Pixel Terror talks video games, sponsorships and life as a digital duo
FBI podcast finale leaks international show information, travel tips and upcoming releases
From genre-bending EPs on Welcome Records to tracks on Rocket League, a G FUEL sponsorship and more, the pandemic did not slow Pixel Terror down. There's no stopping this duo — Bentley and Ahrya have been an ever-growing force, always bringing something different and fresh to the forefront of the EDM scene.
We sat down with Bentley and Ahrya who spilled details on their plans for 2021 shows, mentioned a few huge in-the-works EP releases and shared what it's like to be in the Monstercat fam. The interview started off with a major hint at another stop in the 5280.
"Denver always goes off, we love Denver," Bentley said. He had played Denver at a venue called Your Mom's House. They were supposed to play Red Rocks Amphitheater with Illenium in 2019, but it got snowed out. Their show was rescheduled for Temple Denver, a spot the FBI team regretfully missed, moreso after viewing the insane videos that emerged from that event.
Monstercat is video game-inspired and it just made sense that connection would play out for Pixel Terror, resulting in their tracks featured in games like Rocket League and Fortnite.
"Monstercat being the amazing label they are, they have a diverse sync department," Ahrya said. "It's cool to be able to have our music participate in these video games that we never anticipated going into."
The duo is also sponsored by energy drink company G FUEL; the partnership came about through a sister company of Red Light Management called Hit Command. They don't manage folks, but they do independent contracting for partnerships for music artists of all kids. That's also how Pixel Terror got their Twitch partnership.
"They gave us a lot of that [drinks], merch, pre-workout, I have 50 mini tubes I don't know what to do with," Ahrya said. Yesi and I joked about trading them Dubstep FBI merch for G Fuel preworkout. "We'll take it," he said.
While Bentley was on the line, we had to ask him how the personal tagline EDM Tarzan came about. "A lot of people said I look like tatted Tarzan, so I just started saying that," Bentley said. If the right crowd is there, both of them said they'd be down to stage dive at upcoming shows.
They have three more EPs in the works — one will be dropping on Bassrush in the summer; one on Monstercat.
"We went out to the desert, Joshua Tree, to do most of the writing on these," Bentley said. "We got this airbnb in the middle of the desert and wrote for three days. We are excited to share that with the world soon."
Arhya said there are vocals on almost every track, and they're currently expanding on the ideas and imagery and overall theme. They're packaging it as one whole project with connections to one another.
Another leak came through — they've been invited to play the Monstercat stage at Tomorrowland. It will be their first time in Belgium, an international festival that truly solidifies Pixel Terror's place on the world stage.
"When everything comes back in full force, people will be ready to send 10 times harder and 10 times safer," Bentley said.
We are looking forward to staying locked with Pixel Terror to see how their story develops and what they have planned to top the insane Artillery EP and Medusa releases from earlier this year.
Huge shoutout to all of the supporters who streamed season 2 of the Filthy Beat Inspectors Podcast. Stay locked for a few major partnership and project announcements in the very near future.
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