ALBUM
Cybergaze
Unkenny Valleys
Artwork by Kenneth Estrada y Santiago
Release: December 1, 2023
Kenneth:
"When I began writing songs for a new album inspired by shoegaze soundscapes and electronic music in 2017, I didn’t think it would take me six years to finally release those songs to the world. Back then, I didn’t realize that I was actually working on two albums at the same time. With Giant Yellow Eyes coming out six months earlier that year, CYBERGAZE would become my second album in 2023.
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As I said, it all started six years prior with the idea of a song that sounded like Depeche Mode but was played with synth-modified guitars instead of keyboards. I was in very bad emotional shape back then, but my beloved fiancée always found a way to help me get back on track. It may sound cheesy, but with her studying American and Cultural Studies we often talked about the problematic aspects of comic heroines like Wonder Woman, until I felt inspired to write a hymn honoring female power and thanking my fiancée for all she did for me at the same time. This is how I wrote the song that would later be called She Saves Me Again.
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She Saves Me Again and Oneironaut were the first songs I finished in 2018. I believed they would set the overall vibe for Cybergaze, but in fact, they didn’t.
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The album turned out more like a notebook of ideas and collaborations I had always wanted to try. The Danish-American songwriter and producer Keith Canisius inspired me a lot when I discovered his music in 2014. I became a huge fan of his sound design and melodic artistry. When I heard he had released a synth-guitar record under the name Shortwave Broadcaster, I instantly heard vocals and a beat in his track Afraid of AI. I was thinking a lot about artificial intelligence at the time and was thrilled that he let me take this beautiful ambient guitar piece and add lyrics, bass, rhythmic elements, and a structure to it.
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But as a constant consumer of noisy shoegaze music, I also stumbled upon the home-produced albums of Animal Ghosts, who had created a very aesthetic social media presence around his music. Back then, The Weekend was at the top of the Spotify charts, and I was curious how trap beats would sound in combination with dirty shoegaze guitars. So, I asked Cliff of Animal Ghosts if he would be as excited as I was to collaborate on such a song. And that’s how Crystal Ball was born.
I really enjoyed how these collaborations tuned out, so I decided to make a music video for both of these songs during lockdown.
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During the pandemic I loved walking outside with my vintage VHS tape recorder and just filming random things. I did this for years. And since She Saves Me Again reminded me a lot of those ’90s sci-fi movies I watched on VHS tapes as a child, I made my first Unkenny Valleys video in my basement, experimenting with all the taped footage. I had been producing most of my bands’ music videos since I was 16 - but this one became my favorite one.
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And then CD Projekt Red called out for this 'Edgerunners radio song contest' for the game Cyberpunk 2077. Anyone could submit a song for that epic game. How could I not at least try? The result was Nova - a story about two Edgerunners trying to escape their dark futuristic reality in the world of Cyberpunk 2077.
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CYBERGAZE is the result of many hours spent with technology and thinking about society’s future during the pandemic. It felt like I had become one with my laptop and smartphone, but also with my guitar effect pedals and old vintage tape gear, which I love using so much. It’s not what I originally planned it to be, but it’s a reflection of what happened before, during, and after a worldwide pandemic. No futuristic utopia - just pure reality.
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A big thanks to the artists who collaborated on this album, to my Patreon supporters, my friends, and my family for their love, efforts, time, and patience. This album wouldn’t have been possible without all of you."
Special Thanks goes to:
Trà My Lisa Nguyen, Keith Canisius, Clifford Barnes & The Shoegazer Squad
All music was performed, written, recorded and produced by Kenneth Estrada y Santiago except for Crystal Ball, which was a collaboaration with Clifford Barnes a.k.a Animal Ghosts, and Afraid of A.I. which production started from the original ambient guitars of the song Afraid of AI by Keith Canisius a.k.a Shortwave Broadcaster.
All instruments and lyrics written by Kenneth Estrada y Santiago except for the rhythm and intro guitars on Crystal Ball which were played, composed and recorded by Clifford Barnes a.k.a Animal Ghosts / and the synth-guitar layers in Afraid of A.I. which were played, designed, recorded and previously released by Keith Canisius / and Useless which is a cover verison of the original song Useless by Depeche Mode.
All songs written and produced between 2017 and 2023.
Mixed & mastered by Kenneth Estrada y Santiago
©2023 Berlin, Pitchbox Music