ATTLAS

Canadian EDM producer Attlas specializes in densely layered, elaborately crafted tracks that weave together ambient, IDM, house, techno, breakbeat, and trance textures. Jeff Hartford, who entered the world in Toronto, grew up surrounded by music and received formal instruction on piano and trumpet while also mastering guitar, bass, and banjo. As a child he performed in various groups and absorbed the fundamentals of recording and production, landing his first paid engagement as a trumpeter in a jazz venue. At university he sharpened his compositional abilities; once he earned his degree he served as an intern for film composer Trevor Morris. Hartford first wrote classically styled commercial jingles before discovering electronic music on visits to Amsterdam and Berlin. He then taught himself production techniques and adopted the alias Attlas from a character in the game Bioshock; in 2014 he forwarded demos to Mau5trap, the label run by Deadmau5, which promptly signed him. Deadmau5 personally mentored Hartford, expanding his knowledge of studio craft. The producer emerged publicly in 2015 via a remix of Deadmau5’s “Aural Psynapse,” after which Mau5trap issued his debut single “Scarlett” and the EP trilogy “Siren,” “Scene,” and “Sin,” generating considerable attention. For a period listeners speculated that Attlas was merely another pseudonym for Deadmau5, until DJ Pete Tong revealed Hartford’s true identity. In subsequent years Attlas delivered additional EPs and established himself as a prominent remixer through reinterpretations for Rihanna, Tove Lo, I Hate Models, and Pendulum. Early in 2020 he unveiled his first full-length project, Lavender God.