So roughly eight years ago hip-hop producer and overall Man About Eastern Massachusetts D-Tension approached Aaron Perrino of the Sheila Divine and Dear Leader about collaborating on a track that sounded something like New Order. Sir Tension was looking to branch out from the rap community and cash in on some connections he made as a DJ at WFNX Radio, and Perrino was interested. But it was so long ago, Peter Hook was actually still friends with Bernard Sumner.
Fast forward to now, and that track, “Heartbreak Of The Century,” is the lead piece to D-Tension’s new record Secret Project. The collab born nearly a decade ago inspired a full album’s worth of music, and now the producer has launched a Pledge Campaign to put the finishing touches on the whole shebang. Peep the info video up top.
Secret Project features a host of Boston’s faves, including the aforementioned Perrino as well as Jason Dunn of The Luxury, Liz Enthusiasm of Freezepop, Alex Stern of the Sterns and Big D & The Kids Table, and others.
“I wanted to work with singers that I am a fan of,” says D-Tension. “From there I sent them music that I thought wold fit their style. I asked lots of people, some said yes. It took a year and a half to get the songs done because of scheduling and timing. Plus they had to write the lyrics and melody to my music which was very challenging. I actually wrote some of the songs for them.”
That led to some interesting compositions.
“In hip-hop, you send beats to rappers and they write to it,” he adds. “Rock singers are not used to working this way.”
The Pledge campaign is live for another 60 days, which brings us close to the projected opening of D-Tension’s new Lowell live music venue, The Last Safe & Deposit Company.
“We got every license and permit and now we’re building,” D reports. “We had a big flood that set us back months. We wanted to be open for Thanksgiving. Probably more like December. But it’s coming nicely.”
