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Electronic

The genre employs the use of electronic musical instruments, digital instruments and circuitry-based music technology. In general, a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means (electroacoustic music), and that produced using electronics only. Electromechanical instruments include mechanical elements, such as strings, hammers, and so on, and electric elements, such as magnetic pickups, power amplifiers, and loudspeakers. Examples of electromechanical sound producing devices include the telharmonium, Hammond organ, and the electric guitar, which are typically made loud enough for performers and audiences to hear with an instrument amplifier and speaker cabinet. Pure electronic instruments do not have vibrating strings, hammers, or other sound-producing mechanisms, and are such as the theremin, synthesizer, and computer.
– Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia

Prince, Black History Month and The Spoken Word

by Lee Christian

Prince, Black History Month and The Spoken Word by Lee Christian


I have been a Prince fan since I was 8 and first heard Let’s Go Crazy, with its ear grabbing pyrotechnic guitar ending. Since then, I’ve learned from him, copied him and even just ended up doing the same things as him by osmosis or naturally. His work ethic, energy and diversity are three touchstones of my own ‘career’ and I have many strange ethereal intangible links to prince and ‘signs’ attached to many of my fondest moments in music so far that it’s almost as if he’s been a musical guardian angel since his passing in 2016 – an event that hit me so bad that I bought a streaming package, set up a little shrine on screen and DJ’d for 3 days straight, so fans had a place to hang, and I had some way of expressing my own sense of loss and gratitude for him voluminous output and inspiring presence in my own life. My phone went off non-stop that first day, I was associated with him so much by my circle of friends, they were checking that I was ok!

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I wasn’t thinking about what I was going to think about

by Ben VanBuskirk of Blackout Orchestra

Ben VanBuskirk aka Blackout Orchestra


I can’t talk about music.

Okay, that’s not entirely true. I have the language. I can talk about what a particular song means to me, or I can talk about what that drummer is doing on the hi-hat that makes you know it’s them. Music history is an easy one – I’ve devoured all the rock bios, read all the critical analysis, seen all the interviews. I eat, sleep and breathe music. So why does it feel hard to talk about?

Not to sound all new-age about it, but music is elemental. Larger than life. When I was a kid, like most kids, I was into superheroes. The bright colors, the high stakes, the every moment of a story that meant something important to the larger narrative. As I grew up, music was the only “adult” thing that felt that exciting, that vital, that universal and yet intensely personal.

So of course I became a musician.

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Borrowed Voices

by Tim Oestmann

Tim Oestmann


Greetings! My name is Tim Oestmann, from Adelaide, Australia.

Music is such a gift. It is a community event. Many of us are influenced by others’ gifts of a song or a tune, and hopefully, we can provide a tune in return. None of us makes music in a vacuum.

My background is as a guitarist and bass player in a number of local bands. I was fortunate enough to perform for a few years in front of live audiences, which was often a privilege. I also learned a lot from playing to an audience that gave instant feedback if you were hot, or not, they would let you know. I also did some roadie work for other performers, and so heard a lot of live music.

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Lock In That Rhythm!

by Torsten Jensen of Hexcut

Hexcut


Hi, my name is Torsten, I play piano and synth in an instrumental band from Bristol, UK called Hexcut. Also in the band are Chris Dreher (electronics), Dominic Fludger (bass guitar) and Rick Entwistle (drums). Our sound is somewhere between rock, modern jazz and electronic dance music and is hard to put into any one genre! It comes from the collective influences of all of us, and we write music together so it comes out as a blend of all our tastes: I am particularly into jazz acts like Gogo Penguin and Mammal Hands as well as alternative electronic acts such as Bonobo and Jon Hopkins, Chris is into hip hop and trip hop such as Blockhead and Portishead, Dom is into progressive rock and metal and Rick is into heavy rock and metal as well as house and drum’n’bass.

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Room 167 – A Space In Time

by Manuel of Raven and Phan

How Many Times by Raven and Phan


Raven and Phan, also known as Utku and Manuel (me), is a duo from Vienna, Austria. Utku is originally from Istanbul, Turkey, and has lived in various countries in Europe and America. Our music is influenced by cultural, musical, melodic, and rhythmic elements, which is why we like to refer to our music as “A sonic odyssey from the Bosporus to the Alps.”

We met in 2014 when I was searching for a guitar player for my project. A mutual friend, Ilkhan, introduced us, and we began playing together. At the time, they were founding a recording label, which I was also indirectly a part of. We spent our summer days chilling on Utku’s balcony, listening to inspiring music such as Caribou’s track “Sun,” Chet Faker, Nicolas Jaar, and Jamie XX. Our goal was to create music that reflected our unique perspectives and shared influences.

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The Amok Sun Rises in The East

by Amok Sun

Amok Sun


When I was proposed to write this article, I was thrilled, but also asked myself if my story as a musician was interesting enough to write an article about. But like music, you don’t know how it will be received until it’s out in the world.

I’m Amox, an independent music artist. I’m located in Bucharest, Romania, for now. My project is called Amok Sun. I like to think about Amok Sun as a band. It needs collaboration as a foundation to work as I envision it. I currently do everything by myself. And I mean everything. Promotion, videos, artwork, social media, and others. All of this is on top of a full-time job as a UX Designer.

Thinking about Amok Sun’s sound, it is difficult for me to define the main genre. Maybe call it electro-rock. I hope that it will determine its own style. This is something for the community to decide. I would describe the music I create as a mix of genres and themes like alternative rock, electronica, IDM, medieval or renaissance, and world genres. Well, that’s the goal anyway, right now I’m pretty much isolated from the artist community because of my late bloom.

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A way to connect with yourself

by Irene Sánchez

A way to connect with yourself by Irene Sánchez

Music has always been said to be a universal language, but I don’t agree. Music has as many meanings as people who listen to it. What for us can be a sad melody, for someone from the other side of the world, it can be the happiest of songs, that’s why I refuse to believe that music is universal. However, I don’t think this is a problem, but an advantage to be able to communicate with ourselves. Art shows us the reality that we need to see.

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„93-105”, my new album, my old story.

by Adam Majdecki-Janicki

93-105, my new album, my old story. by Adam Majdecki-Janicki

The album costs 3 euro, but took 18 years to make, of course, not continuous 18 years, but I wouldn’t record such music without living my life as I did since 2002 when I started recording cassette tapes with my friend in a high rise block in Poznań, Poland. The block’s address was 93-105. So, now you all know what „planet 93-105” means. And high rise blocks are really like separate planets, at least in Poland…

And cassettes are beautiful items, surviving years and owners, and „93-105” is now not only my block’s address, an imaginary planet, and album title, but also a beautiful cassette released with Illuminated Paths, USA, and this full circle of space and tapes, and my life April-July 2020 is what this story is all about a sound story. A sound story best experienced on cassette.

So go grab a copy of „93-105”, and feel like it’s 2002 in a Poznań, Poland high rise block, or elsewhere in the galaxy, wherever imagination takes you… this cassette is yours, not mine, now. And 18 years are gone, but it feels like light years…

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The Imaginary, Symbolic, and the Real

by Dillon Vetere (aka Safehouse)

The Imaginary, Symbolic, and the Real by Dillon Vetere (aka Safehouse)
The 2010’s have come to an end, and there was no better way to end the decade with a collection of songs that mean so much to me as an artist and person… The tracks of the Mirror Stage era. This collection of 80’s inspired new wave tracks, with sprinkles of modern chillwave, have taught me so much about myself as a musician and will forever hold a special place in my heart. The Mirror Stage era ended with my newest release to date, the Imaginary Order EP. This EP is only 17 minutes long, but it packs so much emotion and angst into 5 tracks. Although the Mirror Stage era is over, this EP is the perfect way to kick off the new decade.

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