In 2016 the Belgian electro pop act Psy’Aviah released the album “Seven Sorrows, Seven Stars”. On that album we also find the track “Not What I Expected” with Fallon Nieves on vocals. The very same year Douyin started, a Chinese video-sharing social networking service which would get a rebranded launch for the international market as TikTok in 2017.

Fast forward to 2021 when Yves Schelpe from Psy’Aviah suddenly sees videos popping up on TikTok, more specifically with the track “Not What I Expected” in combination with videos that indeed show an unexpected result…

Yves: “I was stunned. Music that I make here on my own, in my own little (head)space was interpreted in completely different ways, and I didn’t even know anything about it! I found out about it by accident as I was using the app to promote our new single “Pretender”. I was googling my profile name, a simple search term “Psy’Aviah TikTok” and it didn’t give my profile, but interpretations of songs like “Not What I Expected”. But also other tracks used in TikTok videos popped up such as a company using “Anger Management”, or “Infected”.”

The videos are hilarious and sometimes touching. Yves: “It’s weird to see we actually did connect with some fans we didn’t know before. The impact you have, unknowingly, on people when you make music – is something not to take for granted, so it is touching when it does happen and you find out about it. People used to write me letters, now it’s via TikTok apparantly 🙂. Without the platform, or the internet, I would never have met those people!”

“Not What I Expected” is not the only track being used from Psy’Aviah but it does result in some of the funniest videos around. Here’s the original track, below TikTok videos using the same or other tracks from Psy’Aviah.

Not what I expected, on TikTok

@lytrell.strayhorn

Not quite what I expected… 😑 #snowinmay #pleasedont #really #imcold

♬ Not What I Expected – Psy’Aviah

@kira_kfr

#goth #dark #schoolkillsartists

♬ Wild Ride – Girlflesh Remix – Psy’Aviah

@laurengraham9

♬ Not What I Expected – Psy’Aviah

@chagranbo

#angermanagement 🤯

♬ Anger Management – Psy’Aviah

@dennisthetennisball

Anger

♬ Anger Management – Psy’Aviah

@nalaandbenji

Still love you NalaNoo 😂💕 ##fyp ##americanstaff ##mygirl

♬ Not What I Expected – Psy’Aviah

@olgastrungari1

Under the rain ☔️

♬ Under the Rain – Psy’Aviah

@iamlanakaye

It is in fact, an arm. Scared not scared #part2 #river #oklahoma #paddleboard #outdoors #rivertime #maniquin

♬ Not What I Expected – Psy’Aviah

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Alfa Matrix continues the ‘Matrix:Reb00ted’ series, this time with 2 remix albums by Belgian artist Psy’Aviah displaying his electro dance trip pop remixes cruising through the Alfa Matrix band catalogue. The releases are first released via Bandcamp and will follow on all other platforms in the next weeks.

Here’s what is available on both volumes plus also a preview of what to expect.

Matrix:Reb00ted – The Psy’Aviah Guerrilla – Zion [Electro Dance] Warfare [07]

This volume holds 15 songs from Alfa Matrix’s massive music repertoire remixed by Psy’Aviah. Offering the electro dance side of the Belgian band you can expect a harder selection of modern dancefloor assaults with these bands: Ayria, Suicidal Romance, Zombie Girl, Junksista, Leaether Strip, Essence Of Mind, Nebula-H, Diffuzion, Schwarzblut, Diskonnekted, Krystal System and Psy’Aviah. You can check all the songs below and download it from Bandcamp directly.

Matrix:Reb00ted – The Psy’Aviah Guerrilla – Zion [Trip Pop Electro] Warfare [06]

This volume also holds 15 songs from Alfa Matrix’s massive music repertoire remixed by Psy’Aviah. The “trip pop electro” edition reveals a selection of more moody and catchy synth electro songs thanks to bands like Mondträume, Metroland, Aiboforcen, Helalyn Flowers, Acylum, Junksista, Entrzelle, Llumen, Virgins O.R Pigeons, Halo In Reverse, Schwarzblut, Mildreda, Totem Obscura and Psy’Aviah, also including guest vocals by Kyoko Baertsoen, Mari Kattman and Fallon Nieves. You can check all the songs below and download it from Bandcamp directly.

Previous volumes

Here’s a list of the 5 previous volumes which Alfa Matrix released in the past with remixes executed by Kant Kino, Simon Carter, Acylum and Aesthetische !

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Background/Info:

Read the news on ‘Lightflare’.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Coming out this Friday is the brand new Psy’Aviah album “Lightflare”, and as announced a while back, we are today offering you an exclusive insight in the deluxe version of the album itself (with the exception of 3 tracks thanks to SABAM). The album is available on CD, 2CD (order right here via the Alfa Matrix webstore) and as download on Bandcamp.

Attention when you buy via Bandcamp, don’t forget to use the special code sideline2518 and you’ll get an immediate discount of 25%.

We contacted the Belgian artist behind this international project, the Antwerp based Yves Schelpe. You can preview the album here (the interview is right after this embedded player):

SL: Yves, your new album has been a personal journey through the ups and downs you experienced. How has life been treating you the past few years?

YVES: Life throws all kind of unexpected situations at you, and the older you get the more frustration creeps in, or the more you look at things from a different perspective. I can’t complain, I think I did get bored with certain situations and that I grew frustrated with stale situations. My albums have always included personal stories – whether autobiographical stories or things I’ve seen from friends & family in daily life. But “Lightflare” is a more in depth look where I take the listener through the emotions of “feeling lost” towards strategies one evolves to “cope with life” to end with “happiness and joy”.

SL: Was this something you also transmitted to the guest singers? How did they react?

YVES: For sure, almost all the lyrics and vocal guides are written by me, and I explain the meaning behind my intent with some words in details to the vocalists. Mari Kattman & I did a video to explain the process, where she talks about those vocal guides & the explenations I give her (she starts talking at 104sec).

When the lyrics are written by the guests themselves (such as Ellia Bisker of Sweet Soubrette or Michael of MiXE1) – I do give them artwork snippets, reference to other lyrics on the album I wrote and a vision I have for the lyrical content I’d like to have on the album. So it’s an intense journey working with them, and as far as I know they all appreciate that way of working, being part of telling a story.

SL: The album has been receiving raving reviews the past few weeks from all kinds of press. Was that something you had expected or was it rather the result of hard work?

YVES: This album is far more delicate than the previous two, it touches upon personal topics and while it’s still “dark pop music with an adge” and rooted in EBM, there’s also triphop, pure pop and electronic rap on there. Which made it again an evolution in my exploration of boundaries in sound. But to be able to tell a story like I wanted on Lightflare I had to seek out those genres, as they convey the emotions – it was this a lot of hard work: two years went into the album, from recording, writing, sepending time on the artwork to have a visual image for the vision & story. So when I first sent out the album and received the reviews I was very nervous – but I am so happy things are positive and that Lightflare is being appreciated a lot – both on radio, podcasts and reviews! It’s strange to think of it as the songs I made in my “bedroom studio” are being played in clubs all over the world, and listened to people from all over the world – I couldn’t be happier to with the reaction I receive from those listeners and DJs as well.

SL: What kind of influences have played a role for creating the songs for this album?

YVES: Musically I drew inspiration from Moby’s & Faithless’ triphop sounding songs, as well as Röyksopp, Tove Lo and the classics as always such as Praga Khan & Lords Of Acid which triggered me to write my own music as a yound kid. Fun fact is that I always send off songs to Ludo Camberlin (aka CS Johansen), producer on PK & LOA as well as Poésie Noire and The Neon Judgement – a very influencial person for me, but for a lot of others too I guess. Ludo always gives me very good feedback and thus is a big influence for me.

But I guess the main influence of course is the story, and for each chapter in this Lightflare story I make a song, with the lyrics in mind shaping those sounds & hits and build ups to match the mood. Not always with a vocalist in mind directly – but when I have a demo finished I usually know immediately who to ask. David from Entrzelle was perfect for Ghost, I know that there I can create an electro track with a lot of ambience, and a riff but rely on his vocal performance a lot – the emotions. Same with Mari Kattman’s “Lost At Sea”, when getting back those vocals I usually change and shape the demo around their vocals so they fit perfectly.

The vocalist that pushed me most this album for sure was with my live vocalist Marieke Lightband, we had multiple sessions and recordings at her studio in Antwerp, trying to figure out together what would be the best – giving feedback to each other and coming to a song that is very much full of soul, triphop and influences of jazz. The same happened with Michael of MiXE1 – bouncing off ideas back and forth and the song was then shaped more and more tightly around his vocals – but in stead of doing it in person like with Marieke, the process with Michael was done online: Facebook is dead – long live facebook messenger ?.

SL: You’re very active on social media, with the recent ‘reach crash’ it seems that personal contact via the profiles is back. How do you look at the way all these platforms change the rules all the time from an artist’s point of view?

YVES: It’s frustrating indeed, but I’ve always been active on all kinds of social media. Instagram & my personal profile now play a more crucial role – as well as our own website. Most people forget they signed a contract when they register to a social media platform, it’s their right to change the algorithm. So be it, but I’ll abuse the system and use the medium the way I want it – game the system, and be honest. I love it that this time around a lot of people have more immediate contact with me through facebook (facebook.com/yves.schelpe) and instragram (instagram.com/psyaviah) – sending me pictures, their personal stories on how they interpret and experience the songs and lyrics. I don’t mind adapting thus, I still think social media is a cool medium.

SL: When and where can we see Psy’Aviah live again?

YVES: We will do some shows in Belgium being booked by private companies (so sadly those are private shows) and we’re in talks to visit Germany. But we’re always open for opportunies and kick some ass on stage with our dedicated live band: Marieke, Ben and me.

You can also check out the following videos on YouTube:

“Reboot Reset Relay ft. Fallon Nieves”

“Lost At Sea ft. Mari Kattman”

“Aftermath ft. Ellia Bisker”

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Read the review of ‘Lightflare’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

The 58th track on our free download compilation “Face The Beat: Session 4” (featuring 92 tracks) is by the popular Belgian electropop act Psy’Aviah here featuring Fallon Nieves (see the photo above).

The track we offer here is also featured on the band’s most recent “Seven Sorrows, Seven Stars” album which sees Yves Schelpe collaborating with Kyoko Baertsoen (ex-Hooverphonic, Lunascape), David Chamberlin (Entrzelle), Andrew Galucki, Alvin River, and many other artists. Over the years Psy’Aviah has gained a solid reputation offering strong songwriting and a slick production. You can connect with the band via their Facebook page.

Listen to “Not What I Expected (Feat. Fallon Nieves)” below and download it right here.

Check our “Face The Beat: Session 4” page on Bandcamp to discover the other 91 bands. All donations will go to charity.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Background/Info:

Read the news on ‘Chasing The Speed Of Light’.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Out on November 11th is “Chasing The Speed Of Light” EP by the wellknown Belgian electropop act Psy’Aviah. Side-Line secured an exclusive stream of the 10-tracks available on the download version of the EP (note that this limited fan CD version has 7 extra tracks – it can be ordered right here). The EP features vocals by Kyoko Baertsoen (ex-Hooverphonic, Lunascape), Lis van den Akker, Fallon Nieves and Mari Kattman (CD-version only).

The extended fan edition CD version also offers 2 previously unreleased club remixes by trance/dance producer Tim Iron for “Lessons from the Past” and “Last of Us”, plus a very early Psy’Aviah demo written back then under the Marion Xue moniker. Next to that you get 4 atmospheric recordings Yves Schelpe made back in 2002 as a soundtrack for a theatrical adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s classic novel “The Portrait Of Dorian Grey”.

But here’s already the full 10-track download EP for you to listen to, exclusively on Side-Line!

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Read the review of ‘Chasing The Speed Of Light’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Out in April, but ready for ordering on Bandcamp and here for the CD/2CD versions, is “Seven Sorrows, Seven Stars”, the brand new Psy’Aviah album. Alfa Matrix is now offering 4 tracks for streaming, which you can check below. The tracks included are the intimate “Looking Back (feat. David Chamberlin from Entrzelle), the pulsating “Lessons From The Past (feat. Mari Kattman)”, the what we expect to be an upcoming dance hit “Not What I Expected (feat. Fallon Nieves)” and “Wild Ride (feat. Miss FD)”, the latter has a very oriental touch as you’ll hear.

These days Psy’Aviah is basically the project around the multi-talented Belgian artist Yves Schelpe who has been gathering a varied range of singers around his songs including Kyoko Baertsoen (ex-Hooverphonic, Lunascape), David Chamberlin (Entrzelle), Roeland van der Velde (Model Depose), Bernard Feron (MED, Combat Voice), Mari Kattman, Andrew Galucki, Alvin River, Pieter Van Vaerenbergh (Metafuzz, Zelon), Ellia Bisker (Sweet Soubrette), Miss FD, Addie Nicole (Halocine), Diana S. (Junksista) and Fallon Nieves.

Next to the normal CD version and the extended download version, the album also comes out as a limited deluxe 2CD carton box edition with a 14-track bonus CD holding album songs reinterpretations with a much more dancefloor techno / trance oriented approach. You an find the complete trackless of remixers right here.

Below is already the trailer for the album:

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com