Breakout Toronto Bands: Wild Highways
Breakout Toronto Bands features local artists that we think you should give a listen to.
Toronto musician Cody Dyck, a.k.a. Wild Highways, is a former guitarist who is beginning to delve into electronic music production with a pretty satisfying result. His Soundcloud history reads as a clear example of someone who improves with every single track he makes, learning and tweaking as he goes. Monday saw him drop a new track and accompanying video, and two upcoming shows in Toronto only serve to brighten the future of this burgeoning producer.
WHO IS HE?
"Wild Highways is a punk experiment in lifestyle," Cody explains over email. "It's changing all the time. It's modern music I'm making." He explains how he uses the alias to release anything he's working on be it music, film or print.
The desire to experiment and grow is evident in Cody's humble but expanding electronic portfolio. Working the band scene out of Montreal for a long time developed his sensibilities and skill in songwriting, and the new shift towards solo production is already proving fruitful.
WHAT HE SOUNDS LIKE
The only consistency thus far for Wild Highways is the lo-fi sound resonating in each of his releases. Aside from this, his tracks jump around elusively in style and influences, to the point where it is impossible to anticipate what his next creation will sound like.
"Full Metal Jacket" features a heavily-distorted, wavering bass and drum line that lures you into a trance immediately. The reverberating female vocal haunting the track intermittently is indecipherable but carries with it an uneasy and oh-so-perfect throwback to early techno sampling. The monotone lead vocal stays in the flow and slurs a constant stream of off the cuff rhymes. Think the groove of Redman's "Put It Down" meeting Royal Trux's "Inside Game" down a dark alley in industrial London.
The video appears to be edits from VHS recordings of rave footage, interspersed with psychedelic kaleidoscope patterns. Choppy transitions and shaky camera work add to the eerie nature and contrast beautifully with the trance styling.
SEE HIM / HEAR HIM
You can catch Wild Highways tonight at Cinecycle (free beer, apparently) or see him open for Delorean at the Hoxton next Thursday.
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