DJ To Watch: ATTLAS

The notoriously camera-shy ATTLAS has come a long way from the days of writing Lord Of The Ringsesque music for a BBQ sauce commercial (for free). He first came to prominence in November 2014 with the heavily sought after deadmau5 “Aural Psynapse” remix. It caused a tidal wave of speculation that ATTLAS was, in fact, a side project of the mau5 himself.

That speculation ended when he was officially ‘outed’ by Pete Tong, announcing ATTLAS is Jeff Hartford, Canadian producer, DJ, and classically trained musician. An incredible depth of influences from traveling, alongside music, film and art worlds have had a decided effect on his musical outpourings, which were all jazz, classical and guitars until trips to Amsterdam, Berlin and attending the homecoming ‘Meowington Hax’ 2k11 tour. As Jeff says himself, “From there, it was a musical attempt to synthesize my influences and aspirations as best as I could.” But not content to fit the mold or cracking a ‘sound’ to repeat ever after, as anyone who’s followed him can attest to.

And boy has he been busy ever since. Three six-track EP releases, a number of stand-alone singles alongside a slew of high profile and wide-ranging mixes have subsequently followed. Louis The Child, Tove Lo, Aphex Twin and Rihanna’s “BBHMM” have all had the ATTLAS touch, with BBHMM voted 2nd best remix of 2015 (Billboard).

Some of the biggest names in the game have happily shared the stage with him, supporting the likes of Nero, Zed’s Dead, Alison Wonderland and finally ended up joining Deadmau5 himself for back to back sets and writing sessions on the North American Mau5hax Bus Tour.

His most recent release “Charcoal Halo” this year has set the tone for what’s to follow. It’s a brooding 6-track EP with effervescent synths and melodies that whisks us away. From his resume and works like this, it’s safe to say this DJ to Watch won’t stay unknown for long.