Hello everybody and greetings from a still wintery Switzerland!
I hope you are all doing ok!
First of all, apologies for the long break since our last newsletter. Despite the silence, we've been really busy here at Sonarpilot Central.
Today I’d like to give you a quick update on all the things that are going on. In the following weeks we will dive deeper into each of the topics.
As always, thank you very much for all your support - we do really appreciate it - Michael | Sonarpilot
The Mirage Project: Season 2
We talked about it before, but now it's official... We are working on the second season of the Mirage Project, for release later in 2021!
Behind the scenes, Roger and I have been looking at hundreds of fractal formulas and shortlisted the first batches of new, weird, fractal worlds. In a next step we will be testing the selected formulas. For this we render short fractal videos to see how well they run, how long the rendering takes and what textures/shapes they might bring to a mirage. We can also see which of the fractal formulas might fall apart when rendered - like the yellow example below. Lastly, this process can provide inspiration for the video's soundtrack, setting a mood and a direction for the music...
As you'll see, the quality of these first test examples is still pretty low. But they help us decide which formulas have full "mirage potential". In a few weeks' time, we should have selected most of the fractals for Season 2 to explore and build on.
We will of course update you on our progress in a future newsletter and offer up some Season 2 sneak-peaks! So stay tuned...
Season One Remixed
Late last year we decided that we wanted to commission a series of remixes of the Season One Mirage Project soundtracks. Together with my good friend and Sonarpilot Audio label manager Jonny Miller, we got in touch with producer friends in the UK, the US and South Africa and we now have now an eclectic line-up of forward-thinking electronic artists to produce Mirage Project reworks.
Today we can announce that the first of these remixes will come from South Africa’s house legend, Jazzuelle.
Born & raised in South Africa and residing in Johannesburg following several years studying in Cape Town, Jazzuelle, real name Thando Tshoma, is one of the most exciting names in the vibrant South African house music scene.
Jazzuelle was named one of the two highest-rated South African artists on Traxsource’s Top 100 Deep House Artists for 2015 and again in 2017, early in his career. He published his debut album 'Circles' in 2017 on the legendary Get Physical label in Europe and is currently signed with deep house front-runner Stay True Sounds, back home in SA.
He's been making waves outside of South Africa with live/dj appearances at Sonar Festival, the legendary Glastonbury Festival in the UK, Beatport's Annual Live Stream Party In Barcelona and the Djoon Club in Paris. Jazzuelle is one of the most consistent exports coming out of the South African scene and we are super-happy to have him work with us on the Mirage remixed project.
Jazzuelle took two mirages from Season One - “Fossil” and “CodeX” turning them upside down in a way only he can. We are really excited about the results and are lining up a special episode of the Sonarpilot Podcast on Spotify to talk to Jazzuelle - Getting behind his production, his vision and digging deep into his craft.
Our Spotify playlist for the new season
Speaking of Spotify... I have started to put together a playlist with a wide range of music to inspire us for the soundtracks of season 2.
It is a pretty eclectic mix, ranging from serial contemporary music to more dreamy, cinematographic soundtracks. Some of my favourite electronica is in there alongside some more club-oriented tunes. So, put on your headphones and have a listen! – I'll keep adding music to the playlist and I hope you find some tracks in there that you like. Why not become a follower? That would be lovely! Check out the playlist HERE:
OK, that's it for today - thank you for checking in.
All the best from the Sonarpilot team 🙏 - We hope to see you soon 🖖!
The Mirage Project (Season One) by Sonarpilot is out now on Sonarpilot Audio