Philly duo Wax Future (Connor Hansell, Keith Wadsworth) and Beard-o-Bees (Jesse Miller of Lotus, Octave Cat) have teamed up on BeesWax, a four-track EP combining the modular and digital. On one side, the psychedelic, jam synth aesthetic most potent in the work of Lotus finds itself impeccably in the driving electro hip-hop soul sound of Wax Future.

These guys take nerding out to the next level with a combination of vintage synths, guitar riffing, and dense, heavy-hitting beat production. Their convergence is also an interesting story and speaks to how simple, yet profound moments hide behind every corner of our everyday:

“I met Connor and Keith when we played a show together last year ... I helped Connor get started building a modular synth rack. That introduction led to this recording project as we found our production styles complimented each other. I usually lean more toward house and techno tempos with Beard-o-Bees so it was a nice change of pace to bring my approach to funk and hip-hop grooves.”

For a group who have gone from being hosted by Lotus at their annual festival Summerdance to making an EP with one of the renowned group's members, we perhaps witness an omen of what's in store for this Philly-based funktronica duo. So far, the EP's name "BeesWax", born of the respective group names, tells me it's a solid fit.

“Working with Jesse on this record was a fun and enlightening experience...He has a lot of dope analog gear in his studio so the record is packed with modular synths, tape delays and vintage effects. It adds up to a funky-psychedelic journey slapped with our Wax Future hip-hop goodness. We are really stoked to release this into the wild."

Stream BeesWax on Spotify below:

posted by Mike
August 2019