One of the biggest bills of the evening was Låpsley (Holly Lapsley Fletcher) with special guests at The Drake Underground. This electronic singer-songwriter from Britain’s Merseyside, packed a solid, dedicated crowd. Many were obviously established fans, singing along to the soothing sounds of Fletcher’s melodic voice. Her classical upbringing shows mostly in the depth of her voice and keyboards, the way in which these elements cross into contemporary is seamless and careful. Just as on Understudy EP , her live show is smooth and well produced, gently treading around high notes.

A few blocks over Syzzors, Montreal-based dream pop trio, were starting up their set at The Smiling Buddha. Syzzors’ sound picks up from a multitude of genres from pop/rock to electronic with some folk notes in the background, underwriting the digital base. With the first beat it became clear that the lead vocalist, Raphaëlle Chouinard, is the glowing core of the band. With a self-described “dark, sexy vibe”, Chouinard powered through a couple tracks before introducing the band to the crowd. It was also quite clear she was aware of her worth and spotlight, commenting on other band member’s incompetence and snapping at them to catch up, Chouinard came off as a bit of a tomboy diva. So while the performance was undeniably worth to stay for, Chouinard’s “chop chop” attitude towards the rest of the band deserves a slap on the wrist.

photos by Marcin Barciak

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Started by frontman Josh Salter and his then roommate and now band member Seamus Dalton, the band joined forces with Matt Peters and Graeme Stewart to create their signature Beach Boys-y sound.

“Me and Seamus, who’s the other main songwriter, both of our bands were going into hiatus, so we decided to start a band,” says Salter. “Graeme filled in for one of my other bands, he’s really good at playing bass, so we got him to fill in. And then Matt Peters was the drummer from my other band, and we got him to take over.”

Three years later, and Monomyth has been signed with Mint Records, also home to musicians like Nardwuar and Hot Panda. They’ve toured from coast to coast, recording Saturnalia Regalia! after a month long trip out west.

“Abbottsford was fun, and Victoria was really nice,” says Salter in reminiscence of the band’s BC journey. “That ferry ride is incredible.”

Looking forward to the official July release of their album, the band will undoubtedly be doing more touring and promotion over the coming months. Regardless of where they end-up, an East Coast influence and camaraderie will continue to follow them.

“We definitely have our group of [East Coast musician] friends we hang out with a lot. Everyone in Halifax is on tour right now,” Salter quips.

Hopefully the group will also continue on their upward trajectory that’s on course to produce more seriously good sounds.

The post Monomythic: meet East Coast indie rockers Monomyth appeared first on Quip Magazine.

On track to tour Europe this summer, the duo plan on heading back to their recently relocated home in upstate New York to begin work on their third album. We caught up with them, while they were in town, to discuss festivals and how they’re using both audio and visual elements to make music.

Laura Eley: Do you often come to Toronto?

Isaac Emmanuel: We have, yeah.

Melati Malay: We’ve always had a really good vibe here, we like coming back. It’s always been really lovely people and it’s always really responsive.

LE: How do you find playing single shows versus festivals different?

IE: I think the one night show you get more of a chance to set up the whole audio-visual component and we usually play with live visuals. You kind of get the lighting and the ambiance and everything.

MM: Yeah, you just have more time to figure everything out and make sure you’ve got all your things sorted and the show is as great as possible. At festivals you have like 20 minutes to get ready, so it’s a mad dash to get it all together. But to pull it off is a nice achievement.

IE: And it’s kind of strangely beautiful in its own way.

LE: I read that one of the earlier shows you played was the Iceland Airwaves. It seems like there’s a really interesting vibe that goes on in Iceland. Did you find that?

MM: It’s very, very special there.

IE: That was one of our favourite shows ever to play. It was at a venue called Nassau in Reykjavik.

MM: They showed us around to some amazing places, some incredible waterfalls. I’d just never seen a landscape like that before. It was kind of like we were on the moon.

IE: All this volcanic rock, purple flowers.

LE: Is mythology still very ingrained in the culture?

IE: The people are really spirited and the way they talk about their culture is not as an external, other thing, it’s real. There was this one moment in the hotel we were staying at where a girl was explaining this particular mountain head, which had been foreign…

MM: Well, there was this huge, monolithic rock and there was another one next to it, and the story was, if I remember correctly…

IE: It’s probably blasphemous to actually [tell it].

MM: …I don’t know if we should go there.

IE: The feeling was, when she was telling the story, there was a feeling in her eyes that it wasn’t a book quote thing, it was real. And that’s something you come across very rarely.

LE: How much do film and visual art play into your performance and presence as a group?

MM: It’s really important to us. I think you can just augment this whole sonic element of our band to another level and they give queue points to some of the ideas that we’re coming across, but never really…

IE: We don’t so much speak in a musical language to each other. It’s very imagery based, it’s very colour based and mood based. We both have backgrounds in the visual arts, in college and that kind of thing, so making music was something that came later for both of us. It kind of comes from that place instead. It’s something that’s very beautiful to us.

MM: It just has to be integrated [in our work].

LE: I know you’re not from originally from Brooklyn, but that’s where you’re based?

MM: We lived there for about seven years, but we just moved to upstate New York, right near Woodstock.

IE: It’s in the Catskill Mountains.

LE: Why did you decide to move?

IE: We went up originally to finish the new album actually, and I guess there was a romantic idea after spending time in the city and doing the first [album] in so many different places just to be in this one spot and finish it. We collected all these sounds from everywhere and we really just wanted to be up in the mountains, away from it all finishing this one, so kind of zoning in. And then we kind of just ended up staying up there.

LE: You recently released your second album, which you travelled around to a ton of different places to record. Do you think what was recorded would have changed if you’d recorded in a stationary location?

IE: I think movement is something that we really enjoy; it’s also something that we can’t really switch off. If we’re on a train somewhere or a bus, when we have the feeling of movement, often when we get back and look through those ideas, they’re really interesting to us. Just the feeling of travelling brings out something in us. It’s also about something that can’t be replicated again. And, field recordings. We make a lot of field recordings also.

LE: How do you decide where to go when you’re recording?

IE: It changes. A lot of it has popped up really randomly, sometimes there’ll be a friend of a friend and something will pop up, like “Can you come and house sit this place for a couple weeks” in some random place. And I guess instead of gawking at it, we jump on those things often. But also with our schedule and touring for the last record we try to find moments in between where we could go to a place and just…

MM: Just to feel out of your comfort zone and childlike again. You have this state of wonder that I love and I want to hang on to that. And travelling really lets you do that, because you’re just gob-smacked.

LE: What’s up next for you guys? 

IE: We’re just finishing off this little run and then we’re going to Europe for a month for some shows and festivals, and then we’re going to record some more.

MM: Album number three.

IE: We finished this record off a while ago; we’re itching to record some new stuff. And then maybe some new touring.

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NXNE 2014 officially wrapped up on Sunday as festivalgoers retired their earplugs, nursed their blisters and bruises, topped up their song lists, and finished digesting a week’s worth of Pilsner. With tired-out voices and flaming shoulder blades, we nostalgically look back at the weekend past.

Saturday brought to Toronto M for Montreal’s Bruise Cruise. After a long wait and a slow boarding, our cruise ship departed at around half past one. Promptly after The Posterz took the stage in the lower deck and the party cruised in full swing. While some attendees crowded by the stage, jamming and shouting along being occasionally sprayed on out-of-water guns the rest were roaming the upper decks of the ship under the hot hot heat of the July sun.

Popping in and out from the music floor it was easy to enjoy the bands even outside. Montréal’s Walter TV followed with their authentic, loud, miss-mushing sound reminiscent of recent Animal Sound. The ship’s echo was not kind to their set, the sound did not travel well and appeared incredibly noisy and messy but the boaters did not seem to mind. Back up on the deck, it was obvious some people only moved to get another beer while peacefully dozing off in the shade staring out into the lake.

As the Bruise Cruise headed back self-proclaimed space captain Calvin Love took the stage, cooling down the atmosphere with his nostalgic fast-moving tracks and rusty voice. Those who obviously got on the boat for PS I Love You packed in by the stage, dripping excitement. The rest impatiently hovered around the exit, clearly not giving a single damn about the still happening show downstairs.

Later in the evening the regular program resumed with Bailiff. Playing in the shade of a maple tree, the three-piece Chicago band brought a range of alt-rock tunes to the afternoon backyard barbecue of Laing Street. Surrounded by a still composed crowd sipping beer and eating pasta salad, the tight-knit quarters provided the perfect setup for a range of quick-moving acts that gave Bailiff an opportunity to balance out the energy of the afternoon’s previous rotation of metalcore and rap performances. With an LP released earlier in the year, this threesome is tenured and strong, with a distinct and engaging sound.

Laurel, a young UK native, is set to release her debut album in 2015 and is already garnering praise for her sultry love (and lust) songs that are drawing comparisons to Lana Del Rey. Assuming her place on the Tattoo stage with her humble presence, Laurel appealed with a down-to-earth approach that played well into her dreamy sound. While an over-zealous fog machinist cast a haze to rival a ballroom wedding entrance, the performance was well received and highlighted by the singer’s genuine excitement (it was her second-ever Canadian gig following last night’s performance at Edward Day). Keep an eye on what’s up next for this rising musician.

Following Laurel came Future Islands. Since their captivating appearance on Letterman, Future Islands have shot into pop culture’s relevancy and are tearing-up the charts with tracks off their latest album Singles. With four LPs already under their collective belt, these synth-pop Baltimorians are no amateurs. Watching front man Samuel Herring perform live is seriously magical; his energy and sincerity are as infectious as the plague and a true measure of his incredible showmanship. A personal favourite of NXNE, and one of the few performances through which (despite being alone) I could not stop smiling.

Down and over the smiles were spreading across the Garrison while Brooklyn’s Snowmine were playing out their earthy rich pop sounds. The band has been compared to Fleet Foxes and Jim Jones but if you really listen to them you will notice a distinctly different tribal influence. The performance was calm and simple, just a few dudes playing their music, but somehow there was nothing lacking. (Though there was a  little too much on stage, seriously Grayson, the equipment needs to come out of the box). The overall performance was clean, clear and inspiring.

Ending the night on a different note a streetcar and a walk away in no time we were at the Adelaide Hall watching Run The Jewels spreading their wisdom with harsh-cutting lyrics and beats. El-P and Killer Mike’s quick success has them headlining festivals across North America all summer and it is the praise is well deserved. You know shit’s getting real when there are people crowd-surfing at a hip hop show. Run the jewels, jewels, jewels. “If you see a m****fucker surfing you DO NOT drop the m****fucker on the ground,” noted Killer Mike with a grin on his face. Everyone was dropping a sweat while clattering their beer cans and plastic liquor cups. Watch out hip hop world, these two are going places.

See more photos from NXNE here

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From Broadview to Dufferin, the Island to Bloor West, bands were taking over the city full force. As NXNE continues to expand and gain momentum, it still feels wonderfully accessible and continues to be the city’s laid-back festival everyone looks forward to.

Hopping on a streetcar (or MiO’s Squirtcar if you were at the right place at the right time), stopping for some BBQ at 159 Manning or sitting on the grass in front of a random gazebo are just some of the activities built into the festival’s fabric and schedule. Pass-holders could easily leave one venue and stumble upon fresh talent next door or down the street; the spirit of choose-your-own-adventure was alive and well at NXNE.

Wednesday night kicked off with The Luke Austin Band at Dakota Tavern. Although these Toronto-based folk-rockers have been only jamming together for a year, they’re already showing a ton of promise. Headed by raspy-voiced frontman Luke Austin, the group brought an energy that was both inclusive and sincere. Despite having yet to release their debut EP, the band played a selection of catchy songs that kept the crowd moving.

From one tavern to another half of the Quip crew headed over to the Horseshoe to check out Mutual Benefit. Eventually transient and melodic sounds of Mutual Benefit swept through the venue after a lengthy setup but the show was worth the wait. Musical creations of Jordan Lee, accompanied onstage by an ensemble of musicians who (according to his website) are of no consistent line-up, Mutual Benefit was soft, rhythmic and enchanting. With critical acclaim for their 2013 LP Love’s Crushing Diamond, this band is well on course for future success.

Meanwhile at the MOD Club technicolor Parallels brought out their pop tunes to the nearly empty room. Something about those early shows at the MOD Club always makes us feel bad for the band. Dance tracks or not no one will be dancing – no matter what people say 15 bodies are not a party when there is a field of square footage around them. Despite the calm atmosphere, Parallels plaid a solid, retro inspired set filled with early Madonna undertones. Just as Parallels finished their last song an army of NXNE staff crowded the stage, tore it up to peaces and put it back together for the next band.

Foxtrott, a Montreal-based producer, accompanied by a French Horn player as cute as a button with her side ponytail, went straight into their set as soon as the NXNE t-shirts left the stage. The sad small crowd moved forward and for a moment it even looked like a party. Foxtrott’s beats are sharp, often paired with various drums, balanced by her punchy voice the music is catchy and memorable. The said mini crowd seemed to enjoy the show as the moved from side to side tapping their feet and hands.

Later that evening a few blocks South all of the hard-core indie music fans gathered at Tattoo for Red Bull Sound Select’s Young Magic set. This Brooklyn duo, Melati Malay and Isaac Emmanuel, knows how to bring moody, spiritual tracks to life with some looping electronic beats. They were also a couple of interesting people to chat with, stay tuned for that interview.

See more photos from NXNE here

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NXNE Thursday began with House of Vans at Vice Island. As we journeyed to the island on a ferry under the bright sun, patiently hoping to get there soon, any minute now really, we slowly observed the crowd. Now some of you might say that we are being harsh but quite frankly Vice Island 2014 is where fashion went to die: overalls, mullets, over-sized pleated pants and undersized lace crop-tops occasionally accented by an underbutt, were a testament to how it is no longer cool to be cool. Everything vintage sold in Toronto was purchased by this crowd.

The small stage, greasy food-truck snacks, shitty poutine, and picnic blankets created a very homey feel. The attendees occasionally got up to dance and jump to Omar Souleyman, Mean Jeans, The Posterz or Future Islands. Herring I fucking love your singing face! But more on that later.

The big city had an equally exciting lineup pouring through the streets. Diamond Bones took the stage for an early show at the Silver Dollar. Early shows can be a tough sell at festivals, but this Montreal trio weren’t fazed by the crowd’s slow build at their grungy setup. The band brought an energized, upbeat performance that mixed heavy beats with an emphasis on their front woman’s lush, sweeping vocals that were at times reminiscent of Robyn.

Next stop, tUnE-yArDs. The brilliance of tUnE-yArDs front woman Merrill Garbus shone bright under the lights of Massey Hall. With a neon-infused set and accompanying group apparel that would make Tim Burton drool, each member offered synchronized choreography to accompany the tribal beats that, as Garbus explained, were inspired by lessons in Haitian music and dance. Engaged in whimsical and humble banter, tUnE-yArDs not only consumed ears, but eyes, souls and rhythm.

Catching the second wind, we made our way over to the Handlebar just in time for BC’s Fine Times. Handlebar’s tiny corner stage could barely hold the band’s equipment let alone accommodate vocalist’s Matthew Moldowan’s energy. It cannot be contained! Fine Times’ upbeat tunes quickly filled the room, people began to move forward from the patio to the back, and a couple of energetic dancers brought all of their moves out with no shame. And so it should be. Though some of the Fine Times’ songs have fairly sad undertones, their occasionally heart-melting lyrics are packaged with beats made to be true indie dance tracks.

Wiped out by all of the running in and out of random venues and away from occasionally surprisingly terrible sound, the evening found its pleasant conclusion back at the Handlebar during a 2am A Sol Mechanic performance.

As David Blazer set up his one man project in the slowly emptying out room, quietly singing over tracks for sound check, the calmness begun sweeping the bar. Blazer’s music is clean, precise and to the definition chill is filled with glitchy, patchy lyrics carefully matched over beats. Sometimes you hear someone play and know that someone has found a uniquely precious sound. A Sol Mechanic seems to have found it; this kid is one to watch and he’s welcome to back to Toronto any time.

See more photos from NXNE here

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Toronto’s own Brendan Phillip started off the night while the small basement venue was slowly filling up. Phillip and his man, Jamal on the drums, played a solid set of experimental yet soulful tracks. Dare to say Phillip’s energy and songwriting style hit close to no one other than Frank Ocean. In no time, the roomwas packed with a dancing, head-bopping crowd.

Sandwiched somewhere between the bar and a hundred people trying to get to the bar, I overhear someone say: “That’s Connan Mockasin, right there.” And there he was, patiently waiting in line at the bar to get a drink.

“Tequila!”

Within minutes, he was up on stage surveying the audience on whether or not he should take off his sweater, keep the hat, or if we should all collectively streak. After a little conversation and a few odd stories, the band joined Mockasin on stage. With the first strokes of the guitar, random members of the audience began to chime in with Caramel appropriate sounds: “Mmm,” another guitar stroke,“Yeah,” stroke, “OhOoh.” He smiles, “We’re gonna play a song called ‘It’s Your Body Part I.”‘ Mockasin might come of a little shy in person, even a little shy in an interview, but he is far from shy on stage, especially with a travelling entourage in the audience.

One of the best ways to listen to Connan Mockasin is with your eyes closed, swaying like a fig tree in the summer wind, or rolling around in satin bedsheets. Whichever is easiest in the situation really. The swaying and some dancing lasted a while and the ongoing kidding around on stage kept the audience entertained and engaged. The most dedicated fans even jumped on stage to streak with the band near the end of the show. Nudity. So much nudity.

While the sound and the music itself stay consistently close to the record, the show itself is a unique and highly entertaining experience. One I would not recommend missing if the tour bus pulls over in your neighbourhood.

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Local Natives hit the stage just on time, causing a wave of screams and claps across the room, packing everyone in towards the centre with only a few stragglers sitting on the side benches.

“I’ve seen them like five times already and every time it just keeps getting better and better!” says a girl standing next to me, gazing towards the stage, barely holding herself together.

The band’s music, though cheerful at times, is filled with an underlying darkness coming through in, at times, cathartic, personal lyrics. This LA collective has gone from being just some other band to a band people run to see in just a couple of years. The fame, however, has not disturbed their humble attitude. That passion is very obvious during a live show.

“I met this guy outside, it was his birthday,” says Taylor Rice, lead vocalist, “there he is, let’s all wish him a happy birthday.” The entire crowd joined in on Rice’s small act of kindness.

With nothing special but a rainbow range of lights to set the mood, Local Natives played a full hour set, and no time was wasted before the encore either. I can’t say what it is exactly, but there is something magical about the Local Natives show – the crowd seemed, in a way, enchanted, swaying from side to side. As the show wrapped up, people wandered off on the streets, satisfied.

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Formed by guitarist, singer, and songwriter Josh Rheault and drummer Dent, both formally of indie band The Deer Hunter, Mercies have been steadily winning fans and critics over with their soulful blend of rock and roll, folk, and a touch of psychedelia. Their debut LP, Three Thousand Days, received universal praise from bloggers and critics upon its release nearly a year ago. Born out of discontent with his previous band, Mercies may seem  relatively new, but have actually been in the works in Rheault’s head for many years.

“Me and Sam always had a strong connection, he played drums and I played bass in that band, and we would always talk about doing a project somewhere down the road that was way different than Deer Hunter,” explains Rheault, adding that they met in the band in 2006. “When the time came, it wasn’t until 2010, I left the band and had all these demos.”

When Rheault discusses Mercies’ formation, his slight pauses and sly smiles while mentioning The Deer Hunter give the unmistakable impression that he was more than happy to leave his old band behind, even if he is trying to be polite about it. “I’ll be kind of nice here,” Rheault says laughing, hinting there is more to the story than he about to let on. “Aside from very different musical influences and direction and everything, really, I just wanted to focus on something I was very passionate about. Just from the standpoint of song writing and the way that everything was recorded, Deer Hunter was a very polished, to-grid kind of band and I just wanted to get as far away from that as a possible.”

“Deer Hunter was intense, lots of tracks, lots of instruments, and we were living in LA. [With Mercies] I was just stripping everything down, not only with music but with my life, and just taking a more minimalistic approach to things.” If a polished recording style was something Rheault wanted to avoid with Mercies, he certainly accomplished that. Returning to his native Connecticut, Rheault and Dent began jamming in an old barn behind Rheault’s parents’ house in Tobacco Valley.

That barn, now referred to as “The Barn” in Mercies lore, became the physical embodiment of the band’s DIY style. “I had never really thought of this barn as anything. It is just behind my parents’ house and it used to just store junk,” says Rheault, adding with a laugh. “It captures the sound we were trying to create anyway and it just started like that and we just thought, ‘Hey, we should turn this into a studio and live here and never leave.”

Through the winter Rheault and Dent began piecing together a band, album, and studio. “When we tracked drums there was no heat, there was no insulation, there was dirt floor in half of it,” recalls Rheault. But, amazingly, the unpolished surroundings made Three Thousand Days into an audio feast. “The electrician that wired the barn left a bunch of crap, a bunch of wire and caps,” says Rheault, “There was a big jug that we used for percussion and my brother dropped nails on the ground one time and we were like, ‘Oh, we should use that.’ Actually miked up the ground and dropped nails.”

“There’s lots of sound mixed in with the backbeat of the snare drum, all these other things that don’t really make any sense but they come together to make a unique sound that I think is really big,” says Dent, adding with a grin, “It’s the magic of The Barn.”

That magic produced an album rich with texture, harmonies, and emotion. The group wear their influences on their sleeve, not shying away from the debt owed to the music they grew up on.  “I don’t want to compare my song writing to The Beatles and The Beach Boys but we do love how those recording sound and the simplicity of the recording and the instrumentation and the focus on vocals and harmonies,” says Rheault.

Adding to that classic sound, Dent and bassist Jordan Flower – who joined the group as they completed Three Thousand Days – each have their own influences. Dent comes from a jazz oriented background while Flower studied bass in college, playing a lot of jazz and classical. It’s this combination of influences that allowed Mercies to find their own sound rather than being a rehash of past folk rock groups like The Byrds.

“What we try to do is take what we like about that period or genre, not even on purpose, it’s just what comes through, and use those elements to create music that is still current. We’re not a period band. I think that’s attractive to people right now,” says Rheault.

It certainly is attractive to people. In fact, folk-based music is more popular right now than at any time since the ‘60s. Mumford and Sons’ stomp-along anthems are selling out arenas worldwide, while bands like Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, and Grizzly Bear – groups that the guys in Mercies praise repeatedly throughout the interview – are winning Grammys and gracing magazine covers.

“I think there’s a good balance between what’s hip and cool at the moment – what’s the latest out of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, what’s the latest trend, what are all the cool bands doing – there’s a fine balance between going down the trendy route and being another Vampire Weekend rip-off and actually doing something that’s classic and timeless and you know is going to last,” says Flower. “I think there’s a fine balance to figure out what’s cool at the moment but at the same time focusing on what’s going to last. I think these guys do a fine job of maintaining that balance.”

They have maintained that balance, but there is still a long way to go before Mercies’ reaches the heights seen by Bon Iver et al. Luckily, they are more than willing to put in the work, hipster cred be damned.

“There’s so many stigmas amongst mostly young kids,” says Flower. “Young kids think they got it all figured out and we’re all in our late-20s and these young bands coming out of college think it’s not cool to do Kickstarter anymore and it’s not cool to have Indiegogo and try to raise money for your band. It’s not cool to tour, not cool to book a full tour, only play local shows. There’s all these stigmas, like, ‘That’s the way you do it and then Pitchfork will find out about you.’”

You can hear some frustration in Flower’s voice as he talks about the ever growing list of rules that govern the indie music community. “It’s just not the way it works,” he adds. “I know you think you’re cool but you got to work, you got to tour, you got to beg people for money some times. It sucks but it’s the way it is. It’s not about what’s trendy or cool, it’s about being successful and making what you’re doing worthwhile. Otherwise, you look back in five years and think ‘why did I waste my time in a band if I didn’t really mean it.’”

Rheault, Dent, and Flower are not wasting any time. With Three Thousand Days only a year old, they’ve already released another EP, The Ballet, which was a joint project with the Charlottesville Ballet out of Virginia. It signals the wider music scope that the band wants to take. Dent, who studied composing in school, has worked with ballet companies in the past and the band has agreed to provide the score for a film that is currently in production.  As well, Rheault spends some of his free time painting in The Barn and provides the artwork for Mercies’ releases.

The Barn – which Rheault commonly refers to as the “base for all things Mercies – is completed and Rheault, Dent, and Flower are preparing for another cold winter of recording.

With 15 demos in the can, they have the basis for their next album. But in the meantime, they’re open to any opportunity that presents itself. “If someone comes along and says, ‘Hey, here’s what we can offer you’ then we’ll entertain it,” says Rheault. “If someone comes up to us and says ‘Hey, want to write a ballet?’ then we’ll do it. It’s kind of anything goes.”

And that’s the way it should be. After all, why waste your time if you didn’t really mean it?

The post Putting in the work with the Mercies appeared first on Quip Magazine.

Sounds from Foley Room were re-implemented in ISAM, but the final result was something wildly unlikely. Built from the ground up, each song had its own story, from deep electronic to magnetic dub and haunting industrial; Tobin’s dark progressive way of making music left no one unimpressed.

His most recent live show concept, however, is what got everyone really talking. ISAM is not a live show, it’s an experience. The entire performance is a 3D projection mapping project produced by V Squared Labs and Leviathan. It is essentially an arrangement of cubes and carefully engineered visual projections – the show takes place while the cubes themselves break down, turning into space, smoke and clouds while various hydraulic assembling and disassembling functions take place to the beats of the song. It is a 3D experience without the 3D glasses.

“What the fuuuuuck!”

‘Stunned’ best describes the crowd’s reaction within the first two songs, and there really is no other way to describe it other than perhaps mind-blowing. Heart-stopping bass accompanied by thumping visuals reaching out into the crowd. Those who were not tripping on their choice of drugs were tripping on the visual surrealism.

During the entire show, Tobin, dressed in an astronaut suit, was in one of the cubes, becoming a part of this insane visual and physical patchwork, only to step out before and after the anchor for a timid bow.

The post Amon Tobin and the wonderful world of ISAM appeared first on Quip Magazine.