- Cardopusher and his alter ego Safety Trance go head-to-head for an hour of rave pyrotechnics and Latin club.
- Name a genre, and you can bet that Luis Garban has tried his hand at it once or twice. Once a staple of the mid-'00s IDM and breakcore scene—think Tigerbeat6—as Cardopusher, Garban found a temporary home in the dubstep scene afterwards, before shooting off in what felt like a million directions. He might be the only artist to release on both Hyperdub and Boysnoize Records. He makes music that can sound like the future or the past, sometimes both at once, and the Venezuelan-born, Spain-based producer's name is shorthand for musical adventurism and variety.
Last year, things got even wilder with the debut of Safety Trance, a new alias that explores pan-Latin club music, with a focus on collaboration and shorter, structured songs. (Artists he's worked with include Arca, Iceboy Violet and Virgen Maria.) It's some of the best and most creative work of his career, riding a larger Latin techno wave producing some of the best music around these days.
If that weren't enough, returning to Cardopusher, Garban has a career-best EP on the way for EVAR Records, pulling together the various strands of the project into a multi-genre, Gen-Z-friendly raveathon. Loaded with original tracks from both projects, RA Podcast could be billed as Cardopusher vs. Safety Trance, with highlights coming from Atari Teenage Riot, VTSS and Venetian Snares, which should give you an idea for the kind of controlled chaos you're in for with this one.
What have you been up to recently?
2022 was a special year for me because I started to put out music under my new alias Safety Trance, also in recent times got the chance to collaborate with great artists I really respect like Arca, Rosalía, Virgen María, Brodinski, Yung Beef, Florentino and many more. I have spent also lot of time in the studio producing for other artists and traveling quite a bit.
How and where was this mix recorded? and can you tell us the idea behind it?
The mix was recorded at my home studio in Barcelona using an old Traktor setup + Ableton for editing and extras. I just simply wanted to showcase some of the stuff I'm into it right now that also fits with both of my projects. Going through different genres and exploring ways of connecting them.
Why did you start the new project, Safety Trance, and keep it separate from Cardopusher? What makes the two projects different, or how do you decide which tracks go to which project?
I started Safety Trance because I wanted to have freedom and explore other territories that you don't normally associate with club 4/4 techno, EBM, acid, industrial or any other genre I've worked with before. With Cardopusher I've been basically working on my own for a long time doing underground club tools, rarely collaborating with other artists. Safety Trance is the opposite, it's a new project with modern influences that is very open to collaborations in song format (Cardopusher is normally more DJ-oriented long songs). Deciding which tracks go to one or another project has also been an interesting process because both projects blur the lines between each other, but I'm trying to keep Cardopusher for more dance stuff and Safety Trance for what it is known so far, and obviously open to new things.
You've been making dance music for a long time. Do you feel like trends are finally catching up to your style, or how do you view the kind of music you make in light of the global techno scene?
I'm not sure if trends are finally catching up my style, I think the current state of electronic music and younger generations are not afraid of liking different kinds of music which is something I've been fighting for a long time. It's 2023, things evolve, I think the global techno scene is finally taking notes on this and it's trying to be more open to explore new things.
What's one social or political cause you want the world to pay attention to?
Mental health.
What's one club or party that had a major impact on you as an artist?
Hard to pick one, but definitely one of my favourite parties was the Rephlex Records night in Barcelona in 2010 with Aphex Twin, DMX Krew, Luke Vibert and DJ Rephlex Records. My interest in electronic music began with IDM and Braindance, and seeing them for the first time together in the same lineup was mind-blowing—pure, advanced music.
What are you looking forward in the near future?
My first EP of the year, Immaculate Poison, as Cardopusher is coming out on February 3rd on LA's EVAR Records. I'm looking forward for people to listen to it. I'm also pretty busy right now working on Safety Trance stuff, doing remixes, more collaborations, tracks for VAs. You can expect regular music and a few surprises from me this year.
TracklistSafety Trance - 100 Dólares Mas
DJ Jean Esperaza - El Choque
Safety Trance - Cuando Suena El Dembow
Cardopusher - X-tended Reality
Safety Trance - Xtassy2
Safety Trance - Paraiso Infernal
Atari Teenage Riot - Start The Riot!
DJ Sustancia - Sucio & Duro (demo) feat. Sassyggirl & El Plvybxy
Tera Octe - Bulletproof
Safety Trance - Ratatata (ft. Virgen Maria)
Arca x Safety Trance x Rosalía - Saoko/Rakata (Namyu mashup)
[KRTM] & Tripped - Heckler
Half Mortal - Reptilian Dismay
Safety Trance x Brodinski - Filling The Void
MC VK da VS - Chapada E Maluca (DJ HS Beat)
Cardopusher - Environmental Product
HARDCOREPARY - RAUW & BB X YA1000
Boys Noize - LVLY
Rikhter - 9k72
VTSS - Incredibly Annoying
Cardopusher - Delusions
DJ Valentimes - Replicant
DJ Angst - Nocturnal Journey
Safety Trance - Besos De Fuego
Venetian Snares - Choprite
Cardopusher - S.I.N.P.I.J.A.M.A.
Alice Gas - Immaterial (Gassed Up Mix)