On the road – DJ Lumiere and DJ Tokiomi.| Photo courtesy of ADSR.

ADSR, an electronic music production company, recently launched their new label at the Untiled Art Space and Celsia Florist in Chinatown on May 27, 2016, and will be hosting a vinyl night at Cafe Deux Soleils on June 4, 2016.

 The artists are known to combine electronic and original soundscapes, creating a revolutionary blend that producers DJ Lumiere and DJ Tokiomi say does not fit into one particular style.

Grass roots

Lumiere and Tokiomi have origins in the grass roots electronic scene, starting their careers two years ago by playing music at renegade forest parties in remote B.C. locations under the name ADSR. The artist, Lumiere, recalls his first time disk jockeying in Canada after immigrating from New Deli.

“It was the first set of my life, and my laptop ran out of battery power! It was on the car ride there, the freeway, and so I had to prepare on the spot. We were on the Fraser River, a forest area – it went all night on the river until seven a.m.,” he says.

Tokiomi then recalls his first experience as a DJ.

“It was raining and we had two different sound stages, a roasted pig, right smack on the Mamquam river in Squamish. It was so beautiful; we called it the Planet Party.”

Tokiomi visualized planet Earth in his tracks – he spent time last year studying images and recording sounds in Tofino, which he inserted into the vinyl.

“I want to make music and sounds that resemble regular, mundane life, for example, in Tofino. I camped out there – I used fire sounds, coyotes, sand, barking. I picture the image then I put it on the record,” he says.

Beyond genres

According to Tokiomi, his music isn’t necessarily designed for the club scene, but more for a laid back, chill vibe, so people can still talk and socialize while listening. The artist frequently catches himself in his kitchen recording different sounds for his music.

“I like field recording. I even use hi-hat cymbals or percussion steps from my kitchen. I hit pots and hit chopsticks and scratch knives in my kitchen. I wake up my roommates,” he says.

The important thing for Tokiomi is that the sound is interesting, and the sounds not just randomly put together.

“I want to translate images into emotions,” says Tokiomi. “We’re not trying to limit our music to a genre, like electronic music; it doesn’t always have to have a label.”

Lumiere agrees.

“Electronic music doesn’t have to be limited – it’s better to drop the genre entirely,” he says.

Lumiere has attempted to drop the genre label himself by recording guitar, often out on his balcony, before mixing it into his tracks.

“I listen to a lot of classic blues music – it has a feeling and depth to it. In my music I make it dark, because it makes more sense to me and I don’t like major chords,” he says.

Musical minds – breaking boundaries

Lumiere, born in New Delhi, India, grew up practicing in a band, and in his twenties moved to B.C. to study at SFU, where he met the artists under the ADSR umbrella.

“They invited me to a lot of shows around the city, and now I have two tracks being released with them – dark knotted techno,” he says.

Tokiomi, who is originally from Japan, describes a similar experience of when he met ADSR producer Sean Mallion at a friend’s album party.

“After I met Sean, he taught me and I started to DJ,” he says.

Lumiere and Tokiomi first focused on DJing and the party lifestyle, but now they are focused on producing original, genre-breaking music on a professional scale. Both musicians agree they are focused on something bigger and more important than forest parties, but still might host a few grass root nights.

“So now it’s our chance, ‘cause it’s about the artist, the producer, not the disc jockey,” says Lumiere.

For more information on the ADSR music, please visit www.adsrmusic.ca.