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. 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 has done the region an extraordinary service by hosting this mighty vibe conjurer for Memorial Day Weekend in Lakewood, Pennsylvania. Ahead of his rare Northeastern get down at Elements Lakewood, we were privileged to correspond with Tyler about music, careers, health, and reggae music.  

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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. 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.

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Wax Future & ZONE Drums [Profile]

As electronic music continues to flourish in the new millennium in the U.S., a momentous resurgence finds more and more artists presenting their music accompanied by live instrumentation. But how does an electronic act incorporate a drummer? What sort of challenges arise? How much elbow grease is required, and where is it applied? How is a group rewarded for taking such a risk with its performance? We spoke with Aaron Harel aka Zone Drums and Wax Future to find out.

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Smallprint Recordings [Interview]

Reaching the ear canals of sonic explorers from the home base of Brighton, UK, SmallPrint Recordings has been pushing an ecosystem of eclectic compositional motifs and musically affluent producers since its birth in 2014. Specializing in jazz & soul influenced electronic music, SmallPrint is an archetype in directed curation; each of the nine artists featured on the label share in their influences and choices of avant-garde musical phenotypes. Humble beginnings are a common staple of underground labels, and Smallprint is no different. We had the opportunity to speak to Joe Vince, a co-founder of the label who produces under the moniker Primate, about SmallPrint’s origin and inner workings.

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79 Ancestors [Profile]

Last week we put out a spotlight on the duo A.M. Architect, who just released Color Field, an audiovisual album composed of 10 tracks and accompanied by a 15 minute short film, released through the interdisciplinary label 79Ancestors. Today, we want to take the time tell you some more about what the label is up to and those involved behind the scenes.

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Who is the Precise Electronic Producer Detox Unit?

On a steamy August night in a dark space bursting with Brooklynites and other humans, a DJ steps to the decks. It’s the third installation of the Lights Out series at the Knitting Factory, and Detox Unit is about to blow minds. Ascending into the corner of the room, Joe Roberts knows what’s cranking inside the spanking Hennessy Sound System before him. He knows forwards and backwards the material he’s prepared - detailed, meticulous, dirty, and deep. He knows when the music meets the medium, sound speeding through wire and circuitry, he’ll ignite the sell-out crowd like a tinderbox. 

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Whitebear [Interview]

The hammer, the bat, the boxing glove; we as humans use these tools for literal smashing, but sometimes we need a more proverbial smashing. With Arthur Song behind his quickly rising nom de guerreWhitebear pounds the ground with a visceral harmony of melody and discord, symphony and cacophony. A Malaysian native based out of Melbourne, Australia, he's made his way all the way out to the States for a massive tour alongside Kalya Scintilla, and is headed straight for NYC this weekend. We had the opportunity to sit down with Whitebear and pick apart his brain just enough to satisfy the suspense of a long awaited face-to-face blessing with the man, and see what really makes this production powerhouse tick.

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Kalya Scintilla on Progress and the Perils of Pop Music

If ever a musician was rooted in the past, acting in the present and looking to the future it is Kalya Scintilla. Scintilla, real name Yaegon Lamagaia, is a pillar of psychedelic electronic music and culture. Since the late aughts this Australian producer has pioneered a now popular sound - a juxtaposition of earthy, instrumental world beats with squelchy, spacey synths in a psybient mid-tempo mold. Scintilla takes great care to draw listeners into the thematic world beyond his sounds, one of ancient energy, myth, intention and alignment. Ahead of his Back to Roots tour stop at Knitting Factory Brooklyn, supported by Whitebear and The Rust Music artist MALAKAI, we were fortunate enough to speak briefly with Yaegon about his music and ideas.

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Jade Cicada Speaks Ahead of 'Lights Out' Show in Brooklyn

On Friday, August 4th, Jade CicadaDetox UnitKeota, and Shadow Tricks take over the Knitting Factory in BrooklynNY, for Lights Out NYC 003 - Jade Cicada, brought to you by Good Looks Collective.  Thus far, each Lights Out has  strived to amplify levels of excitement and engagement amongst concert goers, and has consistently brought a much needed, refreshing vibe to the electronic music collective in and around NYC. We had the opportunity to query Skyler Golden, the man behind the arthropod, a bit about his thoughts on pushing his musical endeavors forward. 

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