug Wife continues to shoot out releases faster than we can tire of listening to them. This time around they're presenting a markedly different platter than their mainstay meals. The Whack Lack series could hardly be more opposed to the usual vicious and braggadocios neuro-hop shenanigans. Strip away the high-fidelity mastering, high-octane bass lines, and frankenstein sound design and what you are left with is pure, unadulterated beats and melodies. As they describe it, Whack Lack is "focusing on the right hook with the right beat and nothing more." Whack Lack Vol. 1 was curated by Slug Wife label head Seppa, and revealed a musically playful side of the producer not often explored. For Whack Lack Vol. 2, the gastropods tapped once more into the creative font of the dnb titan Reso who branded himself as Maru for the sake of differentiating the projects. 

Maru cracks right into the spirit of lo-fi hip hop with the ease of someone who's been slicing samples and cutting beats for a lifetime. The collection of tracks features all manner of soundscapes, moods, and atmospheres that are as droning as they are hypnotic. All the potential fanfare is left behind in favor of a pleasured palette of smooth synth hymns and dashes of liquid tonal modulation. 

"Easy Now" is the first true track on the album. It absolutely lives up to its namesake with a particular flair for the melancholy. The melody rides softly on a bedrock of more than a few choice drum hits. A small serving of horns break the steady trance of the track midway only to fade off, overpowered once more by that familiar, muffled lead line. "Single Malt" raises the medium to a modest head high, like the first hit of a well-crafted joint sending one straight to their happy place. There's a sense of weightlessness generated by the fluttering key samples. Note conversations fold over one another like melodies rolled into a torus, and therein lies the source of such a stratospheric aural space.

"After Eight" sputters and shuffles like a delinquent kicking up dust on their way to a late-night rendezvous. Moody chords keep the gaze low and locked on the road ahead, while casual instrument samples preclude any sense of monotony. Keep your ears wide open and you might even catch a few tasty fills that rock the rhythm harder than a New York City pothole rocks a taxi. Closing out the album is "Twilight", and there couldn't be a more appropriate fit. The first touch of those creamy tones bring forth the familiar experience of waving goodbye to a dear friend. It's the kind of atmosphere that leaves the tongue tasting more sweet than bitter, but with just enough longing that you might have to start the whole record over again.

Pushing unfamiliar content through channels established for particular soundscapes can be a questionable bet, but the gamble paid off in full for Slug Wife and Maru. The curation of these "battlewax" collections are a fresh interpretation of a deeply rooted musical underground, and fans of the typical Slug Wife offering are sure to find a delicious reprieve from the norm inside Whack Lack Vol. 2. Considering how tasteful this assortment of lithe beats is, one hopes Maru will stick around a bit and continue to cook up crisp servings of lo-fi goodness.

FOLLOW Maru:  Soundcloud   /   Facebook

Harmonia Builds a Strong, Safe Community at Elements Lakewood

The organizers and partners of Elements Lakewood Music & Arts Festival promote wholesome vibes and values and you could feel it in the air all Memorial Day weekend. At the verdant Lakewood Retreats in the Northeasternmost corner of Pennsylvania, there was so much to see and do, from the festival’s array of art installations to its innumerable stages. One aspect of the festival which was not so conspicuous was the strong infrastructure in place to keep attendees safe, supported and sanctified during their experience.

At the foundation of this infrastructure was Harmonia, an Asheville-based organization that provides sanctuary spaces, harm reduction, and so much more to the festival community. A harm reduction presence offers such peace of mind and added value for a music festival, albeit value that most attendees don’t see. It may be surprising, then, that only four dedicated harm reduction and sanctuary space organizations operate in the United States. Elements Lakewood was wise to invite one of them, Harmonia, back for the second year in a row.

Harmonia was founded in 2015 by a passionate perennial festival worker named Maegen Coral. The organization has grown in the hippy holler of Asheville, North Carolina, and has begun to broaden its impact up and down the eastern seaboard and as far west as Missouri. Harmonia can be many things; an attitude, an intention, how one carries oneself. Specifically, Harmonia is an on-site professional support team and task force that promotes health and safety at music festivals. Going beyond the role of the Good Samaritan, this team actively promotes self care as a preventative and harm-reducing technique.

Harmonia believes that widespread health and safety vastly improve the festival experience and allow attendees to truly open up and explore themselves and the world. By bringing back this group of volunteers for a second year, Elements demonstrated its commitment to this ethos as well. “It changes the energy, it changes the expectation,” Maegen says as we chat cross-legged in the grass next to a row of EZ-Ups outfitted so that each resembles a spiritually-aware living room. Ideas tumble from Maegen, the next one arriving before the last one is completely wrapped. With a radio strapped around her shoulder, her shock of bright dyed red hair belies the fact that she’s all business when it comes to safety and ops at festivals. While we spoke, she maintained a sporadic dialogue with other workers through the radio strapped to her shoulder. Now and then she executed some surely needed leg stretches.  

“What we’re doing here is 'iso', which is isolation - individual pods for people who have augmented situations and who are highly distressed.” Here Harmonia volunteers provide one-on-one support to guide festival attendees experiencing amplified states, and help de-escalate their experiences as necessary. “We have a lot in common with the philosophy of the Zendo Project,” Meagen says, referencing the organization at the forefront of harm reduction at music festivals. The Zendo volunteer training, offered annually at Burning Man and available for free online, became the first building block for Harmonia’s volunteer trainings.

Harmonia was positioned adjacent to the Well Nest at the center of the festival grounds. Their three isolation tents, each walled in on three sides by rich tapestries, may have been the most comfortable and serene spaces to be found on the grounds. Next to them was a table, a practical music festival oasis. Upon the table next to an amethyst geode, a small picture of Albert Hoffman and fliers for Solasta Festival was bug spray, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, condoms, aloe vera, and body lotion all available to the public. Elements Lakewood is early in the festival season. Many folks, especially city folks of which Elements was chock full, were stretching their festival legs outdoors for the first time. As such, the availability of these provisions was truly appreciated by all. (Your correspondent visited Harmonia’s space more than once for sunscreen after spending time down on the lake, though fortunately a return visit for aloe vera wasn’t necessary).

The sun bore down Saturday at Elements as Meagen and two of Harmonia’s volunteers, Laura Eshelman and Greg Pool, continued to share their experiences in the shadow of their sanctuary space. Elements Lakewood had an infectiously groovy vibe from start to finish. But while talking to these good Asheville folks, I couldn’t help but feel an even greater confidence, a nascent feeling of empowerment that my newfound company was bringing out of me. “They create an environment of great peace and relaxation, not just physically, but more importantly - metaphysically and spiritually. The importance of this should never be lost on an event promoter,” according to the Tipper & Friends crew. They call Harmonia their “go-to” for harm reduction. At the Tipper & Friends 4321 event in Astral Valley last summer, Harmonia established their public sanctuary space. At Elements, just the isolation tents were present due to budgeting constraints. Maegen gets a note in her voice and a smirk flashes briefly across her face when she mentions the public space.

It was a relatively slow weekend in and around the Harmonia space at Lakewood. Ironically, that can ultimately be positive for this group. It hopefully means people are already implementing the practices that Harmonia promotes. What are those practices? Most are more simple than you’d think. “You’d be a surprised at how much your mood and energy levels and emotions change when you have a lack of water compared to when you’re drinking water. It’s a physiological, emotional shift. So drink water and offer it to others who may need it,” Maegen suggests. “You need nourishment; a lot of deficits come from lack of nutrition or lack of water. Check in with your friends, check in with your neighbors. Pay attention.” 

Indeed, the crowd at Elements Lakewood was a self-aware and sophisticated bunch. Bad scenes were few and far between. Unhealthy behavior was a bit harder to find than usual. In addition to providing a sanctuary space and a cache of healthy resources and critical knowledge, Harmonia offered indirect benefits to the festival. The group serves as a backstop of sorts for festival security. After all, security staff ought to be handling issues of safety. They’re not trained in compassion work and harm reduction. The Harmonia crew, then, can handle “augmented situations” and allow security to allocate more of its own staff to the safety and ops work that is their purview. Elements Lakewood appeared slightly understaffed this year, so this added value was essential. According to Eshelman, also an Asheville resident, even when Harmonia's space isn't too busy it's value endures. "It's a symbol," she says.

During the offseason, Harmonia hosts shows - fundraisers - in their native Asheville and elsewhere in the Southeast US. It takes some resources, after all, to transport a box truck full of care items, festival decor and zen trappings across the Eastern US. Yet these events are more important than the windfall they provide. “One of the ways we seek to spread our message out in the community is to actually be an active part of the community. So the best way to really influence these festivals and this electronic culture in a positive way, encouraging people to be conscious and aware of what they’re putting into their bodies and how they’re caring for themselves, is to be an active part and create the container for that,” says Maegen. “So it’s not just us asking promoters ‘hey, will you support this mission?' We actually create and produce these parties where that’s at the forefront.” To that end, Harmonia is co-hosting its own festival called Solasta Festival in the hinterlands of Eastern Tennessee on August 17 & 18. 

The need for capital, though, persists. A few weeks ago Harmonia established a Patreon account to help sustain their enterprise through crowd-funding. Patreon seeks monthly contributions and targets monthly funding goals while also inviting patrons to immerse themselves more deeply into the Harmonia crew and culture. There are tiers of support, and some are pretty hilarious. A $5 monthly donation earns you the title of Harm Reductor. “By choosing to be a Harm Reductor, you are choosing to actively maintain and support a healthy festival culture for everyone. Along with those karma points, you get access to our Patron-only Live Feed as well as our undying love and appreciation.” At $25, you’re a Pillar of Support. With $500 you’re a Healing It Homie. “You are literally *The Homie*. With your contribution, Harmonia can be more free and available to give our all in the service of others.” Different contributions earn physical and sonic swag like stickers, t-shirts, exclusive artist mixes and guest passes to Harmonia events. (If you’re in the Southeast US, Harmonia events are no slouch. Check out their past bookings).

Harmonia’s ethos and the core of its volunteer training are empowerment through education and self-care. These principles, not limited to Harmonia’s sanctuary space, were on display everywhere at Elements Lakewood and made for a wildly wholesome party. Music festivals, particularly those in far-flung retreats like Elements Lakewood, can be physically and emotionally challenging experiences. So empower yourself, says Harmonia, by taking care of yourself and making sure your crew does the same. Self-knowledge is the real vibe, and the vibe was thick at Elements Lakewood. “So many of our interactions are intuitive,” Maegen says. “You go off of facial expressions and body language, so what are we paying attention to? How can we put it in our minds to prioritize our well-being and the well-being of others. Because when we’re all feeling good, we’re going to have a better time. When we’re all looking out for each other we're going to feel safe.”

SUPPORT & FOLLOW Harmonia:   Patreon   /   Official   /   Facebook   /   Instagram

FOLLOW Elements Music & Arts Festival:   Elements Lakewood   /   Elements NYC   /   Facebook   /   Instagram

Lo-Fi Sundays 030 - mai.

Nuša Javorič aka mai. chops samples over drums with exceptional taste and skill. Her beats fill up the stereo spread. Space is rarely a concern for this sampling wicken from Slovenia. Her cuts go for straight color. Her high-pitched vocal leads will snatch your soul for a second, rising above rich clips of choral and string arrangements. She has an impressive body of work on Soundcloud alone, and a small handful of singles on compilations including Inner Ocean Records' Women of the World Compilation.

Generally, she's exposing every second of a sample and setting them on top of big drums.  When the strings get to sliding in synch with a quick slamming beat, the groove is seductive and impossible to ignore. Still, mai. softens the tone at times and does utilize some reverberating negative space, as on "midnight" or the indecently low fidelity, stoned-out movement "Mist". The drums are cut from cloth so durable yet soft. Peep the snare in "maybe", a collaboration, rare for this producer, withＡＲ 援憶ぐ. These percussion samples strike that rare balance; they're so smooth yet rough and grainy. 

This hip-hop gets back to the core elements of the boom-bap sound while still pushing the distinct emotional presentation of contemporary lo-fi.

FOLLOW mai.:   Soundcloud   /   Facebook

Reso - Kyrios EP

Coming right back to the batting cage after a release just two weeks ago, Slug Wife is sending off another heavy hitter worth its weight in bass. The tenured low-end alchemist Reso has provided six tracks for his Kyrios EP, each with their own evolutionary soundscapes and aural experimentations. Reso has spent the better part of the past six years making a name for himself as a purveyor of all things novel within the ever-changing boundaries of bass music. Consequently, his high-polished neuro palette is right at home with Slug Wife. 

Kyrios is particularly noteworthy because the perceived depth of sound expands as you continue to listen over time. The overall scheme of the EP track to track is intentionally similar, with it’s boisterous bravado and synthesizers that slap like a knock out in the octagon. Sink your teeth deeper than the surface level, however, and what awaits below is the dynamic layering of percussion, audio artifacts, idiosyncratic melodies, and research leftovers. There is a motif of thematic cacophony across the EP that has become a staple in neuro stylizations which want to be more than just imposing, aggressive tracks.

The first track “Artifice” hits square in the chest like a sledgehammer. It builds up quietly, and with no fanfare. Half a minute in, the slight tickle of the sub signals the impending frequency violations, and before you know it you’re getting tossed back and forth by a maelstrom of full-bodied cuts. The track eschews dynamic growth in the composition to make way for small but constant shifts to the design of each tone and texture.

“Loaf Eye” creates a rest in the intensity of the EP’s flow. The track slows things down just a pinch to line up right with the perfect head-nod pocket. Rehashed granular textures float in and out of the mix, following steady sub rhythms and a driving percussive march. The tonal expansion follows an exponential curve, with the shredded phenotypes and low-end sound design taking on harsher edges as the song follows its composition.

“Sleazy” is without question the most impressive of the pack. Rocking a steady tempo with enough air to breathe, the song juggles zig-zagging melodies and criss-crossed stabs of high powered bass frequencies. The rhythm falls over itself and turns back around on a dime, flipping kicks over snaps over snares with an upright bounce. The track develops gradually and presents a constant cascade of resampled synthesis, slowly phasing into simulacrums of the underlying waveforms.

The assured quality that Slug Wife delivers with each successive release is something akin to the sun rising each morning. Couple that quality guarantee with a titan like Reso, and the results level the competition almost every time. As always, those mutated gastropods have their finger on the pulse of cutting edge electronic music and sound design pioneering. The calibre required to receive their stamp of approval is no less than top flight, and Reso smashed all the marks six times over with the Kyrios EP. Keep your senses sharp and focused on these slimy slugs from across the pond, because the next neck-breaker is probably right around the corner.

PURCHASE THE KYRIOS EP HERE

FOLLOW Reso:  Soundcloud   /   Facebook   /   Twitter 

Lo-Fi Sundays 029 - Kushu

Sometimes, hip-hop is served with trimmed edges, a fresh polish, poise, and the mandatory pinch of rebelliousness. That isn’t the hip-hop we’re looking for; we crave the most broken of beats, the blasé sampled cuts, the slapstick nature of the boom-bap phenomenon. This Sunday, the musical machinations of Kushu will be providing our mid-flight meal as this self-described brewer of “stoner music” keeps us steady lifted and hazy-eyed.

Poking through the vale of the ever anomalous lo-fi community, Kushu finds the elusive musical “pocket” with tremendous ease on a track-to-track basis. The signature rhythm of fingers smacking onto the pads of a sampling controller are as pervasive as the effervescent overtones of his chosen melodies. Filling the air with too many cuts often yields a plate too full, and leaving too much open space in a composition can dither the major points of tension and release with the arrangement of a song. Kushu finds the comparable middle ground, spicing up the air with the right pinches of hollow synth leads and classic piano flutters. From the words chosen in his sampled lyrics, to the particular methods of dusting and bit crushing put to use on his tracks, there is a distinct, unique flavor that permeates from the surface of his music straight into your eardrums.

If combining ambient palettes with the familiar head nod is your motive, then Kushu should be your first destination for your lo-fi needs. Like most of his contemporaries, he has a quick turnaround time on the release of productions, and it shouldn’t be beyond reason to expect fresh cuts from Kushu in the near future. His most recent release, the Songs of the Islands EP, is a choice entry point to dive into his vivacious brand of gunslinger beats, but what justice is done if you don’t dive into the whole catalog?

FOLLOW Kushu:   Soundcloud   /   Bandcamp   /   Facebook

Elements Lakewood Music & Arts Festival - Stickybuds [Interview]

Stickybuds usually has one goal in mind when he takes the stage - to give the audience an opportunity to dance, connect with friends, and have a great time. Tyler Martens aka Stickybuds the glitch funk pioneer hails from Kelowna, British Columbia, a small city known for leisure and recreation. While he’s a household name in Western Canada and a low key legend the world over, Stickybuds doesn’t come to the Northeastern U.S. often; his last performance here was in Boston in 2014. Elements Lakewood Music & Arts Festival, itself a space dedicated to recreation, dancing, and connecting, has done the region an extraordinary service by hosting this mighty vibe conjurer for Memorial Day Weekend in Lakewood, Pennsylvania. 

He’s among a rare class of DJ producers whose sound is accessible to almost anyone. He’s performed at Burning Man and in Ibiza clubs, in Hong Kong and across Australia. His singles have hit #1 on Beatport’s Glitch Hop charts almost a dozen times. Though Tyler has brought the glitch to a worldwide audience, perhaps his proudest achievement hits closer to home. Stickybuds has been a resident performer in the Fractal Forest of Shambhala Music Festival in his native British Columbia for thirteen years. Despite all these accolades, Tyler has astonishingly never released an album; that's about to change. Today marks the release of his first single - "Crooked Politicians" (video below) - off his first album "Take A Stand".

Stickybuds has a smoother step than your favorite hip-hop and breaks DJ. His sound design cuts as deep as that of any premier glitch hop prism splitter. He’s got enough dub, drum and bass, and reggae gems in his bag to impress even the baddest bush doctor. Tyler bundles these elements into a signature sound that isn’t replicated anywhere in the world. His performances feature obscenely good stem mixing, as he seamlessly stitches together tunes while repurposing everything from James Brown and Rare Earth to Burro Banton and Cypress Hill. Tyler’s utilizes turntables, too, and generally pans between Stickybuds originals and remixes, contemporary glitch hop heaters, and some of the nicest drum and bass this side of the Atlantic Ocean. Ahead of his rare Northeastern get down at Elements Lakewood, we were privileged to correspond with Tyler about music, careers, health, and reggae music.  

The Rust: How did you first engage with bass music?

Tyler: I started going to raves in Kelowna, which is the town I grew up in. I was in high school, and I believe the first one I attended was in 1999. From then on I really enjoyed the music, and eventually decided to teach myself to dj about 5 or 6 years later.

The Rust: What do you feel was the most pivotal moment(s) in your career?

Tyler: There have been a lot of little things along the way. Sometimes a very small encounter or interaction can snowball into something so much bigger down the road. Learning how to collaborate with people has generally been a very big part of my career; producing tracks, sharing stems between friends, getting dubplates cut, making these complicated and awesome relationships along the way has all really helped sculpt the direction of my music in so many different ways. Just reflecting on that, it's pretty profound to me how much joy and how many amazing things have happened from these relationships. I produced a track with my friend K+Lab called "Clap Ya Hands Now" last year. It was picked up by Sony and put on the Spider Man: Homecoming movie trailer and broadcast literally around the world to millions of people. That was wild and just completely came out of nowhere. Another pivotal moment was playing my remix of Mista Savona's "Clean Air Clean Country" at Shambhala in 2011. That song was such a passion project for me and took 2 years of bugging Jake (Savona) for the stems so I could remix it. That was the start of a long relationship that has really transformed who I am as a person and a musician.

The Rust: How did you come to know and love reggae music?

Tyler: It's been a gradual transition over the last 15 years I guess. I loved just listening to it - the feel and positivity that is encapsulated in a lot of the reggae music is infectious, combined with an unmistakable style of musicianship and lyricism. Then when Jpod and I used to dj together as Stickypod Connection (circa 2006 - 2009) we found this torrent that had hundreds and hundreds or various reggae acapellas that we started dj'ing with during our mashup sets. That also led to a deeper understanding of the music and culture as we started to pay attention to what some of the artists were talking about. There are definitely some messages amongst certain artists that promote hate against certain groups of people, so we made sure to not play any of that. We made sure to focus on the vocals and artists that promoted unity and positive messages. Then from there I started to work with people like Mista Savona and Ed Solo, and doing remixes for world class reggae artists like Sizzla, Burro Banton and Blackout JA.

The Rust: Have you ever played a BangOn! event before? Is there anything about Elements Lakewood that you’re particularly stoked about?

Tyler: It's pretty rare that I make it out to the East Coast United States so I'm really looking forward to seeing the scenery, meeting some new people, and playing a festival I've never played at before.

The Rust: How does the practice of harmonic mixing guide and impact your sets?

Tyler: To me it's just such an important part of the equation. Especially for the style of dj'ing where acapellas and stems are used to transition through multiple genres throughout a set. Mixing music harmonically helps keep people engaged as you move throughout tracks and genres. You can take the vocals from the track you were playing, or are about to play in four tracks and bring them in for a second, and it sounds cohesive because it's all in the same key signature. You can do so many tricks, but it also takes a lot of prep work beforehand, at least for how I do things.

The Rust: I read that you're very goal-oriented. What are your goals at this point in your life and career?

Tyler: I'm finishing my first album right now, so that's at the top of the list. It's been a lot of work, but now that the deadlines are in place and the singles are coming out right away it's really pushing me to get everything done. I've been learning a lot, and I'm stoked to focus on singles again when I'm done this, but it's been a very fulfilling project. Another goal that's been nagging on me was taking control of my health. I've quit smoking and have been trying to exercise more and drink a bit less alcohol. It's tough being in a party scene but I feel like I'm starting to be able to control that part of my life more and become better at saying no, or not giving into temptation, and embracing a more healthy and balanced self.

The Rust: An interview from five years ago in your hometown newspaper said you plan to retire in six years to a tropical beach and just dabble in music production. How do you feel about that now?

Tyler: Haha, well.... If I really wanted to I could go live on an island now and retire, but that's not what I want to do at all, at least not right now. I have a wonderful girlfriend, two cats, and a really happy home since we just moved to Calgary recently. There are tons of opportunities to explore, and for the most part I feel free to do whatever I want, and to me that's becoming a better artist. I don't want to remove myself from Canada or the scene here, but there will come a point where I want a secluded and chilled out life out of the rat race. So whenever I hit my threshold I'll be pursuing that at some point. I know my partner isn't ready for that yet, so, I'm happy and grateful to be doing what I love here in Canada still.

The Rust: You’re electro reggae funk sound (“ghetto funk”) is truly one of the coolest, most original things in electronic music. Can you describe how you cultivated this sound, in the beginning, and over the years?

Things have just organically culminated into what they are now. Harmonic mixing allows me to take all sorts of different musical influences and combine them as long as they're in the same key. This opens up an endless amount of possibilities for me to combine any sort of music I love. Then combining that with the relationships I've made over the years, my producer friends and music partners, as well as my own push to try unique things...it's just a big mixed bag. There isn't a name for it. Ghetto Funk is a label that a lot of us released tunes on back in the day and they are dear friends of mine, but I have never called the music I play that. I don't know what to call it. It's just music, party music. I know it's easier to sell yourself when people can easily sum you up in a few words, but I don't really care.

--

Neither do we. If there's one thing Stickybuds has proven, it's that you don't need to sell yourself to be successful and have an impact. We encourage all dancers and denizens at Elements Lakewood be they wobble chasers or four-on-the-floor fiends to peep Stickybuds on the Earth Stage at 9:00pm on Saturday, May 26. If you don't have tickets, single day tickets and weekend passes are still available. 

FOLLOW Stickybuds:   Official   /   Soundcloud   /   Facebook   

iX - About Thyme EP

iX (who shyly tells me his first name is Lucas but doesn't want his full name exposed on the internet) is a new artist from Brooklyn, NY with a world-fusion sound informed by attentiveness to danceable rhythms and occasional moments of intense mid-bass sound design. iX is still quite a fresh face and About Thyme is his first foray into the formal release format. Longtime listeners of sacred or “Shanti” bass music will feel in familiar territory, though iX retains a more cerebral vibe with his sound design.

About Thyme further develops the sound that iX has been cultivating to date, but the EP is more intelligibly consumable and better organized than a Soundcloud stream. The EP opens with the title track "About Thyme" which serves as an intro into the assortment of sounds explored throughout the project. Next up is “Culture Shock”  which drives the mood forward with its cello while using the vocals to create ambience, builds a vibe with natural drums and other familiar wood and metal percussion samples, but ends unexpectedly. 

The third track “Såmsara” (a Sanskrit word in a Middle Eastern-themed track)  turns the intensity up considerably. While this track has a familiar Shanti vibe that fits in neatly with the iX catalogue, it is vastly more uptempo with oodles of fast hand drums alongside bass both squishy and fuzzy, with a voice wailing high above it. This is followed by "Vishnu" and then the final track, “Whale Vision.” Compared to his other work, "Whale Vision" is a more sparse offering that grounds itself in the lute, tingsha, and bird calls. The melody is more Far Eastern than his usual South Asian or Middle Eastern thematics, which plays up a stately and clean vibe. 

The gist one gets from Lucas' music is that he is clearly a product of his surroundings. There were some general Middle Eastern tones to his upbringing, but largely his sound seems informed by the more popular and well-exposed areas of underground bass music. Without formal musical training (he actually started making music recently after a devastating car accident), he still has an attentive ear and the potential to grow rapidly, having a well-established musical structure early in his career and a couple big shows under his belt already. At only 10 tracks and 360 followers, iX is clearly just beginning his journey, and About Thyme is a solid step forward.

He’s got a full slate of performances coming up fast including the Wook of Wall Street’sDisc Jam Pre Jawn in Westchester, PA tomorrow and two parties in his hometown; Beyond Dope’s huge heavy gathering on May 12, and a Psychedelic Sleepover Pre-Party on May 18 presented by The Rust Music.

FOLLOW iX:   Soundcloud   /   Facebook   /   Bandcamp   /   Instagram

About Thyme further develops the sound that iX has been cultivating to date, but the EP is more intelligibly consumable and better organized than a Soundcloud stream. The EP opens with the title track "About Thyme" which serves as an intro into the assortment of sounds explored throughout the project. Next up is “Culture Shock”  which drives the mood forward with its cello while using the vocals to create ambience, builds a vibe with natural drums and other familiar wood and metal percussion samples, but ends unexpectedly. 

The third track “Såmsara” (a Sanskrit word in a Middle Eastern-themed track)  turns the intensity up considerably. While this track has a familiar Shanti vibe that fits in neatly with the iX catalogue, it is vastly more uptempo with oodles of fast hand drums alongside bass both squishy and fuzzy, with a voice wailing high above it. This is followed by "Vishnu" and then the final track, “Whale Vision.” Compared to his other work, "Whale Vision" is a more sparse offering that grounds itself in the lute, tingsha, and bird calls. The melody is more Far Eastern than his usual South Asian or Middle Eastern thematics, which plays up a stately and clean vibe. 

The gist one gets from Lucas' music is that he is clearly a product of his surroundings. There were some general Middle Eastern tones to his upbringing, but largely his sound seems informed by the more popular and well-exposed areas of underground bass music. Without formal musical training (he actually started making music recently after a devastating car accident), he still has an attentive ear and the potential to grow rapidly, having a well-established musical structure early in his career and a couple big shows under his belt already. At only 10 tracks and 360 followers, iX is clearly just beginning his journey, and About Thyme is a solid step forward.

He’s got a full slate of performances coming up fast including the Wook of Wall Street’sDisc Jam Pre Jawn in Westchester, PA tomorrow and two parties in his hometown; Beyond Dope’s huge heavy gathering on May 12, and a Psychedelic Sleepover Pre-Party on May 18 presented by The Rust Music.

FOLLOW iX:   Soundcloud   /   Facebook   /   Bandcamp   /   Instagram

Mindex - Eclipsed EP

The Eclipsed EP is the latest addition to the robust catalog of superb psychedelic electronic music from Russian-born producer Mindex. It's dedicated to August 21, 2017,  the date of last year's total solar eclipse. This day had a tremendously profound impact on so many souls, especially those in the music community. "It felt like a new world after that day," said one individual who attended the Tipper & Friends 4321 Gathering in Astral Valley, Missouri. There Mindex offered what fans say was perhaps his most memorable performance to date. With the Eclipsed EP, Slava Mindex releases some of the most memorable moments from that set; may they wash listeners with waves of grounding nostalgia.

For two years, Extended Plays from Mindex have usually been rooted in their own dedicated musical motif, whether that's jazz on Jazzmental, four-on-the-floor on Opal Senses, or uptempo glitch on The Flavor. This latest effort steps away from that pattern. "DNA Dance" and "Arousal" could be characterized as downtempo, and the remaining three tracks as uptempo, but the lines are blurry. As a package, the release leans toward sacred bass more than prior composition from Mindex, but stylistically it's truly all over the map. Classification is ultimately not meaningful. It's just worth noting that Slava is diving into the depths of his own creativity with Eclipsed than he has before, which is saying a great deal considering the diversity of his available catalog.

The title track features a tumbling boulder of sub-bass that slogs at a depressed pace through rinsed out glitches. Hypnosis is induced through ethereal pads and brief melodic interludes from chimes written with great intent, only to be interrupted when the boulder splits and liquid magma spills across the stereo spread. According to Slava, "Evolution" is his "soundtrack for the process of the evolution of life forms on the planet Earth." He sets the stage with an aqueous primordial soundscape. Deep, atavistic tones enter the frame, and percussion follows thereafter. Airy melodies collide with grounding bass synthesizers in a ceaseless churning whirlpool that rips and pulls along its edges. Resolution never arrives, evoking the truth that the process of evolution has by no means reached its conclusion. The process could also be called a "DNA Dance" of sorts. To conclude the EP, this small ambient journey puts the mind at peace and provokes all sorts of anthropological ideations. 

This EP was at first exclusively available from the visionary artist collective Threyda as part of its first ever combined offering of music and art . One can purchase the EP by itself , or pair it with an entrancing, high-quality matte print (one of only 30) of the album cover by artist Ben Ridgeway. The first 20 prints are even signed by Ben and Slava. Considering the endearing mark Slava continues to make on the world and this community, this rare piece of merch will indeed become a treasure. The same can be said for the music. Eclipsed is an incendiary addition to the Mindex catalog and a sonic totem for those seeking to cherish the totality of August 21, 2017, and any other collective conscious memories they may associate with these vibrations. 

FOLLOW Mindex:   Soundcloud   /   Bandcamp   /   Facebook

Artists to Watch - Psychedelic Sleepover Undercard

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

Lo-Fi Sundays 028 - DeKobe

Beats music doesn't always come in a rusty, low fidelity package and this weekend's highlighted producer DeKobe demonstrates it. Spread out across eight full LPs and EPs, his beats are clean and polished from the percussion to the sample chops to the presentation. He focuses keenly on these rudimentary elements and cultivates them to their utmost. By following this path, he does great justice to the legacies of Polish producer Blazo and the late Japanese legend Nujabes, two artists whom he takes great inspiration from, as evidenced by his social media content. 

The producer's real name is Julian Saavedra. Of Filipino heritage, he hails from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, a city adjacent to Toronto on the shores of Lake Ontario.  Beats music is of course a global phenomenon, but damn do a ton of great beatmakers come from Canada. There is a wealth of jazz material in his catalog. He makes slight forays into synthesizer work, but usually to give a light, glowing touch to traditional combinations of percussion, bass and samples. Within the open spaces of his most zoned-out beats, the vibes tread into the shallows of trip hop.

DeKobe's never released a beat tape or a single, opting always for the EP/LP format. Such faithfulness to that format which is becoming unique in DeKobe's line of work. His most recent EP, Interlude, was released just last week on May 8, 2018. When he dropped this, DeKobe alluded to a forthcoming project through the Jazz Hop Cafe. As even any casual lo-fi youtuber knows, the Jazz Hop Cafe does not play around; they're one of the finest platforms in the world for this music. By the same token, when it comes to straight up jazz hop, DeKobe's beats are at the top of the pile even on the global scale. However and whenever this project manifests itself, it's sure to be extremely potent. DeKobe presents only the most cultivated vibes, and will surely keep doing so into the future, so stay chooned. 

FOLLOW DeKobe:   Soundcloud   /   Bandcamp   /   Instagram   /   Twitter

Seppa [Interview]

Within every ripple and wave of emerging musical currents, there are inevitably a few stalwart figures gripping the torch of creativity; a few true bandits of aural experimentation and execution.  Sending such permeable waves from across the pond, Sandy Finlayson, under the moniker Seppa, is perched squarely at the forefront of arhythmic modern sound design and aggressive, visceral arrangement.

In a decade’s long journey through the undiscovered sounds of our time, Seppa had once gone under the moniker “Duskky”, though the aspirations of his musical development remained much the same as they do now. In the pursuit of gaining a more appreciative understanding of the man behind the sound, The Rust took the opportunity to pick at the mind of this tenured low-end crusader. Peeling back the layers revealed a producer and musician who is meticulous with his choices, while maintaining an impressive level of creative malleability. Upon listening to nearly anything within the existing Seppa catalog, the very first conclusion that can be drawn is that the man has a penchant for eclectic audio research and development.

The Rust: Your sound design and production process has become more or less the benchmark for the most current iteration of high-octane, aggressive bass music in the western hemisphere. Could you possibly delve into your synthesis and overall design process for us?

Seppa: Broadly speaking, it comes from experimentation. One of the biggest eureka moments was realizing that sound design and music writing are very separate things and should be treated as such. The sound design process is an idea generator, and is completely unconstrained by the limits of genre. It’s basically a freeform game of “what’s the coolest/weirdest noise you can make?”. It’s from all that messing around that the core sounds to write tracks appear. Having said that, there is some planning that goes into the sound design phase. Ideally almost every sound that goes into a track has been processed or synthesised beforehand, so that means every element has to be covered - basses, textures, drums, incidental sounds. If you’re doing it right, more time goes in to making the sounds than building the actual track.

The designing, processing, and construction of Seppa’s music relies heavily on experimentation, but also takes cues and influences from more conventional styles of electronic music. He is one of the progenitors of a contemporary sound that fuses half-time DnB with hip-hop rhythmic motifs and neuro textures, but this intelligent combination wasn’t just born in a vacuum.

The Rust: With regards to the current soundscapes you and your contemporaries are after, can you describe some of the stylistic influences that drew you towards such an experimental and generative approach in your synthesis and direction?

Seppa: I guess in part I’m a byproduct of the UK underground, which is a kaleidoscope of dark and intense electronic music, certainly the bits i’m interested in anyway. That informs some of the sound choices, the emphasis on the drums and bass over everything else. When it comes to the experimental approach to the sounds used, i think that’s just a matter of keeping things interesting. I’ve been creating bass music of some sort for at least 10 years so the standard sounds don’t really interest me anymore. I’m always looking for sounds that catch me by surprise and give me that goosebumps feeling. Every sound gets too familiar after a while so I’ve got to keep looking for something fresh to get back there.

Along the course of one’s musical career, there are sometimes other issues to deal with beyond just the scope of musical design and composition. While it certainly isn’t an everyday occurance, there are more than a few situations where artists took up similar names. In such situations, someone eventually has to relent, sometimes for the better.

The Rust: A few years ago, you underwent a rebranding from "Duskky" to "Seppa". Can you speak on the difficulties and benefits of altering your moniker? Were there stylistic or emotional reasons behind the change, or did you feel it was simply time for a new title?

Seppa: So I was releasing music under the ‘Duskky’ moniker since maybe 2009/2010 (maybe even a bit earlier I can’t quite remember now). It worked well as a moniker until maybe 2014/2015 when a Deep House duo named ‘Dusky’ appeared and pretty much took over that whole burgeoning commercial house scene. Despite the obvious difference in the music, it started to cause some confusion, and frankly i didn’t really want to even be fleetingly connected to that snoozefest. It threw up the idea of switching to a different alias. It was an interesting challenge since it meant pretty much starting again in terms of the fan base. Initially the thought was to keep the connection a secret, which worked really well in terms of getting people interested, but eventually it made sense to draw the link since I felt like the music was very much a continuation of what I was doing with ‘Duskky’.  Ultimately it was a great idea, since it allowed me to start fresh in terms of presenting my music (the ‘Duskky’ stuff went all the way back to when i literally had no idea what I was doing). I could present it all in a more professional and polished way. It did also allow me to change direction slightly and absorb some new influences without feeling like i needed to call back to older material.

                                                          "What are genres? Can we eat them?"

 Pushing the creative limits on established musical tropes is by no means a new trend. Often times, the breaking of such barriers is the result of collaborative efforts amongst musicians who just can’t stay satisfied with the current state of affairs. Alongside Seppa, Kursa stands as another heavyweight champion in the world of underground music. Combining their musical visions and veritable knowledge of audio engineering, there is an undoubtable dynamism between the two that never fails to deliver on the promise of being fresh, cutting-edge, and swelling with sub frequencies.

The Rust: In conjunction with Kursa, the two of you put out releases non-stop, and you appear to share a mutual approach to your composition and design process. Could you speak on your relationship between the two of you?

Seppa: We’ve been making music together for quite a few years now, and pretty much always had a really similar goal with it. We wanted to make something new, and we wanted to do it as quickly as possible. Spending months on a track just doesn’t make sense considering how much your ideas can progress in that period of time. Ideas can and will go out of date, at least in your own head, so best to get them into something concrete asap. That’s basically informed the compositional process a lot. We do work in an almost identical way when it comes to the mechanics of building a track. In terms of what sounds we choose and how we put them together, there’s differences, and that’s why it’s always been good to collaborate on music together and to release music alongside each other.

As creative collaborators, their work extends well beyond just producing and releasing tracks together. The year 2017 saw the emergence of their label Slug Wife, a platform from which they dispense the highest quality goods in the half-time and neuro markets. One year on, the label has become a household name for aural adrenaline junkies who can’t seem to sink their teeth into enough crunchy bass chunks and absolutely smashing compression.

The Rust: In the past year, Slug Wife has managed to ride a tremendous wave of its own making. Can you speak on the genesis of the label? How does the current landscape in our slice of the world affect the operation of Slug Wife?

Seppa: The label really came about because we wanted to push a sound that nobody else was doing. The Half-Time thing kicked off a few years back, but pretty much as a sub-genre of Drum and Bass. We’d already been making music that could be called that for years, and never really saw it that way. We saw what we were doing as a Hip-Hop thing, and more closely related to Dubstep and half-step music. Coupled with that, due to being attached to DnB, the whole presentation of Half-Time has been the really austere and serious greyscale vibe which seems really self defeating since parties are supposed to be fun, right? It’s pretty much thanks to the USA that the label has picked up as quickly as it has. People seem to take it for what it is, and have jumped on the vibe immediately, to get us to the point where the majority of our fan base is in the United States and they really keep us going!

Seppa and Kursa released a collaborative EP on April 24th entitled Eos Platform. The three tracks smack home like one sledgehammer after another, taking no mercy along a route riddled with fills, breaks, turnarounds, high-produced polish, and endless amounts of low-end modulation and saturation. Idealistically, the tracks are distinctly the children of their creators, and follow the sonic motif the Seppa and Kursa catalogs. For those unfamiliar with such adventurous sonic choices, Eos Platform will bring one you up to speed, and long-time fans will find a great fix to keep them satiated until the next release.

Understanding the human behind the face and name of a musical endeavour is a one-way bridge to getting caught up in their unique maelstrom; the violent collision of ideas, sounds, and imaginative compositions is a deeply personal aspect in the life of an audiophile. Thankfully, Sandy is generous enough to have provided both this interview, and an entire careers’ worth of neck-breakers that allow us to make the dive into his maelstrom at our own behest. Given the lightning paced turnaround time for his work ethic, it can be surmised that even more Seppa music is just waiting in the chamber to be fired off all along the rest of 2018. For those who need a bit more kick from the speakers when enjoying Seppa’s catalog, keep your eyes peeled for a long-awaited Slug Wife tour looking to smash the sound barrier this summer in the US.

FOLLOW Seppa:  Soundcloud  |  Bandcamp  |  Facebook

FOLLOW Slug Wife:  Soundcloud  | Bandcamp  |  Website  |  Facebook

Lo-Fi Sundays 027 - drkmnd

"One must make use of freedom; only freedom of choice can allow one to escape 'nausea'." This is a fundamental principle of Existentialism as laid down by the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. It's also a principle guiding Callum Ward aka drkmnd, a thought-provoking low-fidelity producer from the United Kingdom. Callum's creativity is not completely bound up in hip-hop - he bends the beats toward electronic and ambient poles - but the traditional lo-fi aesthetic is the axis around which his music turns. 

His moniker hints at his vibe. Drkmnd music is a low-slung, sepia-toned, intellectual excursion. Less than a year's worth of tunes are available on his channels. Yet the progression of his skill and ability to communicate is tremendous when traced from his first release to his most recent, Nausea, which dropped April 30 on vinyl through United Common Records. Nausea runs the gambit from old school bumps and fuzzy drugscapes to dream marches that trace the edges of indie rock and downtempo electronica. He flexes impressively diverse writing here, including a bent collaboration with Lo-Fi Sundays favorite Senoy. 

His less recent works include the stoic full-length album Contemplations and the imaginative beat tape Absurdism. This tape is diverse within the lo-fi spectrum, too, exemplified by a ambient, four-on-the-floor, trance-inducing tune on the back half of the tape. The only sample I recognize across his entire catalog appears in his cut "new flwrs". It's the flute from "Cautari" by Paul Weiner, the same snip heard in the Nujabes' classic "Spiral". This speaks either to Callum's ability to dig deep into the crates or to my ignorance, or perhaps both. Drkmnd's pensive compositions can be heard on the recent Seasonal Sounds // Spring compilation from the Dutch imprint Dust Collectors, as well as Futures Vol. 4 and 5 from Calgary's Inner Ocean Records. 

Beneath the Bandcamp tracklist for Nausea is a quote; "Being an artist can be overwhelming, simply because of the sheer volume of creative possibilities that exist in the universe." The creative possibilities are voluminous, surely, and perhaps they overwhelm Callum himself at times. But if so, he's taking the heat off the rest of us. For sitting back with his music, amidst smoke wisps and wandering thoughts, "overwhelmed" is the very last state we find ourselves in. 

FOLLOW drkmnd:   Soundcloud   /   Spotify   /   Bandcamp   /   Facebook   /   Instagram

Lo-Fi Sundays 026 - parkbreezy

This weekend we're taking a slight detour from our usual path to showcase a more psychedelic side of beats with parkbreezy. That's the musical moniker of Parker Williams, a producer with an eclectic catalog who hails from Montclair, New Jersey and currently resides in Denver, Colorado. In a phrase, Parker produces lo-fi trip-hop, and the influences within his music range from rap and R&B to electric soul and downtempo. His ability to hybridize these styles is most evident on his new EP Ripple which dropped on 4/20/18.

All his beats ride low with sunken basslines and buttery smooth synth pads. The drums are generally smooth but impactful and coated in a thin layer of dust. The chops on"Chest Pains" are a great example of his attractive percussion. Parker has been producing for at least four years, and the progression of his music is atypical. Crawl back into his Soundcloud and one can find lo-fi house, traditional lo-fi hip hop chops and wobbly jazz electronica. There's some excellent re-fixes in the archives, too, including spins on Pretty Lights' "Finally Moving" and the Tom Misch tune "The Journey". Parker collaborates frequently with fellow Denver resident pheel., whose upcoming Lost in Thought EP featuring work from parkbreezy will drop right here via The Rust Music in May 2018. The first collaboration between these two, "thank you, Jeff", is a fine beat where a doodling keyboard and wandering flute socialize with vocal cuts over a pocket kick, snare and ride cymbal sequence. 

With diverse ingredients parkbreezy creates music that negates boundaries of genre while remaining faithful to the sonic aesthetic of lo-fi. He opens new spaces revealing the bright possibilities that arise from creatively crossing over between styles.

FOLLOW parkbreezy:   Soundcloud   /   Bandcamp   /   Facebook   /   Spotify   /   Instagram

Tsimba - Dématérialiser EP

Hybrid bass producer Tsimba is back with his fourth EP, Dématérialiser, an indulgent and meticulously crafted four-track release on Wormhole Music Group. Tsimba aka Mark Evans Musto has earned a reputation for quality in sound design, composition and performance, and he only elevates that reputation with this release.

Creative sound pervades Dématérialiser, and mastering from Andy Widdecomb aka DeeZ provides just the right gloss to it all. “Hugo” offers the EP’s most startling sound design. Tsimba gets inside the grooves of whatever synthesizer or plug-in he’s using and exposes its innards to the audience. This forward-thinking futuristic sound is mirrored by a more traditional pitched-down LFO a la early dubstep, setting up a novel call and response. Synchronizing with the snare is a squeaky clean sample of a sword being unsheathed. Minor but delightful details like this mark Dématérialiser as the work of a craftsman.

The title track is one of the strongest single tunes from Tsimba to date. The sound design is immaculate and the mix-down balanced. Tsimba flawlessly applies distortion to a very choice vocal sample, and places that sample just so in the arrangement as to throttle the vibes into warp drive along with a tempo switch. Mark, a drummer and metal head in his younger years, laces the driving drum and bass rhythm with his ferocious hybrid bass sound and creates a thrilling sequence that will leave even the most scrupulous listener fulfilled. 

Mark’s “future roots” sound, as he calls it, has always been prefaced on three elements; well-rounded and foundational percussion, a girthy, ear-tickling synthesizer stack, and familiar, forceful melodies. All these elements are present on Dématérialiser. It has all the elements of an excellent release - it is an excellent release, but there’s something missing. 

Tsimba has nasty sounds, no question, and he knows how to sling them at the listener to crushing effect. But this skill is becoming more commonplace and therefore less compelling. Take “Ghetto 5000” featuring Tygris. The drops showcase some extremely tight sound design - numerous, diverse, and unequivocally fat examples of it. But to what end? It comes across as heaviness with little direction, and this finds my interest waning. Tsimba is undoubtedly good at what he's good at - but we hear more beneath the surface that’s untapped. 

Still, Dématérialiser is praise-worthy. “Hugo” sounds like one of those cuts that other producers will eagerly scoop up for their sets this Summer. We look forward to hearing Tsimba himself play these out at Spring and Summer stops including Psychedelic Sleepover, nights with Brightside in Philly and Mickman in Boston, and more to be announced. 

Follow Tsimba:   Soundcloud   /   Facebook   /    Bandcamp   /   Instagram

Lo-Fi Sundays 025 - Wild Mofo

The surface layer of the lo-fi community can deceive casual onlookers into thinking it is a disconnected, fragmented genre of isolated producers. It is upon the second, and sometimes third glance that the associations and relationships of this niche begin to catch the eye. Wild Mofo is the lo-fi project of native Parisian Arnaud Delouette. Delouette not only gives a top-notch representation of battered and weathered beats, he's also a co-founder of the Paris-based label THA ReCoRdZ, a collective of rhythm junkies and low-fidelity devotees. Curating a bevy of content on a weekly basis, Arnaud and his colleagues have been putting their best foot forward to highlight the community that gives them the ground they stand upon, and what better way than to lead by example.

The music of Wild Mofo is a twisted landscape of half-skewed samples and slapstick percussion that seems to always fall gradually into syncopation. Cutting frequencies and bit-crushing elements of a track are barely the first step in crafting this retro-future stylization; lo-fi hip hop is characteristically "lazy" in the rhythm, and Arnaud provides textbook examples of giving songs a true swing in the beat. The tracks in his discography are stuffed full of deranged rhythmic turnarounds and aural artifacts, with a littering of one-off instrument samples and choice vocal cuts from some serious heavyweights in hip hop the world over. If you're in the market for a beat potpourri, look no further: Wild Mofo already has ample experience curating any choice of flavors.

FOLLOW Wild Mofo:   Soundcloud   /   Facebook   /   Mixcloud

FOLLOW THA ReCoRdZ:   Soundcloud   /   Bandcamp    /    Facebook

Renraku Global Media - RKU-V01

Renraku Global Media (RGM) is known for coupling forward-thinking artists with a platform that is no nonsense and all business. Spearheading a mission to disperse “high-quality content for discerning citizens”, Renraku routinely works with artists from around the world who specialize in some of the most far-out interpretations of electronic music. In keeping with the spirit of innovation and left-field content, the label teamed up with four unnamed producers, who may or may not be some Renraku favorites, to craft a four-track EP with a serious catch: it’s a vinyl-only release presented sans artist or track names.

Kaya Bowman, co-founder of RGM, provided us with a few words about the thought process behind this endeavor:

As a label our philosophy has always been to seek out the most interesting sounds & ideas regardless of how they will be received. Alex, our co-owner had the idea to put out a               record as close to a white label dubplate as we could put out - so why not try our take on what's popping right now? What would a dubplate look like now from a non-dnb label? What would that sound like?

Keeping that goal in mind, each of the artists involved offers a delicious reimagining of the classic four-on-the-floor attitude. Complete with asymmetrical glitches, foreboding sound design, and melodious development, the tracks are primed for both the dance floor and the headspace. The aural landscape of the plate is particularly lo-fi, resurfacing a certain nostalgia for the 90’s warehouse influence on electronic production. Each artist crafted a palate of tones that blend in seamlessly to one another, while simultaneously eschewing the dynamic range that can sometimes become convoluted in the production of modern hi-fi electronic music.

For the affluent collectors, archivers, and audiophiles the world over, this is a must-have release that will come to market in extremely limited numbers. Make sure to grab one of these coveted vinyls before they find a home in someone else’s collection.

If you'd like to get a taste of what the vinyl has to offer, RGM has graciously premiered one track for streaming, and a Noisia Radio rip of a second track, which is included above.

Purchase the vinyl

FOLLOW Renraku Global Media:  Facebook  |  Soundcloud  |  Bandcamp

Lo-Fi Sundays 024 - Zeus the Elevated

When it comes to beats, some enjoy the jazzy, bright and crispy clean sound while others enjoy the raw, dark, distorted knocks - not that the two styles are mutually exclusive. But if you fall into the latter category, peep zeus the elevated. Hailing from somewhere in the expanse of Canada, zeus is a familiar character on Soundcloud. It seems any dank instrumental that one visits, zeus has already been there and dropped his two cents in the comments. He uses no digital audio workstation, crafting his beats straight from the mpc 1k. sp555, sp505, and sp404.

More than most beatmakers, zeus appears to be influenced by the rugged '90s hip-hop sound - the grain. He samples Wu-Tang, Nas, and Big L heavily, and his beats possess the same raw and exposed attitude that these musicians were known for. You can hear this clearly on "heavy.thoughts", "dirty" and his "day-dreamin" mini-tape. At the same time, zeus cultivates moments of extreme solace and ethereal emotion. Hitting these two extremes simultaneously is what distinguishes this producer.

If you really want to peep why zeus is elevated, listen to our favorite cut from the producer, "Time", which was included on the lo.fi.hiphop one-year anniversary tape. Zeus drops knowledge and creates a mystical atmosphere that stones the listener, placing him or her in suspended animation for 100 seconds. This is the kind of vibe that keeps us digging through lo-fi.  

He's a big part of the always on point Mt. Fuji Tapes family and Dumb Nice, has some tasty collaborations with saiko, dweeb, and owls at night. His Jumpin Through Loops series is hypnotizing, and he's a true master of the straightforward vocal sample. Zeus holds it down, there's no question about that. We always look out for what he's listening to and for his new cuts, which come about once per month. 

FOLLOW zeus the elevated:   Soundcloud   /   Spotify   /   Youtube

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

Lo-Fi Sundays 023 - Sazetrax

When one refers to the “balance” of good music, it is a commentary on the shared association of tone, level, and presence in a song. Balancing these elements while crafting an engaging musical narrative is the demarcation of a pragmatic musician. This mark could not be more apparent this Sunday. Brooklyn-based producer Sazetrax is a rainy day foray into a vibrant and self-reflective mind state of shuffled beats. His music exudes an attitude of trotting down New York sidewalks when the wind has a frigid pinch and the air stirs with the scents of the urban sprawl.

The Sazetrax catalog includes almost 50 unique tracks and a helping handful of beat tapes sprinkled throughout. The dynamic range of the music hones in on the traditional boom-bap style of lo-fi hip-hop, but decidedly takes a different route than the usual “dusting” of samples. Instead, the fidelity of the chopped bits of melodies and drum lines are intentionally kept full of life and color, but never too much. It's just the right consistency, and the results strike home on the aural sweet tooth. Dive anywhere into the wide collection of tunes available and, on a moment's notice, take a trip down a wormhole of disembodied nostalgia.

FOLLOW Sazetrax:   Facebook   /   Soundcloud   /   Tracktrain