We are thrilled to announce that our second release, #Quanta, will be out on February 26th.
Quanta truly represents the Open Music Lab core spirit by showcasing the music from some of our most committed students and mentors, as well as the musical bond and creative collaborations that have emerged from the community. Each track on the release is produced by an OML student and is accompanied by a remixed version from their mentors.
The tracks on Quanta range in genres—acid, U.K. garage, dark techno, afro, and oriental-inspired electronics. This mixture reflects the diverse cultures and backgrounds at OML, as the many uniquely talented artists.
Quanta has original tracks from OML community members Tarabalsi, morphena and Abed Alfakir, with remixes by Dauwd, Leibniz and UVB. The art is by Sophie Douala, the students' pictures by Bethania Medina, and the mastering was done by Chad Matheny (Emperor X).
You can pre-order your download on Bandcamp now at openmusiclab.bandcamp.com
We'll be launching the EP with an event at our partner venue Refuge Worldwide (Weserstr. 166, Berlin) on Saturday 26th February from 5pm. You can find more information about that here.
Get to know the different student/mentor duos:
Tarabalsi & Dauwd
The first mentor and student duo include Syria-born Fahd aka Tarabalsi, one of OML’s first students, and African Acid’s cofounder Dauwd. Fahd came to Germany as a young unaccompanied minor from Syria and has been a driving force between the school's growth. They worked on a track a few years back at Dauwd’s studio and recently re-visited it as a collaboration for this release. This is a deeply personal track, with lyrics recorded by Fahd singing “mum, where are we going”. In Fahd’s own words, the track is an “afro/oriental mix”, taking influences from both of their backgrounds, and playing around with African and Eastern instruments.
morphena & Leibniz
For the second duo, we have morphena and Leibniz. Argentinian-born emerging DJ and producer morphena has been a long-time student of OML and recently started becoming a mentor herself for new students. While studying at OML, she developed a strong musical connection with German DJ and producer Leibniz, who’s been a mentor in the OML community since the beginning. They teamed up on an acid, d&b, trance track for the release. Morphena describes the track as her first production where she can “imprint a hybrid between a club track and a song”. While keeping the lyrics as the main focus of the track, Leibniz gave more of a UK garage vibe to his remix.
Abed Alfakir & UVB
The last duo is made of Abed Alfakir, another former OML student and new mentor from Syria, and renowned techno producer UVB. Abed was on the 5-month music production course and had UVB as a mentor and teacher. Abed always looked up to Sebastian and is a huge fan of the techno music he is producing. Abed’s track is a dark and driving techno track, into which he instilled a compelling melody, giving it a very catchy feel. For his remix, UVB played around with as many elements of the original track as possible while adding some of his own drums to give it a unique flair.