· By Mattias Forsgren
KUADRA team up with Zardonic and INHUMAN for a remix of SANTINO Released February 9 on Icons Creating Evil Art
Santino was a male chimpanzee held at Furuvik Zoo in Sweden, who became popular because he used to attack visitors who approached him, using stones he hid hours before, thus demonstrating his ability to think ahead. In December 2022, he was killed after escaping from his enclosure. For us, he is now a symbol of freedom and struggle, which prompts us to reflect on the human condition and question the Western cultural paradigm. Those 'fuck you' (Fanculo) we repeat endlessly are his stones."
Kuadra is an Italian dark rap band from Vigevano. Since their formation in 2006, they have released four studio albums and toured extensively all across Italy and Europe. Their shows are characterized, both visually and sonically, by overwhelming seismic performances. Their lyrics speak of the disorientation caused by the society of control and hyper-digitalisation, of a sense of rejection of surveillance capitalism, of hatred and utopia. They are laser blasphemies aimed at eye level. In June 2023, they signed a contract with the Stockholm-based label Icons Creating Evil Art. The title of their new six-track EP is DISCODURO, a distortion of ‘disco d’oro’ (‘gold disc’) which is also the literal translation of ‘hard-disk’, a symbol of memory in this digital age.
Band Members
Yuri La Cava: Vocals, Lyrics
Emanuele Savino: Guitar
Van Minh Nguyen: Drums
Simone Matteo Tiraboschi: Bass
Kuadra just released their latest album "DISCODURO" to wide acclaim; with features and reviews in Rumore, Rock Hard Italy and more. The band also had a bold marketing approach where they used laser projectors that illuminated the names of their singles in iconic locations, providing a unique visual experience. Remixes and collaborations/features will be used to release versions of the singles from the EP, cross-promoting Kuadra's music to other artists' fans and followers on social media and DSPs. The first one is now ready and is a collaborative effort between the dark drum n' bass producer Zardonic and the masked German producer INHUMAN remixing SANTINO.
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The clash of disparate elements activates innovation, and every generation brings us timeless figures who accidentally spark a new revolutionary sound within the music world. Chuck Berry mixed jazz, blues, gospel and country music to create Rock N Roll. A few decades later, Ozzy Osbourne turned up the gain to create Heavy Metal. And since the early 2000s, Federico Ágreda Álvarez, the masked performer known to the world as DJ and producer Zardonic, has harnessed the power of the nexus between Drum & Bass and Heavy Metal to create the sound that is now known as Metal & Bass.
Born and raised in Venezuela, inspired by America, and based in Germany with a passport book stamped into oblivion, he also represents a union of cultures. Following a prolific string of releases, remixes for Pop Evil, Fear Factory, Bullet For My Valentine and Sonic Syndicate, video game soundtracks for Superhot: Mind Control Delete and Redout 2, plus features on All Elite Wrestling, TNT and NBC Sports, packed shows on multiple continents, and 100 million-plus streams, he realized the power and potential of his vision like never before on his 2023 full-length offering Superstars [MNRK HEAVY].
“I’m blessed enough to be able to do what I love the most, and that is Music. Music is my own form of self-healing. It allows me to float above the darkness. Maybe, it will do the same for you.”
INHUMAN is the new vision of the mind behind "Code: Pandorum" is a character telling the stories of a dystopian future. Blending analog and digital production as well as elements of different genres he manages to create a never heard soundscape that immediately vaults the listener into a movie-like experience.