Cloudchord Returns with Emancipator, “Junior High Dance”
October 28, 2022 BY Jason Currell
Derek VanScoten’s project Cloudchord shows no signs of slowing down. Fresh after the release of his latest EP Sundrop, today he returns with his new electrifying collaborative single with Emancipator, “Junior High Dance” along with an accompanying music video. This multifarious track is reminiscent of a celestial sock-hop, and just a preview of the new body of work to come. With moods on high display, we see Cloudchord crystallizing his aesthetic into rolling grooves and dense thickets of melody along with Emancipator’s sonic tranquility creating a lush and exciting track for the soundful electronic landscape.
WATCH “JUNIOR HIGH DANCE” HERE
TOUR DATES:
With The Floozies & Sunsquabi
November 11 – Lawrence, KS – The Granada
November 12 – Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom
December 31 – Austin, TX – Sunsquabi NYE
ABOUT CLOUDCHORD:
Derek grew up coveting guitar gods like Jimi Hendrix. The game changed when his Dad took him to see George Benson, and his Mom paid for jazz guitar lessons. His college years saw him learning about high-level recording studios; a summer spent as an audio engineer intern at the Aspen Music Institute ignited his reverence for acoustic music. His inspirations grew to include jazz pianist and life mentor Art Lande, and hip hop acts like Jurassic 5 and The Roots. After several years as a Brooklyn-based touring act called D.V.S*, Derek moved to Austin and rebranded. The creative focus was on the chill sides of dance music (from chillhop to deep house) while featuring live guitar and lap steel. In his first year as Cloudchord, he scored 6 consecutive #1 tracks on Hype Machine. Shortly after, a call came to score the documentary In Football We Trust. The work premiered at Sundance and won an Emmy. Other scoring clients have grown to include Disney, Gatorade, Facebook & L’Oreal.
ABOUT EMANCIPATOR:
Douglas Appling, the Portland-based electronic musician known to electronic music enthusiasts as Emancipator, takes a natural approach to his art. The classically trained violinist, and veteran of more traditional bands during his college years, grew up in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Listening to his parents’ wide-ranging collection of albums – Kraftwerk, Orbital, Fleetwood Mac – and the African sounds his mother discovered during her years in the Peace Corps, profoundly influenced his expansive approach to music making. Appling’s ideas about music are influenced by a degree in psychology but while he was in college, he was also studying music theory. He began revisiting the multi-layered sounds he created on Acid Pro during high school and expanding upon them. Appling has released many collaborative albums with respected artists in his inner circle, such as CloZee, 9 Theory, Cloudchord, Asher Fulero, and most recently with his close friend and touring violinist Lapa.
