The ether of Los Angeles’ underground scene has proven to be a recent hot bed for up-and-coming techno talent, with none of those rising stars more interstellar than the ever-cosmic Anakim.

The dark techno mastermind has been making an awful lot of noise in 2018. With a shadowy rework of Marco Veira’s “El Edén” detonating dance floors via Understated Recordings and a slot at  Coachella‘s club-focused Yuma tent, Anakim has steadily built authentic momentum for his signature productions. LA techno heads have already been pulled into his orbit, experiencing the artist’s deep and hypnotic sets through his residency at the famed Sound Nightclub. Now, Anakim is ready to expand the boundaries of his dark universe with Heightened Sensitivity, a sinister two-track EP landing on deadmau5‘s mighty mau5trap imprint.

We caught up with the fast-rising techno artist to hear more about LA’s underground dance scene and his banner release.

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Congrats on the release! Why “Heightened Sensitivity,” and where did you draw sonic inspiration from for the EP?

Thank you! So I’ve been reading more spiritual texts lately on my free time and I noticed my awareness of things around me have slowly become more acute. I started to look into this phenomenon a bit more and came across the term “heightened sensitivity.” It made perfect sense to me as the B-side of this EP was actually produced and named first. Heightened Sensitivity is the first step towards one’s “Ascension”, the name of the second track in the EP, and everything kind of just fell into place after reading about this concept. I just decided to create a mini soundtrack to what I read about and the title track to the EP was born.

What does it mean personally to be releasing on mau5trap? 

The very first rave I ever attended was EDC 2010. Being my first rave ever, I had never heard of any of the artists on the lineup, so obviously I had never heard of deadmau5, who happened to be headlining main stage the very first day. His set absolutely blew me away to the point I would make sure I never missed a set of his in southern California for years after.

If you had told me back then that 8 years later I’d find myself not only making music at a high level, but have everything come full circle and be an artist on Joel’s label I’d think you were crazy. I’m so stoked.

As a Sound Nightclub resident and techno producer, characterize LA’s underground dance scene right now.

Thriving. I constantly say this to my friends, but I think the LA underground scene has never been better. I have a feeling that history is currently being made and a lot of the artists within the current underground scene are going to become big movers and shakers within the national and global scenes.  

What might fans be surprised you listen to when you’re not playing out or producing?

Oh no… I really hate the fact that I’m going to say this. I listen to terrible mumble rap. I’m so guilty of putting on terrible rap music with amazing beats and just taking a break from the 4×4 beats I’m constantly surrounded by.

What’s next in the evolution of Anakim?

We’re setting our sights on some very big projects and labels. I can’t speak about it just yet, but I’m very excited to share our progress with everyone over the coming months.

Tags: anakim, Heightened Sensitivity, mau5trap

Categories: Features, Music