Music Spotlight - aivi & surasshu
After singing the praises of Snowdrop Festival and Infloresce Records yesterday, it only makes sense that I should hand out some more flowers to some of the people behind not only those efforts, but some of my personal favourite music albums.
aivi & surasshu are a duo of music composers and production artists who specialize in digital fusion, known for their one-of-a-kind blend of piano and electronic instrumentals. Maybe considered an unlikely pair of soundscapes to many, you'd never know it from listening to one of aivi & surasshu's tracks. They have an immense talent for layering bright and elegant piano melodies together so naturally with dynamic electronic sounds, which often conjure up the liveliness of chiptune, tracker-based music, video games, and more. Their debut in 2013 with The Black Box remains an innovative album that became many people's beloved introduction, including mine, to the style of music that has come to be known as digital fusion. They would go on to score the iconic queer masterpiece and children's TV series Steven Universe series for Cartoon Network, bringing opportunities to enjoy their music to even wider audiences of people. Also, this powerhouse duo of musicians happen to be married to each other, so they are truly embodying the definition of "power couple", one might say!
Like plenty of others, The Black Box is definitely one of my most-listened to albums, and never leaves my personal rotation. As a whole, their sound was unlike any other I'd ever heard. I remember being blown away by the energetic momentum in their cover of "Lonely Rolling Star (Missing You)" and finding the bonus track "Mabe Village" to be another utterly charming homage. Then there are the gentler pieces, like "Mika", which offer a quietly serene and more intimate emotional embrace around your feelings. Around the time I learned about aivi & surasshu's music, I had also been pretty deep into a big electro swing phase, as well — so it only makes sense that the jazzy feel and head-bopping beat of their track "Here's How!" became one of my absolute favourites.
So I couldn't believe my luck when a friend and I got the chance to attend an aivi & surasshu performance and I witnessed them perform that exact track live! It was a great show overall, including some audience sing-alongs to "Love Like You" and other Steven Universe tracks. Many years later, the signed aivi & surasshu postcard I got to take home from that show, alongside their kindness in generously taking the time to chat with us and many other excited fans right after their show, remains a warm and fond memory. An accompanying, silly memory is that I remember sharing with them how excited I was to hear "Here's How!" come up in their setlist, and that I'd also wondered if that track or their cover of "Lonely Rolling Star" would make an appearance — and I think I recall surasshu humorously mentioning that song being really difficult to play live! Either way, I really was just glad to hear all the music that they decided to play regardless.
Even more years after that, it was a joy when I was able to actively anticipate, alongside other fellow fans of their music, the release of their second album Meanwhile. And with 10 years between its release and their debut, what a wonderful and worthy follow-up it was! I love that the album is exactly about that, a reflection about all the time and growth between. Tracks like "Periphery" and "Slice of Love" are two songs that definitely evoke that feeling in me, musing about the people we were, the people we could be, who we are now, and the distances near and far between it all.
aivi & surasshu are incredible artists with an abundance of creativity and talent, and it is apparent they put so much care into what they do — which also includes uplifting and supporting community around them. Witnessing their involvement with the digital fusion community of musicians and efforts like Aivi's founding of the Infloresce Records label for digital fusion music, it feels like they have so much love for the craft and for the act of welcoming and sharing it with others. I have so much appreciation for what they do, and hope to continue enjoying and being inspired by all the love they put into it!