Sonarpilot

About Sonarpilot

Growing up musically in the 1970s, Sonarpilot was fascinated by innovative artists from Bowie, Pink Floyd and Roxy Music to the electronic output of pioneers like Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk and Jean-Michel Jarre. With the explosion of Punk and New Wave, Sonarpilot began to make music himself. He acquired an electric guitar, a 4-track tape recorder, a slightly battered TR 606 drum machine and a Korg MS-20 analog synth, and started to work. Main influences at that time were british synth-pop bands such as Yazoo, Bronski Beat, New Order, Heaven 17 and the Eurythmics as well as more experimental artists such as Brian Eno and Laurie Anderson.

In the 1980’s Sonarpilot opened a recording studio and produced local bands while working at night on his own material when the studio wasn’t booked. During this time he began to use extensively digital technology, samplers and synthesizers. Towards the end of the 1980’s his sound was losing the typical song-structure, tracks became longer, increasingly technoid, ambient and experimental.

In the early 90’s Sonarpilot got involved with a successful start-up that kept him busy for the next 15 years. In 2008, he finally left the corporate world, grabbed his old guitar from the attic, bought a pile of computer based sound equipment and, as if welcoming an old friend back into his life, began again making music. “Mothership” is his first release after his return to the musical universe.

About the Label

Sonarpilot Audio is a new label for contemporary electronic music with brains, heart and soul. The label is building a catalogue of artists who explore sonic spaces off the beaten track, expressing their musical identity with a distinctive, individual approach.

Sonarpilot Audio is looking for interesting, innovative contemporary electronic music. Listen to the tunes on this site and contact us if you have material that you feel we might like: sonarpilot.audio(at)gmail.com.

Sonarpilot CD Release: Mothership

The double CD “Mothership” is the immersive soundtrack for a two hour journey through Sonarpilot’s sonic universe. From the mystical underwater pings on ‘First Contact’ — a trippy, 23 minute trip into deep space electronica — through the Far East minimal groove of ‘Osaka’ or the bubbly synths of ‘Planet Pop’ the tracks take the listener on an expansive journey that fluctuates between IDM, Trance and classical ‘80s Synth Pop.

The tracks are very accessible in terms of melodic content and overall sound, but go well beyond standard conventions of genre, structure or length. By design they launch from one quadrant of sonic space, explore that area and then move on to the next richly textured sound sector.

In addition Sonarpilot has invited two of the leading names in cutting edge electronic music — Simbad and Ramadanman — to put their stamp on the Sonarpilot sound by way of specially commissioned digital remixes, making “Mothership” a perfect soundtrack for listeners with a curious mind and an appetite for unconventional contemporary electronic music.

“Mothership” will be released on June 8th 2010 and will be available as CD and as electronic download in all major online music stores.

Free Track Download: First Contact

Download “First Contact” — the epic opening track of Sonarpilot’s double album “Mothership” – for free. With over 20 minutes running time the track will take you on a trippy sonic journey. Put on a set of good headphones, turn up the stereo, kick back, relax & dive into Sonarpilot’s soundscape!

Click here to download.

Remixes

To initiate the Sonarpilot project and in the run up to the worldwide release of the ‘Mothership’ album, two of the leading names in cutting edge electronic music put their stamp on the Sonarpilot sound by way of specially commissioned digital remixes.

Simbad (www.myspace.com/djsimbad) knows no boundaries musically. His critically acclaimed 2008 album ‘Supersonic Revelation’ for Raw Fusion Records touched on retro soul, house and hip hop whilst also managing to twist the minds of the techno and electronica communities worldwide. Apart from his busy remix schedule, Simbad travels the world, recording artists and singers from all corners of the globe, hosts radio shows for stations such as Ministry Of Sound and Dejavu and actively collaborates with dance music legends like Zed Bias, Phil Asher and Karizma in the studio.

David Kennedy AKA Ramadanman (www.myspace.com/ramadanman) is fast becoming one of the premier league names in Dubstep with remixes in 2009 for such luminaries as Landslide and Shut Up And Dance. Recently, David mixed the latest installment of Rinse FM’s Dubstep All-stars Volume 7 series alongside DJ Chef and somehow squeezes weekly international DJ gigs in between his production work and full time studies at Leeds University.

Both remixers take the original material, add their own unique flavour and have created two fresh and exciting tracks. The remixes will be published together with the originals as an electronic EP in the spring of 2010. The tracks will also be included in the Sonarpilot full album release.

If you would like to remix some of Sonarpilot’ material, please contact us : sonarpilot.audio(a)gmail.com. We are always interested in collaboration!