Biography
Sinjin Hawke channels intricate pulses from grime, footwork, and present-day rap into his forward-thinking club tracks, while also channeling the sweeping elegance of classical forms. His productions typically layer prismatic, elaborate melodies with ethereal vocal treatments, all refined into a propulsive surge. A broad spectrum of artists has joined him in the studio, from experimental club and footwork figures such as DJ Rashad and DVA to prominent hip-hop and R&B names including Kanye West and Frank Ocean. Together with regular partner Zora Jones, Hawke established the audio-visual outlet Fractal Fantasy, through which the pair stages disorienting interactive online environments that parallel the duo’s sonic explorations. His debut album, First Opus, finally appeared in 2017, followed a year later by the pair’s first joint outing, the futuristic club-pop EP Vicious Circles.
Born Alan Stanley Soucy Brinsmead in New Jersey, Hawke is the son of Duncan Brinsmead, a French horn player who also earned recognition as a computer graphic designer. As a youngster he sang and tried several instruments, yet hip-hop captured his attention during adolescence; by age 14 he was constructing beats with his father’s orchestral sample library software. He later enrolled in a Music Technology program at McGill University in Montreal, where he immersed himself in the local club community and helped launch the event series Boomclap in 2009, booking talents such as DJ Rashad and Lunice. After encountering Zora Jones at a 2010 Barcelona show, he relocated to the city the next year. Pelican Fly issued his debut EP, The Lights, toward the close of 2011. Hawke subsequently assembled a hardware-focused live set and performed across Europe, North America, and Asia. In 2013 he produced the single “Yea Hoe” for Three 6 Mafia’s Gangsta Boo and attended the Red Bull Music Academy in New York, where he teamed with Just Blaze on the track “One.”
Hawke and Jones had already earned notice for their audio-visual work on Fractal Fantasy, the platform whose name references one of Duncan Brinsmead’s visionary 1980s animations. The 2015 compilation Visceral Minds gathered music from those projects, featuring contributions from L-Vis 1990 and DJ Taye. Additional credits that year include the Sicko Mobb single “How We Rock.” Hawke’s profile expanded further in 2016 through his co-production of “Wolves” and “Frank’s Track” (featuring Frank Ocean) on Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo. First Opus arrived in 2017, closing with the DJ Rashad tribute “In Loving Memory,” while Fractal Fantasy issued the expansive 20-track Visceral Minds 2, spotlighting numerous joint productions with Jones alongside Heavee, Swing Ting, and Canblaster. The duo’s vinyl debut, the 2018 EP Vicious Circles, appeared on Planet Mu.
Born Alan Stanley Soucy Brinsmead in New Jersey, Hawke is the son of Duncan Brinsmead, a French horn player who also earned recognition as a computer graphic designer. As a youngster he sang and tried several instruments, yet hip-hop captured his attention during adolescence; by age 14 he was constructing beats with his father’s orchestral sample library software. He later enrolled in a Music Technology program at McGill University in Montreal, where he immersed himself in the local club community and helped launch the event series Boomclap in 2009, booking talents such as DJ Rashad and Lunice. After encountering Zora Jones at a 2010 Barcelona show, he relocated to the city the next year. Pelican Fly issued his debut EP, The Lights, toward the close of 2011. Hawke subsequently assembled a hardware-focused live set and performed across Europe, North America, and Asia. In 2013 he produced the single “Yea Hoe” for Three 6 Mafia’s Gangsta Boo and attended the Red Bull Music Academy in New York, where he teamed with Just Blaze on the track “One.”
Hawke and Jones had already earned notice for their audio-visual work on Fractal Fantasy, the platform whose name references one of Duncan Brinsmead’s visionary 1980s animations. The 2015 compilation Visceral Minds gathered music from those projects, featuring contributions from L-Vis 1990 and DJ Taye. Additional credits that year include the Sicko Mobb single “How We Rock.” Hawke’s profile expanded further in 2016 through his co-production of “Wolves” and “Frank’s Track” (featuring Frank Ocean) on Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo. First Opus arrived in 2017, closing with the DJ Rashad tribute “In Loving Memory,” while Fractal Fantasy issued the expansive 20-track Visceral Minds 2, spotlighting numerous joint productions with Jones alongside Heavee, Swing Ting, and Canblaster. The duo’s vinyl debut, the 2018 EP Vicious Circles, appeared on Planet Mu.
Albums
Vicious Circles
2018
First Opus Remixes
2018
First Opus
2017
Onset
2017
Worst (Vocal Dub)
2017
How We Rock
2015
One
2014
The Lights EP
2011
Singles
