Yesterday I introduced Dennis Huddleston as the next featured artist on Headphone Community. Throughout the entire month of October, we will delve deeper into his music, featuring previously unreleased tracks, exclusive interviews, and many other member-only benefits. For example, if you join today for as little as $1 a month, you can download the entire collection of his first three albums compiled in The Box release entirely for free (via a shared Bandcamp code). And, most importantly, note that the funds raised with your contribution will go back to the featured artist. Here’s my intro to 36.
My first interaction with Dennis Huddleston, or more precisely, his music under the alias 36 (pronounced “three six”), dates back to his album Lithea, which was self-released on his 3six Recordings in June 2012. This was already his third full album, kicking off with Hypersona in 2009 and Hollow a year later, concluding this triptych series. This was an incredible time for music, memorialized a decade later by Past Inside The Present with The Box collection. More on this a bit later…
The music of this British electronic musician is deeply atmospheric, highly cinematic, and profoundly emotional. There is a melancholic tint to it all, but with a perfect touch of sunshine. To me, it feels like standing in the glow of fading light, where time is suspended by looping notes, drifting between the warmth of perfectly carved memories and the chill of an unknown future. For over a decade, 36 has remained a favourite on my rotations, exploring lush ambiance with darker undertones (The Lower Lights), widescreen soundscapes, and even deep space explorations (Stasis trilogy with zakè). Most, if not all, of his full-length releases appeared on my Best of the Year lists. So it’s no wonder that I picked him as the next featured artist.
I find another fascinating aspect of Dennis’s career to be his independence from established labels. Yes, as of 2016, we’ve seen his works appear on A Strangely Isolated Place and the already mentioned Past Inside The Present. Still, it’s essential to recognise that up until then, and even now, he has maintained his fierce independence, self-publishing on 3six Recordings and initially releasing [mostly] via Bandcamp. Not many artists can achieve this level of success, and we will explore this aspect further in one of our in-depth interviews.
Dennis also has a very minimalistic production setup. It’s a testament to the fact that beautiful music can be made without tons of gear. Here is a reminder, once again, that quality doesn’t need machinery and all the money that goes into it. Only vision. I say this, fully admitting that I still struggle with GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome). Perhaps you and I will be inspired by his setup, as we discuss this subject in detail.
We’ll also share some unreleased material, additional mixes, and, yes, free music! Dennis has been incredibly generous in sharing not the proposed discounts but full-on Bandcamp codes with this community, so you can download his music completely for free, starting with… The Box
