There are a handful of artists that, when they come to mind, make listeners question the emotions behind the sounds we know and love. Meet Ternion Sound: the brilliant bass music trio (Jack Denney, Andrew Hill, Aric Okerman) at the forefront of this phenomenon, known for keeping OG dubstep sounds alive in their respective lane. Each of these artists are brilliant on their own, but together they have carved an impressive path for themselves and a name that everyone knows and respects.

With deep roots in the Minneapolis music scene, Ternion Sound has grown their passion into something beyond the circumstances of their youth. When they were initially coming up, dubstep was still finding its footing in North America, which meant smaller crowds, DIY venues, and a mostly-underground community.

They would participate in open decks, supporting the local creative community who gathered to share their pure love of electronic music and enjoy some friendly competition. “We’re really blessed for that period of time in Minneapolis, where the healthy competition was super fun and real,” Okerman said. “It made us all work really hard to try and be as good as possible.”

It’s so important to create inclusive spaces within the dance music community, an effort that Ternion Sound is constantly striving for. It’s this dedication to diversity, in both sound and culture, that’s helped push the Ternion Sound project together and beyond. “A lot of my efforts are in pushing things towards where the techno scene is in terms of club culture, inclusivity, and people dancing,” Denney said. “We want people to be there for the party, not just for the headliner.”

Their latest album, Digital Artifice, challenges the traditional motifs that are often associated with bass and electronic music.

Each track on Digital Artifice consists of different frequencies and emotions, rather than sticking to one heavy type of feeling. The album itself, also, does not necessarily correlate to just one core idea. It speaks to Ternion Sound on different levels, whether that develops into internal anxiousness or things going on in the external world, fans can expect to find a lot of that emotion within this album.

Without giving too much away, listeners are in for a beautiful journey. Throughout Digital Artifice’s voyage, Ternion Sound explores a variety of genres, diving into their vast worlds and reminding listeners of where the music we love today comes from. 

‘Digital Artifice’ by @TernionSound

Out October 13

“This 26 track album has been years in the making, and is the most challenging creative work we’ve ever put together.”

Pre-save / pre-order: https://t.co/nE3ltB6gTD pic.twitter.com/2v8bPM6MHP

— VISION (@VISIONrecs) September 18, 2023

The first release from the album is “Artifice,” which consists of haunting atmospheres intertwined amongst gorgeous elements; it’s a reminder that dubstep doesn’t always have to have aggressive or angry undertones.

The track came to fruition during a moment of shared creativity and song writing during a Twitch TV stream with fans. “I was just showing fans how to create some weird drums on twitch one day,” Hill said. “But it started to sound really cool, so we just went for it. Eventually, it turned into this beautiful tune.” 

A lot of music released in the streaming age are loose singles or EPs, which can sometimes dilute the meaning and the music,which often gets lost in the mundane day to day. “The current way of listening to music just feels so fragmented,” Denney said. “We’re constantly having different sounds back and forth and there isn’t much long-form cohesive ideas, which makes it hard to get immersed in anything for very long.” 

But with Digital Artifice, Ternion Sound’s intention was to create something meant to be listened to like a mix — the whole way through. “You’re meant to listen to Digital Artifice all at once,” Denney continued. “It’s a finalized, entirely constructed idea.”

This album really gives fans an intimate look into the brilliant minds of each member of the group. They’ve always poured a different kind of energy into everything they do, and the years of work put into Digital Artifice is a testament to just that. You can really feel the purpose behind it all.

There’s quite a few collaborative efforts on Digital Artifice, but these features are more focused on highlighting vocalists instead of producers. This really gives a peek inside the vulnerability that comes from being a vocalist, rather than just a DJ.

When someone is on stage with a mic in their hands, they are often showing a different side of the musical craft. It’s very raw and authentic, which is exactly how this album feels. Ternion Sound also, as many know, takes a lot of their influence from the UK, so having these MCs from overseas on Digital Artifice only exemplifies these things even more.

Additionally, Digital Artifice boasts some incredible artwork from Safe Haven, an artist known for his unique work with Ghost Hardware and more. “I think when you look at safe haven stuff, first of all, you’re like blown away,” Hill said. “Second of all, you can keep digging into it and finding new interesting things.” There is a lot of intention behind the artwork: Safe Haven listened to the album first, then created a beautiful story with everything that it meant to him.

Along with the album, the boys are soon jetting off with The Widdler on the Found Spaces tour, which is meant to pull away from the norm when it comes to shows and touring. 

Found Spaces Tour w/ @TernionSound

First Stop: Atlanta, GA

Date: 09.22.23
Venue: Underground Atlanta
Sound System: Funktion-One
Promoter: @SoundSystemCult pic.twitter.com/MUslJAy8Sm

— The Widdler (@The_Widdler) September 20, 2023

Instead of focusing on big productions, playing certain venues because of the amount of people that can be pulled into them or playing the same sets over and over, they want people to come and have fun.

“We tried really hard to find unique venues that weren’t basically a concrete box that you can put some stuff inside of,” Denney said. “I think most venues are kind of these empty shells that are meant to host tours which are meant to be the same thing in every city each night… We’re trying to help change that. We’re taking risks and getting that idea out there so people can get on board. Hopefully, the system will slowly change over time. But no one can do it alone.”

This was also the first time Ternion Sound completely designed their own tour from top to bottom, finding ways to separate Found Spaces from what the scene is typically used to and what tends to be expected from artists.

With the tour about to kick off, and the album on their way, fans can definitely expect more fresh, exciting music in the future. As exciting and fresh as Digital Artifice is, we hope there will be even more on the horizon.

Digital Artifice will be out on October 13th, and believe us — fans are in for a really special treat with this one.