Gladstone Deluxe expands and lives through the rhythm.

Embracing humanity and experimentalism in electronic music, their practice is in part defined by interactions with the improvised self, dreams of sonic liberation, and the antagonization of frequencies culled from the colonial metronome.

When Deluxe and I first crossed paths, they were on an exit path out of Pittsburgh towards NYC, having spent years in the city’s electronic and experiential improv scenes, both as a versatile percussionist and as a member of the Uhaul Disco crew, who built a reputation throwing sporadic DIY extravaganzas. Eventually, after hearing a track of theirs on Titonton Duvante’s XLR8R Podcast, I connected with their EP Valkyries and played it the first time I DJ’d at Nowadays in September 2021. I was inspired to play the EP’s title track because Gladstone was in attendance at the gig, and it revealed itself as one of those tracks that completely saves your ass when you’re furiously scrolling through your USB trying to continue the story. Since then, some of the most adventurous millennial DJs have found Gladstone’s music in their crates; the ripple effect from “Valkyries” led to the artist’s breakthrough EP Spherical Intelligence, 4 cuts of hip-moving, cerebral electro on the newly minted label DATA DISK (itself an offshoot of beloved Pittsburgh labels Is/Was & Terrafirm).

One thing I’ve learned from our friendship since then is that Gladstone is unafraid to continue the story—and if they don’t know how the next chapter starts yet, they’ll figure out how to write it in their own words.

Their body of work encapsulates everything from scoring films about personal journeys through Hawaiian land to playing timbales for the NYC-based transgender salsa ensemble Las Mariquitas to staging collaborative A/V exhibitions deconstructing surveillance, black aesthetics, and policing, On top of all that, they were recently featured in a video for Moog (yes, Moog) freaking the freak on the synths masterfully like they do on their prolific youtube channel. Needless to say, their practice is eclectic, invigorating, and ever-growing.

Utilizing live performance, the fusion of organic and digital, and the patterns of recognition that pulsate through their vast compositional background, Deluxe’s practice provides space for deconstruction and rebirth. In their music, the spiritual and cybernetic collide in a chimeric fusion of combustible drum cadences and topographical modalities. Reverberations of pre-Columbian insight meld with the inescapable exterior influence of a world forced to adapt to the hierarchical interests of empire and capital—a world in constant flux.

All of this is channeled through Gladstone’s unique sonic perspective, which is expressed through autonomous mechanized anthems that range from electro-IdeaMusic to footworkable maelstroms to undeniably grooving minimal techno. It’s music that responds to dance music’s inescapably global conversation between technological advancement and cultural displacement under the guise of progress—an ongoing dialogue that transforms individual rhythm into a dance of possibility beyond the sum of its parts.

Ultimately, Deluxe specializes in shifting the paradigm, and the track premiering today—“Kite Strata”—continues on in this legacy, disrupting a haggard 4/4 framework into a dextrous blend of expression perfect for the fun-loving DJs & limber dancers among us.

We’ve had the distinct pleasure of collaborating on music, events, and phenomena with Deluxe, through their involvement with Uhaul Disco and through electronic flourishes in free jazz ensemble Datamaster (whose tape release show I provided some totally effed-up DJ sounds for in between sets). I was happy to catch up with them, in between their busy life making art and petting their cat, to answer some questions about the inner machinations of Deluxe, presented in their own words for your reading pleasure.

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