The news was reported on November 23 from i_o’s Twitter and Instagram accounts that, “the world had lost a beautiful soul.” When we heard about the death of Garret Lockhart life slowed down. In the first 24 hours we read messages celebrating i_o’s life from friends like No Mana, Sullivan King, and Rezz. Not to mention the thousands of friends and fans that chimed in.
The details about i_o’s death are still unconfirmed. Instead of pondering the cause of death we found ways to celebrate his life. We found real sincere moments like this one.
After we read and watched positive interactions from his life we finally found the courage to celebrate i_o and his music. While the computer hacker blended trance, house and techno, he found ways to expose thousands of people to techno music. i_o brought that sound back to the main stage.
Celebrate i_o with these top tier mixes
Hello Friends is a mix series created by i_o where he had no planned schedule. He released episodes whenever he felt it important. For example episode 15 is a display of maximum energy techno. The All Acid mix was released in promotion of his 2019 4-track ep ACID 444
Next we dive one deeper. The 18th episode of i_o’s mix series was released just one month ago and it features some of the darkest and grimiest techno that is available. This music needs only a dark room and loud speakers to express itself.
One of i_o’s largest performances was EDC Las Vegas 2019, where the theme of his Circuit Grounds set was to hack the planet. This set was special because i_o had slowly been building a name for himself, and then he found thousands of new fans who appreciated his music.
Settle in for the best i_o EP’s
i_o released five EP‘s from 2019 until now. You might expect all of these songs to remain close to the techno genre, and perhaps they do. The difference is that all five EP’s have their own unique qualities. For example AM 444 (2020) is a lyrical project that i_o created with Lights. Even though he worked heavily with Lights it’s still very much a techno produced project.
We also can’t ignore the brilliant 4 track EP that i_o created with the help of Raito. You might remember Raito as an opener from the Virtual Self bus tour of 2019. Their project entitled Révolution (2020) is super fascinating.
With their combined production techniques they discovered a whole new layer of sound. For us Révolution is a top tier display of art. Révolution stands side by side with some of our favorite productions of all time.
What song or mix from i_o’s discography do you think is top tier? What can we do to celebrate i_o?
Let us know your favorite i_o mixes, sets and songs on Facebook or Twitter!
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