Ottawa-Based DJ Duo Audiation are Taking the EDM Industry by Storm
Every now and again music enthusiasts can come across a truly groundbreaking artist that can completely captivate your attention with their distinct sound and for being remarkably genuine. Their particular qualities flow beautifully through their pieces leaving fans wanting more and more. Recently I have stumbled upon two up-and-coming Ottawa locals, Trevor and Braydon, that form the soon-to-be legendary Audiation. They have been kind enough to have taken a moment out of their extremely busy schedules, from headlining massive stages such as Escapade Music Festival and ÎleSoniq to working on their new EPs that are guaranteed to get you moving, to take the time to discuss their future aspirations, describing their craziest fan, winning incredible opportunities and much more with their audience. I couldn’t be more proud to write this article as I officially introduce these incredible human beings and more importantly, captivating producers to the world.
The Ottawa electronic dance music scene is blossoming with outstanding local artists such as Sheridan Grout and KHAØS. Sheridan has been thriving with his stunning trance releases in which the iconic Armin van Buuren has taken a special interest in as he has featured several of the Canadian DJ’s tracks on his massive label A State of Trance. The energetic Khaos has also been gaining recognition as she has headlined some large stages, notably this year, such as Beachclub, Escapade Music Festival, Riverside Festival and that’s just to name a few. As the talented individuals continue to climb the EDM ladder of success, there have been two locals that have really been standing out over the past few months: Audiation. There doesn’t seem to be anything stopping them from dominating more upcoming events as they continue to prove why they truly belong in this industry.
First things first, how did you two meet?
Braydon and I have been friends since grade 9! Braydon used to send me his music and I (with little to no music knowledge) would give him my unprofessional reviews. (Fun fact: I had to convince Braydon for months to actually give bass music a shot…you’re welcome world) -Trevor
Why did you decide to start DJing?
Throughout high school I used to do all the lighting and sound work for the school assembly’s and musicals. It was a much less glamorous job than what we do now. In my first year of university our friend Chris (DJ Razz) lived down the hall from me and he actually introduced me to DJing. I saw DJing as a fun way for me to use what I already knew, and put on an even more entertaining experience for people. Moving from backstage to front stage has been extremely rewarding. -Trevor
I have no real interest in DJing! We have a live set-up that’s in the works that will see me perform more like my live remix videos alongside Trev DJing, but as it stands I’m mostly just a workplace hazard on stage for Trevor. -Braydon
Describe your craziest fan
This will sound cheesy… but I always try to considering everyone our friends, rather than fans. We do our best to connect with everyone who comes to our shows, even if we’ve never met them before. That being said…there are some wild ones. We’ve had fans sneak into festivals to see us, drive 2 hours to catch our opening sets, and we have friends who refuse to miss a show. Our “fans” are the best. -Trevor
Who would be your dream collaboration?
I’d love to produce on a Drake album. Or maybe make a song with Just Blaze (in the vane of the track he did with Baauer). Anyone who has inspired me or I’ve modeled my sound off of I’d love to sit down in the studio with and make something cool with. I think me and Skrillex could make a dope DnB track too. -Braydon
I would love for us to do a track with Skrillex. He’s a legend and the original inspiration to me, and on top of that he can produce almost anything. I would be very interested to see where that could go. I would love to play a b2b with a lot of artists, but I think playing with NGHTMRE would be really cool, he has so much energy on stage. -Trevor
How did you win the opportunity to play Escapade?
Escapade was a fun but stressful experience. To keep it brief, we had to submit a 30 minute mix demonstrating our style and how we would perform at the festival. After submitting the mix, we had to hustle for votes from pretty much everyone we knew (and then some). It was a grind to say the least, Braydon’s caffeine intake definitely hit some unhealthy levels. -Trevor
Funny enough Escapade was the first show we ever played together as Audiation. -Braydon
How did you win the chance to play at ÎleSoniq?
We had to remix a track for Ghastly and once again hustle ourselves for votes. I think Braydon hated me for a bit when I wouldn’t leave him alone about making the remix, but it was worth it in the end. -Trevor
Finished it. Uploaded. Campaigned. Won. Threw down on the main stage. Opened a mosh pit. And had the absolutely time of our lives. Huge shout out to ÎleSoniq, Wavo and Evenko. They treated us like headliners even though we were an opening act and their artist relations crew was absolutely amazing. Can’t say enough good things about that festival, company and the city of Montreal. -Braydon
Who is your number one supporter?
I think the crown there has to go to my girlfriend Sophie. She refuses to miss a show and the few times she has had to have been devastating to her. Aside from Soph, my parents have been really big supporters of this dream; although they’re still staying on me about finishing school. -Trevor
What has been the most memorable moment for you?
It’s so hard to pick….everything has been incredible. Meeting people who love our music and love our show has been great, seeing our friends and family rally around us to help us reach our goals has been amazing, and of course travelling and sharing the stage with some legendary acts, getting to live out our dreams has been nothing short of incredible. -Trevor
It’s hard to pick one moment. But I think winning the first invitational to play Escapade Music Festival is probably the most “memorable”. It was the spark that set everything off and started moving the Audiation project forward. It gave us the platform to be a “real act” and not just bedroom artists. Shout-out to DNA Presents and Escapade Music Festival by the way. They’re some great people over there. -Braydon
How would you describe your sound?
Our live shows, albums, remixes kind of all diverge in sound. I have a huge fear of being boxed into a corner as an [Insert Genre] artist. That being the case, I kind of take different approaches to different things. Our albums are all telling a story, across genres. It’s like a big painting or puzzle that I’m trying to connect together sonically. With remixes I always want to go in and make the most lit (as the kids say) interpretation of a song possible. I never really touch a song unless I feel like I can make better than the original and something that will hopefully spread like wildfire. Our shows, for the most part, are strictly dubstep and Trev has full control over the sets and track order. -Braydon
It’s hard to put a hard label on Audiation’s sound, actually it’s almost impossible. In our albums you experience a story told through a lot of different genres – we hit a lot of different sounds. In our live shows the base is always dubstep. I always try to plan our sets to bring as much energy as possible and make things exciting for the audience. I love mixing in hip hop to break things up and keep people on their toes. The only concrete thing I can say about Audiation’s sound is that we will always keep you guessing. -Trevor
What are some of your upcoming projects?
We have another album coming in the next couple months (if I can convince Braydon to hold off from releasing it tomorrow). On the mixing side we’re working on doing another few guest mixes in the fall, revisiting some of the radio shows that have really supported us and trying to incorporate some different styles. I’m really excited for those. -Trevor
Soooooooooo many that I can’t keep up with. Our second LP ‘Already Gone‘ is more or less finished. We did a remix for Juno-Nominated Composer T Patrick Carrabre that will be on his upcoming album (which has been a project that has never made me sweat more in my life), we have a collab album in the works with all our friends that will hopefully come out before the end of 2017 – if not early 2018. I’m working with a bunch of singers and rappers right now on their albums as well. I’m working with a lot of cool YouTubers too on original music for their vlogs. There’s a bunch of other stuff I can’t talk about right now, but it’s all super exciting and I can’t wait to share it. -Braydon
Anything else that you’d like to share?
‘Already Gone’ will be our second full length album to drop in 6 months and is the last part of a trilogy.
Right now, there is no place I’d rather play than a sold out show in our hometown of Kingston, Ontario. We’ve never had a “real” show there. The last time we played, Audiation wasn’t even a thing and we almost got thrown off stage for playing dubstep. I just want one, real show, in my home town and then I’ll shoot for those dream stages. -Braydon
It’s been a long time goal of mine to be able to perform for people and give them the same experience that I feel when I’m at a show. Every time that we take the stage we get to do just that. I think that I speak for us both when I say we need to give insane amounts of thanks to everyone who has helped us get this far. The past year has been crazy, I can’t wait to see what this one brings. -Trevor
