ROCK GENIUS' Artist of the month is...?

[traumatizing]

ARTIST OF THE MONTH: TRAUMA (COSMIC INDULGENCE)

Every month at Rock Genius, we here in the office like to get together and argue about our favourite musicians. A Battle Royale for the title of "this month's finest," if you will. And this month, my artist of choice swept up the competition like so much dust on the floor.



Trauma, real name 'Terrance Ward', is known to many of us as the synth player for Cosmic Indulgence. The band has an eclectic repertoire, with seemingly no limits on what they're willing to try, it seems they view themselves as artists more than musicians, and I'm inclined to agree! But truly the Da Vinci of the lot is Trauma. He might be young, having just recently turned twenty, but this young man seems to have skill far beyond his years.

Repeatedly he's avoided questions about what inspires him in interviews, but it's clear that Trauma writes from the heart. His most engaging work is coated in layers upon layers of emotion, evocative of early Industrial and Shoegaze. A modern re-imagining of classical music, using sound rather than words to paint a landscape, Trauma seems to have an innate understanding of the addage "show don't tell" that helps him create works of beauty and genius.

A multi-instrumentalist and creative juggernaut in his own right, Trauma's SoundCloud is full to bursting with snippets of abandoned compositions that showcase a broad range of musical talents. In an interview with LoveLoud magazine he said he, "doesn't have much much formal training," humbly adding, "there's still so much for [him] to learn," but it doesn't show. In fact, veterans like Gent Taylor and Killian J could stand to learn a thing or two from this up-and-comer.

--Gary Youngdude