Indisposable dance music

Genius Kills is taking a performance-based approach to its genre-spanning brand of electro
Anthony Augustine

If you asked anyone who attended the 14th annual Connect Festival this past summer in Saskatchewan who stole the show, the only name you heard was Victoria B.C.'s Genius Kills. Blurring the lines between post-rave electro, bass-heavy breaks, wobbly dubstep, twisted techno and big-system house, the psychedelic vision of Mr. Sofalumpkins (formerly of T-Power & SHY FX) and Dr. Funkinchunkin is self-described as "Pink Floyd meets Daft Punk."

"With the dance music scene, most of the music is so disposable. We wanted to set something up that was visually appealing. We wanted it to be a performance," explains Mr. Sofalumpkins, over the phone from the duo's homebase on the West Coast. "'No risk, no reward' is a good motto to live by. I think if you don't aim high, you're going to shoot low."

With ambitious goals to include elaborate props, pyrotechnics, real-time video manipulation and even weird performance art in its live show, the pair is hoping to not only make a lasting impact, but take back some of the power of its own music.

"We are trying to have something that is more band-based. Electronic music has really fallen short from that perspective and it's what's given DJs the ability to become superstars on the backs of other people's work." Mr. Sofalumpkins says. "I am not doing to diss DJs - you need DJs to help promote your music. Producers were at fault, though, for a long time, not thinking about how to take this to the next level. Part of the problem was the technology wasn't there. It is getting there now."

Along with fine-tuning its live performance, Genius Kills has used the past year to build an impressive soundbank of over 1,000 grooves and is finally prepared to release its first EP on March 15.

"The live act was really the testing ground for our tracks," Dr. Funkinchunkin says. "We wanted to see how the dance floor reacts to them."

Releasing material through their own label and all the major digital-download sites, the full-time producers hope to put out between two and four tracks per month. They also hope to have a full-length out by the end of the year.

Considering both had successful careers before Genius Kills - Mr. Sofalumpkins as a drum 'n' bass producer in England and Dr. Funkinchunkin as a DJ here in Canada - the duo has taken what it has learned in the past and is applying it to this project. Pulling from a number of styles, its hybrid blend channels the best elements from each genre and allows the pair to experiment in ways it never thought possible.

"I don't know if I would call it reactionary, but I definitely got to a point where I didn't want to be known as a drum 'n' bass artist anymore," Mr. Sofalumpkins says. "I am a producer. I make music. That's all I do. To be stuck in one genre so long is really fucking soul-destroying."

GENIUS KILLS
March 12, 9 p.m., The Academy
w/ Scott Rockin Beats, Owen Reynolds, Scumbag DJs
Visuals by iCandy (mixhard.ca)