Aquarian^CA/DE

What is it like when Aphex Twin plays your music? “…That of alternating between euphoria and disbelief,” says Aquarian, whose raw sound may be best described as arresting and immediate. This, the fruit of diverse experiences for the Canadian-born artist shaped by phases in Toronto, New York, London, and Berlin, and consequently a musical style that is just that—transatlantic. Somewhere between Drexcyian electro, UK grime, and Berlin industrial; punk rock, trip hop, dubstep, and film soundtracks––but never limited to any single style. The end result is boundless and bountiful, albeit in a vertical singularity. Perhaps it is then no surprise that Aquarian has been welcomed to a diversity of high-art institutions such as, but not limited to, the likes of Berghain, De School, Tresor, Dekmantel, Unsound Festival, MUTEK Barcelona and Montréal (and once more this year). 2020 brought forth his LP debut, The Snake That Eats Itself to Bedouin Records, expanding on his stylistic hallmarks to include industrial-flecked IDM, drone and pop through a cinematic lens, while collaborating with acclaimed interdisciplinary artist and researcher Sougwen on OUROBOROS for their live A/V show.

Akin to Aquarian’s debut album The Snake That Eats Itself, OUROBOROS weaves aesthetic and conceptual inspiration from the very name it recalls: a mythological serpent symbolising the cycle of life, death, and rebirth – and infinity itself. The performance reinterprets innovative techniques in live media and generative visualisation by chinese artist and researcher Sougwen to synthesise various threads into a world-building tapestry.