Over the past four years mysterious German duo Unknown Brain has risen through the ranks to become the shadowy Kings of the NCS empire. With gargantuan YouTube viewing figures that dwarf those of their peers and Spotify streaming numbers that place them firmly alongside the likes of Porter Robinson, What So Not and Cashmere Cat, Unknown Brain are the Future Bass heroes you’ve heard but probably don’t know…
It’s no surprise that Unknown Brain remains something of an enigma, even to the millions of music lovers familiar with their work. Hiding behind the anonymity of their trademark masks, the pair prefer to dwell in the depths of their mammoth bassline constructs, locked away in a studio creating beautifully melodic worlds that rise up like shining edifices from their bottom line foundations. Indeed, just take a listen through their discography over the past four years and there is a definite sense of dimensional storytelling to their music, something that has proven popular not just with NCS and its immense network of content creators but also labels like Spinnin’ Records, Enter Records, Future Generation and Trap Nation. Whether crafting raucous trap bombs like their 2016 debut ‘Superhero’, ‘Control’ and ‘Matafaka’, anthemic trilogies like ‘War Game’, ‘War Zone’ and ‘War Dream’ or sumptuous Future Bass cuts like ‘Inspiration’, ‘Why Do I’ and ‘Slow’, the German act repeatedly strikes gold.
And not just artistically or creatively either; in the cold hard light of day the numbers stacking up for Unknown Brain more than speak for themselves. Debut single ‘Superhero’ has, to date, an incredible 81million views on YouTube – and counting. Add to that 35million views for ‘Matafaka’, 16million for ‘Inspiration’, 31million apiece for ‘Why Do I’ and ‘Control’ and 10 million for ‘Say Goodbye’, and the size of Unknown Brain’s reach and influence becomes clear. Over on Spotify the figures are just as impressive. With daily streams close to 400k and monthly listeners topping the 2.1million mark, Unknown Brain are poised to break through into the mainstream strata of electronic music. What happens to take them there, which single will raise their profile to the next level remains to be seen. One thing that is entirely certain, is that is only now a matter of time…