Any fan of eclectic, varied bass music will have noticed a recent surge of quality tracks boasting an [INQ015] tag in recent weeks. First came AiDO‘s bouncy yet gritty ‘Primera L’una,’ which was followed by solid outings from Turo, brandroid and CallMe. Then, bd hbt x LAF‘s guttural ‘Drought’ shook us to our core before we had the honour of introducing Shy Melon to the world earlier last week. Today, we are ecstatic to premiere the full Inquiry: Distorted compilation which features three additional tracks from heavy-hitters snuffy, Saka, and Psymatik & Keerd.
We also had the opportunity to catch up with Inquiry Collective co-founder Sam Leggett, aka Shy Melon, to discuss the origins and goals of the project. “Though we began meeting before this, I think Inquiry Collective really materialized after our first desert gathering that we called New Moon (this party eventually became named Curiosity) in September of 2016. I had been living in a musical household with many of our founders and went to a party called Moontribe. It was so inspiring to see how powerful a well-cultivated community of musical weirdos can be, and we felt that we should formalize our musically-driven friend group with a name and a party. Inquiry is about curious, participatory people coming together to share art and celebrate our community. We have always been about our community (a community that began with a manually-built email list of friends) and representing the musical underground in all of its eccentricities, regardless of the genre. We’ve had parties with house, techno, breakbeat and drum and bass all played at the same club event. It doesn’t matter to us as long as it is a sincere expression of the musician’s artistry and lends itself to our community’s underground musical taste. This is our place to express our weirdness with other weirdos, and hopefully acquire some other weirdos along the way.”
With a couple of handfuls of tracks from members and friends of the team, Inquiry: Distorted highlights the heavier side of the collective, including everything from halftime to experimental trap. Every artist contributes a unique piece to the heterogeneous compilation, yet all of the works come together to form a cohesive listening experience. From the texture-filled ‘Exodus’ from FUXWITHIT favourite Saka to the trance-inducing drum & bass from Psymatik & Keerd, Inquiry: Distorted features something for everyone. Don’t miss it below!
