gardenstate press pic
gardenstate

Gardenstate release highly anticipated debut album ‘Inspirations’ via Anjunabeats

Gardenstate continues to bloom, whether through passion, determination, or sheer stubbornness. Their debut album, ‘Inspirations,’ is out now on Above & Beyond’s Anjunabeats imprint, and it’s transatlantic labor of love from superproducer Marcus Schössow and club promoter Matt Felner. Stream and download here.

gardenstate’s artists.

Marcus’ fifteen-year career spans a wide range of styles, and he was at the center of Sweden’s decade-long dominance of club music in the 2010s. ‘Swedish Beatballs’ has electro, ‘Reverie’ and ‘Ulysses’ have mainstage energy, and ‘London / 1985’ has driving progressive. Few artists have Axtone, Armada, Size, Spinnin’, and Anjunadeep record sleeves in their collection. He was a constant feature in the sets of Swedish House Mafia and Knife Party in the early 2010s, heavily invested in the big room sound.

Matt Felner, a native of New Jersey, left his blue-collar job to pursue his passion for electronic music. He’s a well-known promoter and performer who’s brought up-and-coming artists to New York and the East Coast’s clubs. He toured Marcus Schössow in 2008, and the two became close friends. We’ve come a long way in eleven years, and now we’re a hotly tipped duo with a debut artist album on Anjunabeats.

There shouldn’t have been a debut album on Anjunabeats, gardenstate shouldn’t have existed, and we should have stuck to our normal day job. This album is to everyone out there who has been told that ‘you can’t do it’. – gardenstate

The gardenstate sound is a mash-up of ’90s trance nostalgia, brooding melodic techno, peak-time breaks, and poignant songwriting, created on their own terms. Few acts can simultaneously worm their way into the DJ sets of Kölsch, Cristoph, Tiestö, and Above & Beyond. Releases on Joris Voorn’s Spectrum Records and Yotto’s Odd One Out have nurtured an underground following, while reworks of A&B and Gabriel & Dresden have introduced them to the trance and progressive crowd.

Inspirations, the album.

The album’s first track, ‘Aurora,’ is a love letter to Marcus’ life-affirming experience playing in India, co-produced with Paavo from Above & Beyond and featuring vocals from Nandini Srikar. Paavo’s studio also gave birth to ‘Revival,’ a collaboration with Gabriel & Dresden, Andy Moor, and PROFF, and ‘Koski,’ which features long-time friends SNIN and BLR. Marcus and Matt collaborate with Gjon’s Tears, who finished third in this year’s competition, on ‘Répondez-moi,’ a dance floor reworking of Switzerland’s 2020 Eurovision entry. There’s a heavy breaks influence across the album, including ‘1995’, and BBC Radio 1-endorsed ‘Take Me There’ with GVN, Anjunabeats’ 700th catalog release.

Inspirations,’ gardenstate’s debut album, is out now. In addition to their recent Group Therapy 450 live show from the Drumsheds, the boys join Above & Beyond for two sold-out Red Rocks shows on 21st/22nd October and have also just announced the official ‘Inspirations’ tour dates, as the gardenstate message continues to permeate across the world.