The band Gatekeeper was one of the headliners on Friday night during Culture Shock. The duo, which consists of Aaron David Ross and Matthew Arkell, don’t consider themselves a band or a production duo, but rather “an immersive audiovisual experience.”
“We like to collaborate with other artists and the project usually has a visual component as well,” Arkell said.
According to the website for Hippos in Tanks, their label, the type of music they play is described as ghost pop.
“I don’t know if we necessarily align ourselves with any really specific genre,” said Arkell. “I think we pull from a lot of movie soundtracks and electronic music in general.” Arkell described their musical influences as “the whole last 20 years and electronic music.”
They chose to perform at SUNY Purchase because of its closeness to their home in New York City, and also because they enjoy playing on college campuses. They described their demographic as anywhere from ages 16 to 40.
The audience seemed to be quite receptive to the group, some even danced to it. Their latest album “Exo” is meant to be listened to as a whole and to be continuous. Their set on Friday followed that same principle, as they did not stop playing music once to take a break.
Gatekeeper formed in Chicago at Columbia College where Arkell was a cultural studies major and Ross was a composition major, but they moved to Brooklyn in 2012. Gatekeeper released their first EP “Optimus Maximus” in 2009, and all of their music is available in the I-Tunes store. The duo will be playing at the Donau Festival in late April and early May in Austria. Their most recent release “Exo” was released in July of 2012 and they are signed to the LA based record label Hippos in Tanks.