ONE TO WATCH - Aperture

If you haven’t been paying attention in the last ten years, electronica has picked up an almighty amount of momentum what with the advent of dubstep and other genres (house and jungle*, in particular) continuing to produce both fantastic music and equally brilliant live performances.   The relentless pace electronic music has made has not been without inspiring countless people to create something awesome themselves and a couple of weeks ago, I got the chance to listen to music by two Brighton Institute of Modern Music students inspired to do just that.  Aperture are Rory Benis and Jace Gorton, two men on a mission to show the world just how much power electronic music has and how much emotion it can truly evoke.  Rory was born in Leeds but moved to Brighton at the age of four.  Jace was born in High Wycombe but moved to Northampton at a young age and would eventually decide to study at BIMM Brighton.  It was at BIMM that the pair crossed paths, joined forces, and set about making the kind of music that both are quite passionate about.

I had the privilege of jamming with one of the members of the electronic duo Aperture; of whom I was introduced to by my good friend and multi-instrumentalist Sam Turner.  Rory already blasted my brain into billions of pieces with his incredible abilities on the drums but he didn’t stop there with the first impressions.  He would go on to hook his iPhone up to the PA and then demoed three of the tracks that will be on Aperture’s forthcoming EP Landscapes – the title track, Through My Eyes, & Flare.  Flare was first and from the opening chords, the energy was bouncing off the walls.  The soaring pads and synth blended with Rory’s smashing beats took me out of Brighton Electric and in the middle of a swamped floor area amongst sweaty people dancing like maniacs.  Flare is quite simply a fabulous dance/house track that would probably mobilise the dead if played at the right frequency.  We moved on to Landscapes (the title track) and it was at this precise moment that I was left utterly floored.  To give you an idea of how sensational a tune it is, I asked him aloud after the track had finished playing why we hadn’t any more dubstep tracks quite like Landscapes at our disposal: massive in scope and sound; haunting vocals; soul-shattering subs; drums that had the impact of a Texas-sized metor upon landfall; and synths that would take you to Mars and back.  He then finished on the jungle (or drum n’ bass, if you prefer) track called Through My Eyes.  Rory’s drumming certainly took centre stage but it was the exquisite acoustic guitar and those trademark haunting vocals that stole the show here.  Through My Eyes is the perfect combination of energy and escape, as it manages to take you to another universe all while flooding your body with adrenaline at the same time.

I haven’t yet met Jace but I can tell you that he’s a very capable vocalist and musician.  The production for each track is absolutely outstanding and each track is thoroughly brilliant.  However, Landscapes is the one that tops the lot for me.  I was quite impressed and Aperture get bonus points for the audio bites of Carl Sagan used to help bring out a certain dimension in the lyrics.  No disrespect to BIMM as an educational institution – they are a fine establishment, indeed – but there’s definitely something that Aperture have that BIMM couldn’t and can’t teach: natural talent.  That said, Aperture are firmly on my radar.  Once you listen to the tracks featured below, I’m fairly confident they’ll be on yours also.

Stream all three tracks below and follow them on Facebook: