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In Interview with Sian

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Techno tastemaker Sian owns Octopus Recordings and has previously released on acclaimed labels like Pokerflat, Soma and Bedrock, among others.

While not foregoing his other projects, 2019 saw Sian introduce fans to a new sound — one that harkens back to the glory days of electro, synthwave and darkwave. Drawing comparisons to artists like Terrence Fixmer, Blackstrobe, and Vitalic but with a contemporary spin, this new sound has found a home on deadmau5’s mau5trap imprint where, following the project’s first component, Ultraviolet 1.0, Sian satisfied listeners this year with the second installation of his project: Ultraviolet 2.0. His ever-evolving sounds flow throughout each track with his implementation of acid sounds and varying sound design techniques, and it is his craft that earned him direct support spots for deadmau5’s highly anticipated The Cube V3 tour in 2019.

Beyond his work on Ultraviolet 2.0 this year, he’s booked shows worldwide as Sian, and in summer packed out the Pink Tent at HARD Summer with his second project AMOK with Will Clarke.

6AM is no stranger to Sian’s work, but with so many new projects now on the go, we found it fitting to sit down with the LA resident to discuss them all, and how he juggles each on his very busy schedule.

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Win 2 Tickets to Octopus Recordings and Suara Nights in Detroit During Movement Weekend

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This year’s Movement Detroit weekend is just around the corner, and not only are we giving away two tickets to the festival itself but are also launching a special giveaway for 6AM readers looking to join us at BLEU DETROIT for our Saturday and Sunday label showcases there.

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Premiere: Drunken Kong Curate 14-Track Binary Structure Compilation for Octopus Recordings

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Tokyo based duo Drunken Kong has steadily developed a ferocious fanbase through his dance floor igniting tunes, and are now curating a 14-track compilation for Octopus Recordings. Encompassing a straightforward club-rocking sensibility, with red hot production techniques and standout DJ sets around the globe, he has quickly cemented his stamp on the international circuit.

Choosing mostly unheard and unreleased weapons for this latest compilation on Sian’s Octopus Recordings, his selection and mixing vibe shows off the section perfectly, swinging from heavy and relentless to deep and mysterious tracks, procured from the labels stalwart artists and some new fast-rising creators.

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Win 2 Tickets to Octopus Recordings Warehouse Series: Art Basel Miami ’18 with Sian & Drumcell

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On December 6th Octopus Recordings brings their newly-launched Warehouse Series sub-label sound to Miami for Art Basel, featuring label favorites Sian, Michelle Sparks and Juheun (Live), as well as special guest Drumcell.

Octopus Warehouse Series is a series of raw, harder-edged, stripped & boosted tracks, that define the sound of the Octopus Warehouse parties.

The event will take place at SQL Miami from 10pm to 5am, with tickets available on Resident Advisor.

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Jon Rundell Returns to Octopus with “Reality” EP

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Jon Rundell makes his return to Octopus with an hefty, high energy techno two-track EP titled “Reality”.

Hot on the heels of his Time Warp debut, “Reality” is Rundell’s second release on the Barcelona-based Octopus imprint and it is bound to excite people.

The EP’s two tracks consist of the title track makes no pretensions on turning up the dance floor heat, with beats described as “insistent, demanding…to keep clubbers going til dawn. There is also “Shadows” which has a darker mood that is  “still pounding out the imperative to dance and keep dancing with its discordant dirty rhythms.”

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Interview: Marc Houle Readies for Marsian Live Debut Alongside Octopus Recordings’ Sian

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Raised in the same fertile music community that spawned his former label boss and mentor Richie Hawtin, Marc Houle’s obsession with electronic sounds goes back to the noise of ’80s video games and vintage synthesizers. A decade-long career of seminal records on Hawtin’s Minus label, as well as his own Items & Things imprint, helped define the beloved minimal sound of the mid-‘00s (“On It”), before transcending the limits of the sub-genre completely by incorporating industrial, disco and new wave influences (“Undercover”).

2018 has already welcomed the arrival of a brand new project, and a key focus for Marc in the form of his Marsian project alongside Octopus Recordings boss Sian. Having released their debut EP on the imprint last month, the duo will combine this May to deliver their debut live show at the Octopus Showcase during Movement 2018, with a second EP and a tour of the Americas also scheduled for the coming months.

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Q&A and Global Vibe Radio 107 Feat. Michelle Sparks

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This week’s guest mix for Global Vibe Radio features Octopus Recordings’ Michelle Sparks, and her brand of “forward thinking, futuristic techno music.”

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Global Vibe Radio 100 feat. Octopus Recordings Boss Sian

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The milestone 100th episode of 6AM’s Global Vibe Radio comes from LA resident and Octopus Recordings boss Sian. All tracks featured can be found on Octopus, Octopus Black or are still unreleased.

WORK by 6AM and Obscure present the 4th annual Octopus Recordings Showcase in Detroit on 05/26 during Movement weekend: Info and tickes here.

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Marsian: Marc Houle and Sian Unveil New Live Collab Project With “X-Rays” Premiere

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Two of the most prominent artists in the electronic music scene, Sian and Marc Houle, have both been known as extraordinary outsiders, operating barely within the limits of their genre. Throughout the years they have both stood their ground and bucked the trends, expectations and rules, opting to create very distinct paths to explore their artistic freedom.

Now, Sian and Marc Houle have finally come together for a new collaborative project called Marsian. The project began as a studio pairing, which has now culminated in the release of their first EP entitled X-Rays, from which we are premiering the title track for you today.

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Premiere: Black Asteroid Brings Signature Raw Energy For His Remix of Sian’s “King Pest”

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Sian’s latest project, Capital Crimewave, broke the barres between techno, acid and hip-hop by fusing the genres and taking them in directions not many other artists had eve ventured to.

The album was fearless, unapologetic and transcendental in the way it broke  those invisible boundaries between warehouse techno, urban hip-hop, mind-bending acid, dubbed-out electronics and countless other future genres in between. The massive 20 track LP saw Sian bind together his diverse catalogue of machine-made sounds into one cohesive audio experience that is unlike anything he had previously released on Octopus Recordings, or any other label for that matter. We interviewed Sian and vocalist AG Fernandez at the beginning of April right before the LP came out, digging deeper into the whys and wherefores behind this exciting and innovative project.

For the remix pack Octopus Recordings looked hard into the current state of affairs and chose some purely unique and fearless artists who all had one thing in common: a clear signature sound that defines their entire body of work. The package features the high art dance floor freakiness of Lee Van Dowski; the low slung, post-soviet mechanics of Maksim Dark; Japanese new-school perfectionism from Hoshina Anniversary and of course the sheer, raw energy blast that is Black Asteroid, which we are premiering today.

Purchase Capital Crimewave Remixes on Beatport, and listen to the premiere of Black Asteroid’s remix of “King Pest” below exclusively through 6AM.

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