Coming to you from the great state of Colorado is this week’s Artist Pick of the Week, VibeSquaD. Aaron Holstein is the mind behind the VibeSquaD project that he began in 2007. He’s since released a ridiculous amount of music, 16 albums of original productions and remixes. This absurd amount of genre-defying music coupled with his electrifying live performance put VibeSquaD at the forefront of bass music culture where he’s remained.
Holstein is a 20+ year musician with a background in just about every type of music. He started out on the guitar idolizing legends like Frank Zappa and P-Funk’s bassist Bootsy Collins. While always on the hunt for new music Holstein fell in with Michael Travis (of String Cheese and EOTO) and Jamie Janover. In 2003 the three formed Zilla, a livetronica band whose live shows are fully improvised. After 4 years with Zilla, Holstein embarked on his solo project of VibeSquaD and has been full throttle since. He’s toured with the biggest names in electronic like Pretty Lights, Bassnectar, EOTO, and Tipper while also rocking the stage solo at fests like Sonic Bloom, Electric Forest, and Wakarusa while wearing that signature smile the whole time.
With a career that’s as long as VibeSquaD’s, there is plenty to say about his music. Going back to ’02 with Kids Are Funky Too where he remixed children’s songs like “The Wheels on the Bus” and “Old McDonald” with jazz. In ’07 we get our first “real” taste of what Holstein can do on Return of the Pudding People. Funkiness abounds on this four track EP, as he experiments with transient bass melodies and unique cuts and percussion. Fast forward a few years to New Creatures and we get a much more driven and full sound, while still holding on to the vision of his previous projects. Jump forward again to Lines and Planes, released last year, and you’ll get another layer of flavor for VibeSquaD’s productions. There’s plenty of bass but in a more downtempo style, which you can see on tracks like “Pancakes” and “Flying Buttresses.” We can’t end the discussion of his music without mentioning our favorite track off Orphan Alien Pt. 1 “This Afternoon” you gotta check that one out.
If you enjoy quality bass music that melts your brain while simultaneously stimulating every synapse head over the VibeSquaD’s Bandcamp page where you can download all of his music for free, but please feel free to throw him a few bucks so he can continue to make sweet, strange beats and breaks for our ears. He’s also got a ton of music on his SoundCloud check his latest tracks below.
Connect with VibeSquaD:
http://vibesquad.com/
http://vibesquad.bandcamp.com/music
https://www.facebook.com/therealVIBESQUAD
https://twitter.com/vibesquad
https://instagram.com/vibesquad/
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