Photo via The Social
The Brooklyn-based electronic musician Chrome Sparks has embarked on a tour with IDM producer Travis Stewart, aka Machinedrum, that will make 22 stops in the U.S.
Their Orlando visit is on Saturday, March 24 at the The Social. Tickets go on sale Friday, January 19 at 10 a.m.
The show will be a highly anticipated homecoming for Stewart, who lived in Central Florida during his college years and attributes much of his creativity to Orlando’s distinctively unorthodox music scene. The idiosyncratic sound of Machinedrum has snowballed through countless cities around the world nonetheless, refusing to stick within any single genre of electronic music. Stewart has dipped into footwork, house, hip-hop, jungle, IDM, and several other areas of music which made for over 30 records since his first release in 2000.
His newest album, Human Energy, which he refers to as “healing music,” is lively and energetic as much as it is immersive and soothing.
To anticipate his return with Jeremy Malvin’s Chrome Sparks, we asked Stewart some questions.
How does it feel coming back to Orlando?
It definitely feels surreal! I have a lot of fond memories from when I used to live there and the many talented friends I met there. I still collaborate and am friends with many of those same people! I'm curious what it's like now and am super excited to be back.
When was the last time you played here and what do you miss the most about Orlando?
I think the last time I played was around 7-8 years ago at a gallery. I played at the social almost 12 years ago when I was touring with The Band Of The Name which was such an amazing gig. I used to see so many shows at The Social like Prefuse 73, Hella, Royksopp and even Wesley Willis! When I lived there I was constantly surrounded by boundary pushing artists who didn't conform to any genre and made there own rules. I was involved with like 10 projects during my time there and was making some of the most experimental music of my life. I guess I miss those days of reckless abandon where only music and adventurous creativity mattered. I didn't care about money, didn't care about what things I owned. I just wanted to jam haha!
Do you and Jeremy [Chrome Sparks] plan on collaborating on anything in the future?
We actually wanted to collaborate on a track for this tour but unfortunately we didn't have time to. I'm sure something will go down while being on the road with Jeremy for over a month.
Just after New Year's you tweeted that you're taking a long break from social media. Why, and will you be working on anything during this break?
I tend to announce my social media breaks for some reason like it's a big news story or something hah! I'm mostly trying to limit my time on the internet as it's been incredibly distracting, especially when I'm on tour. There are many ways to make better use of my time. I realize it's a necessary evil so when the time comes to engage with my fans I will return, otherwise having that ability to instantly tweet out a thought is quite scary and many times comes back to haunt me, even if it does spark a necessary debate.
Did you have a New Year's resolution? If so, what is it?
To start doing yoga with my wife!
In the next year or so, do you see yourself spending more time on your music label or more time in the studio working on new music as Machinedrum?
Spending time on my label is spending time in the studio! Most of the records I've been putting out are either fully or partially produced by me. It's definitely been a learning process figuring out how to divide my time so that I don't spend too much time on label stuff and am able to make new music without care of where it ends up. I'm always in the studio no matter what whether it means working on Machinedrum, collaborations, remixes or mixes.
