Fluckdub - Surface 10

A brave, dark strain of ethereal instrumental electronic music wafts from a former chicken breeding warehouse in the wee hours of the morning. Inside the downtown Bellingham, Washington compound, composer/producer Bryan Hughes labors over his latest works in a modest, uncluttered art studio space. He’s an artist who has hit that elusive creative milestone of garnering prime industry acclaim and accolades from a fiercely original music that defies genre classification.

Since 2002, Bryan, under the AeTopus moniker, has released six albums and two EPs. AeTopus’s artistic continuum stretches from a traditional new-age pop approach to the minor-key moodiness and elongated song structures characterized by his most recent work. The project has won a Zone Music Reporter Award for Best Electronic album, earned three ZMR Best Electronic album nominations, and garnered one nomination for the NAR Lifestyle Music Awards for Best Electronic album. Despite this acclaim in the new age marketplace, AeTopus music doesn’t conform to the radio-oriented format—a more apt description of its genre might be “electronic instrumental goth.”

AeTopus compositions feature the drama and overture of classical music and film soundtracks, the ambience and experimentation of pre-Ableton electronica, the aggression of hard rock, and the mystical majesty of world music. The tracks are shadowy, emotive, and rife with intrigue without being specifically thematic. The overall effect of AeTopus songs is disquieting, which puts it at odds with most of the meditative or relaxing music that populates the new age genre.

Bryan’s current pair of releases, the full-length VARIANT, and its bass-heavy companion EP, Deep Variants, signal a fresh era of intrepid creativity. The compositions here are akin to sonic essays that feature loose melodic narratives. These tracks breathe, and feature delicate dynamic shifts and, at times, ominous ethereal textures. “My goal was to apply my existing musical instincts to longer-format pieces, and to not feel confined by my long-standing bite-sized, radio-friendly style,” Bryan shares. The EP Deep Variants powerfully reimagines the VARIANT source songs with a haunting low-end quality.

Today, Bryan plans to continue his musical voyage exploring more sublime and eccentric long-form compositions. “I think most serious creative people like to see evolution in their work. I've learned to let go of the expectations that come from being associated with a genre, or that come from having established a certain sound on past albums. When I give myself that permission to experiment, those darker and grittier influences find a way to sneak back into the mix.”

- Lorne Behrman

Fluckdub - Surface 10

Surface 10 (Dean De Benedictis)