How Mersiv Is Morphing the Freeform Bass Genre for the Better

By wazup on October 10, 2021 Comments Closed / 82 views

How Mersiv Is Morphing the Freeform Bass Genre for the Better

Unlike the sugary, moth-eaten confines of pop music, the beauty of electronic music lies in its transformative nature. And as it evolves, Mersiv wants to evolve with it.

Mersiv has been on a relentless mission to harness the weird and wonderful world of freeform, an electronic sub-genre, and entrench it into EDM’s mindshare. Operating under his patented Mersiv Sound Project, the blossoming bass music producer, whose real name is Anderson Benoit Gallegos, coined his sound “Pretty Dark Loud.”

It’s one of those distinctions that seems ineffable—until you take a listen.

Under the umbrella of the Mersiv Sound Project and MorFlo Records—an imprint where he serves as Head Curator—Gallegos has worked relentlessly to push freeform and reinvent the genre as we know it. The “Pretty Dark Loud” juggernaut took flight at Electric Forest 2018 in a momentous performance that doubled as a launchpad en route to a 50-plus date tour called “Beautiful & Filthy.”

The tour, which featured appearances at coveted music festivals like Shambhala, Bonnaroo, and Okeechobee, spawned an eponymous single that encapsulates the genre-defying ethos of his brand. It’s also one of his most popular releases.

After a dizzying string of releases on venerated record labels like Zeds Dead’s Deadbeats, Flux Pavilion and Doctor P’s Circus Records, and the trailblazing freeform imprint Wakaan, Mersiv is now on the verge of releasing his debut album. Due out this fall, the aptly-titled Pretty Dark Loud record will mark a defining moment for the Mersiv Sound Project and, Mersiv hopes, emphatically kick down the door of freeform music.

“Once I had my vision locked, I created for years trying to find my own sound that would express my story in an honest way,” Gallegos said. “The two-year journey of creating this record has been a healing process for me. Pretty Dark Loud is a collection of these moments and efforts in time.”

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“The purpose of this record is to help people heal and grow through frequencies,” he added. “I hope Pretty Dark Loud can help bring a sense of healing and peace to whoever listens.”

Freeform electronic music has exploded in popularity in recent years, but its niche style has capped its potential and plateaued its footprint. In order to reach a bigger audience, oftentimes freeform artists must ditch the genre’s minimal, spacey bedrock for a more dubstep-friendly sound, which better translates to major electronic music festivals. Artists such as PEEKABOO and Chee have masterfully tightroped the line between the two.

Gallegos, on the other hand, has different plans. His unique sound blends the ferocity of a dubstep banger with the melodic tendencies of a ballad, offering a hypnotic yet blistering twist on freeform music. Case in point is his latest single “Forest Creature,” a wonky slow-burner with dreamy, quixotic sound design underpinning its heavy-hitting arrangement.

At freeform’s core is experimentation. Those who push their own limits and try new approaches to sound design are the ones rewarded by the bass music hive mind. When asked what drives him to go further and further outside of the box with his style, Mersiv cited exposure to sounds outside of the EDM realm.

“Constantly listening to other genres of music outside of the electronic music world,” Gallegos told EDM.com. “I test my own limits by constantly learning and incorporating new techniques that I learn through others.”

Pretty Dark Loud will hit streaming platforms on October 22nd, 2021. You can pre-save the album here.