The Institute 91′ brings moments of darkness, joy, fear, and panic together through dark synth, nostalgic sax, and a bit of funk.
We connected with the artist that is The Institute 91′ to learn more about his July 2020 release, Percipience. We learned much more.
The artist told the electroscape “Percipience refers to having a good understanding of things. I think to be able to understand love, you must experience hate. To understand peace and happiness, you must experience moments of suffering, loss, and pain.” The artist went on to say “I feel that only when you fully understand darkness can you truly appreciate the light, which is a bittersweet thing in this world.“
Percipience opens with “Bearing Fruit.” It is dark. It is eerie. It elicits images of stepping inside an empty church carved of stone, a scene painted in gray and black hues, white curtains blowing in and out of glassless windows, all while the organ plays from the balcony above.
“Tombstone” enters with wicked high pitched melodies characteristic of dark synth. Percipience was intentionally written to play like a roller coaster. One moment it is tense, the next moment it joyful.
The Institute 91’ brings nostalgic synth lines, low temp dark synth with a touch of goth, and synth wave together in “Vigilant” and “Go For Broke.”
The intensity ramps up on “Mainframe” and elicits that feeling of playing the part in a scene of sci-fi 80’s film, which persists on “Sever,” featuring digital tones, high pitched dark synth melodies above a meaty bass line, and dramatic transitions into what plays like a psychedelic organ just before lead saxophone envelops your awareness to close out the song.
“High Steppin’” flaunts a future funk flavor fused with nostalgic saxophone, quintessential synthwave bass lines, all alongside dark ambient twists and turns. “Just Like Rome” rides a low tempo beat and dark atmospheric synth that grinds beside high pitched dark synth melodies. The track features a sharp turn into a more intensive bass line that spirals uncontrollably downward to places that cannot be seen.
“Revenant” exerts itself with dark, ominous undertones as the listener hears a frantic voice warn of a series of events that have gone terribly wrong with grave consequences. “Containment” features quick, sharp turns into open spaces, eliciting a feeling of wanting to turn away but having to remain for some time. The beats are erratic in places which add a sense of panic and urgency as a dark synth melody looms.
“Nepja” plays like two parts in a story as drawn out synth melodies and saxaphone exchange lead roles. The saxophone continues into “Mercy” which brings Percipience to a close with a capsule full of synthwave.
The Institute 91’ told the electroscape Percipience was a bit heavy on the dark synth side of the scale and relied heavily on emotion. When we asked the artist how he would describe his style, he said his style simply does not fit within one category of synth. The artist has many influences, which can be heard throughout his albums, including film composers such John Carpenter, Fabio Frizzi, Ennio Morricone, Jan Hammer, and Herbie Hancock, funk and jazz artists such as Grover Washington Jr., Boney James, Parliament Funkadelic, and bands such as Hall and Oates, Peter Gabriel, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Primus, Phil Collins, and Vulfpeck, to name only a few.
The Institute 91’s prior releases all showcase a commingling of styles, often simultaneously within a single song. Hiraeth was The Institute 91’s first full-length LP released in October 2019. Hiraeth elicits strong imagery of a story unfolding and is built around dark synth but also features nostalgic synth lines and synthwave-centric beats. A strong dark wave presence is delivered on “Careful What You Wish For.”
Cairn was released in February 2020 which brilliantly juxtaposes a dark atmosphere against bright overtones. The album features sharp transitions that often elicit different moods despite being separated only moments in time. Cairn melts together what might be conceived as distinct styles into a coherent whole, such as on “Mammoth.”
The Virus was released in March 2020 and from the the very beginning elicits a strong feeling that something has changed in a dark and ominous way. The Virus features energetic dark synth melodies, beats, and bulging bass lines that sometimes play against black, whimsical dark synth leads, such as on “201.”
The artist told the electroscape the The Institute 91’ is a project that grew out of his love for the films of the 80’s and 90’s. The music is inspired by a developing story about about research and development giant that pursues deeds and ideas with questionable intentions. The story is moving toward 1991 and an event known as “The Release” in a metropolitan city during which a large quantity of chemicals will wipe out almost everyone. Nearly all the rest are transformed into biting, clawing, wailing and moaning zombies forcing the few survivors into hiding. One man found a safe haven furnished with food, power, and instruments. He began to write stories in the form of songs of those he knew and loved and those he did not know but hated. Much of the story can be envisioned through the song titles.
The artist told the electroscape The Institute 91’ is a side project. The artist is a guitarist and vocalist for a death metal band, and The Institute 91’ provides another creative outlet to pursue his interest in tunes from the 80’s and 90’s. Some of the first songs for the project feature vocal pieces, often sung in a makeshift studio in the bathroom for the first time on the spot, driven by raw emotion or the mindset of one of the characters in the story about “The Institute.” Many of these songs can be heard on The Institute 91’s self-titled release.
All the songs for The Institute 91’ project have been created on an iPad using GarageBand and two synth apps called Zeeon and Sensual Sax, often at the kitchen table or while sitting on the couch. The artist told the electroscape “It can be hard writing synth leads on a touchscreen virtual keyboard, but these are not really complaints at all as I am very thankful that I have the opportunity and ability to make anything at all. I’d say that anybody with GarageBand and enough determination could definitely write some awesome tracks in just about any genre.”
When we asked the artist what most excites him about the future of The Institute 91, he said “the future is a thing I don’t really think about much because I’m not promised tomorrow. I just make do with what I can today and hopefully at the end of the journey it will have been something worth telling.”
It already is.
The Institute 91′ has launched a YouTube channel with visuals to accompany the music. You can follow The Institute 91’ on SoundCloud, Spotify, and bandcamp.