First off: only three more weeks until the “Deprivation” single is available! It’s Bandcamp Friday today, so the best moment to place your pre-order is right now. Remember that as a Bandcamp customer, you’ll receive an exclusive, secret bonus track that will be revealed on release day.
Taking a look at the Bandcamp pre-order, you’ll notice a remix alongside the main song. It was created by my friend Andre Jonas a.k.a. Strukt, who also mastered the two tracks. If you’ve been following Sidetrack Walker at all, you’ll probably recognise Andre’s name from the technical credits of my earlier releases. Our collaboration has always been smooth and fruitful, so I am very happy we’re continuing on this path with my new single.
Just like the earlier Strukt Remix of “The Host”, Andre’s interpretation of “Deprivation” brings out an entirely new side to the track that really inspires me. Once again foregoing vocals in favour of a purely instrumental electronica experience, it focuses on elements that play more of a supportive part in the original song. Upon my first listen, I was genuinely surprised at how much arrangement potential still lay dormant in my background synth sequences and e-bow lines in particular – enough, apparently, to base an all-new track around them.
For the remix, Andre also ran my MIDI synth sequences through new virtual instruments – another fun idea I wouldn’t have come up with myself. This way, they’re the same yet not the same: it’s perfectly possible to recognise the phrases and hooks, yet they return in a new guise that sounds quite spaced out and ridiculously catchy!
Whenever I listen to this fresh take on my song, I feel a craving to try my hands on a remix of my own someday, be it of my own music or of somebody else’s. But, alas, I’m already drowning in ideas and projects as it is – would that the day had significantly more hours to spend on music!