Birmingham « Rager Onions

When it comes to producing melodic dubstep, living in the shadow of an artist like Seven Lions is certainly no walk in the park. In order for an emerging artist to grab the attention of the electronic dance world, they must offer up a track that is truly a work of art, something rather special. Unfortunately, it is the inherent predisposition we all share as human beings that clouds our judgement when listening to new music. We are more willing to accept or enjoy a production from an artist in which we are already acquainted with (call it a bias if you will). We want their music to be good because we have already invested time in the artist(s) in question.

Fortunately for this next producer, he picked the right platform in which to springboard his euphonic genius onto our collective ears. It’s not even a contest any more, Monstercat = good music. It is as simple as that. Word up to our Canadian brethren pumping out wildly enjoyable EDM tunes day in and day out.

With the help of our feline friends, Stonebank brings us his first discernible release to date. “Eagle Eyes” (featuring vocals by EMEL) will warp the listener on a journey through a dense, dynamically shifting melodic dubstep landscape eloquently crafted by this up and coming producer hailing from, you guessed it, the UK.

Hailing from Birmingham, England, this next producer is a relentless Rogue of sorts – combining highly emotive melodies with hard-hitting bass to create his own blend of dubstep, drumstep and electro house. Joel Hunt, who answers to his stage alias “Rogue”, began his journey down a path in music production a few years back, releasing original works and remixes to his favorite dubstep tracks by posting them to his Youtube channel for fans.

However, soon after Rogue began to hone his skills, he was noticed by the likes of one of the most relevant and forward thinking labels around, Monstercat Records – who happens to specialize in fostering young talent as well as drawing a wide and diverse audience. Utilizing this opportunity to popularize himself within the world of EDM, Rogue capitalized by reaching the number one spot on Beatport’s top dubstep releases with his track “Exogenesis”. In fact, Mr. Hunt maintained this position at the top for over an entire month. Now that is impressive considering the onslaught of new electronic music producers in the scene as of late.

Rogue’s latest single “From The Dust”, which can be found on his forthcoming Earth EP is yet another reason to follow this UK based production whiz. The symphonic introduction begins with crickets chirping as the harmonies of distant sirens coerce unsuspecting listeners deeper into this dark, wooded landscape crafted by Joel using a luscious piano melody, tribal bass drums and whimsical violin arrangements. When Rogue introduces the emotionally sentimental lyrics into the song, it breaks shorty after, transforming that lush melody from the piano into a stratospheric synthesizer of epic proportions. The rest of this jam is history. Pure gold.

This drumstep anthem by Rogue is a must listen. We fell head-over-heels instantly, hope you do the same. The entire album is set to drop November 4th via Monstercat Records. Enjoy.