Media Production — Original EP
After
After
market
An invite-only street-racing festival, told as a Web3 world. I wrote the record it runs on — the sound of a city that only exists after midnight.
An invite-only street-racing festival, told as a Web3 world. I wrote the record it runs on — the sound of a city that only exists after midnight.
Aftermarket is a street-racing world built as a collectible community — ten thousand cars, one winner-takes-all festival. After his father's death, Rowan Holde inherits the Midnight Cross and throws the race to crown the best driver in the city. Your opponents are criminals, adrenaline junkies and people with nothing left to lose.
That's a lot of story for a project with no film to score. The music has to do the world-building on its own — carry the place, the hour and the stakes with no dialogue and no scene to lean on.
Engines are already loud. The record stays underneath them — this is the sound of the streets the race runs through, not the machines running it.
Tempo sits where a night drive sits, not where a chase does. Momentum comes from repetition and pressure rather than pace.
The threat is implied. Held low end and space do more than aggression, and leave room for whatever plays over the top.
The EP had to work three ways at once: as a record you play front to back, as a bed under teaser edits, and as something a community can live in for months without it wearing out.
Sub and bass carrying the weight — tuned to sit under engine noise instead of fighting it.
Tight, dry, and slightly behind the grid, so the groove leans rather than rushes.
Wide pads and detuned leads for the neon and the wet asphalt — the city's colour.
Processed metal, distant traffic and room noise buried low, so the tracks feel located rather than programmed.
Music as world-building. With no film to score, the EP had to establish the city on its own — and it's what the community heard first.
Built to be cut. Every track survives being chopped into a teaser without losing its identity.
Room left on purpose. Space in the mid-range means engines, voice-over and UI can all sit on top without a re-mix.
Produced at Rideview. Aftermarket artwork, characters and vehicle designs courtesy of Rideview.