Née: Hector Llanquin
Raíces: Born in Santiago de Chile, based in Brooklyn
Sounds like: An underground party in a Blade Runner-type of future where things have gone wrong.
You should listen to Megajoy because… He provides a cinematic experience that’s frightening and thrilling, all through music.
When we first watched Megajoy‘s “Suprazen” video, we immediately got three things from him: he is a child of the Internet age, his approach to music is a dark one, and he likes to party. This songs jumps from nightmare to techno party and you don’t even notice it, while the accompanying images, put together by the producer himself, are a pastiche of old-school 3D renders, saturated colors, GIFs, WordArt-like written messages, and Windows 3.1. Needless to say, this caught our attention and lit up our curiosity.
Hector Llanquin, the bizarre mind behind Megajoy, is no newcomer. His first self-released album, Avidya, dates back to 2010, followed by Yonaguni (2012, Michita Rex). On both of them, his explorations have a sci-fi vibe; following techno patterns and sounds, he creates unsettling sonic environments that transport our minds to dystopic scenarios in the future. But, you know, a dystopian future you can totally dance to.
You don’t even have to use your imagination to picture the world where this music takes place, because Llanquin does it for you. He’s responsible for creating the videos and artwork that go hand in hand with his music, and they always have to do with the notion of digital archeology. He’s taken it as far as making an online videogame (and song) called “Viral Path,” where he takes us on a journey through different eras that are both metaphysical and technological.
Megajoy’s music takes a little patience while it unravels itself in front of you. We don’t know when he’s releasing any new music, but we’re eager to see what direction he takes his experiments. Thankfully, we can enjoy his back catalogue while we wait.