v394 “Heat”
v394 is a Mexican songwriter and producer raised on Santa Catalina Island. Despite having severe hearing impairments, v394 studied music at Stanford University and received a Stanford Arts Grant to create an audiovisual album. His work was featured at Cantor Arts Center. In 2019, he won a live, 1-hour remix competition hosted by Native Instruments at MUTEK.
v394 has an unconventional sonic palette, blending electronic pop, hip hop, future bass, and EDM with a gaze of psychedelic. “Heat” has an otherworldliness within its abstract, instant visualizations of sonic effects.
Flashing neon sound strips send out an urgent warning sign. The growling bass and setting-ff alarms are creeping from underneath, while the synth-coiled vocals remain a distance. Inside a nostalgic, dazzling swirl, earth-shattering drums are the unshakeable statement.
The intensified contrasts in “Heat” reflect our current reality with climate change. “Heat” tackles climate change complacency and how the situation can seem dire and distant at the same time. v394 describes the track as an audio version of the movie Don’t Look Up (2021) but slightly more subtle.
