Sonic Space Lab album release 'Cycles'
Luis Rodriguez is a Venezuelan composer and sound engineer based in Dunedin, New Zealand since 2015. He has been releasing music as Sonic Space Lab since 2018 and his new album Cycles is out today.
After releasing two EPs Changing Times (2018) and Up in the Air (2020), producing music for a couple of documentaries and local artists, and also working with his band Tomahawk Radio, Luis spent between July 2021 and March 2022 writing and recording Cycles, where he dives completely into electronic music.
Cycles is Luis’ attempt to express the ups and downs that we all face in life. As he explains “This music was written and recorded while my girlfriend and I were going through very difficult times because of the pandemic... we needed music that would be an escape and in a way reassure us that things were going to be ok in the end.”
The first track released from the album was “Coming Out On The Other Side” which received a 5 out of 5 stars review on Muzic.net.nz. where Luis’ work was described as “... this is the work of someone who isn’t afraid to experiment … to create different atmospheres, and simply knows what sounds fun, pleasant, and gets people moving.”
The album features 10 tracks filled with the sound of electronic and acoustic instruments like the Venezuelan Cuatro, the Guiro and Hand Claps recorded inside stone structures during a trip to “The Sacred Valley of the Incas” in the Andes of Peru.
“Latin music has this thing where although the music sounds quite upbeat and happy, the lyrics can also address social issues and injustice,” says Luis “so for me it was very important that this music would have some of that feel underneath as well”.
Luis wrote, recorded, engineered and produced the album at his Sonic Space Lab studio in Dunedin. About the process, he explains “I’d just sit on the piano and record ideas on my phone, then I’d just create the beats and play on top of those...sometimes I’d spend days working on a particular sound, texture, bass line or melody until I’d get it right. I wasn’t thinking about partying, it was mainly transforming these feelings of sadness and distress into something positive” he says “...but if there’s people that would like to experience this music being played live, I’d love to share it with them and enjoy it together”.
“I hope this music can help other people”, Luis reflects “I wish it can give people hope and help them overcome these difficult times we have been living in recent years…maybe make them feel that they're not alone, that we're all in this together and that hopefully things will be better.”
Cycles is now available on all streaming platforms. Listen here. To hear more from Sonic Space Lab, head over to the Songbroker Search Engine.
