Sohail Arora’s debut EP, EZ Riser, marks his expressive and full-blown arrival as a professional musician. An emotional and raw 6-track project, the EP power packs high BPM sonic landscapes through the jungle and drum & bass elements. The project explores the new-age notion of digital ‘slacktivism’ – lacklustre support or effort shown by online individuals in hopes of social or political change. These rough and rowdy sounds stem from the artist’s reflections on the movement and his interpretation of its place in our culture.
The EP begins with ‘Late Bloomer’ which is a sonorous tune supported by thumping low-end grooves. It starts slowly with a mischievous groove of snare and hi-hats teased in between by mallets and synth FX, which get taken over by a paced kick, leading into ‘Jungle Chants’. Taking us back to the classics, ‘Jungle Chants’ is a tune filled with breaks and bass supported by vocal chops, creating a motley groove. Up next we have ‘Jigsaw’ a half-time drum sander. Raising the tempo of the EP is ‘Solar Dub Power’, a tune heavily incorporated by 303 bass lines, defining the true meaning and essence of dubs. ‘Renegade’ brings us into arctic breaks which are melted by the dithering breaks of ‘The Revolution Song’. The closing track comprises vocals announcing the ‘Slacktivist’ theme of the EP, a perfect tune to pull up before the lights come out in a live set. Overall the EP has a very hybrid emotion to it. The low ends make us rebel while the melodic sections take us into deep seas of thoughts. All the tracks were composed and produced by EZ Riser personally which displays the purity of expression put into the project. The mixing was done by DJ and Producer OX7GEN and the final master was cooked by Black Science Labs. A great combination of classic sounds with modern touch completes the EP, which truly justifies its name.
Listen to the Full EP here:
Sohail Arora launched his solo project, EZ Riser, in Oct 2012. Often known as one of the pioneers for pushing cutting-edge electronic music, with a heavy emphasis on bass, in India, Sohail Arora got exposed to Bass music during his days of working with Blue Frog & Zenzi2, the iconic music venues of Mumbai. As the founder of KRUNK, India’s foremost alternative booking agency and events crew, Sohail & KRUNK have been instrumental in producing and elevating some of the most prominent and most prolific talents in India. Over the course of his long career, he has pumped out a variety of bass-heavy tunes.
His track 444′ was released through the Billboard Presents Electronic Asia Vol.5 compilation in 2021, while his track ‘Solar Dub Power’ was released via 2022’s Bass Coast Festival compilation, 12 days. Beyond extensively touring and building bass music cultures in India, EZ Riser has toured all over the world, performing in places such as the UK, Germany, Norway, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Malta, Canada, Malaysia, Hong Kong, etc.
Additionally, he has performed at leading international festivals like Bass Coast Festival (Canada), Outlook Festival & Dimensions Festival (Croatia), Magnetic Fields Festival (India), NH7 Weekender (India), VH1 Supersonic Festival (India), Jungle Flash Festival (Slovenia), Modern Sky Festival (Finland) & more.
