Valley Of The Seven Stars

Jasarevic’s love of music began from an early age, from him fixated to the radio to rooting through his sister’s cassette tape collection filled with American jazz, soul and funk. At the age of 13, he found himself glued to the computer as he started making beats from his bedroom and it wasn’t long before he discovered the power of the internet and the endless possibilities of file sharing.

Developing his skills over the years and the continual use of online sharing enabled Jasarevic to build a strong online presence extending as far as America.

Already with a label and agent on board, when Jasarevic landed in the US in 2008 he was welcomed with open arms as his career was set to take off. Professionally assuming the moniker Gramatik and releasing his debut album “Expedition 44” later that year filled with pure hip-hop beats it remained in Top 100 Chill Out charts for six months. In 2009 he signed with Pretty Lights Music, a label synonymous with the digital freedom philosophy and in 2012 released an EP simply titled “#digitalfreedom” a passionate subject for Gramatik who was able to build career through freedom of file-sharing.

Without specifically boxing himself into one genre, Gramtik has successfully transitioned through crossover as he experiments both with his production and live performances. With nominations for “Best Chill Out Artist” and “Best Chill Out Track” at 2010 and 2012’s Beatport Music Awards and a string of accolades, this musician has come a long way from his humble beginnings in Slovenia. Racking up over 100,000 sales on Beatport and topping charts on HypeMachine has guaranteed Gramatik’s position as a top class producer.

No matter how many Skrillex records they might claim to like, never trust a rock fan who thinks that EDM artists are intrinsically less musically talented than any other kind of artist. The easy joke to make seems to be that all an electronica artist has to do to make music is push a space bar and sample other records. However, what they don’t know is that the best EDM producers are nearly always the ones who can play every instrument under the sun and have an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of music theory. These folks are far more common than one might think, with Grant Kwiecinski, A.K.A GRiZ being one of the best in a very long line of them.

Like many of these producers, Kwiecinski was classically trained from a young age. Unlike many others, he was classically trained as a saxophonist, an alto one to be precise. However, his aspirations changed dramatically when he was around 14, with the combination of discovering the likes of Squarepusher and Aphex Twin, and getting his first copy of the music software Fruity Loops. His calling shifted from the concert hall to the club, and he set about combining every influence he had, from the jazz and funk he’d play on his sax to his newfound love of EDM.

By 2011 he’d put out his first album, “End Of The World Party” and with his energetic live show that combines live sax, guitar and vocals with laptop backing tracks, he became a riotous festival mainstay. Coachella, Electric Forest and Lollapalooza have all seen him play to packed out tents full of revellers and the party is just getting bigger. His subsequent albums “Mad Liberation” and “Rebel Era” were both released for free on the internet, and because of that he’s playing to a bigger audience than anyone else at his level has ever been able to play to.

He’s an artist carving out his own path and making his own history with every release and every live show, and he’s only 24 years old. GRiZ in his prime is going to be an absolutely astounding sight and sound, and we should all be around to see it. Highly recommended.