Live Electronic Dance Music

Onabenda is the collaboration of three electronic producers and musicians from Brisbane, united to create a pioneering live electronic band. Onabenda’s performances are a high energy fusion of house, breaks, trance and all sub-genres in between. Helskanki, inSilico and Verve have been working on solo projects for numerous years and have now combined forces to create a hybrid audiovisual dance music experience.

Helskanki’s mind works in strange noises, and his body moves to them. In the beginning he gravitated to the Nu Skool Breaks scene, a heavy groove of syncopated beats will instantly lead him to bust out even in the most sardined dance floor. When Helskanki made the move to music of the 4/4 variety, he felt he had to keep his groove and so concentrated on intricate rhythmic synth lines, basses and percussion. This groove and his love for phat drum beats has followed him through to a new page of his musical life in the band.

‘inSilico’ – an experiment done with the aid of a computer. This is how inSilico’s music and electronic artworks are made – experiments in audio and visual created on computer. He was once an aspiring scientist keen on crazy experiments, but his passion for electronic music lead him to stop mixing chemicals and start mixing synths and samples. Self taught the science of audio manipulation, he brings a fresh perspective on electronic dance music, exploring the boundaries of sonic creativity. Take throbbing basslines, pumping beats, techy percussion and pulsating synths, blend them together at high volume and you get high energy epic tunes. He has been persistently experimenting and tweaking in his secret laboratory (aka. bedroom studio) and is now taking his audiovisuals experiments to the next stage with Onbenda.

Verve’s early musical roots were based in hip-hop and broken beats where he learned to appreciate groove, rhythm and the art of mixing beats on wax. As his interests evolved, Verve found himself exposed to elements of dance music, namely hard trance and freeform. Intrigued by the high energy and fast pace, his love for tunes saturated in melody and emotion infected him from that point onwards. Once he had delved deep into the realm of dance music the obsession flourished quickly, embarking on an exploration of sonic possibilities. Verve drew inspiration from a wide variety of genres, exploring many auditory combinations. This appreciation for all styles of music has lead to the distinctive sound which can be heard in Verve’s productions, fusing elements to create an electrifying hybrid sound.

The combined influences and backgrounds of Onabenda fuse to create an eclectic mix resulting in high energy, epic dance music with a focus on bringing the live elements of a band into the electronic dance music arena.