Titan Slang at WATMM Vol. 16
A respected and veteran indie DJ and VJ combo, producing excellent chillwave and synthpop. This cool evening was no different. Down in the basement of the Lost Continent of Mu for their second time, first appearing in July, 2013, Danny and MZZZN put on a hypnotic, chilling set in front of the kind of cozy audience you just want to rise and swell with. As usual, Mu lowered the lights, and this time MZZZN worked her laptop and a glowing orange touchpad for the lightshow spread across the backstage angles.
Recently returned from the U.S., Titan Slang gave us a few kind minutes to talk tech and talent. With a Facebook and Soundcloud page launched in January 2012, this team has been busy, performing that is. Chock full of indie show appearances, collaborations, videos, cassettes, and finally a tight and relaxing 6-track EP titled ‘Titan Waves’, released in December, 2013.
“I use Logic in the studio for recording the songs, but I use Mainstage when we’re performing because it’s tailored for a live setting. It’s less heavy on the computer so I can do more live.” Translation: ‘I can be more creative when I perform live because I am using some software that requires less drain on my computer and allows me to work my music instead of labor under a slow processor.’ At least that’s the way I interpret it.
And that’s pretty much what I witnessed. Danny and MZZZN kept their hands stuck to their [key]boards and [finger]pads instead of waving and pimping the tunes. They played second in the four-act lineup, and used their allotted thirty minutes to slither and slide through chill-ville, dropping an occasional deeper bass line and smacking the thump more than a few times. “I use a lot of pads, [Danny], yeah [MZZZN], and keyboards [Danny] yeah [MZZZN], I just downsized to a 25-key keyboard, it’s an Axiom Air-25, and before I was using an Axiom Pro 49 but it was too big to carry every week.”
“I used to use an i-Pad to work the VJ but I changed the program and just came out with it today.” She was using a midi controller pad underlit in bright orange, which for me, was enough glow to bring back some trance daze memories. She said it didn’t work, but it worked for me.
“We got some shows in July, we’ve got some new songs, we’re working on a new album – maybe a full length, I haven’t done a full length album yet. We just did an EP in December [Titan Waves’…ER], it’s six songs, it’s free on the Internet.” And it was from this album that they did most of their set tonight, with me kind of shouting, well, not shouting but maybe emphasizing the song ‘Titan Waves’, which is an infectious tap-synth titan of a song that denies anyone within earshot the ability to stand freakin’ still.
“I hate my vocals.” Danny is not just modest about his singing, which is not singing, it’s more like voiceflowing, if that makes sense, he does not care for it to be heard, I suspect. Tonight he was using a new vocal effects box and the engineer told him it wasn’t getting loud enough, but I think he was just hiding behind that excuse. He claimed to try and bury the vocals in the mix, but still the vocals were too low, seriously. He’s got a nice little walk-talk thing he does in some songs, where he puts a gentle rap under his keyboards – I liked it.
Thanks Danny and Misun, I appreciate your time and sharing with ElectRow Magazine. We will be glad to mention your shows if you hit us up. And best of creative energy for your new album. Now everybody get online and download their FREE album Titan Waves’!
Dr. Dave