SHADES

After presenting one of the most anticipated tours of the year with Flying Lotus 3D , cosmic-thinking collective The Operatives present the thundering sounds of electronic collaboration SHADES (Alix Perez and Eprom) in their first joint tour across Australia and New Zealand since 2015, and Eprom’s first Sydney show since he created the globally-acclaimed sound-design for VIVID Sydney in 2018.

Working with visual artist Jonathan Zawada and multi-instrumentalist Air Max ‘97, the UK producer created the sound in a technicolour and bass-meets-techno kaleidoscope that transformed the sails of the Opera House. In addition to Melbourne’s special Espionage at the Substation, the duo joins mysterious festival HIDDEN alongside A$AP Ferg, Injury Reserve, and Sydney crew Triple One. From their respective studios in Portland, United States and London, United Kingdom, Eprom and Alix Perez make bone-crushing experimental bass music as SHADES.

First connecting in Los Angeles while in town to make beats for Foreign Beggars, it became apparent that they had much more in common than a mutual appreciation for vintage horror movies — they experimented with modular synths and late nights to create more radical sounds than they were able with their own music. Since then, SHADES have toured the globe, creating a cult-status collection of EPs and counting among their fans Flume, Amon Tobin, Claude Von Stroke and Noisia.