This electronic artist remixed his debut album, and it's full of international collaborations!
Hamilton-based electronic musician Stephan Codenys, or Grind Abrasion, travels back in time on his latest project, remixing his debut album, Outside The Box. The artist prefers to mix different electronica styles, taking influence from different areas of experimental electronic music.
"Some of my influences are artists like Shlump, Rusko, Amon Tobin, Mad Zach, Champaign Drip" said Codenys. "Anything on Aufect Records or Saturate Records."
Grind Abrasion describes the themes on his original album, Outside The Box, as being about questioning everything, imagination, exploring other universes, and not conforming to expectations. "To remix these tracks, I've assembled a team of different musicians that created some really great remixes in a variety of styles/genres ranging from hard techno, to bass music, glitch/juke, and other electronic styles," said Codenys. "The goal is always to bring something new and exciting to the audience." The musician decided to rework his 2020 album to collaborate with more like-minded artists. "After my first album, Outside The Box, came out last year, I wanted to have some remixes done to add another dimension to the music so the sounds could be used in other ways," said Codenys. "Over the last few years, I've been meeting and working with a lot of different artists. So this was an opportunity to reach out to these guys and see if I could get some of these talented artists to work with me on this."
Since the majority of musicians accredited on the project haven't had the chance to release physical music of their own, Grind Abrasion figured he'd create a limited 12-inch vinyl to help support them. The vinyl is available for purchase on his Bandcamp.
Introducing the album is "Hypervelocity", remixed by American producer Jahwize.
"Jahwize is a bass producer from the U.S. that has been putting out some really great tracks, so I really wanted to get him involved with this," said Codenys. "His remix of "Hypervelocity" gives off such a wild vibe, and uses a lot of good samples from the original. It takes a more tribal and bass heavy approach to the song."
The secondary single, "Cloudsurf", was in collaboration with Seanni B.
"Seanni B is a great experimental producer from Detroit who has been creating some really cool juke/footwork tracks," said Codenys. "The original song is much slower, but Seanni took the dreamy Videogame vibes and turned them into a high energy track with some cool glitches."
"Breaking Through" is for the rave lovers.
""Breaking Through" is already a decent techno track, but K.U.R.T took these sounds to another level and added his own acid techno basslines as well," said Codenys. "The result is a heavy dance track that will take any raver on a trip."
The fourth song features Patrick Codenys of Front 242.
"I'm extremely happy with the way this remix turned out," said Codenys. ""Soliciting a Coincidence" is a very unusual song, and this remix expands on some of that 80s feel, but with a darker tone. The song builds up into an atmospheric journey that is complimented with industrial zaps and glitches."
Rabbit Hole Express worked with Grind Abrasion to set the moody theme for his single. "The original version of "No Restriction Allowed" is a more laidback, dubstep track, but this remix is a bass heavy club track that will really shake the dancefloor," said Codenys. "There are some more subtle industrial sounds in the background that really set a dark mood." "Intensity Not Extremism" was remixed by Majcher, and turned out to be quite different compared to the original. "With heavy bass and melodic elements throughout, Majcher takes a more relaxed approach to this song," said Codenys. "Something to chill out and vibe to but the song also brings the whole album together."
"The production process was quite tedious on my end, since everyone used their own production techniques when creating the remixes," said Codenys. "So I had to make sure they all had a similar volume. The tracks all had to be mastered digitally for Bandcamp and online streaming, but they also had to all be mastered for the vinyl release."
The musician wanted his remixed album to work as mainly a fun piece of art, and hopes it positively represents what underground electronic music can be.
"This turned out to be a great collection of tracks that are fun and that also have their own identity," said Codenys. "I think some listeners will like some songs more than others, but hopefully they can also recognize the album as a whole. It's a representation of what underground electronic music is, and can be."
Listeners can help support Grind Abrasion by purchasing his music on Bandcamp, ordering his limited edition 12-inch vinyl, and by playing his music on all streaming services. "The vinyl is a limited edition of 40 copies, but quite a few are sold already," said Codenys. "I would also encourage everyone to check out the individual artists who remixed all these tracks!"
Upcoming gigs:
905Fest @ 11am-7pm, Sun. August 22, 2021.