Hello everyone and welcome back to the Electronic Music Alliance July 2020 Newsletter - your monthly update on the latest goings on from the EMAlien Mothership!
We send our well wishes to everyone in regard to the Coronavirus pandemic and want to say thank you to everyone caring for the sick and the more vulnerable - you are all legends! As for EMA, we want to say a big thank you for the continued support and sharing all the good vibes on Twitter! This month has been one of our most EMAzing ones yet with two huge compilations and brilliant storytelling releases from the EMAliens on the community run Electronic Alliance Records label. On top of that, we have more mixes with the EMA DJ Mix Series and we take an in depth look at this month's Featured Artist, DZM! So with the newsletter bursting at the seams already, let's open it up and see what's going on under the hood of the Mothership! EMA Community
Welcome to all the new followers and thanks to everyone who continues to follow our EMA and EAR Twitter! The EMAlien community continues to grow and we've been steadily adding to the playlists and release catalog in July! Here's a full run down of how things have shaped up this past month:
As always a big thanks to our EMAliens on the Mothership, keeping everyone's spirits up and making it a fun place to be! Regular Playlists
We have our regular weekly EMA curated playlists going across various streaming platforms featuring tracks no older than 3 months from our members, keeping things as new as possible! We've also added the Apple Music and Hearthis platforms to our rotation, which are regularly updated so there's no shortage of places where you can find our music. Here's a little reminder of our schedule:
Featured Playlist
Skaarl is back at the playlists once again with his "EMAliens At The Rave" reaching it's 4th installment of floor filling, rave tunes from members of EMA! This features electronic music in the style of House and Techno for you to enjoy!
EMA DJ Mixes
We have continued the cool vibes from the EMA DJ Mix Series each week thanks to Radio Dark Tunnel. Our 1 hour slot is on Friday evenings from 19:00-20:00 UTC for the time being, where our EMAliens showcase their mixing talents along with a host of electronic music ranging from downtempo to house to drum and bass. Feel free to stream the latest mixes from our Mixcloud page below:
Electronic Alliance Records
Our community run label Electronic Alliance Records continues to grow with some huge releases this month from our EMAliens who have been beaming their beats down from the Mothership! Make sure you follow us on our Beatport page for the latest releases. Wrap your EARs around these:
Future Sounds Anthology Vol. 3 - July 3rd
The 3rd volume of our quarterly compilation called "Future Sounds Anthology" saw 17 tracks from 19 EMAliens come together in an assortment of vibes from chill to "thrill" as genres range from downtempo to Drum & Bass! There's something for everyone in this release and the theme was a little more on the "summery" side with each track bringing sounds from Summer and on the more melodic side!
We Initially launched Vol. 1 on the 1 year anniversary of EMA as a special compilation but decided to keep that tradition going every quarter. Nicky Havey wrote a full rundown of FSA Vol.3 on his website which you can find here but the Spotify playlist is below for your streaming pleasure and it's available to download on our Beatport page!
11:11 Invasion - July 11th
11 EMAliens, 11 MCs and rappers came together to bring this pile driver of a release which was the brain child of Trip Jacker. We went in to more depth to find out all about this epic project and how it came to be with many challenges having to be overcome with the coronavirus pandemic affecting play. However, in true EMA style, everyone came together and supported the completion of this compilation and give you the 11:11 Invasion!
Once again, Nicky Havey wrote a blog which followed some of the EMAliens featured around on their journey with this release and you can read all about it on our EMA website here. The full epic compilation is available to download here and you can stream below:
Featured Artist - DZM
Each month the "Featured Artist" section of our newsletter gives us a chance to find out more about one of our EMAliens and this time round, we're going to be shining the spotlight on Discord "High Flyer" - DZM! We digitally sent Nicky Havey over to find out more about this dude from 'Dam and here's what happened!
Hey hey it's the bee keeper "Bee ZM"! Congratulations on making your way in to DJ Overlord's "High Flyer" rank in our Discord - I know we're all looking forward to finding out more about you! So, who is the buzzing "Bee ZM" aka DZM? Tell us a bit about yourself and how you got involved with music?
Hey Nicky Beezy! I have been doing for a long time, starting out when I was like 13 years old or something, starting on some very basic software (Techno Maker and Fasttracker 2) and eventually ended up using Reason. As this was mostly pre-internet it was simply me messing around on my computer in my bedroom, and I did not really have the access to any fancy stuff so it was very basic what I was doing. I continued doing stuff here and there but it was about two years ago that I felt I wanted to give things another chance and so I bought a “lite” version of Reason and things started to click somehow. I have been going at it ever since!
I like a wide range of musical styles - I grew up on gabber / hardcore and I really loved the raw and emotional style of PCP from Frankfurt, which are getting in vogue again at the moment, being played by Helena Hauff and Nina Kraviz for example. After that I had a bit of a hiphop phase, starting with Eminem but really falling in love with the beats that RZA did for the early Wu-Tang stuff, I love MF Doom and when Kanye West came through. oh man… Later I started to enjoy rock as well, Queens of the Stone Age and Arctic Monkeys, for example.
Musically my two biggest idols are Kanye West and Alex Turner from the Arctic Monkeys. Kanye is obviously widely regarded as an a$$hole but his music is simply on a different level. Also you gotta respect someone who simply does not care what people think and, every bedroom producer should simply adore him for how he got himself to the top (tip: listen to the second season of Dissect to get a bit of a flavour how tough that was). And Alex Turner, two things - first of all Arctic Monkeys make amazing music, almost every on of their songs has an amazing melodic left turn (usually on the bridge) that gives you goosebumps. And secondly, to see how he has developed himself from a shy kid to this rock star persona, I think its very cool.
Awesome man! It's great to see that you've got such a wide range of influences and to be able to pick two biggest idols isn't easy to do with the plethora of musical talents out there! So how have all these influences come across in your music? Do you have a particular style you go for?
I’d like to say emotional music. It can be anything, its mostly in the techno realm but even in there I’ll swing from harsh electro to melodic techno. And recently started working on hip hop which I like a lot, but the key is that it needs to have some emotional intensity to it.
Definitely agree with you about bringing emotions in to music, feels like we can express the inexpressible through our sounds hey? With these different techno vibes and hip hop sounds you're going for, have you managed to incorporate them in to your latest releases like "Space Age" or your track on 11:11 Invasion?
So Space Age was my latest original release and meant to be one of a series of more melodic techno stuff I have been doing. I think in my discography that is a relatively light and fun track, but I love nostalgic feeling of the chords and the JFK sample really amplifies this sense of “safety” that I felt in my childhood that seems to be gone from the world now.
11:11 invasion was so cool, I spoke a bit of how the beat came about for the release (involving a trip to Poland and a lot of alcohol), so I will leave that out, but when I got the vocals from Helstrip… man… My son goes to chess classes on Tuesday evening and usually I take my laptop with me and have a beer and work on some music while waiting for him to be ready, and I remember getting the vocals and just sitting there one and a half hour smiling like a maniac listening to Helstrip just absolutely killing it. Better Place is one of my favourite tracks out of my own releases, even though I feel the mix should have been better.
Still, I loved that experience so much, so I started working on a bunch of hiphop beats that I will either try to market or get some of the 11:11 rappers to rap on for a new release. Still thinking on that but I am really enjoying working with samples and creating those beats.
Next to that, I have three techno tracks that are 90% finished and that I’d like to finish and release. So maybe I will finally get to that and get them out there as an EP.
Yeah I get exactly what you mean by that "safety" feeling, the world is a different place now hey? The 11:11 project is an incredible feat and can just imagine you sitting there trying to contain yourself while everyone else in the chess room was trying to concentrate haha! Sounds like you've been a really busy boy of late, this is how Bee ZM rolls, buzzing around with the beats! Looking forward to seeing your latest Techno treats! Where can people find you online?
I am EVERY WHERE! Somehow Twitter is my favourite, so you can find me at @DoezMr, though I am also at Instagram and (yuk) Facebook. Honestly, I really hate the social media game as its so fake - yes there is some meaningful communication but mostly its just people selling stuff and I don’t think thats pretty.
Great stuff man! And I guess the final question, like always is, how did you get involved with or hear about EMA/EAR?
Because you guys are legendary! LOL. One of my early tracks got selected by Ms EfemBee, and this is really not that long ago. And she was involved with EMA, and initially I was a bit intimidated by you guys but one crazy nights I decided to drop you a message and the rest is history!
Haha! Well, we're only a sum of our parts and everyone is a legend in their own right at EMA, including you! We're really happy to have you with us and that you decided to drop a message - look at all the awesome collabs you've got involved with!
So there you have it folks! The legendary BeeZM - make sure you follow him on the social links above and check his music out out! Here's a glimpse in to his tunes on Spotify:
We hope you have enjoyed this month’s newsletter, let us know in the comments below and catch you soon for the next one!
Yours EMA (Bufinjer, DaveyHub & Nicky Havey)
0 Comments
Greetings everyone and welcome back to another weekly showcase from the Electronic Music Alliance!
Each week on our blog, we bring you a selection of the freshest tracks from our members, specially chosen by one of our founders. This time round, it’s Bufinjer curating the playlist with music submitted by the EMA community on YouTube – have a listen below and let us know what you think in the comments! Artists Featured
Adrian Earnshaw
DaveyHub Ethanol ADDiKtz Nicky Havey Hegstraction Gribbles Bufinjer Primaudia Record ØLSKXX Electrostatic Nightmare Disco Stick Up Boys Crimson Medici
We hope you enjoy this week’s selection, let us know in the comments below and catch you soon for the next one!
Yours EMA (Bufinjer, DaveyHub & Nicky Havey)
Greetings everyone and welcome back to another weekly showcase from the Electronic Music Alliance!
Each week on our blog, we bring you a selection of the freshest tracks from our members, specially chosen by one of our founders. This time round, it’s Bufinjer curating the playlist with music submitted by the EMA community for SoundCloud – have a listen below and let us know what you think in the comments! Artists Featured
Skyline Tigers
TC Newman Nexus2089 trx-01 Andrew Gabriel Electrostatic Nightmare Disco DZM Primaudia Record E1GHTH PLACE HEGstraction Neonian TRiPmusic Bufinjer winkandwoo Nicky Havey The Restless Natives
We hope you enjoy this week’s selection, let us know in the comments below and catch you soon for the next one!
Yours EMA (Bufinjer, DaveyHub & Nicky Havey) EMA Is On A Roll
July has been an extraordinary month for releases on the Electronic Alliance Records label with the Future Sounds Anthology Vol. 3, the superb "File Not Found." EP from E1GHTH PLACE, a zombie apocalypse adventure with Skyline Tigers' "Devolution Denial" EP and now our biggest global collaboration yet with the "11:11 Invasion" Compilation!
As you might have guessed from the title of the post, this colossal project involved the cross-pollination of two musical styles with electronic music and rap. The vision of Trip Jacker happened earlier in the Earth year of 2020 and the co-ordination of getting everyone together for the release on 11th July was facilitated by great examples of teamwork and EMAliens stepping up to the mark. We teleported our resident blogger Nicky Havey around the Mothership to garner more information about this epic compilation from some of those involved - here's what he found out! Trip Jacker
SZZZZZzoooom... Ooo hey, that was a cool experience, not been in the EMA Mothership teleporter for a while! Oh wow look it's Mr Jacker! Congratulations on this EMAzing release and huge undertaking to bring 11 EMAliens and rappers together for the 11:11 Invasion! Can you tell us all how it all came about and what was the inspiration behind the whole project?
Hey Nicky! This project was a vision of mine as I grew up listening to many styles of music, including a lot of hip hop.
Years ago, there was a movie called Judgement Night. The soundtrack teamed up hard rock artists with rappers. It's a great album, btw. I wanted to make an electronic music version of the Judgement Night soundtrack, teaming our amazing EMA producers with indie rappers. I also wanted to push the artists outside our comfort zones. Most of us in EMA hadn't worked with rappers. Most of the rappers hadn't worked with electronic music. This was an epic experiment. I know Deto 22 in the real world, and I mentioned the idea to him. Deto is a very talented hip hop producer and he's been in the scene for years. He immediately wanted in and he brought his good friend Sketch tha Cataclysm into the project. I leveraged that to get Cee Reed into the project, as he knows Sketch and Deto.
From there, I brought the idea to EMA. We got the producers on board and worked to bring other talented rappers into the project, including our very own Bonnie Legion, Karnevor and Ethanol Addiktz. Bufinjer did a tremendous amount of work to keep things on track. It was challenging as we have had multiple lineup changes and were interrupted by COVID. Some of the rappers couldn't get into the studio to record their vocals.
Special thanks go out to Stick Up Boys, Fat Pockets, Lunatic Fluid and Donte Pringle as they all stepped in for artists that left the project. Donte deserves extra credit as he agreed to come on board at the last minute. There was a lot of pressure on him to deliver in a very short amount of time. The long, bumpy road was well worth it as the album is stellar. Everyone pulled together and we have created a gem. We need get the word out because this is a unique project. There's nothing like it out there. 20 artists from the indie electronic and indie hip hop scene worked together to make something extraordinary! Also, EMA's Chaos Studios deserves recognition for the graphic design work he did.
Wow! I'm beaming from ear to ear reading that back and feeling the positive vibes that brought to everyone! Really sounds like you encountered every challenge possible with Coronavirus thrown in to the mix as well - you should all be very proud of yourselves!
So how about your collaboration, "Trying to Find The Words" with Sketch tha Cataclysm? Tell us a bit more about that one!
I was excited and also nervous to work with Sketch. I've been a fan of his work for years, and now I was collaborating with him. I started listening to his music on the great Indie Feed Hip Hop podcast hosted by the legendary Dirt E Dutch. The beat I made increases in intensity as it goes along. I asked Sketch if he could do the same with the lyrics. He did exactly that, and his second and third verses are just incredible. Special shout out goes to Deto 22 for the cameo and for his guidance on mixing hip hop vocals.
Yeah! Let's hit that play button! Time for me to visit our next EMAlien! Tssschhhmmmm....
Bufinjer
MMMhshchhhh... Alrighty! Let's catch up with fellow EMA Co-Founder Mr Bu! What's up Bufinjer! Superb work on the organisation here with Mr Jacker - tell us how you found the whole experience and about your big hitting "Out the Asylum" collab with Lunatic Fluid!
Hey Nicky! It all started as an idea by Trip Jacker, it seemed like a cool idea that was doable, lets do a collab compilation with electronic music and rappers. Well it started off simple...
For me, this project started as I always do, sit down and put together a track, see where it goes. Well I did that, and after the track was done, the feedback was that it wasn't the "right" track for the project, so back to the drawing board. I then decided to really put more effort into a layout design that would fit vocals easily (well in my head at least LOL)! So I came up with the track that ended up being used. I had Ethanol ADDiKtz give the track a listen for feedback, and he said yea I could rap to this, BUT he wasn't the rapper I was eventually paired up with. Then the Coronavirus pandemic hit. The rapper I was paired up with had to be dropped due to lack of contact, whether due to the pandemic, or something else.
So I had to scramble to get someone else to step in, and funny thing was Ethanol ADDiKtz said he would team up with Helstrip and do lyrics under their Lunatic Fluid name. The virus made things difficult as it was hard for people to get around to be able to do lyrics, and this was the case for Helstrip, as they get together at Ethanol ADDiKtz's place to do them. Then to make matters worse, Helstrip injures his leg!
But through all the challenges, they got together, and delivered an amazing performance on the lyrics. There wasn't much I had to do to get the final master done, adding a little metal reverb, and a cool phantom reverb to the chorus. The final result is an amazing and catchy track that will be sure to make you move, and want to listen to over and over.
Wow, with all those challenges you overcame, it still sounds huge! And I agree with you saying it makes you move! I've already played it a few times and will make nice backing music as I teleport over to the next EMAlien zzzzzzooaaaammmmm...
Cylotron
Sshhhummm... Phew, that teleporter is getting used well today! Alright, Mr Cylotron, you're up next on our grand tour around the 11:11 Invasion - got any words for your "Oldsckool S.A.N." track with Donte Pringle?
Hey Nicky! This is a flashback track inspired by early hip hop mixed with electronic elements. It also features aggressive rap vocals by the talented Donte Pringle
Quality sounds in this one guys! Sure those old school sounds will help power this teleporter to get me to the next EMAlien blip blop beepidy...
DZM
Blippedy beep... Ahhhh, I appear to be in the Netherlands, ooh look, it's Bee Z... I mean DZM! Hey man! Awesome to hear you are on the comp too! What's the story with your "Better Place" collaboration with Helstrip?
Yo Nicky! I actually made the first version of the track in the airplane. I was browsing through some samples and found the guitar sample you hear at the start of the track. Those growling MiniMoog chords followed almost automatically as well as the strings, right before a stewardess forced me to close my laptop. Obviously a lot of work was done subsequently, including reworking the beat days before the deadine. Oh yeah and I had one hell of a hangover... Have to be careful drinking w Poles!
Haha, I've learned not to compete with Poles in the drinking department the hard way too! Hopefully this teleporter isn't feeling too hungover yet with all these trips, let me plot co-ordinates to the final EMAlien here lalalalalaalala....
Skyline Tigers
lalalallllll... Ohh, that's what the lala noises were from the teleporter! I thought it was playing up but no, it's put me in front of the Llama Lady - Skyline Tigers! What's happening Llama Lady - looks like you're my final visit for this grand trip around the 11:11 Invasion Compilation - have you got any insights in to how your 3-way collab with DaveyHub and Fat Pockets came about?!
Hey hey Nicky! It was sooo great to get involved with this track, Davey is a fantastic producer and Fat Pockets is just incredible at his craft. I’ve always wanted to be on a rap track and now I want to do another one!
Haha yeah! Awesome tune here and hope we hear more rapping from you too! Of course, the Drum & Bass element got me going in the second half and hopefully with that increased energy, the teleporter can get me safely back on board the Mothership! llamallamallama...
11:11 Invasion - Are You Ready?
Now that was quite a journey and great to get a glimpse behind the scenes of our biggest compilation yet! 11:11 Invasion compilation is now available on our Electronic Alliance Records label - released on 11th July 2020. Be sure to check the rest of the compilation out from the Spotify playlist below
We hope you enjoy this massive release and so that just leaves one question - are you ready for the invasion yet?
Bufinjer, DaveyHub, Nicky Havey EMA Founders
Greetings everyone and welcome back to another weekly showcase from the Electronic Music Alliance!
Each week on our blog, we bring you a selection of the freshest tracks from our members, specially chosen by one of our founders. This time round, it’s Bufinjer curating the playlist with music submitted by the EMA community on Spotify – have a listen below and let us know what you think in the comments. Artists Featured
Adrian Earnshaw
Downward Spiral Mantra HootGun Neonian Electrostatic Nightmare Disco Kindly Spoken Thieves Ethanol ADDiKtz Nicky Havey Skaarl Empty Sea mAncient ØLSKXX Andrew Gabriel E1GHTH PLACE Stick Up Boys James Black Presents iconDARK trx-01 Hegstraction Trip Jacker Bufinjer DaveyHub Awaking The Elements
We hope you enjoy this week’s selection, let us know in the comments below and catch you soon for the next one!
Yours EMA Founders (Bufinjer, DaveyHub & Nicky Havey)
Hello everyone and welcome back to the Electronic Music Alliance June 2020 Newsletter - your monthly update on the latest goings on from the EMAlien Mothership!
Firstly, we extend our well wishes to everyone in regard to the Coronavirus pandemic and want to say thank you to everyone caring for the sick and the more vulnerable - you are all legends! Of course, a big thank you for the continued support and sharing all the good vibes on Twitter! It's been another EMAzing month, although how are we in June already?? Time is FLYING almost as fast as our Mothership! With releases on the community run Electronic Alliance Records label, more mixes on our EMA DJ Mix Series and an in depth look at this month's Featured Artist, Eonlake - there's plenty of things to whet your appetite in this newsletter so let's check it out! EMA Community
Welcome to all the new followers and thanks to everyone who continues to follow our EMA and EAR Twitter as we have reached another milestone with over 2,500 following the label account! We've been steadily adding to the playlists and release catalog in June as well and here's a full run down of how things have shaped up this past month:
As always a big thanks to our EMAliens on the Mothership, keeping everyone's spirits up and making it a fun place to be!
Regular Playlists
We have our regular weekly EMA curated playlists going across various streaming platforms featuring tracks no older than 3 months from our members, keeping things as new as possible! We've also added the Apple Music and Hearthis platforms to our rotation, which are regularly updated so there's no shortage of places where you can find our music. Here's a little reminder of our schedule:
Featured Playlist
We have a Featured Playlist debutante this month as ØLSKXX has summoned the EMAliens inner gamer, sharing his "Gaming with the Electronic Music Alliance" playlist with us here! With tunes to play your video games to, there's plenty of cool vibes to enhance your gaming experience - enjoy!
EMA DJ Mixes
Although Miss EfeMBy is on a short break (and we wish her well), we have continued the cool vibes from the EMA DJ Mix Series each week thanks to Radio Dark Tunnel. Our 1 hour slot has moved to Friday evenings from 19:00-20:00 UTC for the time being, where our EMAliens showcase their mixing talents along with a host of electronic music ranging from downtempo to house to drum and bass. Feel free to stream the latest mixes from our Mixcloud page below:
Electronic Alliance Records
Our community run label Electronic Alliance Records continues to grow with some more releases this month from our EMAliens who have been beaming their beats down from the Mothership! Make sure you follow us on our Beatport page for the latest releases. Wrap your EARs around these:
Future Sounds Anthology Vol. 3 - July 3rd
Warm up the cockles as we are going to be releasing another EMA special with our "Future Sounds Anthology" reaching its 3rd volume on the 3rd of July! We Initially launched Vol. 1 on the 1 year anniversary of EMA as a special compilation but decided to keep that tradition going every quarter and we are pleased to say we have another epic installment for you with a slightly "summery" theme to the tunes!
Keep a look out on our Twitter pages for this as you won't want to miss it! 11:11 Invasion - July 11th (TBC)
Another little teaser we want to tell you about is our 11:11 compilation which is loosely set for the 11th July as a release date. 11 EMAliens, 11 MCs and rappers have come together to bring this pile driver of a release so keep your eyes and EARs peeled as we bring this one to you as well - loads to look forward to in July!
Featured Artist - Eonlake
Each month the "Featured Artist" section of our newsletter gives us a chance to find out more about one of our EMAliens and this time round, we're going to be shining the spotlight on Discord "High Flyer" - Eonlake! We digitally sent Nicky Havey over to find out more about this legend and this is what happened!
Hey hey Mr Lake! Congratulations on chatting your way in to DJ Overlord's mighty "High Flyer" rank in our Discord! We're all looking forward to finding out more about you here! So, who is the mysterious "Mr Lake" aka eonlake? Tell us a bit about yourself and how you got involved with music?
Hi Nicky! Well… My name is Howard Fox, and I’m a Londoner originally, now living in Staffordshire. I come from a musical family on my mother’s side and I started playing drums at school at about the age of 13 because they had lessons available.
I loved it immediately and got my own kit about a year later. At college I did music and music technology while playing in a few dodgy rock bands at venues around North London. Music tech got me into sound engineering and the bands fell by the wayside a bit when I got a job as a tape op in a recording studio, which ultimately led to engineering and producing for the next 10 years. I fell in love with the whole music recording and production thing along with equipment and technology, while discovering electronic and dance music along the way. Some of my main influences come from this time- both live bands and electronic acts and a lot of the time I gravitated towards Berlin school stuff Like Tangerine Dream, loved bands that had guitar and loops and synths like Curve, Garbage and the Jesus and Mary Chain, and also more underground acts like Eat Static, System 7, Banco de Gaia, Hallucinogen, X-Dream, Cydonia, Transwave and all sorts of Psy-Trance, techno, drum and bass and chillout people of the time.
More recently my influences have been more post rock and post classical – Hammock, Nils Frahm, Helios, Goldmund and there are people like Orbital, Royksopp and Jon Hopkins that have always been big influences on me, though I’ve no interest in duplicating anyone else’s sound, more developing my own sound that is distinctive in the same way that they have.
Ultimately I left engineering and production to pursue a more lucrative life, my dream always to set up a small studio at home to explore my own music rather than spending all my time working on other people’s, which led in the end to my current incarnation as Eonlake. I don’t have many nicknames though to be honest (at least to my face that is haha)- most people call me Foxy!
Haha! Well, I think we should start calling you the fantastic Mr Fox after hearing more about your background! Quite a lot of different influences and sounds coming through and it's good that you've used all those skills you've picked up to begin exploring your own music - must have learned a lot over the years! So what would you say is the kind of music you make with all this exploration you have done?
That’s a tricky one, because like a number of EMA artists I try not to conform to a specific genre, or even group of genres but do what suits me, although I do have a mission. The music I love most is either evocative, emotive or hypnotic in some respect and the idea with Eonlake was to explore all the influences and aesthetics I love that relate to that, in order to produce music that is interesting and textural while retaining some human quality and speaking to the human condition and what it means to be alive here at this time.
Victor Hugo once said that music "expresses that which cannot be said and upon which it is impossible to be silent", and I wanted what I do to capture musically some of the inexpressible yet universal and compelling themes of life and how they feel, while also being relatively free to explore that in whatever tempo or style felt natural and maintaining my own identity throughout.
What comes out I think always sounds like me, and is often characterised by lots of layers and harmonic, atmospheric spaces punctuated with stabs of melody and bleeps, with anything from mid paced layered beats to none at all at a much lower tempo depending on how I feel. My most recent output has been deep ambient tracks intended for me to relax and try and connect to something still within, but there’s always something else bubbling in the background and I tend to mix things up to some degree regularly.
Wow, beautifully put and after listening to a few of your tunes on the EMA playlists, I can definitely say there are some lovely atmospherics. In fact, I listened in to Deepstate Volume 1 as I have been working on a few blogs recently - great music to help focus on what you're doing! Maybe you can tell us more about this series or any other releases or collaborations like the recent remix of "No Return" from Trip Jacker?
My most recent release was the Deepstate Volume One EP of 3 ambient drone based tracks which were largely improvised over 10 days. It was very helpful for me to do (it was intended as music therapy for myself in the fist instance) and I learned a fair bit about doing things differently as a result. I felt there was more to explore there, so I’ve done two more with a third in progress for Deepstate Volume Two although they are a little different this time.
As you mentioned, I also had the great pleasure of remixing the talented and prolific Trip Jacker’s track No Return, which was an Electronic Alliance exclusive track on our Future Sounds Anthology Volume 1- the track really spoke to me when I heard it and inspired all sorts of things in my head, so I asked him if he’d let me have a go at it, which he kindly did.
It was great fun to start something in full flow like that which was a new experience as Eonlake and I did go a bit crazy with it, but I like the result as it retains some of the character of the original Trip Jacker sound and song’s mood but with a different angle and journey. Fortunately he liked it so we released it on EAR! (You never know if you take someone’s song in another direction how it will go over!) It seems to have been well received so we’re already collaborating on a new track which I’m very happy about and is proving to be just as much fun if not more.
Besides that, I’m working on a remix for our awesome founder DaveyHub too, which seems to have taken on a life of it’s own immediately- I’m not going to say too much about that one but I think it will be out second half of July with a host of EMA artists remixing the excellent original, so I’m proud to be part of that release- I think it’s going to be an absolute belter.
I also have 4 tracks of regular Eonlake output to put the finishing touches to, a couple of which will likely be released in the next few months around everything else so lots to keep me busy.
That's some serious output you've been giving to the world in recent months and I'm also going to be attempting a remix on Davey's original which I need to get the rocket boosters on to get working on it! Seems that Team Snail here is travelling at light speed and we're looking forward to hearing those releases over the next few weeks! As always, we love to know how folks come to be a part of EMA so how did you hear about and get involved with the community?
Pure providence really- I wasn’t looking to join anything or meet other artists, I just saw a tweet about EMA looking for members and asked a few questions out of curiosity. It felt right so I joined, and feel very strongly now it was meant to be- it’s an awesome group of people who are talented, open minded, supportive, creative and fun although slightly cracked in many cases mentioning no names!
I’ve been inspired by their attitudes, drive and collaboration and have no doubt I’m a better me as a result- their value and benefit has been highlighted a lot by the craziness that has become our reality in 2020. There is a strong sense of unity, community and support as well as brother/sisterhood which is a welcome support of late. Best thing I did.
Ah man, thanks for kind words and we're really glad you followed your curiosity and joined the merriment aboard the EMA Mothership! There's definitely a lot of inspiration to find and plenty of support from everyone, thank you for being a part of it and we're happy you've benefited from it too!
Be sure to follow Eonlake through one of the profiles on his LinkTree here or you can click the icons below to go to his most active sites:
We hope you have enjoyed this month’s newsletter, let us know in the comments below and catch you soon for the next one!
Yours EMA (Bufinjer, DaveyHub & Nicky Havey)
Greetings everyone and welcome back to another weekly showcase from the Electronic Music Alliance!
Each week on our blog, we bring you a selection of the freshest tracks from our members, specially chosen by one of our founders. This time round, it’s Bufinjer curating the playlist with music submitted by the EMA community on YouTube – have a listen below and let us know what you think in the comments! Artists Featured
Trip Jacker
ØLSKXX Stick Up Boys Empty Sea Hegstraction Eonlake Electrostatic Nightmare Disco Gribbles The Restless Natives DevAstral Nicky Havey HootGun Cylotron Awaking the Elements Bufinjer Primaudia Record Downard Spiral Mantra mAncient
We hope you enjoy this week’s selection, let us know in the comments below and catch you soon for the next one!
Yours EMA (Bufinjer, DaveyHub & Nicky Havey)
Greetings everyone and welcome back to another weekly showcase from the Electronic Music Alliance!
Each week on our blog, we bring you a selection of the freshest tracks from our members, specially chosen by one of our founders. This time round, it’s Bufinjer curating the playlist with music submitted by the EMA community for SoundCloud – have a listen below and let us know what you think in the comments! Artists Featured
Primaudia Record
Gribbles HEGstraction Cylotron Stick Up Boys Rico Pundrich mAncient Awaking The Elements Electrostatio Nightmare Disco TRiPmusic Andrew Gabriel The Restless Natives Bufinjer
We hope you enjoy this week’s selection, let us know in the comments below and catch you soon for the next one!
Yours EMA (Bufinjer, DaveyHub & Nicky Havey)
Greetings everyone and welcome back to another weekly showcase from the Electronic Music Alliance!
Each week on our blog, we bring you a selection of the freshest tracks from our members, specially chosen by one of our founders. This time round, it’s Bufinjer curating the playlist with music submitted by the EMA community on Spotify – have a listen below and let us know what you think in the comments. Artists Featured
Kindly Spoken Thieves
Trip Jacker Eonlake Hegstraction DevAstral Electrostatic Nightmare Disco Skyline Tigers Gribbles Awaking the Elements Andrew Gabriel Skaarl iconDARK The Restless Natives Skeebo ØLSKXX Cylotron Stick Up Boys James Black Nicky Havey Bufinjer
We hope you enjoy this week’s selection, let us know in the comments below and catch you soon for the next one!
Yours EMA (Bufinjer, DaveyHub & Nicky Havey)
Hello everyone and welcome back to the Electronic Music Alliance - May 2020 Newsletter where we keep you awesome Earthlings updated on the latest goings on from the EMAlien Mothership!
Firstly though, we continue with extending our well wishes to everyone in regard to the Coronavirus pandemic. We also want to say thank you to all the health workers caring for the sick and everyone looking after the more vulnerable - you are all legends! As for EMA, a big thanks to all of you for the continued support and sharing all the good vibes on Twitter! It's been another EMAzing month with releases on the community run Electronic Alliance Records label, more mixes on our EMA DJ Mix Series and we have a more in depth look at this month's Featured Artist, Cylotron! Let's dive in! EMA Community
Shout out to those following our EMA and EAR Twitter accounts and welcome to all the new followers as we are approaching some more milestones! We've been steadily adding to the playlists and release catalog in May and here's a full run down of how things have shaped up this past month:
As always a big thanks to our EMAliens on the Mothership, keeping everyone's spirits up and making it a fun place to be!
Regular Playlists
We have our regular weekly EMA curated playlists going across various streaming platforms featuring tracks no older than 3 months from our members, keeping things as fresh as possible! We've also added the Apple Music and Hearthis platforms to our rotation, which are regularly updated so there's no shortage of places where you can find our music. Here's a little reminder of our schedule:
Featured Playlist
Skaarl has been back at it again with his playlist curating! This time around, he takes us on a rave journey with the 3rd installment of his "EMAliens At The Rave" featuring House and Techno tunes from the Mothership. Enjoy this 13 song bonanza and get those glow sticks out!
EMA DJ Mixes
Although Miss EfeMBy is on a short break (and we wish her well), we have continued the cool vibes from the EMA DJ Mix Series each week thanks to Radio Dark Tunnel. Our 1 hour slot has moved to Friday evenings from 19:00-20:00 UTC for the time being, where our EMAliens showcase their mixing talents along with a host of electronic music ranging from downtempo to house to drum and bass. Feel free to stream the latest mixes from our Mixcloud page below:
Electronic Alliance Records
Our community run label Electronic Alliance Records continues to grow with some more releases this month from our EMAliens who have been beaming their beats down from the Mothership! Make sure you follow us on our Beatport page for the latest releases. Wrap your EARs around these:
Featured Artist - Cylotron
Each month the "Featured Artist" section of our newsletter gives us a chance to find out more about one of our EMAliens and this time round, we're going to be shining the spotlight on Discord "High Flyer" - Cylotron! We digitally sent Nicky Havey over to find out more about this chatty legend and this is what happened!
Alright so here we are Mr Cylotron! Congrats on chatting your way in to DJ Overlord's "hug list" in our Discord! I'm sure we're all looking forward to finding out more about you here! So, who is the man, the myth, the legend aka Cylotron? Tell us a bit about yourself and how you got involved with music?
Electronic music has been my passion ever since I was a kid in the 80’s. They didn’t play electronic music on radio or television back then, but I had a friend with a fancy radio. We’d mess around with it and pick up pirate radio stations playing electronic music. That’s when I was introduced to artists like Afrika Bambaataa, Cybotron, etc. My grandmother, Veronica, also introduced me to artists such as Clara Rockmore, Delia Derbyshire, Pauline Oliveros, etc. These women were actually the pioneers of “Electronic music” and were making experimental sounds back in the 1950’s.
I’ve basically been a lifelong fan and knew at some point in my life I wanted to make electronic music. In the late 90’s, I started tinkering with “Fruity Loops” and bought a Roland JX-305 and an SP-808. Tinkered around with that stuff for a while and even started DJ’ing under the name VoXiGeNBoY. I mainly just performed at house parties and small events in warehouses. Unfortunately, life took me in a different direction.
I did not get back into music production until the early 2010’s with my girlfriend, Roxana. She encouraged me to get back into it and even helped me produce various tracks. Sadly, she is no longer with us as she passed away from cancer on her 40th Birthday (Sep, 13 2019). I decided to continue on with music production as I knew she’d have wanted me to… as it’s also my passion and the main thing that’s keeping me going.
Ah man, we're really sorry to hear about Roxana but it sounds like she had a really positive impact on your life and her legacy lives on with your music by the sounds of it. As for the pioneering women you mentioned, I think we all have a lot to be thankful for what they did, particularly at that time in history when they were innovating against the odds. Can you tell us a bit more about the kind of music you make?
I primarily make electronic/techno music under the name “Cylotron”. I had also made a lot of dance/house tracks under the name “Altern8 Frequen-C”.
That's pretty epic news for the Techno and House fans then! Maybe you can shed some light on any releases have you got now or coming up? What about “The Anthem”, your latest release with EAR?
I’m always working on something. Have a new EP that should be available shortly entitled “Detroit EP”. It’s a 2-track release inspired by the sounds from the Detroit Techno scene. As for “Anthem”, that was actually a track that I had started on several years ago. One of many incompletes that I finally got around to finishing. It’s not the usual style I make, but wanted to get it finished regardless.
There's a great driving energy in this one and we're all looking forward to hearing more about the Detroit EP! So, the big question, how did you get involved with or hear about EMA/EAR?
I had first heard of EMA in late 2019. I believe it was someone by the name FLOTRON who had told me about it. Oddly enough I don’t believe I’ve seen him in EMA? I liked the community & how we all work as a team. It is really inspiring. I am glad to be a part of it!
Well, we're really glad you are a part of the community too and love having you around! It's been great to catch up with you for this month's newsletter and find out more about you!
You can follow Cylotron by clicking on the links below:
We hope you have enjoyed this month’s newsletter, let us know in the comments below and catch you soon for the next one!
Yours EMA (Bufinjer, DaveyHub & Nicky Havey) |
Archives
December 2020
Archived blogs© 2019 Electronic Music Alliance. All Rights Reserved.
|