Mord Fustang's Debut Album Pays Tribute To Video Game Classics

It's been a couple of years since we heard new offerings from the 23-year-old, but Mord Fustang is finally armed with a nifty package of 8-bit video game reminiscence.

His debut album, 9999 in 1, was released on January 20, and each of the ten songs flirt with aggressive resonance; accelerating and unwinding into a jovial collection.

After making a full-length introduction that was sound in proportion and style, Mord Fustang removed himself from the daily music demands for over a year. This, in turn, helped him cohesively deliver something of pressing value.

"I definitely enjoyed being out of the scene for a while, but it's good to be back and have something to show for it," he says. "It was nice not worrying about tweeting and all that. All the behind the scenes was changing too, like my management—it was just nice to have the chance to break from it and do it the way I wanted it to be."

The album opener "1984," has a panic stricken build that dips between bass, disco and glitch hop distortions. It's also a nod to some of Mord's favourite games from the same year.

"It's about the video games that came out in 1984, like a bunch of arcade stuff, King of Fighters and weird Atari stuff. But then again, it's also a bit of a reference to the book by George Orwell too."

Collectively the tracks forge a broader scope. He says that individually the songs "aren't worth much" to him, but that's not to negate sharp standouts like "Doppelgangbanger," "Elite Beat Agent," and his second installment of "Milky Way." All of which are worth noting in the singular and overall conceptual breadth.

Perhaps the most commercial friendly tune is "Pop," which features vocals from Canadian singer-songwriter, Georgia Murray—who happens to be one half of the outfit LINKS. Greta's vocals instantly wowed Mord when he heard the demo, and it was then that the two connected online. Mord says they will meet in person, eventually.

Back in November, Mord teamed up with the game hub Machinima and battled it out virtually as part of Plugged In With Mord Fustang. Mord says he wants to present an interactive event similar to this in the future.

"It was a good time getting to play Halo: The Master Chief Collection with everyone and it was the first time I did anything streaming like that. I think we will do it again, this time it'll probably be a Twitch thing," he says. "We're really trying to get into the gaming side of things and I play video games daily so why wouldn't I do that, you know? Also, while I'm streaming I might not just be playing the games, I might be messing around with some production stuff, who knows."

The Estonian producer grew up 40km out of his home city. He now leads a slightly more glamorous life in West Hollywood, but growing up, Mord was never surrounded by the grandeur of 'bright lights and big city' happenings.

"Growing up I wasn't much of a city guy, I guess I am now. Sure there was a music scene back home, but Estonia is more of a folk music country rather than EDM. It's coming together now though, a couple of years ago it was only dubstep and drum and bass, now people are listening to deep house, techno and there's more festival-y stuff."

9999 in 1 was released via Mord's own Magic Trooper label. Now with a rejuvenated attitude and a spotlight as one of Insomniac's essential new artists, 2015 is starting to shape well for the producer. Despite the successes, Mord says he "doesn't feel any pressure" and is "just waiting to see what's going to happen." He doesn't have a recording studio, but rather relies on his trusty headphones and laptop. He cites Deadmau5, Wolfgang Gartner and Dillon Francis among his go-to acts and credits his analogue appreciation to his father, who fixed electronics and built tube amplifiers while he was growing up.

Mord is serious about the music he's making, but his disposition is not all that serious?perhaps it's that LA air. He's also open to poking fun at social media and taking inspiration from both the good and bad.

"I don't Google myself a lot but when I do, I try to read all of it and then never come back to what I just read. The other day I was reading YouTube comments and yeah, sure there are some mean comments, but I've grown to like them actually. They give me the next thing to do."

As for social media: "Just get a picture of a troll face, cats and maybe like an elephant, a pink elephant, and then you'll get a ton of likes, right?"

Right.

You can pick up 9999 in 1 via Beatport. 

Mord Fustang is on Facebook // Twitter // Soundcloud