Dublin native and Los Angeles-based Mau5trap artist, Graham Goodwin, isn’t your garden variety techno tastemaker. Known onstage as Sian, which means “sound” or “echo” in Irish, Goodwin distinguishes himself both behind the decks and in the business of techno. To those most devoted to the genre, his label Octopus Recordings is a 10-year fixture of underground heavy techno lore. While Octopus pop-up events over the past 7 years have been wildly popular at events like ADE, Sonar, Movement, Art Basil, and Miami Music Week, but Goodwin knew he was destined for Los Angeles. 

“I was playing in the states more and more and wanted to get out of the box of the circuit of clubs in Europe.” Goodwin told L.A. Weekly. “Techno was becoming homogenized and I always wanted to live in the States. Los Angeles turned out to be an easy transition for me.” Gigs at Hard Summer, EDC Las Vegas, EDC Orlando, Electric Zoo, Movement, as well as dates alongside Deadmaus on the legendary Cube 3.0 tour, proved the city to be a strong launchpad. The Napalese Paneer Masala at Himilayan House became Goodwin’s favorite local food and sealed the deal.

Where most techno artists succeeded by touring Europe, Goodwin’s successful landing in West Hollywood demonstrated the capacity to thrive even swimming upstream. As the American fanbase grew, he maintained waves of international momentum collaborating on tracks with mammoth techno producers. Recent works include English icon Nicole Moudaber, Brazillian powerhouses Gui Boratto and Victor Ruiz, Canadian dark seraphine Carlo Lio, Beatport topping Frenchman Julian Jeweil, and a full German blitz of deep minimal dynamos like Gregor Tresher, ANNA, Marc House and Oliver Huntemann. 

The new EP ‘Ultraviolet 3.0’ continues that theme with tracks like ‘Lupine‘, ‘Oracle’ and ‘Skin Tight‘. Stay tuned for further updates about a mysterious project called ‘Manta’, another album, and a 2020 tour.

 

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