On November 4th, Oregon-based producer Supertask played his biggest headline show to date at Denver’s Ogden Theatre. It took place a mere two days after he announced his departure from Lab Group, the celebrated supergroup he founded with Potions and the late CharlestheFirst. Through this show’s precise curation and heavy dose of fresh IDs, Supertask proved he’s ready to define his career as a solo artist.
The Lineup
To kick off the night, Supertask chose local Denver artists to show some love for our city. First up was Indobeats, a Colorado favorite who knew exactly what to play to get the party started. Next up was a special B2B performance from Denver producer BACKWHEN and Nashvillian ESCPE. Despite having worked on many collaborations together, these two went back to back for the first time at this show. Their combined energy was infectious as they hit the crowd with bangers like a bassy flip of Benny Benassi’s “Satisfaction.”
One of the most unexpected choices on this lineup was brothel. This producer didn’t quite fit in with the dubstep-focused coterie of the rest of the night. On the contrary, brothel. is a major contributor to the wave movement. The SoundCloud-based genre takes inspiration from many electronic subgenres, featuring slowed trap drums and drawn-out synths. It’s been picking up steam in Denver thanks to brothel., Barnacle Boi, and others. At The Ogden, brothel. showed off the sounds of this genre, especially when he unleashed his wave edit of The Neighbourhood’s “Daddy Issues.”
As direct support, Khiva took the stage. This Canadian DJ is known for her bass-heavy cuts on the Deep, Dark, and Dangerous label. And boy, did she come prepared with the bass! Khiva flexed subwoofer-heavy hits to dark, pulsating visuals of forests and occult symbols. She took the crowd on a journey, even unexpectedly dipping into psytrance with Charlotte de Witte’s “Pria.” A highlight of Khiva’s set was her live vocals. To close out her performance, she jumped on the mic to skillfully rap along to “Snapdragon,” appropriately hyping the crowd up for Supertask.
Corporeal and Other Projects
Beyond these excellent supporting artists, Supertask (real name Kyle Bishoff) offered something special toward the start of the evening. He graced the stage as his rarely seen side project, Corporeal. Loyal fans of Bishoff’s work loved this rare treat. He kicked off the night by dishing out his B-sides and other tracks that exist just outside the realm of the Supertask project. An undeniable highlight was “Scar Tissue,” a number that fans hold dear because it features Bishoff’s own vocals over a beautiful instrumental.
Although Corporeal was the only side project to appear at the Ogden show, it isn’t Supertask’s only other alias. He also releases under Ghost Approach, which champions an otherworldly and moody sound. And further, he claims he has many other side projects hidden online (that you might be able to find if you do a bit of digging). While some fans were sad to hear about the end of Supertask’s time with Lab Group, Bishoff has plenty to focus on as a solo producer — so much so that it can’t all be held under the Supertask name.
Supertask’s Live Show
At last, Supertask took the stage to a sold-out audience. Even though his Lab Group days are over, he started with a nostalgic nod to their hit track, “Old Ways.” CharlestheFirst’s beloved voice sang out the “Back to my old ways” line over brand new Supertask beats.
One special feature of a Supertask performance is the way Bishoff integrates technology into his music. Thanks to Bishoff’s background in computer science, the visual world of his project is informed by coding languages. It’s in his social media, on his merch, and all over his live visuals. At this headlining show, however, he proved his art is not just inspired by coding, but by all the technology interfaces of our world, past and present. His visuals included binary code, VHS copyright warnings, the countdown cards on film reels, and NO SIGNAL screens.
All the while, these visuals coincided with brand-new tracks from Supertask. He came prepared with loads of never-before-heard beats to wow his fans. Despite the enormous amount of new material, he also mixed in his best hits, like his summer release, “Dripping” with Ruku. Supertask also delved into some unfamiliar territories as he played out a presumably original house beat, but then he brought it back to the classics with a VIP of Lab Group’s “Banshee.” The crowd went wild for this moment.
Overall, this show proved that Supertask has a vision for the direction of his solo work. He has a cohesive idea of what the future of Supertask looks like, both visually and sonically. As an artist who’s deeply interested in technology and full of creative drive, Supertask knows exactly what world he wants to build for his fans.
Photos by Sammantha Drake
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