Southern California by San Francisco's Erik Nava is the mind behind the electric vehicle Egadz, who has sent his labor of love Satellites orbiting around the globes. As we stream you the space-spinning album, listen as “Ghost” gives us what happens when the motherboards are given a mind, conscious and soul all of their own. “Psychicato” delivers on psychiatric electronic based therapy, “Imploding Stars” creates new creation myths from the deepest realms of the galaxy, while “Space Basement” takes you through the dense matters by way of sky sailing home-made production space crafts. Distance and time traveled is measured on “Sound of Light Speed”, where the MPH of light and sound take off in a sprinting dash to win victorious. “Signals from Humans” presents an interlude that sends keys and educational pedantic about the role people have in the electronic-galactic spheres.
The rhythms start to take some big leaps while the key choices stay grime-y but groovy on, “Giant Steps”. “Triangles” is the sound of simmering key selection synthesis before the next interlude of, “Yesterday Was the Future” imparts the wisdom that switches around perspectives of when and where the notion of future comes into play. The arrangement and waterfall of notes continues to fall forward as you seek to find, “The Answer”, while the new mutations and evolution of extremities of “Triple Helix” creates another strand of encoded DNA. Hold on to your hats as the, “amalgamation of the outside world and our inner soul” collide on “Visual Sound”, before the digital void opens wide on, “Paradoxi”, as “Spirals” sends you through the Ethernet cables of manifested online existences that run from the finger tips and through the accelerated tubes and semi-conductors of information. The No Sound Through Sunlight remix of the opener, “Ghost”, is a bonus cut that presents the original's inner Tchaikovsky, where the digitized spirit spins a haunted “Swan Lake” waterside of it's own within 4 minutes time.
Click on the image to stream.
Erik wrote to us a trajectory about his feelings on the continuum between electronic music and the bridging of the void between the static and interactive medium continuum, with thoughts, mission statements behind the album's construction, and a brief dissertation on the concept of 'controllerism'.
“I love to think about the succession of sound. It goes without saying but it’s important when playing traditional instruments. It becomes even more complicated on controllers when multiple instruments are layered onto each button. At that point, the interaction of sound becomes extremely important. The same interaction of sound is an important part of my music during the songwriting process. It becomes more about the interaction of all of the instruments which crafts a certain “sound” or aesthetic, and it gives the music a certain energy. That’s what I’m obsessed with. This is why I don’t use chords in my music anymore: I love the way singular sounds interact with one another. I try to create something for the listener to experience. Each song is a world all to its own and I’ve created it exactly the way I wanted it.
It’s easier to interact with traditional instruments. Most listeners get the basic concepts of how guitars and drums create sound. However, when there’s someone playing a controller on stage, it’s difficult to understand how the music created. The idea isn’t derived from the need to educate people, but to create an open dialog about the future of music. I’m not taking about a future without traditional instruments, but one that includes controllers. “Controllerism” is a very legitimate form of musical expression. It has the ability to take music where traditional instruments can’t, and because of this there are a lot of conversations that must be argued before controllerism fully accepted. Allowing people to venture into that world through videos and games is another step in that direction.
My goal is not to bridge a gap between music and other mediums. All of my creative projects interact with people differently, but hopefully it will change the way my audience thinks about the world.”
Egadz' album Satellites is available now via Bandcamp on digital, 3D printed USB drives and CD.
