Putting the lab into co-lab, the celebration into collaboration, schnitzel soundboy Mefjus has launched a new concept project: Particles
It’s not an album. It’s not an EP. It’s a series of tracks he’s made with some of his closest allies and kindred studio spirits. And it’s delivered in such a way each co-lab is given space to breathe.
Particles kicked off last week with Sidewinder, an off-the-wall filter house/hip-hop fusion hook-up with fellow Austrian donnys Camo & Krooked. We grabbed the track for an upload but that’s not all Sidewinder came with. On Spotify and Youtube the lads analyse the process and the unique connection they’ve developed over their growing series of link-ups and break it down with a commentary track and video.
Up next will be Amber with Skeptical. Dropping next month, it’s the first of a few unreleased collaborations the two artists are known to have made in recent years. Like Sidewinder. it will be complemented with behind-the-scenes content in the form of a video interview and commentary track. Following Amber more collaborations are expected going far into 2020. Artists thought to be involved include Phace and Break, but Mefjus is keeping that information close to his chest for now. Here’s what he can tell us so far…
What’s going on here?
It all started with my album Manifest. During the writing process I wasn’t sure if I was going to include collaborations, so I had sessions with some of my favourite artists. Skeptical, Break, Florian Phace and so on and I gradually ended up with four or five potential sketches, all done with some good friends. Of course the album eventually focused on my own capacities in the studio but I thought it would be a shame not to use these collaborations, so I called these guys up and asked if they’d be up for revisiting the tracks but also start fresh ideas with other people. And that’s where the Particles concept started. The thing was that some of the tracks were already finished but other collaborations are much newer and still a work in progress – so I wanted to get some out straight away and others I don’t want to rush.
Right, so it’s neither an album or EP. More like a series…
That’s correct. I don’t think a six or seven track EP is the right package for people at the moment with the way music and the scene is and the way music is digested these days.
People tend to cherry pick and sometimes don’t appreciate the bigger picture of the collection of songs one puts together but rather just rinse the bangers.
I made the judgement call and said ‘why not put tracks out as singles and tell the story around each individual collaboration?’
I love stories
Me too man. And there are always good stories behind every collaboration. Especially when they’re done in the same room, which 90% of these were. We hang out, we have fun, we’ll learn from each other so why not tell the fans about those experiences? And also my friendships are shaped through these collaborations, so that’s a cool side of the process to show, too. So that’s how Particles will be delivered – each single track musically, with its own story told through the commentary and then tied together through the stylistic approach of the artwork.
Like pieces coming together. No matter how different the records sound, they’re brought together through the visual concept. So Sidewinder, for example, is a missile made of particles, Amber with Skeptical , and all the other tracks that follow will be put together in a similar way. That’s the overall artwork line. Similarly to the first release, each single will be delivered with a commentary track that explains how the song came together.
I love this. So every piece of music is celebrated and given space to breathe!
Exactly man. It’s kinda the opposite of an album. An album is a homogenous journey, but collabs can be so different that they don’t necessarily work together in the same way. Take Sidewinder and Amber. They are such different tracks, I don’t want them to compete on the same release. They are cool for their own reasons and exist for their own reasons. By dividing them, each piece is given its own place.
What’s cool is how they bring out a different sound in you…
This is it. Not just musically, but socially too. I have different common ground and reference points with Markus and Reini than I do with Ashley, for example. The cultural aspect, the same language or the language barrier, where one lives and how often we see each other, things like that. All this has a different influence on the collaboration, how we work together and what we come up with. It’s an interesting project, especially with us putting out commentary tracks explaining the process. I hope people enjoy the insights.
Particles could carry on forever in this sense…
In a way, yeah. I haven’t put an overall deadline on it all. We’ve got releases lined up till 2020 so far but, yeah, it might eventually become the medium I release collaborations through. I haven’t put a closing lid on it just yet . Who knows? It will be fun finding out…
Mefjus & Camo & Krooked – Sidewinder is out now
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