#dunjinz

A Closer Look: Michael Poe

Soundslike: Fake Blood/Gesaffelstein

How I slept on this cat while living in his backyard is beyond me. Now that I have found him he has fast risen to the top of my dj charts both locally and internationally. I just saw him play at the RoeVy Halloween show, and I was very impressed by his set. He had the room jumpin' and it was only 11 pm. Dunjinz spinnin' aside he has many qualities that I look for in an electronic artist:

1.) Coherent music identity

Dunjinz comes with the dark, unrelenting beats, as is evident in his Albion/Anowara & Orc/Troll Ep's (Both available for streaming below and on his soundcloud). Both Ep's pack a wallop, and firmly establish a music identity for Dunjinz to show us what he is about. He is all about bringing that get up out your chair, dark dance music that will take you to another place. This energy and darkness exudes out of his originals, but is on full display when he is spinning. There is no mistaking who dunjinz wishes to be when he is up there.

2.) Devotion to experimentation

I can hear the intricate layering going on in his tracks, and his innovative use of vocal samples. I love the different layers of synth Dunjinz has going in all his tracks that really break out of the mold of your traditional EDM song. On Troll, you can really see this experimentation first hand. He does an excellent job of weaving wonderful layers together with a thumping bass beat. This really develops a wonderful pulsing rhythm that keeps me moving. Another element of this track I like a lot is the controlled chaos. It feels like at any moment the track is going to explode into a drop, but it just keeps on pulsing and rotating around its core rhythm. This is a key element to all of Dunjinz tracks, as he understands how to build a beat. 

On Anowara, you can really see how a manipulated vocal sample can really add a key element to a track to make it special. It is this vocal sample, which really distinguishes the track and adds that little bit of experimentation that separates it from other tracks of the kind. 

3.) Desire to mix styles to find new avenues for creativity

In EDM today, it seems a lot of cats are obssessed with Dirty Bass & Huge Drops. Like most people, I like these elements of EDM too, but I think the genre needs to move beyond mixing dubstep and harder house.  I want a dj to build me a soundscape, really hit a rhythm, and build on it until it drops. This is where I think Dunjinz breaks from the mold of the many people trying to cash in on the bass and drop racket. I can see subtle influences of techno and progressive pushing out from the corners of his tracks, which is one big reason I enjoy his tracks so much. He understands that its not all just about the drops and bass, but how you get to those moments of chaos. 

Check out Dunjinz on:

Soundcloud

Facebook

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P.S. make sure to listen to his tracks below. His Albion/Anowara EP should be released in the next couple months so make sure to keep a ear to the ground for release details.