[{"title":"IM WORKING ON A GAME (SOUNDTRACK)!","author":"SpockAndStep","content":"hey all! ik this isn't the best place to put this here but...\n\n\n# I AM WORKING ON A GAME SOUNDTRACK!\n\nand we just hit 1 year of development! it's called Train Misconductor and its an Indie project from my friends Luna Rose, and MsAsterisk. it features a ton of cool tracks from me, ZEROlav, and KETAMIND! We've been putting a lot of effort into the project. I've been on the project since march of 2025. since then I've been working tirelessly on the game soundtrack and put in some great songs into the game. \n\n# WHY AM I POSTING THIS HERE AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?\n\n\nso for a long time I've been wanting to work on something of this scale and of this type of game. Train Misconductor is a railroad switching puzzle game, inspired by model railway shunting layouts like the Inglenook. You operate a modern steam engine on an alien planet, moving cars between sidings, navigating more & more convoluted railyards--all while keeping your conductor sane! as of now, I've been beta testing from time to time when im not busy with other things in the project, and its honestly incredibly addicting, and it has a fun, and eye catching design for the control scheme.\n\nnow, for why im posting this. the music team and I are starting something called railroad logs. it'd basically be posting the music as it gets finalized, to build hype for the game, etc. it's basically what Lunas been doing with her videos but on prioritizing focus on the music we make.\n\nthank you to all who have made this dream of mine come true, from luna for the opportunity, to MsAsterisk for implementing the music in the game (and programming the game). The music team and I are extremely grateful for the opportunity to contribute to a game such as this\n\nIf you want to play the game when it releases, I'll be posting both the steam and trailer link in the end\n\nhttps://store.steampowered.com/app/4097480/Train_Misconductor/\n\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfrFgPwPzIQ \n","identifier":"a24ef951-5d03-4279-befb-e9491b056060","publishDate":"2025-12-17T23:05:05.549Z"},{"title":"site update soon","author":"SpockAndStep","content":"Hey all, not that big of an announcement today but I just wanted to let y’all know that the site is being updated soon. Sleeker look, and a few additions to the backend to make things smoother. I can’t show y’all what we’re designing but I want to give a huge shoutout to the dev team for doing this! The site was initially a rush job because we needed a site desperately, but now, we’re putting more love into it, the design, look and feel is gonna be entirely different. we're not sure when it will be released but I do know it will not be in the next few months. ","identifier":"199cdb9f-4a71-40e5-9acd-7e57fe6f4b61","publishDate":"2026-01-10T20:13:07.293Z"},{"title":"Fireswept X Illuminant Records partnership!","author":"SpockAndStep","content":"Hi everyone!\n\n# ANNOUNCING THE FIRST EVER PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN FIRESWEPT AND ILLUMINANT RECORDS!\n\nFireswept is an artist centric festival and label promotion collective, designed to bring independent records together and share their community’s with each other! Fireswept will host community events / compilations /host virtual festivals / and is currently working on breaking into the live festival scene\n\nThis will help us bring back the Illuminant Festival in full swing and expand our reach into the IRL/URL fest spheres. And grow more connected with other labels in the music scene\n\n# WHAT THIS MEANS FOR ARTISTS\n\nOur goals remain the same, to illuminate the underground, we believe that this partnership will allow us to do that more efficiently by giving a space for DJ’s and upcoming performers. \n\nif you would like to register to play at the event, click here: https://www.firesweptfestival.org/registration\n\nand here is their instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fireswept_festival?igsh=bDc3dW1kNGIzOXd0&utm_source=qr","identifier":"5d01d868-798f-40ba-8968-6d2b2af4ba6f","publishDate":"2026-01-25T16:44:54.535Z"},{"title":"New Website update","author":"SpockAndStep","content":"Hi all! we have a new look for our website! as you can see things have been cleaned up and polished. I'd like to thank our dev team, Luna and Klemm for the hard work\n\n\n# WHY THE NEW LOOK?\n\nwe wanted to update the design because the old one didn't really reflect our brand. we wanted something cleaner, something sleek and welcoming to new artists.\n\n# will anything else change in the future? \n\ncurrently there are no plans for site updates past this update. but things change and I specifically asked for a very granular/editable site so we can change anything without bothering the dev team.","identifier":"a6990395-e446-4bd6-ac44-a0923e8cd7e4","publishDate":"2026-02-01T16:36:02.529Z"},{"title":"Illuminant and our plans for the new year","author":"SpockAndStep","content":"\n\nHello all and happy new year!\n\nWe at illuminant had a very successful first year of the label! Granted it was rocky for a little bit of it but we managed to sort out the rough patches. I wanted to write this blog post because we have decided to start doing annual recaps and plans for the future kind of posts in late December. So lets get to the recap.\n\n# ANNUAL RECAP\n\nWe released our first ever compilation, EP, and singles this year, we’ve had two returning artists; David neon and EntropicVoxels. We’ve had new artists join the label like DEADSM!ILE, DeathwishBoi, and Antilinear. Antilinear released two tracks; be with u and Limitless. Limitless did numbers as our last cross release with Electrostep network. However, since then, we started becoming more independent without the backing of other big companies.\nOk now that we got that out of the way now I can go into the meat and potatoes of this post\n\n# THE FUTURE OF ILLUMINANT\n\nAs of now the future of illuminant is blinding like the sun (in a good way I swear, its just really bright). We’re redoing our contract (I’ll get into that later on in the post) to get an official lawyer to actually look it over and suggest any edits, etc. we’re working on integrating the Festival into the Record label for a collective entertainment non-profit charity organization. Which I am currently working on getting everything situated with my lawyer to get 501c(3) status—which for those of you who don’t live in the US, that is non-profit status—which will help us further down the road. \n\n# CONTRACT AND DETAILS OF WHICH\n\nSadly I cannot share much details of the new contract but what I will tell you is that while we did have to change the royalty split to industry standard, we make sure that YOU own the masters. You just give us the licenses to release your music. Everything is explained in the contract.\n\n# A&R AND STAFF\n\nWe will be hiring some new staff, like moderation for the discord server, social media managers. I doubt that we are going to be hiring new A&R members but I would like to consider it with the owners. There are 2 owners aside from me. im just founder and they’re here to advise me, and make decisions when im incapacitated, or just lost my marbles. \n\n# RELEASE SCHEDULE\n\nNow, im not sure if y’all have noticed but there is a new release schedule on the label. Once a month. This is to ensure that we get all the legal details, cover art, and other stuff done so we can actually do our jobs more efficiently, have enough time for cover art, and also just have less stress on the team. Maybe when our label grows to having 15+ people we can actually start releasing twice a month again.\n\n# CONCLUSION\n\nWe are working on a lot of stuff as of now, and we hope to introduce some new quality control into the label. While some of these things are a tad out of scope we hope to do them in the new year and beyond. while these changes are taking place, our goal and mission stays the same: \n\n# TO ILLUMINATE THE UNDERGROUND--FAIRLY\n\nhappy holidays and to a new year and the future","identifier":"a63feadb-68af-46fc-8d5d-4ce8d2f2fa63","publishDate":"2025-12-15T17:07:14.801Z"},{"title":"Announcing the first Fireswept X Illuminant Collaboration","author":"SpockAndStep & Audiophobia","content":"# WE ARE COLLABORATING WITH FIRESWEPT FESTIVAL, NEXUS!RIFT, AND MORE!\n\n\nhey all, we are pleased to announce the first network collaboration! we are calling this Starfire Alliance Vol. 1, and it will be a collaborative compilation with five other labels including: \n\nNexus!Rift, Phoenix Artistry's, Riddim Union, Frozen Fox Records LLC, and Synara. \n\n# HOW ITS GOING TO WORK\n\nIlluminant has recruited 4 artists, that are going to represent us in the final compilation. these tracks will also be released as a separate mini compilation as well. there will not be a focus around artist collaborations but it is optional if you want to submit one. we are giving a theme for this which is cosmic/space.\n\n\nWe are looking forward to a late march release but we are looking at a march 13th deadline for the comp. please keep your ears open as we are going to be announcing something else soon. keep your eyes peeled. ","identifier":"ade8b313-1af3-4d66-aef9-6f70432553b9","publishDate":"2026-02-08T02:28:19.158Z"},{"title":"Demon Rush by KETAMIND out tomorrow!","author":"spockandstep","content":"hey everyone! \n\n# DEMON RUSH BY KETAMIND WILL BE OUT TOMORROW ON ALL PLATFORMS!\n\nAnd to celebrate the release, we are doing a premiere tomorrow at 12:00 PM Eastern Time!\n\nThis is something we've only tried once before and will amazing visuals from our team, im sure the track will blow you away!\n\n# THERE WILL ALSO BE AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH KETAMIND!\n\nThe interview will dive deeper into the track, KETAMIND's production process, and inspirations of the track!\n\nThere is going to be a video format of the interview coming out in a few days. I will say the video is being delayed as my mic decided to distort my voice through the first half of it, so we're working tirelessly to fix that and get it up as soon as possible!","identifier":"ce37221c-7eb6-4fa0-8349-06b07a417c44","publishDate":"2026-04-14T21:47:57.952Z"},{"title":"Demon Rush Interview","author":"SpockAndStep","content":"The wait is finally over. We are thrilled to announce that **Ketamind’s** high-octane new track, **\"Demon Rush,\"** is officially live on all streaming platforms. \n\nTo celebrate the release, we sat down with Ketamind to dive deep into the production process behind the track. We discussed the industrial influences, the technical \"beef\" behind the bass, and how a legendary FPS franchise helped shape the sound of this release.\n\n---\n\n### **The Interview**\n\n**Illuminant Records: The distortion in this track is incredibly thick without losing clarity. Could you walk us through your signal chain for the main bass layers?**\n\n**Ketamind:** The signal chain was actually surprisingly minimalist. I focused on creating raw sounds in Serum 2 using the randomizer LFO and recording those results. From there, I ran them through my standard \"beef chain,\" which consists of OTT, a touch of distortion, and a clipper. I’d record that, stack another instance of the same chain on top, and then scroll through the resulting \"base mud pie\" to find the perfect patterns.\n\n**The drums have a very industrial, mechanical punch. Did you lean toward processed organic samples, or did you build these transients from scratch?**\n\n**Ketamind:** I synthesized the core elements myself, including the kick and the snare used in the drop. However, for the intro’s rock-influenced elements, I opted for purely acoustic drums—specifically Phase One Metal Step samples—to get that organic grit.\n\n**There are brief vocal stabs throughout the track. Was the intent to represent a specific character, or are they more of a rhythmic texture?**\n\n**Ketamind:** They are primarily a rhythmic texture, though many of them do carry those \"demon-like\" qualities. In a way, you could certainly say they represent the entities implied by the track's title.\n\n**Structure-wise, the track features a significant atmospheric shift before the intensity ramps back up. How did you approach building tension in a track that starts at such high energy?**\n\n**Ketamind:** It was less about traditional building and more about creating \"perceived tension.\" I used constant pitch-shifting—moving both up and down—alongside very deliberate transitions and background effects. Good transitions are essential when you’re trying to maintain that level of energy without exhausting the listener.\n\n**Many listeners have compared this to a boss-fight soundtrack. When you were arranging the track, were you visualizing a specific narrative or sequence of events?**\n\n**Ketamind:** Definitely. While it started as a simple drop concept, once I began turning it into a full song, I was heavily inspired by the *DOOM* series—specifically the Icon of Sin boss fight. It definitely carries that \"final boss\" aesthetic.\n\n**You’ve managed to maintain a \"wall of sound\" feel while leaving room for glitchy ear candy. How do you decide when a track is full enough versus when it needs another layer of chaos?**\n\n**Ketamind:** Honestly, I just go with what feels right in the moment. It’s a tedious process; I might spend two hours going back and forth on a single sound, debating whether to add a layer, delete something to make it more minimal, or just make it louder. It’s all about the feeling of the movement.\n\n**\"Demon Rush\" feels designed for a club or festival setting. How do you imagine a live audience reacting to that first drop?**\n\n**Ketamind:** I’m excited to find out. There is a huge community of dubstep fans who really crave that \"Brostep\" energy. Even though I tried to make the track as unique as possible, it follows a formula that I think people are hungry for right now, especially with the current Brostep revival.\n\n**Where does \"Demon Rush\" sit in your evolution as an artist? Is this the definitive direction for your future, or an experiment?**\n\n**Ketamind:** I’d call it an experiment. The Ketamind alias is still very new, and I’m still discovering my specific \"thing.\" Right now, I’m exploring everything from Brostep and Industrial to Industrial Metal and Mick Gordon-style soundtracks. I wouldn't say this is the *only* direction I’ll take, but it’s definitely a defining stepping stone for the project.\n\n**In *DOOM*, the music makes the player feel like the most dangerous thing in the room. Did you approach this as a \"power fantasy\" for the listener?**\n\n**Ketamind:** I did. When I transitioned the drop into a full arrangement, I really wanted to capture that classic *DOOM* energy. It resulted in a heavy mix of metal and dubstep that drives that high-intensity feeling home.\n\n**Are there any \"Easter Eggs\" hidden in the track that fans should listen for?**\n\n**Ketamind:** There are a few! In one of the pre-drops, I used the original *Doomguy* scream from the classic games. I also included a little tribute at the very end—a backwards message using the Icon of Sin’s voice line from *DOOM II*. It’s a cool little nod to the roots of the inspiration.\n\n---\n\n### **Conclusion**\n\n\"Demon Rush\" is more than just a track; it’s a statement of intent from Ketamind. By blending technical sound design with the raw aggression of industrial metal, he has delivered a track that is as rewarding for gear-heads as it is for the front row of a festival. \n\n**\"Demon Rush\" is out now.** Stream it today and experience the power fantasy for yourself.","identifier":"274fa34b-726b-418f-bc2c-32b1454f0e93","publishDate":"2026-04-15T09:13:19.269Z"},{"title":"Return of Illuminant Volume 1","author":"SpockAndStep","content":"## **Announcing the Return of Illuminant Vol. 1**\n\nWe are pleased to announce that we have successfully finalized the compilation and transition of **Illuminant Vol. 1**. This collection represents a significant milestone in our journey, and we are excited to make it available to our listeners once again.\n\n---\n\n### **A New Chapter in Distribution**\n\nTo ensure better long-term stability and reach for our artists, we have officially moved our catalog to **Symphonic**. This transition is part of our commitment to building a more reliable infrastructure for the label, and we look forward to this being our permanent home for distribution.\n\n### **The History of the Compilation**\n\nFor those who may be new to the label, we originally launched this compilation in 2025 to commemorate our official debut. While the past year has been a period of significant growth, the label also faced logistical challenges and rising distribution costs that required us to temporarily pull the release from stores. We have spent the last few months streamlining our operations to ensure our music remains accessible without further interruption.\n\n### **Where to Listen**\n\nCurrently, the tracks have been temporarily removed from YouTube and SoundCloud to prepare for the coordinated re-launch. However, you won’t have to wait long. The full compilation will be restored to SoundCloud and all major streaming platforms simultaneously upon the official release date.\n\nStay tuned for more updates as we bring these tracks back to the forefront of our catalog.","identifier":"17959450-4e8e-4fc7-bc73-c4dbb527909b","publishDate":"2026-04-23T18:16:16.364Z"},{"title":"MiSFiT's track Walking Away is out now!","author":"SpockAndStep","content":"i realize im late to announcing this but theres been a lot of chaos this past month, but\n\n# MiSFiT - Walking Away is out now on all platforms!\n\nas we welcome MiSFiT to the family, we apologize for the delay for announcements.\n\n\nyou can listen to it here! https://hypeddit.com/wzmln2","identifier":"aba0b3bf-62da-46dd-af55-ce74abae3789","publishDate":"2026-06-23T13:54:45.343Z"},{"title":"Inside the Studio with Bugsy","author":"SpockAndStep & Bugsy","content":"Every music producer knows the sting of a rejected remix competition entry. You pour hours into a track, give it your absolute all, and... nothing. But for some artists, a rejection isn’t the end of the road—it’s just the ignition switch for a brand-new creative journey.\n\nThat is exactly how electronic producer Bugsy birthed their latest staggering release, \"Survive.\" We sat down with **Bugsy** to chat about the technical sound design, the emotional contrast, and the precise arrangement workflows behind this incredible new colorbass and melodic dubstep journey.\n\n# From the Ashes of a Remix Competition\n\n**Q:** Melodic dubstep and colorbass thrive on deep emotional resonance. When you sat down to write \"Survive,\" did the chord progression and vocal melody come first, or did you build the emotional atmosphere around a specific sound design experiment?\n\n**Bugsy**: This track actually has a fascinating backstory—it was originally intended for Au5's Snowblind remix competition about a year ago. I didn't win, so I took out all of the Snowblind-related stems and set out to make it a track of its own.\nBecause of that history, I already had a solid structure and a direction to go with it. The sound design actually came first, and from there, I completed the intro and built out the other elements to completely flush the track out into its own unique identity.\n\n# The Power of Emotional Contrast\n\n**Q:** The vocal hook in \"Survive\" carries an intense, desperate plea for survival and human connection. What is the narrative world surrounding this track? There is such a beautiful contrast between the heavy texture of the colorbass drops and the vulnerable quality of the vocals.\n\n**Bugsy**: I really wanted to create something that feels emotionally powerful while still providing that massive, \"mainstage\" sort of festival feel. The contrast is entirely intentional: the desperateness of the vocal lines directly clashes with—and balances out—the sheer confidence of the heavy colorbass stacks.\n\n# Mastering Space, Structure, and \"Call & Response\"\n\n**Q:** How do you balance these two elements structurally so they elevate each other rather than competing for the listener's attention?\n\n**Bugsy**: Structurally, it was all about space. Making sure the two elements don't overlap makes both mixing and structure so much easier to deal with. I utilized a traditional call-and-response style in the drop; switching between the vocal chops and melodic fills every 7 bars keeps both styles completely connected without overcrowding the listener.\n\n**Q:** In melodic dubstep, balancing a massive wall of chords with a heavy sub-bass and a clean vocal can easily clutter the mix. How do you carve out space in the frequency spectrum?\n\n**Bugsy**: Honestly, creating space and contrast between the fills and the main elements in the actual structure of the track is significantly more important than trying to fix it all in the mix. If the arrangement has breathing room, the mix takes care of itself.\n\n# The Secret Sauce of Colorbass Sound Design\n\n**Q:** The chord stacks in the drop have that gorgeous, liquid-like, spectrally processed character unique to colorbass. What is your go-to method for achieving that texture?\n\n**Bugsy**: The core of that sound comes down to spectral oscillators and waveshaping. On top of that, I’m using Kallyn's plugin, Chimera, to inject some additional unique color into the basses.\n\n**Producer Note: I actually have a full tutorial on spectral resampling if people are interested! It can be found here: \n\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgZQ-J8U_DI\n\n# Engineering Tension and Transitions\n\n**Q:** The transition from the atmospheric breakdown into the drop relies on a flawless shift in energy. What is your favorite trick for building tension so the drop hits with maximum impact?\n\n**Bugsy**: Making the build-ups entirely mono is a massive trick for creating tension because it makes the stereo width of the drop feel huge by comparison. I also heavily rely on the Endless Smile plugin, and automated high-pass filters are a crucial way to roll off the low end and create that empty space right before the sub-bass drops back in.\nTranslation: From Headphones to the Mainstage\n\n**Q:** \"Survive\" has a deeply cinematic, visual quality to it. When you are composing a track like this, do you already have a specific visual aesthetic, stage lighting setup, or live visual concept in mind?\n\n**Bugsy**: No, I focus entirely on the sonics during the writing phase.\n\n**Q:** Because colorbass translates a lot of mid-range complexity through a heavy halftime rhythm, how do you approach mixing this track to ensure it translates perfectly from home headphones to massive festival sound systems?\n\n**Bugsy**: Double-checking your work by listening across multiple consumer systems always helps—I regularly test mixes on headphones, phone speakers, and car audio systems. But at the end of the day, mixing directly against professional reference tracks is probably the single best way to ensure you have a clean, powerful mix that translates anywhere.\n\nYou can presave **Bugsy**’s new track, Survive using this link! https://hypeddit.com/05nsb2","identifier":"660cf81e-3307-47d4-9e66-eb4483c423f1","publishDate":"2026-07-08T21:38:54.030Z"},{"title":"Mithril Records Merge","author":"SpockAndStep & MiSFiT","content":"## Evolution is rarely quiet.\n\nFor years, Illuminant has been a labor of love—a dedicated space for boundary-pushing sounds and artists who refuse to stand still. Today, we’re turning the page to an exciting new chapter.\n\nWe are thrilled to announce that **Illuminant is officially becoming a sub-label of Mithril Records.**\n\nThis is more than just a change in letterhead. This partnership represents a massive infusion of resources, distribution reach, and creative vision that will allow our artists to shine on a much larger stage.\n\n---\n\n## What is Mithril Records?\n\nAt its core, Mithril Records exists to spotlight artists who are shaping the future of the underground. The label focuses on releasing records that balance industry-level sound design with bold creative direction, creating a catalog defined by both impact and originality.\n\n---\n\n## How Will This Affect Illuminant Moving Forward?\n\nIlluminant was founded on a single, shared mission: to champion underrated talent and give artists the platform and freedom they need to scale their vision. Joining forces with Mithril allows us to achieve that goal in Unison.\n\nWhile we will be working hard behind the scenes to integrate our operations, our core philosophy remains untouched. This collaboration simply gives us the infrastructure to fulfill our ultimate promise: **to illuminate the underground fairly, sustainably, and impactfully.**\n\n---\n\n> \"By combining Illuminant's eye for raw talent with Mithril's powerhouse resources, we are building an unstoppable ecosystem for independent music.\"\n\n---\n\n## Building the Future, Amplified\n\nIlluminant has always strived for excellence and fought to help artists secure the career longevity they deserve. This merger represents a massive leap forward for our team, our roster, and our community.\n\nThank you for listening, supporting, and growing with us. \n\n---\n\n-- *Illuminant & Mithril Staff*","identifier":"358a7c04-4002-4eee-bbf9-aa66b57193d5","publishDate":"2026-07-15T16:04:04.575Z"}]