And sometimes, you go to a show that just blows your mind, literally and figuratively.
The night at Red Rocks was just right, a cool summer evening as fans of the acclaimed electronic master, Bassnectar, gathered for the second night of back-to-back sold out shows. As he took the stage, the longhaired musician gave some love to Colorado and then put it simply, “I know trap music is the music style this year but I’m going to play some good old dub all night.”
Play dub? Not even, he played, threw down, molded, melted dub all over the crowd that night. Bringing along his own sound system did not hurt either, his deep melodies and intense beat sessions could be heard far outside of Red Rocks. Bassnectar, also known as Lorin Ashton, has been at this for a while the whole killing people with his musical talents. He went to his first rave back in 1995 when he was just a young buck and since then, his world and our world has never been the same. Naming himself the famous Bassnectar, he released his first album back in 2001 and I was only too happy to hear him go back to his beginning roots. He played songs that were a decade old that still held the same excitement they did when they were first released, and the crowd loved him for it. All musicians start somewhere and Bassnectar is one of those musicians whose beat naturally flowed out of him from the minute he touched his first electronic music system.
Playing for over two hours straight, Bassnectar showed why he has such a huge fan base and why his music will continue to awe and inspire his adoring supporters.
Keep rocking those long locks Bassnectar and keep capturing the hearts, ears and minds of all who listen to you.
Start with a person. Or, more specific, a musician. Now, add in different types of music. A little dubstep, a little drub & bass, a little electro, some aggressive rock & metal and then to make things really interesting, a dash of orchestral elements. And let’s amp up the musician to take the titles of producer, songwriter, programmer, re-mixer and of course, performer. Combine all the of these elements and who emerges but a highly talented artist who has been changing the face of electronic music for almost a decade now.
Enter Celldweller, our new resident artist for the month of June. To all of his loyal fans, he is known as Klayton, the heart, mind and soul behind the red haired musician Celldweller and the man who constantly is changing the game when it comes to music.
Klayton calls Detroit home, a city with electronic music history flowing through its streets. It was here that Celldweller first released his debut album back in 2003, “Celldweller” which immediately caught the attention of fans and critics who praised Klayton for his unique and undeniably talented sound. From there, Klayton has only grown in his popularity and has taken his own music and his love for the music scene to the next level. Klayton is the proud founder of FiXT, a rapidly growing media company that works as a record label, an online music and merchandise outlet, a publicity wing, and as a film/television/game licensing department. One of the reasons FiXT covers all of these aspects is because Celldweller’s own music has been used numerous time in television shows, movies and especially in video games. Wouldn’t it get you more psyched up to destroy a few aliens with the sounds of Celldweller blasting through your headphones?
Klayton’s sound is distinctive; he brings a lot of his rock and metal passions to the table when making his music. That is something that makes him a truly diverse musician and producer, keeping true to the music of his roots but then throwing in a complete new electronic sound that captivates all of his listeners.
But feel free to play every dirty, nasty, evil electronic/dub beat that you want Protohype.
The young 23-year-old newer artist, whose real name is Max Hype, recently released the second part of his series after “See no Evil” with the highly anticipated “Hear no Evil”. The four tracks EP is composed of all original works and has some very talented vocals lent to some of the tracks.
Protohype starts the series strong with “Fly” featuring the stunning high vocals of Alina Renae. The song is my favorite on the EP; it is full of an unattainable energy that rises from your feet all the way to the top of your head. It tells the simple tale of finally being free from someone and how that has gives people the power to fly and do amazing things. There are intense drum rolls and hypnotic electronic melodies that make this an unforgettable song. “Jelly Roll” and “Bright Side”, which features Ras have a great energy surrounding them. “Jelly Roll” is an instrumental phenomenon that you can’t stop bopping around to. “Bright Side” again takes the powerful lyrics of Ras and combines them with Protohype’s intense musical style. To put the finishing touches on this EP, Protohype finishes with “Shatter” which starts with a mesmerizing violin entrance. The song continues with this beautiful violin throughout the whole song while Protohype loops in his drops and his powerful moments of electronic bliss.
Two parts down, one part to go, we can’t see what speaking no evil will do to our lips.
Shout out to one of our favorite young dubstep artists, PatrickReza, for this insane remix of Destroid’s “Raise Your Fist”. Reza takes this intense song and makes it very much mold into his own sound, with bouncy beats and strong melodies. Reza keeps the intensity of any and all Destroid songs though, with the machine talking throughout the whole piece telling all listeners it is time to raise your fist ::holding mine up in the air::
Reza made this song as part of a contest so if you love it, go show him that love by following the link below to vote. Voting begins June 25th.
Part blues. Part Rock Ballad. Part bass laden dubstep. Yes, MONSTA has a unique sound with their gigantic single, “Messiah”. And it’s one that we’re particularly fond of. After hearing “Messiah” over and over again, we knew that we had to get to know this group better. What does their creative process look like? How do they craft their lyrics? Who are their musical influences?
Luckily we got a chance to have a virtual chat with Rufio of MONSTA, and he answered every question we wanted to know. Check out what he had to say.
TMN: Thanks for answering a couple of questions for us guys! Let’s start off first by asking what your creative process looks like when you’re writing a tune. Does one person excel at a certain aspect? Do you all collaborate on everything together?
MONSTA: You’re welcome! We always write everything together, even though the writing process is a little different for each track. There will always be a point where we are around the piano and just hearing the melodies and harmony together…we always feel that if a song works like that then that is best foundation. There are other times when we might have prepared a track or parts of an instrumental and then Skaar starts singing over it and we all take it from there … but either way we write together because that’s the whole point for us of being in a band and its the most exciting and joyful part.
TMN: Let’s take two steps back now, how did you guys come to meet?
MONSTA: Rocky and I (Rufio) met at Jazz Conservatoire and started playing a lot of gigs and tours together…one thing led to another and we started producing. One day someone played some demos of a singer and we were floored, but we had no idea who they were, where they were from, how old they were and what they did. It transpired that it was Skaar and he was in London, so after a bit of a hunt we got in touch and he came down to the studio. It was all very quiet at first and then we played a couple of tracks and he suddenly started singing and the sound and the melodies were so incredible we knew that we had to work together someway somehow.
TMN: Name the one artist that influenced you the most as an aspiring musician.
MONSTA: It would be different for all of us I guess but collectively some of key artists would be: Otis Reading, Herbie Hancock, Michael McDonald, Sam Cooke, Oscar Peterson, Jeff Porcaro, Nina Simone.
TMN: Back to the present, most of your tracks go crazy on charts like the hype machine. Do you pay attention to things like that when you release a tune?
MONSTA: It’s unbelievable when those things do happen and obviously its great that people are into it and its amazing to see it spreading, however we don’t live and die by it personally…it’s great when it does but if it doesn’t we aren’t put out.
TMN: Do you have any massive collabos in the works right now, if not who are you trying to work with in the near future?
MONSTA: There’s a few people we have started some tracks with, people we massively respect…but nothing is finished just yet. We are always up for collaborating but only if its with someone who we feel we can make something amazing and new with, they have to push us and hopefully we push them, we would never do a collaboration track for someones popularity alone, we would rather collaborate with someone like Chaka Khan then a new star purely because they are having massive success right now.
TMN: Let’s chat about Messiah. The track itself features inspiring lyrics, soulful piano, and gritty basslines. How did the process begin with this track in particular? Did the lyrics come first, or were they stem from the music?
MONSTA: We started with the piano riff and then we layered up some textures and sounds leading towards the chorus. This was the catalyst for the melodies and lyrics in this particular instance…”Higher” felt like the right image on the top of the chorus for us and then the melodies in verses just came about when we were playing it all together … it was cool cos it all came fairly easily and in an organic manor.
TMN: Who came up with the vision for the music video? Talk to us about the location, the crew, and what that experience was like for you.
MONSTA: The experience was amazing for us…we’ve all been so affected by music from the American South and so to get the chance to go to Savannah, Georgia (where we shot the video) felt very humbling. We always had these visual references for the track and one day Alabama (the directing team) got in touch with us and presented a remarkably similar vision. they also saw a more supernatural element to the song which was exactly what we had pictured when we wrote the lyrics so it felt like the most amazing fit. The locations (even when derelict), were stunning and the people we met from the South were amazingly kind, charming and open. Although there was one guy who spent 3 days telling us he had a disembodied ghost cat that floated around is apartment …that concept should probably be our next video really.
TMN: What’s one artist you would be embarrassed to admit you listen too?
MONSTA: If you like an artist you shouldn’t really be embarrassed by liking them, sometimes a song comes along that you love by an artist you don’t particularly think much of i guess. People always seem to think Toto is a guilty pleasure-but we don’t see why there would be any guilt involved?
The Messiah EP is out now in itunes. Pick up your copy today!
It’s always great hitting Friday on a short week. Just a few days ago you were dancing the night away, and now you’re ready to get after it again. So, don’t let me stand in your way with a bunch of unnecessary words. Press play and get going!
Listening to Seven Lions today, also known as Jeff Montalvo, it is hard to believe this California native was once a metal and punk-inclined drummer but then again, all of his pieces have some major drum beats that take over every listener’s body. No exception to this is his recently released “Fevers” featuring the very talented Minnesota and the captivating vocals of Mimi Page. This beautiful song captures the very sound that is Seven Lions, a mix of electronic melodies with haunting lyrics and progressive beats. At 1:30, Seven Lions throws down an explosion of impulsive sound that swirls through the eardrums. Montalvo had a unique sound that continues to amaze and wow the music industry as well as his fans, all of them always excited for what he will bring next.
If you are in Denver tonight, be sure to stop by Cassleman’s for the Global Dance Pre-Party where Montalvo will be throwing down his unbelievably impressive music.
