For such a chilled dude, Ash Hosken aka Diger Rokwell is one madly productive creative chameleon. In fact, some are starting to question how many Diger Rokwells there are. There’s The Community bossman, the meeting of musical minds with Felicity Groom in Rokwell & Groom, the Diger Rokwell that’s produced numerous albums and EPs in the last few years, the reigning WAMi Electronic Producer of the Year champ, the live beatsmith that’s supported Bonobo, DJ Krush, Balam Acab, Daedalus, Flying Lotus, The Gaslamp Killer, Harmonic 313 and many more, the festival showcaser that’s impressed Parklife and Low:Fi crowds, the remixer responsible for restructuring the likes of Pond and Felicity Groom, the cut’n’paste visual artist, the RTRFM radio presenter, and the one that works fulltime as a school teacher. Well, someone alert the authorities – there’s another new Diger Rokwell, and this time he’s ready to commit perfect crimes out on the dancefloor.
Introducing Innersense, an EP that sees another new side to Diger Rokwell – one that’s designed to have you moving your feet rather than just your head. While Diger’s carved an untouchable reputation for downbeat tunes, this new EP is inspired by Diger’s past as a keen collector of deep and jazzy house in the ‘90s and early 2000s. A trip to Berlin rekindled these interests and the result is four tracks, each precisely 4 minutes long, all in 4/4 directions. No prizes then for guessing the number 4 is a recurring number throughout his life, yet this EP is no fickle attempt at encapsulating this; it’s a meaningful, skilful statement of intent.
Co-mixed by Ryan Burge aka Ylem, the EP is another leap forward in Diger’s ongoing journey of discovery. “I am a producer of various genres; from the Cambodian hip hop of Digerbodia to the future humanitiy odes of We Are All Related, to the break up/make up music of Build My, via the dark trip hop of Rokwell & Groom and now the 4/4 deepness of Innersense,” explains Rokwell. “As an artist I will always endeavour to experiment and create various forms of music rich with theme and connection.”
Innersense will be launched at The Bird on Saturday 27 July with support from Mei Saraswati, Ylem, Mathas and Rok Riley. The EP will be available for $5 from Bandcamp soon, and a stream of the first single via Soundcloud even sooner. As with anything Rokwell touches, expect electronic gold.
