Venetian Snares, DJ Hecate - Los Angeles CA
Location: The Smell - Los Angeles CA
Author: Tenzin Wangchuk
Photography: Tenzin Wangchuk

 

The Smell is a beautiful place to have a show, as it's spacious yet intimate. The walls are covered with stencil graffiti art, which resembles dark apocalyptic soldiers with gas masks on stark white walls. A perfect place to see electronic brilliance at its best. We arrive early, and I immediately noticed to my left the one and only Aaron Funk also known as Venetian Snares, eating a burrito! Snares is the Canadian IDM artist who is currently rumored to be the next artist to join the Warp Records family, home of electronic geniuses like Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Autechre, Boards of Canada and Plaid

I approach Snares, and we talk about music and my digital camera; we even take a picture together! Aaron is a really nice guy, very open and easy to talk to. We share thoughts on jazz and the influence it has on his form of music, which he admits, "Jazz is cool." We talked some more and I thank him, and wish him good luck on his show.

The set before Venetian Snares is from the almighty Dj Hecate, a prominent female figure in the speedcore genre. Named after the Greek goddess Hecate who is associated with the underworld, Dj Hecate associates herself with the underground world of hardcore noise. Her set is very impressive and memorable, playing an intense, hard speedcore set that reaches bpm's that are humanly impossible to recreate. The speakers are shaking and the dance floor is burning, setting a precedent for Venetian Snares.

Snares comes on stage, and decides to use CD decks because he has more music on CDR's than vinyl, which makes sense since more and more electronic artists are making the move from analog hardware to computers, so should the output format change from vinyl to CDR's, which I consider the modern day dub plate.

Snares pulls song after song from a mysterious thick black book of CD's, which he holds close to him. He plays a mix of songs so rare from the book, I believe only he knows what he is playing tonight.

His mixing skills are superb though, as he mixes and juggles at fast speeds, intense songs back and forth while adding live effects. Snares is in complete control of the mix as he pauses and jumps between utter madness and short strange pauses of silence. The musical experience reminds me of the free form nature of jazz music, where no melody is repeated more than once and the beat constantly changes like a wave, powerful and wild.

It is a night of beer bottle throwing, eardrum shattering and mosh pit madness! One word of advice to any of you who go see a Venetian Snares show: bring a raincoat, earplugs, and some Mexican food, that way you will be ready for anything!