A much-anticipated series in the Denver music scene looms this upcoming weekend with the return of fan favorites Detox Unit and Jade Cicada hosting Mission Ballroom on August 9 and 10! Coming back for the first time since their Fillmore Auditorium run in 2022, they’ve brought an incredible cast of audiovisual pairings not to be missed.
With support including Mickman, Schmoop, Vinja, & more, we expect yet another pair of open-to-close presentations that will be talked about for the foreseeable future. Including the unstoppable combination of Jade & Tenorless, attendees of the 2019 Mission event will be treated with a touch of nostalgia as well.
Going Out With a Bang
Several people involved have mentioned that this run will be one of the last times this group of talented gentlemen will be playing together on the same card. What could potentially be seen as a bittersweet ‘last huzzah’ for some dedicated fans could also be perceived as a palette cleanser for others.
As Tipper approaches his retirement, we see a range of different producers influenced by his music reminding us that we are in fantastic hands. Regardless, there is no doubt about the long-lasting impression that this group has had on many of us through their art.
Both Jade Cicada and Detox Unit come off the heels of fantastic performances at Secret Dreams. Jade headlined night 2 at the Portal Stage with Laia, and Detox Unit with a sunrise set that same night paired with Denver’s own Actualize Visuals, who will also be performing with Vinja for the upcoming Mission show.
You Have to Start Somewhere
We were fortunate enough to sit down with Mickman, who will be playing direct support For Jade Cicada. Hailing from Peoria, Illinois, Cameron Ingraham, a.k.a. Mickman is known for his one-of-a-kind sounds that mix both ambient textures with elements of dubstep and drum and bass.
Tailing off an incredibly powerful journey set at Secret Dreams, he has had a smashing year, with other notable performances in Atlanta, Wichita, Tokyo, and Rendezvous. He has also played several other notable festivals and venues, including Red Rocks, Kings Theater, Summer Camp Music Festival, and the Brooklyn Mirage.
Amidst his surge in popularity the past few years, he has fostered an extremely dedicated fanbase (or in his words, a group of friends) who enthusiastically anticipate his next performances.
Abiding by his minimalist approach to promotion, he unexpectedly released his latest album, You Have to Start Somewhere, on Bandcamp and SoundCloud earlier this year. In addition, Mickman has a background as an audio technician, having worked with widely-known Funktion-One, which has evidently compounded his stout ear for music and fused it with his genuine curiosity and eagerness to self-improve, all showcased throughout his sets and music.
While chatting with him, he mentioned his excitement and year-long anticipation to perform with Salt Lake City-based Hindsight Visuals, making his return to Colorado after phenomenal performances at Sonic Bloom 2023 with Alix Perez and Chmura.
Read more below!
Omid Eghbal: What artists or experiences have influenced your music up to this point?
Cameron Ingraham: I’ve always enjoyed music, but I’ve never played instruments traditionally. My first exposure to any type of musical composition was through Ableton. So a lot of my approach is kind of a programming approach. And the first music that I’ve ever really connected with was electronic music.
I never went through a band phase, I never went through a rap phase or hip hop phase. The first show I went to was The Prodigy, in 2008, at the House of Blues in Boston. But then as the scene that we’re currently in now started to blossom, I went to a lot of Excision and Bassnectar shows when they existed. And then getting thrown into the Tipper world as well.
It’s kind of been just any & all good computer music and it really spans across all genres. I would say that The Prodigy was probably my biggest first connection and first inspiration with identifying with a certain type of music.
OE: Anything specifically in that journey that helped you develop and refine the unique style that is the Mickman project today?
CI: Nothing specific. I don’t think that there are any creative choices or distinct production techniques that I developed that got me to where I am now. I think it’s really just continuing to always be curious. When I look back on my discography, there are some tracks that I’m going to play in these upcoming sets that are a lot older.
It’s about always having a drive and a sense of curiosity for creating whatever it is you feel. I think that the more you produce and the more you become attached to your art, the more intuition you gain when it comes to choices in the studio. You’ll develop certain ways that you approach composition or sound design or whatever it may be. Then the more you become one with your craft and the more you develop a certain sense of intuition about how you approach things, the more you will grow your distinct style.
OE: Since the day I met you, it’s been evident to me and anyone else who’s had the pleasure of meeting you how much you value human interaction and connection. Is there a particular social journey or realization that led you to this point or that belief?
CI: I don’t think that there’s anything in particular. Always been very family oriented growing up and putting a lot of emphasis just on building strong, long lasting connections with people, and especially being put into the position of being an artist.
I try to normalize the human experience and what I do because I think it’s easy for a lot of people to get caught up in being an artist and creating that identity for yourself, which I think there’s kind of some sense of necessity to it in terms of building a business or “brand.”
I think it’s really important to connect with people on a human level. Being able to share music and transmute emotions into sound and then having people be reciprocal of that – it’s cool. Especially because I don’t really consider my fans as fans, I consider them my friends.
I would consider myself somewhat approachable, going back to the beginning of this is just putting a lot of emphasis on making strong connections with people, as opposed to the artist-fan dynamic.
OE: Would love to ask about your process for creating a track from conception to final production.
CI: There’s definitely no one way to approach [music production]. When the spark strikes, you could be anywhere on that spectrum and whatever it is that clicks in your mind is going to be your launch point, whether it be a hook, a bassline, a drum pattern, or even a noise that you made. There’s definitely no one way to approach it and I would assume that I probably speak for a lot of artists in that sense. When it happens, it happens. And when it’s good, it’s good.
OE: Now that you are where you are, where do you see your current path taking you?
CI: I’ve thought about [my path] more so recently, just with life circumstances and sitting down at the end of the day thinking to myself, ‘what the f*** am I doing?’ Wherever the compass goes, wherever the compass points, wherever the trail leads, I think it’s just a matter of doing this for the rest of my life. And all of my main goals and aspirations as a producer have all been creative.
There hasn’t been a certain venue that I’m like, “oh, I got to play this, or I got to get on this festival.” All of the goals that I’ve had is: if I can be as good as I could possibly be and continuously push myself to just get better at my craft and keep opening this never ending revolving door, that’s really the main thing that I’m chasing.
I have small bouts of success, and I think it’s just something that will continue to happen until I die, as long as I can just live well and I can travel the world and I’m not overburdened with the state of the world and the socio-economic blunders that we all go through – I just want to live a really simple, adventurous life where I just lock into a routine every day.
I make artwork, I travel the world, and if I continue to make art and opportunities present themselves to me that put me in a position that I’m this big headliner that’s touring around all the time, then that’s great. And there’s a lot of things that I won’t say no to as they happen, but I’m just kind of taking it one step at a time.
But it’s a good question because I’ve kind of had my head down and my blinders on for so long, and now that I’m at a point where making a career out of this is becoming more and more feasible.
I’ve asked myself that question a lot – ‘What are you doing? Where does this even go?’ Then every time my mind answers it, it’s like, ‘dude, you’re already here. You’re already succeeding in whatever it is that you’re trying to do.’ So as long as I can keep my mind right, my body right, and my spirit in tact, then this rabbit hole of creation will never end.
So you have this drive to make more, and then it’s just this feedback loop that is fucking relentless. You can literally waste your whole life doing this, just going down this rabbit hole. So yeah, in that sense, just making good art and continuing to live the life that I do.
OE: Speaking of making music, playing shows, and traveling the world, tell me about your recent Japan trip!
CI: Yeah, I’m just obsessed with people and like to immerse myself in different cultures and ways of life. Going to Japan was a huge bucket list trip because it’s been many, many years that I’ve wanted to go. I didn’t have enough money at the time. I have been so broke. It’s kind of insane. So I had my sister spot me on a ticket until I got paid from my next show. I bought it three weeks out and started hitting up promoters nonstop.
I finally found my friend Tomoya who does lowlife in Tokyo. And he was like, “oh, it might be kind of hard to find a venue.” I just told him that I was already going to be out there however he could make it happen. Then days later, he hit me back and found this tiny little DJ bar that maybe could hold less than a hundred people. There were like 12 people there, half of them from the United States. It was insane. I looked up and saw one of my friends from the US who happened to fly into Tokyo around the same time. It was just a very serendipitous experience that just blew me away.
OE: From a music perspective, maybe A.I. can evolve to a point where it can automate some things. What still ensures that humans like ourselves still have the competitive advantage in those regards?
CI: This is always a good question. Mr. Bill was showing me some software that was trained on just pretty much all the music that exists on the internet, if I’m not mistaken. And you could type in prompts and it was spitting out some very, very, very impressive music. I think that there’s definitely going to be a boom of producers that generate all of their artwork using AI. It’s all based on what humans have created.
I think that humans will, for the most part, naturally be drawn to things that people create. There is a lot of AI artwork out there that’s incredibly impressive. I think it starts to lose a little bit of its value for me where everything becomes impressive. Some things AI makes are so good and so real, that it’s hard to distinguish between man and machine. But I think people will just naturally be drawn to things that humans make. I think we’re predisposed to it in a certain sense.
I don’t really see AI replacing musicians by any means. I think there are a lot of different creative departments and sectors of creative work that will be replaced but when it comes to music, I don’t see it happening as quickly. I’m sure there might be a phase when it does happen, but I’m not too worried about the idea of getting replaced by a computer by any means.
Furthermore, I think on the administrative side of things: those types of speech models will continue to develop, but I don’t like to think of the idea of promoters getting arguments with ChatGPT over the font size of their artists and how much they’re getting paid. That would be funny though.
OE: Because of the rise in, for example, UK garage and some of the new sub genres that have come out, do you try to dabble with those new up and coming genres?
CI: It’s a little bit of both. And coming back to having that spectrum of when your creativity hits and what your starting point is for a certain song, every time a new genre comes about or an artist has a really sick take on a certain style of music: it inspires me, I’ll always give it a shot. Always, always, always, no matter what it is.
And naturally, I always try to just do something a little different either time I think there is coming back to intuitively making the same choices and developing your own sense of style. I think there are a lot of tracks that go for a certain vibe that I’ve locked myself into. But yeah, whenever a new genre comes around, a new style of music that I’m inspired by: I’ll always give it a shot. I definitely am listening to what’s going on, and I’ll definitely give it a wack.
Garage has definitely been around for a while, but I’ve been really floored by this new bass heavy take on it. I’ll bust out a garage tune here and there. I won’t base my discography on it, but I like to keep myself sharp when it comes to nailing different styles. When you do different genres, whether it be house, garage, drum and bass, the more head-boppy, bass heavy stuff, they all have very distinct characteristics about transient times in the drums or mixed down styles. And it’s always interesting to find those little patterns that make a certain type of music what it is.
That always really floors me and keeps me chasing the dragon in that sense, where it’s like, ‘damn, how did that person do that?’ I love when new genres come about, and I just love being inspired by the creative envelope always getting pushed forward.
OE: Bringing aboard Hindsight for your upcoming set at Mission was really exciting to see. It seems that you have a distinct appreciation for visuals. Did anything in specific spark that?
CI: Dave Tipper and Dave Veler, in my opinion, single-handedly spearheaded the bloom in [audiovisual] development. There’s obviously VJs that were making art before the VJ boom, but the Daves really put it on a pedestal and put a lot of emphasis on the unique pairing of visual and audio art.
I feel like I’m friends with most of the VJs. I’ve hung out with them and I know most of them by first name, and I love switching it up. I think it’s such a high level of expression to share an hour with someone like that and doing a set with someone at a show, it is a very profound experience.
I love the all dark blackout, no visuals, just dancing thing: everyone facing each other and not having or being adjacent to a certain screen. I’ll always do that as well. But then being paired with VJs I think has this just different nature to it where it’s such a shock and awe thing when it comes to seeing a musical artist paired with a visual artist.
Coming back to Adam (Hindsight Visuals), I connected with him at Submersion. He’s such a great dude. I love him to death. I personally hit him up a few weeks ago because there’s some people that I had pairings with earlier on, and then there’s some people that I’ve always wanted to do it with. And since meeting him, he’s been number one on my list. When I got the opportunity to play at Mission, he was the first person I thought of.
So getting the opportunity to play at Mission, he was the first person that I thought of, and I instantly hit him up and yeah, he got to work, I got to work, and I’m so excited to crush that set with him.
Want to find out where Mickman is headed next? Follow him on socials for announcements to come!
A much-anticipated series in the Denver music scene looms this upcoming weekend with the return of fan favorites Detox Unit and Jade Cicada hosting Mission Ballroom on August 9 and 10! Coming back for the first time since their Fillmore Auditorium run in 2022, they’ve brought an incredible cast of audiovisual pairings not to be missed.
With support including Mickman, Schmoop, Vinja, & more, we expect yet another pair of open-to-close presentations that will be talked about for the foreseeable future. Including the unstoppable combination of Jade & Tenorless, attendees of the 2019 Mission event will be treated with a touch of nostalgia as well.
Going Out With a Bang
Several people involved have mentioned that this run will be one of the last times this group of talented gentlemen will be playing together on the same card. What could potentially be seen as a bittersweet ‘last huzzah’ for some dedicated fans could also be perceived as a palette cleanser for others.
As Tipper approaches his retirement, we see a range of different producers influenced by his music reminding us that we are in fantastic hands. Regardless, there is no doubt about the long-lasting impression that this group has had on many of us through their art.
Both Jade Cicada and Detox Unit come off the heels of fantastic performances at Secret Dreams. Jade headlined night 2 at the Portal Stage with Laia, and Detox Unit with a sunrise set that same night paired with Denver’s own Actualize Visuals, who will also be performing with Vinja for the upcoming Mission show.
You Have to Start Somewhere
We were fortunate enough to sit down with Mickman, who will be playing direct support For Jade Cicada. Hailing from Peoria, Illinois, Cameron Ingraham, a.k.a. Mickman is known for his one-of-a-kind sounds that mix both ambient textures with elements of dubstep and drum and bass.
Tailing off an incredibly powerful journey set at Secret Dreams, he has had a smashing year, with other notable performances in Atlanta, Wichita, Tokyo, and Rendezvous. He has also played several other notable festivals and venues, including Red Rocks, Kings Theater, Summer Camp Music Festival, and the Brooklyn Mirage.
Amidst his surge in popularity the past few years, he has fostered an extremely dedicated fanbase (or in his words, a group of friends) who enthusiastically anticipate his next performances.
Abiding by his minimalist approach to promotion, he unexpectedly released his latest album, You Have to Start Somewhere, on Bandcamp and SoundCloud earlier this year. In addition, Mickman has a background as an audio technician, having worked with widely-known Funktion-One, which has evidently compounded his stout ear for music and fused it with his genuine curiosity and eagerness to self-improve, all showcased throughout his sets and music.
While chatting with him, he mentioned his excitement and year-long anticipation to perform with Salt Lake City-based Hindsight Visuals, making his return to Colorado after phenomenal performances at Sonic Bloom 2023 with Alix Perez and Chmura.
Read more below!
Omid Eghbal: What artists or experiences have influenced your music up to this point?
Cameron Ingraham: I’ve always enjoyed music, but I’ve never played instruments traditionally. My first exposure to any type of musical composition was through Ableton. So a lot of my approach is kind of a programming approach. And the first music that I’ve ever really connected with was electronic music.
I never went through a band phase, I never went through a rap phase or hip hop phase. The first show I went to was The Prodigy, in 2008, at the House of Blues in Boston. But then as the scene that we’re currently in now started to blossom, I went to a lot of Excision and Bassnectar shows when they existed. And then getting thrown into the Tipper world as well.
It’s kind of been just any & all good computer music and it really spans across all genres. I would say that The Prodigy was probably my biggest first connection and first inspiration with identifying with a certain type of music.
OE: Anything specifically in that journey that helped you develop and refine the unique style that is the Mickman project today?
CI: Nothing specific. I don’t think that there are any creative choices or distinct production techniques that I developed that got me to where I am now. I think it’s really just continuing to always be curious. When I look back on my discography, there are some tracks that I’m going to play in these upcoming sets that are a lot older.
It’s about always having a drive and a sense of curiosity for creating whatever it is you feel. I think that the more you produce and the more you become attached to your art, the more intuition you gain when it comes to choices in the studio. You’ll develop certain ways that you approach composition or sound design or whatever it may be. Then the more you become one with your craft and the more you develop a certain sense of intuition about how you approach things, the more you will grow your distinct style.
OE: Since the day I met you, it’s been evident to me and anyone else who’s had the pleasure of meeting you how much you value human interaction and connection. Is there a particular social journey or realization that led you to this point or that belief?
CI: I don’t think that there’s anything in particular. Always been very family oriented growing up and putting a lot of emphasis just on building strong, long lasting connections with people, and especially being put into the position of being an artist.
I try to normalize the human experience and what I do because I think it’s easy for a lot of people to get caught up in being an artist and creating that identity for yourself, which I think there’s kind of some sense of necessity to it in terms of building a business or “brand.”
I think it’s really important to connect with people on a human level. Being able to share music and transmute emotions into sound and then having people be reciprocal of that – it’s cool. Especially because I don’t really consider my fans as fans, I consider them my friends.
I would consider myself somewhat approachable, going back to the beginning of this is just putting a lot of emphasis on making strong connections with people, as opposed to the artist-fan dynamic.
OE: Would love to ask about your process for creating a track from conception to final production.
CI: There’s definitely no one way to approach [music production]. When the spark strikes, you could be anywhere on that spectrum and whatever it is that clicks in your mind is going to be your launch point, whether it be a hook, a bassline, a drum pattern, or even a noise that you made. There’s definitely no one way to approach it and I would assume that I probably speak for a lot of artists in that sense. When it happens, it happens. And when it’s good, it’s good.
OE: Now that you are where you are, where do you see your current path taking you?
CI: I’ve thought about [my path] more so recently, just with life circumstances and sitting down at the end of the day thinking to myself, ‘what the f*** am I doing?’ Wherever the compass goes, wherever the compass points, wherever the trail leads, I think it’s just a matter of doing this for the rest of my life. And all of my main goals and aspirations as a producer have all been creative.
There hasn’t been a certain venue that I’m like, “oh, I got to play this, or I got to get on this festival.” All of the goals that I’ve had is: if I can be as good as I could possibly be and continuously push myself to just get better at my craft and keep opening this never ending revolving door, that’s really the main thing that I’m chasing.
I have small bouts of success, and I think it’s just something that will continue to happen until I die, as long as I can just live well and I can travel the world and I’m not overburdened with the state of the world and the socio-economic blunders that we all go through – I just want to live a really simple, adventurous life where I just lock into a routine every day.
I make artwork, I travel the world, and if I continue to make art and opportunities present themselves to me that put me in a position that I’m this big headliner that’s touring around all the time, then that’s great. And there’s a lot of things that I won’t say no to as they happen, but I’m just kind of taking it one step at a time.
But it’s a good question because I’ve kind of had my head down and my blinders on for so long, and now that I’m at a point where making a career out of this is becoming more and more feasible.
I’ve asked myself that question a lot – ‘What are you doing? Where does this even go?’ Then every time my mind answers it, it’s like, ‘dude, you’re already here. You’re already succeeding in whatever it is that you’re trying to do.’ So as long as I can keep my mind right, my body right, and my spirit in tact, then this rabbit hole of creation will never end.
So you have this drive to make more, and then it’s just this feedback loop that is fucking relentless. You can literally waste your whole life doing this, just going down this rabbit hole. So yeah, in that sense, just making good art and continuing to live the life that I do.
OE: Speaking of making music, playing shows, and traveling the world, tell me about your recent Japan trip!
CI: Yeah, I’m just obsessed with people and like to immerse myself in different cultures and ways of life. Going to Japan was a huge bucket list trip because it’s been many, many years that I’ve wanted to go. I didn’t have enough money at the time. I have been so broke. It’s kind of insane. So I had my sister spot me on a ticket until I got paid from my next show. I bought it three weeks out and started hitting up promoters nonstop.
I finally found my friend Tomoya who does lowlife in Tokyo. And he was like, “oh, it might be kind of hard to find a venue.” I just told him that I was already going to be out there however he could make it happen. Then days later, he hit me back and found this tiny little DJ bar that maybe could hold less than a hundred people. There were like 12 people there, half of them from the United States. It was insane. I looked up and saw one of my friends from the US who happened to fly into Tokyo around the same time. It was just a very serendipitous experience that just blew me away.
OE: From a music perspective, maybe A.I. can evolve to a point where it can automate some things. What still ensures that humans like ourselves still have the competitive advantage in those regards?
CI: This is always a good question. Mr. Bill was showing me some software that was trained on just pretty much all the music that exists on the internet, if I’m not mistaken. And you could type in prompts and it was spitting out some very, very, very impressive music. I think that there’s definitely going to be a boom of producers that generate all of their artwork using AI. It’s all based on what humans have created.
I think that humans will, for the most part, naturally be drawn to things that people create. There is a lot of AI artwork out there that’s incredibly impressive. I think it starts to lose a little bit of its value for me where everything becomes impressive. Some things AI makes are so good and so real, that it’s hard to distinguish between man and machine. But I think people will just naturally be drawn to things that humans make. I think we’re predisposed to it in a certain sense.
I don’t really see AI replacing musicians by any means. I think there are a lot of different creative departments and sectors of creative work that will be replaced but when it comes to music, I don’t see it happening as quickly. I’m sure there might be a phase when it does happen, but I’m not too worried about the idea of getting replaced by a computer by any means.
Furthermore, I think on the administrative side of things: those types of speech models will continue to develop, but I don’t like to think of the idea of promoters getting arguments with ChatGPT over the font size of their artists and how much they’re getting paid. That would be funny though.
OE: Because of the rise in, for example, UK garage and some of the new sub genres that have come out, do you try to dabble with those new up and coming genres?
CI: It’s a little bit of both. And coming back to having that spectrum of when your creativity hits and what your starting point is for a certain song, every time a new genre comes about or an artist has a really sick take on a certain style of music: it inspires me, I’ll always give it a shot. Always, always, always, no matter what it is.
And naturally, I always try to just do something a little different either time I think there is coming back to intuitively making the same choices and developing your own sense of style. I think there are a lot of tracks that go for a certain vibe that I’ve locked myself into. But yeah, whenever a new genre comes around, a new style of music that I’m inspired by: I’ll always give it a shot. I definitely am listening to what’s going on, and I’ll definitely give it a wack.
Garage has definitely been around for a while, but I’ve been really floored by this new bass heavy take on it. I’ll bust out a garage tune here and there. I won’t base my discography on it, but I like to keep myself sharp when it comes to nailing different styles. When you do different genres, whether it be house, garage, drum and bass, the more head-boppy, bass heavy stuff, they all have very distinct characteristics about transient times in the drums or mixed down styles. And it’s always interesting to find those little patterns that make a certain type of music what it is.
That always really floors me and keeps me chasing the dragon in that sense, where it’s like, ‘damn, how did that person do that?’ I love when new genres come about, and I just love being inspired by the creative envelope always getting pushed forward.
OE: Bringing aboard Hindsight for your upcoming set at Mission was really exciting to see. It seems that you have a distinct appreciation for visuals. Did anything in specific spark that?
CI: Dave Tipper and Dave Veler, in my opinion, single-handedly spearheaded the bloom in [audiovisual] development. There’s obviously VJs that were making art before the VJ boom, but the Daves really put it on a pedestal and put a lot of emphasis on the unique pairing of visual and audio art.
I feel like I’m friends with most of the VJs. I’ve hung out with them and I know most of them by first name, and I love switching it up. I think it’s such a high level of expression to share an hour with someone like that and doing a set with someone at a show, it is a very profound experience.
I love the all dark blackout, no visuals, just dancing thing: everyone facing each other and not having or being adjacent to a certain screen. I’ll always do that as well. But then being paired with VJs I think has this just different nature to it where it’s such a shock and awe thing when it comes to seeing a musical artist paired with a visual artist.
Coming back to Adam (Hindsight Visuals), I connected with him at Submersion. He’s such a great dude. I love him to death. I personally hit him up a few weeks ago because there’s some people that I had pairings with earlier on, and then there’s some people that I’ve always wanted to do it with. And since meeting him, he’s been number one on my list. When I got the opportunity to play at Mission, he was the first person I thought of.
So getting the opportunity to play at Mission, he was the first person that I thought of, and I instantly hit him up and yeah, he got to work, I got to work, and I’m so excited to crush that set with him.
Want to find out where Mickman is headed next? Follow him on socials for announcements to come!
Connect with Mickman
Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp
Related Content: