Last year, we had tons of fun at Seattle, WA's Decibel Festival, and we can't wait to go back this September 24-28. From emotive recital hall performances to mellow boat beats to techno debauchery, Decibel has something for everyone. With its impressive curation and accommodating home city, it's no wonder the festival is quickly developing a reputation as one of North America's must-attend events for fans of electronic music across the spectrum.
Benjamin Wynn, a.k.a. Deru, is an Emmy Award-winning composer, sound designer and producer, whose LP 1979 was released this June. He'll be performing twice at this year's festival, alongside Effixx as 1979: first, a live A/V set on Friday evening, and second on Sunday night, as part of Friends of Friends' showcase with Salva, Nadastrom, and Groundislava feat. Rare Times in a full night of live performances.
EARMILK is excited to premiere Deru's mix for Decibel's pre-festival mix series (a collaborative mixtape with his wife Lara Howenstine). Read about the artists Deru is looking forward to catching at the festival and listen to the mix below!
Deru's Decibel Artist Picks
Jacaszek
I first heard Jacaszek a few years ago when he released "Glimmer" on Ghostly. It's such an amazing album. The perfect blend of acoustic instruments with computer processing. Few people can get this right in terms of writing compelling music while using technology to get new sounds. I've gone back to it throughout the years and it sounds just a fresh as it did when it was released.
Lusine
I met Jeff in a psychoacoustics class we were both in at CalArts. He had some CDs on his table and I remember thinking "okay, this guy might be kinda cool". Little did I know how f-in cool he was. Jeff is one of my favorite producers of all time.
Son Lux
Ryan is another friend. I reached out to him when I was working on an Icelandic documentary called "Outliers". I was a fan of his 2008 release and asked if he'd be down to contribute some music to the soundtrack. We've been friends ever since. He's an amazingly talented composer. Another one of these rare people that don't get lost in the forest of technology and "how it's made". He always seems to use technology as a tool to write music and not the music itself. I haven't seen him live yet, which is crazy.
Atom™
What a legend. His "Flanger" stuff kills me, especially "Templates" (the whole noise intro they did on "Short Note With A Few"!!). He has such a crazy huge range of styles. I'm pumped to see him live… I basically have no idea what to expect.
Decibel 2014 Mix #7: Deru
00:00 – Random record samples #1
00:48 – Holger Czukay – Floatspace
03:46 – The Haxan Cloak – Excavation, Pt. 2
07:15 – Jacaszek – Dare-gale
12:25 – Kyson – You May Have Limited Time
17:18 – Random record samples #2
18:08 – The Acid – Veda
23:00 – Glass & Nyman: Works for Saxophone Quartet – String Quartet No. 3, "Mishima"
24:13 – Drew Gragg – Refraction
26:36 – Julien Neto – Sketch
29:59 – Random record samples #3
31:15 – Alessandro Cortini – Rovine
38:15 – Deru – The Future Never Comes
42:12 – Downliners Sekt – Soul Débris
50:18 – Random record samples #4
53:15 – Alex Banks – All You Could Do (Alternate Version)
57:00 – Mirroring – Fell Sound
1:02:11 – William Basinski – Dlp 1.1
