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Why An Alternative Remix Contest?

March 28th, 2011

A little more context and info on our most recent remix contest, [Y]Our Music Contest, where we took a different approach. In stead of asking for a normal remix, we asked contestants to break the rules. We gave them some examples on how to go beyond the traditional boundaries: adding new lyrics, change the melody, change the genre or sing it themselves.

Why?
The reason behind this approach lies withing our own process of remixing. When we feel we can add something more to a song, we don’t stop at the traditional boundaries. If we feel like doing a “cover”, we do (ref: Freakangel), if we feel like re-recording the vocals, we do (ref: Diskonnekted, Leaether Strip). Others, like Leaether Strip, Implant and IC 434 have treated Psy’Aviah songs the same way in the past.

We feel the songs that come out of this process are sometimes more authentic to the remixer’s sound. It’s that vibe we want to capture.

Disadvantages?
While some argue that this approach is harder, we say it isn’t. It might be more time-consuming and when you can’t sing, it might prove more searchwork to find other creative solutions. But harder, in essence, no. It’s still remixing, but with an extra dimension.

Examples
We haven’t done any research if this has been done before. But as far as we know, it’s not at all common to do so. We do hope however that this approach will be adapted, because of the reasons described above.

As an example of how these contests can have a truly unpredictable outcome,, here’s the winner of our contest plus the original track to compare. (Note that they really thought out of the box and also recored a video clip! Amazing :-)!)

Psy’Aviah “Something Evil” (Original)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfVsvjOww4c

Psy’Aviah “Something Evil” (as performed by Chaos All Stars feat. Mona Rakouchi)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itooBkRxmA8

Grtzz
- Yves for Psy’Aviah