Vridian is not a new kid on the block. He started his journey in the industry in 2017, with a heavy influence of psytrance showing through his sound. He credits the psytrance sound to his time in Goa, both as a child listening to Robert Miles, Enigma, Pet Shop Boys, and as a college kid at psytrance parties. He is also quick to credit his former colleague, Siddhant Jain (ELM) for introducing him to house and techno, which helped further shape his sound into his EPs. 2019 saw him launch 3 EPs, the first one ‘Fragments’ on Germany based label Nie Wieder Schlafen, the second one Silver Fish on US based Manjumasi and finally Knowbot on experimental Indian label Qilla Records. To kick off 2020, Vridian has launched his latest EP ‘Mulberry Dreams’ on Miami based Magician On Duty.
Mulberry Dreams is a strong EP with 4 songs, all intended to get you grooving on the dance floor. The drums have a mix of strong kicks and snares that are reminiscent of classic techno and house tracks. The beats provide a strong structure for the modern ambient melodies to take you on an exploration that is as external as it is internal. Together they form perfect tracks for a celebration in the middle of a forest under a canopy of trees with the moon peeking at you slightly. The inspiration for the title comes from Mulberry trees symbolized, across cultures, as a sign of wisdom, patience, abundance and even evil. He sees the album as an affirmation for his dreams of patience and wisdom to someday come true.
Listening through the album, the tracks work harmoniously to produce a unified sound. Vridian, however, did not imagine the tracks coming together as an EP when he was producing them. It was the label manager at Magician on Duty, who heard them and thought of it as a strong release. The slightly mysterious and melancholy leaning of the album made it a perfect fit for the Night Wizard Series, the label’s take on the darker side of house and techno.
It is ironic that Vridian’s album that caters to dance floors was released at a time of pandemic. He is hopeful that the recovery of the ecosystem that fuels the life and blood of DJs and dance music producers will be a fast one once the virus is contained. He is using this downtime to produce music that is more oriented towards listening, part of which will form his next EP which he hopes to self release. He is quite excited about the collaborations, mish mash of sound and influences that the next one will showcase. It is truly heartening to see his journey so far and watch out for how his sound evolves!
