Last Updated on 22/04/2021
We chatted with electronic music artists Anthony1 and Exodia, who make up two thirds of the team behind 2020’s electrifying Ateriavia – a lofi trance album that zoomed to a comfy spot near the top of our 2020 end of year list, after its December release. They shared insight into their musical journey, the reality of virtual collaboration and their thoughts on the burgeoning interest growing around their label Dismiss Yourself and the bitcrushed sound that hangs around it online.
Listen to Ateriavia, Anthony and Exodia’s collaboration with Sienna Sleep, here. And give Anthony’s February debut solo release, ???, a blast too.
Matching up our international time zones, we finally found some time to catch up over videocall with both Anthony and Exodia. Our two electronic music producers dialling in from Santiago and LA, Noisefirst from the UK.
Noisefirst: Nice to meet you both finally!
Exodia: Nice to meet you too.
N: Now that you are both here, how did you each get into making music; what was the what was the starting point for you both?
E: Well, I started really getting into house music a while back and that inspired me to start making music about two years ago. And then I was kind of bouncing between producing different genre styles. But second year in, I regained interest in trance, which was a genre that I listened to when I was much younger because it was part of a video game soundtrack.
N: Oh right what was that?
E: One Gone Midnight. That’s mainly where I draw inspiration from music wise; the first few soundtracks from that video game franchise. And I also noticed that there weren’t as many people making trance, aside from Sienna, and Anthony, so I thought it’d be a good opportunity. At least within the underground scene that is. Obviously, trance has always been big, but as far as producing like late 90s, to late 2000s style, there hasn’t been much of that recently. So I wanted to make music in that style. And that’s where I am, I guess, today making music.
N: What about you Anthony?
Anthony: I started making music back in 2018 trying to learn DAWs and synths, mostly making ambient from time to time as a hobby. Then I really stopped making music. Later, I discovered Sienna [Sleep] and that was really mind-blowing to know trance can be made this way – so I gave it a go in mid 2020. When it comes to why I wanted to make trance, Sienna and Exodia are my inspirations.
N: That’s interesting to hear that the collaborators on the project [Ateriavia] influenced each other. It sounds from what you said that potentially Sienna was an early influence on both of you. Were you both excited to collaborate with Sienna?
A: Definitely
E: Yeah, we were very pleased to hear that Sienna was willing to join us on the collaborative project. The guy who runs Dismiss Yourself, he reached out to Sienna, like, “hey, do you want to take part in this project?” and he surprisingly said “yes”. And yeah, it was great to work alongside one of our main inspirations.
N: That’s really cool. How did you get involved with the label [Dismiss Yourself] in the first place? From what I’ve seen, it was a YouTube channel that started off making compilations. Is that right?
E: Yeah. So, it was kind of funny, my friend messaged me a youtube link and I saw that my track was uploaded onto this account that I didn’t know about beforehand. And it had like, 1000 views. And I was just like, “uh, all right”. And so I reached out to the guy to thank him, the guy who is the CEO of Dismiss Yourself now. And, and then from there, I got more deeply involved with Dismiss Yourself. Anthony actually reached out to me and wanted to work on a collaborative project, so I spoke to Sticki (aka the CEO of Dismiss Yourself) more with Anthony.
A: And I made Mix 40 back in March which is a Hex’d/DDR-type music and suddenly it was uploaded onto the Dismiss Yourself channel. Then I started talking with the label owner and they agreed to put my new releases out on the label.
E: I’d also like to add to what Anthony said with regards to DDR. DDR music is very underrated.
N: I’m not familiar with that; what does DDR stand for?
E: Oh, Dance Dance Revolution. Just the soundtrack for that. It has a lot of high tempo, Goofy style tracks, but they sound amazing. And Anthony does a really good job creating mixes, employing those tracks by boosting them up to a higher BPM, and making his own modifications to those tracks.
A: It has a lot japanese EDM/trance, which is really cool in particular.
N: Lot’s of video game influences! I’m also keen to hear a bit more about Dismiss Yourself, given its quick progression from being a YouTube channel just reposting mixes to its current position at the centre of a growing online scene. How does it work and where do you think it’s heading? Is it a proper label now?
A: It’s a label now.
E: Yes, it was much more of a promotional platform. Sticki (the owner) is primarily now focusing on just trying to develop it as a label, but has others helping to continue the YouTube platform, reposting etc. But he still likes to post music he likes. After Team Mekano which was a really good release on the channel in terms of views and Bandcamp sales it has become more serious.
N: The style of music you mentioned before Anthony, hex’d, has become really closely associated with your label and seems to be picking up a lot of hype online. Would you say your music was ‘hex’d’?
A: From my understanding of hex’d it is the technique of bitcrushing tracks. In my case I took it to trance, as Sienna Sleep does it. I really don’t know if I would call it hex’d but perhaps ‘hex’d trance’?
E: I’m familiar with the genre too. I kind of get the sound but I would say I was mainly inspired by trance – I tried to go for that style, more so than hex’d.
N: What are your thoughts on it? Or your own styles for that matter?
E: On my own stuff, I mean I like upbeat, goofy high BPM stuff but I do think the music I make is silly. I guess mainly just because it’s my own – I critique my music pretty harshly. But I don’t think it is anything really that sophisticated, or groundbreaking.
N: I get what you mean with regards to the retro trance ‘toolkit’ you use, but the way it comes together really feels quite different – the whole aesthetic of it isn’t something that I have come across before. There is definitely an element of originality that you are underplaying I think!
E: Maybe I am just being a little too harsh about my own music, like, obviously I am putting my own little twist to it. I’d like to do something more experimental with it as time goes on though
N: What about you Anthony?
A: I like it [hex’d trance] because of how carefree the production is, but don’t really find it silly.
N: And in terms of your project, Ateriavia, how did you put those tracks together? As you were each making your own tracks, did you ask for feedback from each other and then kind of go back to the drawing board and tweak things a little bit?
E: If there was feedback on each other’s tracks, I would say that there was to a moderate to minimal degree and, I mean, we were just pleased with each other’s works.
A: I think my feedback was like, “this is amazing!”. We kind of just went with it, I think.
N: Interesting, the project feels really coherent – do you think the fact that you’re kind of all influenced by one another helped this?
E: Oh, yeah, definitely. I like all of Anthony1’s mixes and drew a lot of inspiration from them. And obviously, some of Sienna Sleep mixes as well. And, I try to emulate some of that style in my own music so they definitely played a part in my music making process.
N: Cool, that makes a lot of sense! Last question for the two of you, what would be your favourite track on the project that you’ve just released?
A: “Lumina”
E: “Lumina” is my least favourite! Again, it’s my own track though. I like “Eospray” best
N: Great stuff – and can we expect to see more from you in collaboration in the future as well?
E: We don’t have any projects in mind. But I would like to continue working with them both.
A: Same!
N: It’s been a pleasure speaking to both of you – really interesting, and nice to chat to you.
E: Likewise. I really appreciate it too.
Follow Anthony1, Exodia and their label Dismiss Yourself on Instagram to stay tuned in to what is coming next for Lo-fi Trance.
