Technicolor Lenses

Technicolor Lenses is a progressive music project that manifested from the fusion of Sam Ecstein and Jackson T. Wylan (Ty), two musical wizards of Brooklyn NY, whose talents have risen out of their attentive hold on expressing mystic insight derived from hearty experience. After being acquainted for a very short amount of time, it became apparent that the fusion of their musical talents would be the genesis of a sound unique to its time and place. A sound which they describe as:
We combine original hip-hop, electronic/dub-step, psychedelic rock, jam, funk, as well as spoken word that provides conscious social commentary on the current state of our existence. Our live performance has the high energy of a hip hop or electronic set with a unique instrumental element.
A statement articulated with an eloquence that only could be written by a member of the prolific Technicolor Lenses. After quickly finding their niche among the music community, TL performed at The Big Up festival in Ghent, NY last year, and will be returning again to SunnyView Farm main stage July 28th – 30th. The guys gave us a chance to sit down and pick their brains for a little while on what gears make Technicolor Lenses tick. This is what they said:

Sound Forecast – Give us an idea of each of your musical backgrounds.
Ty – Growing up in a community that emphasized the artistic creativity of the youth, I found my favored medium of expression in rapping. I grew up with the guys who are now known as Higher Organix, rapping over their songs. After I discovered that I had some talent with it, it became a productive outlet for me to channel stress. Through this my ability to write lyrics evolved and I began using it as a way to promote positive energy. When I was teenager I was given the opportunity to express my personal feelings about world peace at a United Nations youth convention which made me realize that music is the perfect mode of creativity to direct my output. After becoming aware of the power of music I became more involved in the musical community around Massachusetts, and then proceeded to move in to Brooklyn where I met Sam.
Sam – Growing up I had been exposed to a multitude of people who played instruments, my dad always played the drums and a few of my friends owned guitars that I would fiddle around on. The first instrument I started playing was the guitar, then I experimented with the bass and drums. During high school my family moved to japan where I met with a group of friends who I would eventually go on to form a band with. After growing up around many diverse forms of music I felt the natural inclination to begin expressing myself to like-minded people in the musical community. I then met Ty and we found an equilibrium between both of our musical talents that catalyzed Technicolor Lenses.
SF – So you guys played at the first Big Up in 2010, give us an idea of what your experience was there and what you can expect 2011 to be like alongside acts such as Higher Organix, EOTO, Big Gigantic, OTT, Tipper, and Papdosio?
Ty – The experience at 2010 Big Up was special to us in a lot of ways, SunnyView Farm is a great venue for an intimate festival with positive vibes that really made us feel at home alongside musical talent similar to ours. Being able to share the same stage of the artists who inspire and influence me as an artist was an amazing experience in itself, let alone being able to perform my music to a community such as the Big Up.
Sam – Yeah, I don’t know many other festivals that support the intimate opportunity to communicate with the people who are driven to attend the festival for the same reasons we are. The experience was unique and I’m looking forward to doing it again this summer.
SF – What type of equipment do you guys use?
Ty – We just recently acquired the full version of Ableton Live, which we just created our most recent track “Communal Human Harmony” on. We produce our beats using a MIDI keyboard and Launchpads with Ableton Live, Sam reps the electric guitar while we’re performing live, and I rock the Microphone.
SF – Take us through the production of a track.
Ty – There isn’t really any specific routine that we exercise to create a track, you know that kind of prevents you from doing that. Usually we’ll start with something simple, a little riff from Sam on the guitar, or a verse of lyrics I’ve come up with. In our most recent track ‘Communal Human Harmony’ I used an Incan melody from a group of recordings that I came across while I was in Peru about a year ago. The lyrics “Standing at the face of a mountain, lifting us up” are reflective of my experience while I was on my journey. We find lots of inspiration from funk and jazz music, which led us to remix a Sam Cooke song.
Sam – Yeah we really tend to focus on a liberating form of production that allows any music that we enjoy to form the foundation of a song. It’s also important to us that we’re focusing on sending a message with our music.
SF – What upcoming gigs do you have and what are your plans for 2011?
Ty – Aside from The Big Up we have a gig going on in MA in June, along with a few shows in Brooklyn. Look out for our new song “God is Sleeping” soon we’re putting the final touches on now. - Sound Forecast