Discognition Is Making Big Waves in Denver

Denver-based producer Chad Vasquez is on a roll with his Discognition alias, playing some of the Queen City’s most lauded venues in only a short period of time since he moved here. Breaking out with a single release on progressive house maven Nora En Pure’s Purified Records, Vasquez found himself on the bill with her at Mission Ballroom for her label showcase. Since then, his funk- and disco-infused brand of progressive house has permeated the dance floors of Denver, and you'll have two chances to catch him this week, with a show at Meow Wolf on Wednesday, April 4, and at Club Vinyl on Saturday, April 8.

With his dad a singer and his mother a multi-instrumentalist, Vasquez was surrounded by music while growing up in Columbus, Ohio. He credits being exposed to electronic music from a young age to his mother’s eclectic taste in music, with such artists as the Crystal Method and Daft Punk frequently emanating from the family’s speakers.

However, as was the case for many kids growing up in the ’90s, video game soundtracks would become a gateway into the never-ending expanse of dance music. “The nerd in me hates to admit it, but I used to play a lot of Dance Dance Revolution,” remembers Vasquez. “Obviously, electronic music is at the core of games like this, and so that would introduce me to tons of different styles of music, like techno, and Happy Hardcore, which I actually hate.”

By the time he was attending Ohio University, Vasquez had been creating tracks with FL Studio and GarageBand for a few years. But while he was into more melodic, trance-forward music, the sound of Ohio was bass. “In Columbus, if you wanted to be a DJ, no one was booking melodic stuff, so I went under the alias Black Rabbit, where I produced trap, dubstep and some future bass, which I would release on SoundCloud,” recalls Vasquez. He would ride this alias for the next seven years, supporting artists such as Dillon Francis and, at one point in 2013, Denver progressive house icon Lane 8, when he was fortunate enough to be able to play a progressive set — a welcome break from the jittery headbanging of bass music.

In 2018, he released his first track as Discognition and shifted his focus to more melodic motifs; he also departed to Los Angeles, where much of this sound is based. But within a few years, rather than the vibrant Los Angeles club scene, he got the strict dystopia of COVID-era California, complete with lockdowns, drought and an increasingly spray-on-tanned Gavin Newsom. Yet with isolation comes opportunity.

It was over COVID that a cold email to Purified would provide his first break, one he credits to the openness of the label. “There's a lot of these major labels that you send a demo to the demo email and it just goes into this ether, never to be heard or seen again,” says Vasquez. “I really appreciate that Purified has always responded to every demo I've ever sent, and [has given] good feedback, too, so I definitely am happy to be a part of that.”

Vasquez sees this accessibility and positive support as one of the hallmarks of his genre. “It’s funny, coming from the bass world and then going into the melodic world — no disrespect to the bass scene — but I wouldn't be able to go to a show and just dap up Excision,” he says.

In contrast, he notes, a lot of artists on labels such as Anjunadeep are available to connect with, whether in a crowd or online. That happened with Anjunadeep’s Marsh, whom Vasquez met when Marsh needed a place to stream his Twitch broadcast before gigs in Denver and Boulder in 2021. Vasquez, being a voracious streamer himself, had the setup and offered it up. Then, when it was time for Marsh to play with Nox Vahn at Cervantes', Vasquez was able to seal a support slot because of his relationship with the producer, despite having only recently moved to Denver. “Nobody here knew who I was yet, and some eyebrows had raised, like, ‘Who's this guy?’” recalls Vasquez.

But he's found the Anjuna community to be welcoming and supportive, just like in the industry side of things. “I really found my tribe, so to speak. You can go anywhere in the world, and if you're with that Anjuna community, you're like family,” says Vasquez. “I got ingrained in that community here in Denver, and I've met some of the most wonderful people I've ever met in my life through that community.”

Discognition plays Meow Wolf, 1338 First Street, Wednesday, April 5. Tickets are $25. He also plays Club Vinyl, 1082 Broadway, on Saturday, April 8. Tickets are $15.