Summer Wrap-Up! — bansheebeat

Hey everyone!

Sorry I haven't updated this in a minute, but the last couple months have been an absolute ride of traveling and work, and this blog fell by the wayside for a bit. That said, I'm gonna spill all of that good bansheebeat news right here so we can get caught up together! We've got a lot to go over (it's been a busy summer!), so let's get started!

New Releases

I dropped a slew of new things this summer, from a handful of remixes, as well as a new EP! In addition, I decided to move all of my Soundcloud exclusive releases over to Bandcamp as well, and am currently working to further push the rest of my discography onto my Spotify and Youtube pages!

ehiorobo - heir to the sugar honey queen [bansheebeat remix]

Here is my remix for rapper ehiorobo's "Heir to the Sugar Honey Queen" off of his Limeade release!

This remix was a lot of fun to do, since I did a lot more with hip hop beat influences than what usually shows up in my material. Guys like Madlib, DOOM, and J Dilla have been some of my favorite producers to listen to over the last ten years, so it was really nice to finally return the nod in this capacity! I also got to get a little more sample heavy than I usually do, something I definitely want to bring out a little more in future releases!

Check out the remix, and grab a free download over on my Bandcamp!

VenoSci - Cotillion [bansheebeat remix]

Following our appearance at C-Reader in Little Tokyo a few weeks back during Anime Expo, they asked me to appear on their upcoming remix EP, featuring remixes from matra magic, SOTUI, The Hair Kid, and Shadrew!

When I first approached the track, "Cotillion," I was somewhat at a loss for how to approach it. Coming off of my recent bouts with a more club friendly sound, I found it difficult to frame the original song in that context. However, I realized I could do a lot more and have a lot more fun taking the track and fitting it in a more VGM setting.

Taking cues from soundtracks like Yoshi's Island, I zoomed through the creative process and ended up with a near finished product in just two days! The final track ended up taking a lot of accidental cues from Toby Fox, but I'm not complaining! The track was really fun way to take a side step from what I've been working on, and work with having more adventurous and wacky harmony than what I usually do (there are a lot of key modulations and chromatic chords that really spice up the track).

Check out the track, and grab the full Keychain Remixes release here!

POSTCARD MEMORIES - EP

Back in 2014, I released a handful of tracks inspired by the disco and funk fueled vaporwave scene that was exploding at the time. These tracks, accidentally playing into a popular trend at the time, blew up to an astounding degree, and the exposure of just a handful of songs quickly eclipsed the rest of my output, despite having a cultivated sound and following at the time.

With these unpolished, made-for-fun tracks becoming the thing I was beginning to be associated with the most, I took them down and worked to reestablish myself outside of that sound and style, which was beginning to garner criticism for widely revolving around a visual aesthetic heavily associated with misogynistic and culturally insensitive imagery.

I held onto those tracks for years, only sharing them along with the rest of my b-side catalog as a reward for supporting my Patreon campaign. When I made the decision to move my entire discography to my Bandcamp page, I decided that after three years of hiding them under a rock that I should finally release them publicly! So, for the first time in years, please enjoy these fun little summer jams, which you can grab for free over on my Bandcamp!

Shows & Performances

Back in July, I was incredibly lucky to fly out to Los Angeles, California to perform two shows during Anime Expo 2017! The first was an official AX showcase, put on by the label behind the "Techo Deluxe" release, Attack the Music! Playing alongside some of my favorite artists like Ujico*/Snail's House, Mitomoro, hikeii, and more, it was an absolutely charged lineup. That, combined with the fact that I was performing on Pioneer CDJs for the first time in my life (and I pulled it off somehow!), kind of made for an absolutely unforgettable evening!

The following night, alongside friends like Slime Girls, kiraku, and a surprise guest appearance from m-flo's Taku Takahashi, we tore up Tokyo Beat in Little Tokyo for the C-Reader showcase! While much more intimate of a setting than the ballroom we played in at Los Angeles Convention Center, the night was by no means any less intense!

Both shows were absolutely thrilling, and I can't wait to perform more in the near future!

Merchandise

For the first time ever, bansheebeat merchandise is available via my Bandcamp store! Boasting everything from stickers, CDs, pins, and prints, I have a wide selection of stuff for sale! All purchases go toward the production of new merchandise (shirts, keychains, and koozies are currently in the works!), so please go take a look and consider picking something up!!

Coming Up

I currently cooking up a bunch of new stuff that I'm looking to drop over the next few months, so keep an eye out for brand new original tracks, remixes, releases, mixes, and videos!

If you like what I do, consider picking up some merchandise or supporting my Patreon, or if you'd rather support me for free, follow me on Spotify, Soundcloud, or Youtube, and share my releases with your friends and family, and tell people about this blog! Being an independent musician is kind of a trip, so I enjoy sharing my experiences with others!

Now that the summer is over, I plan on keeping this page updated on a much more regular basis, and might even post some exclusive reflections, insights and news, so stay tuned!

Once again, thanks for coming along with me, and I hope you'll join me in seeing what the rest of 2017 has in store!

- Dylan