And here is the Terminal Nexus, Polyatomic’s 12inch Expedition Of Joy Mix.
This track has an interesting history. Early 2014, I was asked if I would be interested in doing a remix of a track for the upcoming album by Drake Jensen, Retro. The song was a going to be a Duran Duran of a song that was not quite released by the band but was on a fan made b-side compilation.
Absolutely! It daunted me, but the person who approached me thought I would do a bang up job. What did I have to lose?
Around Mid 2014 I received the vocal stems and a demo. I listened to that track for days, obsessing over details within the track. My vision – turn it into a 90s dance anthem that would work during, say, a Pride event.
It took a while for everything to click for the remix. I found chords that worked using my Korg Kronos X. I wanted to use the new Roland SH-101 plug-out that was made available for the Roland System 1. I had a vision.
Interesting, the first version that I started writing sounded way too dark. I had these Blade Runner-like sounds all over the track that did not fit in with the track. More on this later.
I had a sketch, and then I was stuck for sounds. What do I use, how do I build this up to be an epic dance track from being country and rock?
Scott and our friend Nico listened asI sat in the living room, laptop hooked up to our sound system throwing sounds at the track. It started to sound amazing! I had an epiphany around how sounds can be combined together and I had the basis for the track.
I then had to figure out, how do I take the vocals from 105-106 bpm to 125 bpm? Not as hard as it sounds with Logic Pro X, definitely meticulous.
About a month or two later, I went up to Ottawa to present the remix. Drake and his partner Michael had an idea that I was doing a remix, but they weren’t 100% sure. I said, “Hey, I have a track for you to listen to that I want your opinion on.”
They were gobsmacked as I was shaking, hoping for their approval. That first remix, in full, comprises the bulk of the “Polyatomic’s 12inch Expedition Of Joy Mix”. It was certainly a more accessible mix.
But what about this 7 minute plus piece of music? Remember those Blade Runner-like sounds I mentioned? I saw down and thought, “Hey, I really want to kick this up, make it a stomper.”
Enter what would have been a 2 to 3-minute intro to the 12in mix that really takes you on a journey. An epic journey, expedition of joy as I call it.
The track was not released on Retro, mainly because we were asked not to release any version of the track. It’s possible that Duran Duran could release the track in the future. Fair enough and I can appreciate that.
Still, this is a piece of music that needed to be released in some way as it’s too good to be kept locked down. Terminal Nexus is the result.
I travel a lot between Toronto, Portland and Dallas for work over the past 4 years. My next album is definitely themed around travel and specifically air travel. You can hear a story in Terminal Nexus if you listen carefully.
I know Drake and the team would have loved to release the track in question. I would have loved to released the remix I did. It would have been epic for all of us. Who knows, maybe in the future we can release it. Maybe I’ll get a chance to remix the track for Duran Duran – that would be a dream.
It was an honour to work on this project the experience has been worth it.