{"id":5381,"date":"2021-07-29T18:00:05","date_gmt":"2021-07-29T12:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ticketfairy.com\/word\/?p=5381"},"modified":"2022-01-12T18:45:34","modified_gmt":"2022-01-12T13:15:34","slug":"the-tribal-genius-of-integral-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ticketfairy.com\/word\/2021\/07\/29\/the-tribal-genius-of-integral-records\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tribal Genius of Integral Records"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unknown Masked artists in Drum & Bass isn\u2019t an uncharted territory for the genre. Over the years, we have had artists like Squarepusher and Jaguar Skills who have brought their mask game into the scene and while Jaguar Skills has been successful in concealing his identity, people have seen him in some form performing at venues.<\/p>\n

Now, we present Dawn Wall. Since their emergence in 2015, they have arguably been the biggest mystery that the Drum & Bass scene has been trying to uncover. So far, all we know about Dawn Wall is that it’s more than just two people and other than Lomax from Loadstar who has confirmed his association with the mysterious act, there\u2019s no trace of any other artist who is linked with them.<\/p>\n

A single Google search will land you on to several forums digging deep into Dawn Wall\u2019s identities. To ensure that their anonymity is maintained, they have not performed a single gig since their inception which could potentially reveal the faces behind the act. Here\u2019s where the Dawn Wall story takes a twisted turn; It\u2019s not just them. Along with Dawn Wall, there\u2019s Mohican Sun, Tatora, and now, maybe, just maybe, Kaloa. Four different aliases but united two by elements; their tribal artwork and their relationship with Integral Records.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DAWN WALL & MOHICAN SUN<\/strong><\/h4>\n

It was early 2015 when Artificial Intelligence led Integral Records released the \u2018You Remember\u2019 EP featuring Dawn Wall. A name unheard of, so it was natural for people to assume they are newcomers, and the release was swept under the carpet; but just two months later, Integral Records released the \u2018Kythera\u2019, another EP tagged under Dawn Wall<\/p>\n[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=iVHLZmBlg6w]\u00a0This time, it was different. Yes, they were newcomers in theory but the musical richness of \u2018Kythera\u2019 EP was too good for a newcomer. That\u2019s when the conversations started and the most immediate guess was that it’s Artificial Intelligence\u2019s new alias because Dawn Wall\u2019s style was similar to AI\u2019s high syncopated style of Liquid Drum & Bass; but once again, Integral decided to throw us into another whirlpool of questions. The EP from Dawn Wall had featured Artificial Intelligence in it, and with that, any doubts regarding AI\u2019s involvement in the mysterious act had gone out of the window.<\/p>\n

\u2018Kythera\u2019 EP was followed by \u2018Longshanks\u2019 EP which featured two of their finest tunes like \u2018Spears\u2019 and \u2018Lose Face\u2019. The EP like the last one was too good for a newcomer\u2019s sound and yet again, the EP was overlooked with the notion that it\u2019s a one-off experiment from the guys at Integral Records that exceeded their expectations; and for a long time, it did feel that way since there was no sign of a Dawn Wall release for the best part of 2016.<\/p>\n

Yet again, out of nowhere, came a Dawn Wall release in late 2016 but this time, there was something different. Along with the release of the \u2018Ember\u2019 EP came an intriguing artwork, and after spending a year keeping people in the dark, it was clear that Dawn Wall was a carefully arranged plot from the guys at Integral Records. The artwork which is now their logo was inspired from the farthest native lands, with the \u2018Ember\u2019 EP kick-starting a journey into the deep and tribal world of Integral Records.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dawn Wall\u2019s sampling game was immaculate since their first release and by wisely sampling Drake, Nils Frahm, Bruno Mars into their tunes, Dawn Wall had set the tone for their releases. The \u2018Ember\u2019 EP featured 4 pulsating numbers dishing out a blend of Liquid and Tribal elements with \u2018Blood Diamond\u2019 featuring a sample from Sierra Leone\u2019s Refugee All Stars\u2019 hit \u2018Ankala\u2019.<\/p>\n[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hclTW_b7n5Q]\u00a0But for a label that has played with us for a year without giving us a clue into their unknown adventure, it was too good to not take another twist, and as we expected, they did. Right after the \u2018Ember\u2019 EP came another alias and the plot started thickening.<\/p>\n

In late 2016, Friction aired \u2018Where Did You Go\u2019 on his radio show without having an idea of who the track actually belongs to, and it was certain that the trouble makers were the people at Integral Records. UKF got in touch with Artificial Intelligence to know if something\u2019s up in the Integral camp and all they got from them was \u201cMohican Sun is a new member of the tribe. A new combination of producers including original members of the camp.\u201d \u00a0<\/em>It wasn\u2019t long before Dawn Wall\u2019s identity had left us scratching our heads, and now we had another mysterious act to deal with.<\/p>\n[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=pl9M3KHGNc0]\u00a0Dnb Forum<\/a>, The undisputed hawk-eyes of Drum & Bass aliases and IDs hopped on to their research bikes to dig deeper into Mohican Sun but came empty-handed. After numerous futile efforts, the only thing that Drum & Bass heads could have done was, sit back and admire the unbelievably good music that was dished out through these unknown acts and hope that somethings falls their way with Dawn Wall\u2019s and Mohican Sun\u2019s identities.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

What followed was a string of releases between Dawn Wall and Mohican on Integral Records; and these releases came with a peculiar pattern. At least one tune from Dawn Wall\u2019s \u2018Twin Falls\u2019 and \u2018Problems\u2019 EP accompanied by Mohican Sun\u2019s \u2018Fixation\u2019 and \u2018Dead Sea\u2019 EP had tribal influences with the rest being their signature uplifting Liquid Drum & Bass loaded with cherry-picked samples.<\/p>\n

Along with their originals, members of Dawn Wall and Mohican Sun have been on top of their remix game after successfully flipping tunes from Nero, Dua Lipa, Chase & Status, and Friction to name a few. Taking inspiration from the successful branching both acts were able to achieve through a consistent run of releases on both sides of the underground and mainstream spectrum, Integral Records decided to give Dawn Wall and Mohican Sun an independent platform that catered to their style of music, which led to the birth of Ekho<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Following the ethos of their releases on Integral, the mysterious acts went on to releases of some groundbreaking music which was accompanied with intricate tribal artworks that exemplified their narrative of bringing native elements to Drum & Bass.<\/p>\n

It was 2019 and despite spending 4 years excavating every detail around Dawn Wall and Mohican Sun, there was still no substantial evidence of the people behind the acts. After releasing music throughout 2018 and 2019, Dawn Wall went into hibernation while Mohican Sun released just one track throughout 2019 after eventually making a short return for two singles in 2020.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

TATORA<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Knowing Integral and how the last 5 years had panned out, Dawn Wall\u2019s and Mohican Sun\u2019s silence was enough to tell us that something was cooking once again; and like always, they didn\u2019t disappoint. There was so much going on in 2020, that we never really got a chance to take notice of the happenings around the world Drum & Bass and music in general. Integral Records took this time to craft another story, and finally, after a long hiatus, came Tatora.<\/p>\n

Another mysterious alias tied with Integral Records carrying the same musical schematics, but this time, it was without their customary tribal artworks. It started with Dawn Wall in 2015, Mohican Sun in 2016, and after spending 5 years looking for their identities and being largely unsuccessful, we had another mysterious act on the Integral roster.<\/p>\n

Like Dawn Wall and Mohican Sun, we don\u2019t know if it’s he\/she\/they, we know they\u2019re a part of the Integral tribe and it is certain that the people behind Tatora are established artists who have just decided to play mind games again. The \u2018About\u2019 section of Tatora\u2019s page just goes on to say Tatora several hundred times, and as usual, that\u2019s how far we have come so far.<\/p>\n

UKF got a chance to interview Tatora and when asked about doing an anonymous interview<\/a>, they conveniently went on to say \u201cIt was kinda funny because I know you, and you don\u2019t know who you\u2019re speaking to.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=FzylP7XTx-k]\u00a0Since the interview, Tatora have gone on to release two EPs with the same sweltering Liquid style of Drum & Bass as their predecessors; and since we all as a Drum & Bass community have done everything in our powers to look for breadcrumbs, we know that following the same exercise for Tatora will be a lost cause. They have also scattered some beans around a full-length Tatora album on Integral.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

KALOA<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In 2021, the plot thickened once again. Earlier this year, a mysterious name popped up with the same drill and if you have read this far, you know it already, but hey, there\u2019s another twist; the Kaloa artwork rings a bell and takes us back to the Dawn Wall days, the music is on the same wavelength and too good for a newcomer but this time, all their releases so far have been self-released. That\u2019s all we know about Kaloa and as we wait for more from yet another mysterious act, we wouldn\u2019t be surprised if they decide to confuse us yet again.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As we prepare ourselves to dive deep into this deep D&B Justice League spiral, we aren\u2019t complaining; because the music is incredible. To many more aliases from the Integral tribe, deep google searches, and of course, breathtaking Drum & Bass music.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unknown Masked artists in Drum & Bass isn\u2019t an uncharted territory for the genre. Over the years, we have had artists like Squarepusher and Jaguar Skills who have brought their mask game into the scene and while Jaguar Skills has been successful in concealing his identity, people have seen him in some form performing at<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":184965152,"featured_media":5478,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4294],"tags":[4448,4444,4333,4449,4447,4445,4446],"coauthors":[5152],"class_list":["post-5381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-dawn-wall","tag-drum-bass","tag-friction","tag-integral-records","tag-mohican-sun","tag-tatora"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ticketfairy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ticketfairy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ticketfairy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ticketfairy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/184965152"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ticketfairy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ticketfairy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ticketfairy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ticketfairy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ticketfairy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ticketfairy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5381"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ticketfairy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=5381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}