Instupendo

Philadelphia electronic artist Instupendo floats into earshot with original downtempo compositions that listeners say they turn to when they feel, or want to feel, a certain way. Dancing Astronaut compared his distinctive sound as “something akin to taking Tycho’s work, incepting it into a dreamscape, and slowing it way down”, while The Deli Magazine called it “a silken and ethereal logic operating somewhere in the space between trap and ambient.”

Like many of his peers, Instupendo (aka Aidan Peterson) got his start as a pre-teen on Soundcloud, organically building a fanbase and network of collaborators before venturing onto commercial streaming services in 2016. Within months, his single “Beauty Unit” was featured on Spotify’s Fresh Finds and subsequently charted on Billboard’s Spotify Viral 50. Successive singles, including ”Falling”, “Light Lock”, and “Comfort Chain”, secured additional playlist placements and attention from the likes of Indie Shuffle, Majestic Casual, ChillHop Music, La Belle Musique and ThisSongIsSick.

2017 saw Pigeons & Planes naming him an essential rising artist to watch, and Cosmo’s Midnight tapping him to remix their hit “History”. The resulting minimal emotional ballad transformed the funky R&B original. Instupendo followed up with his debut EP Friend of a Friend, featuring collaborations with artists Lontalius and Benny Sings. Nest HQ dubbed the EP “an emphatic assertion that Instupendo’s time has arrived.” The 17 year-old producer concluded the year with a remix of Grammy-winning remixer RAC’s “Unusual feat. MNDR” which promptly charted at #1 on Hype Machine’s remix chart and landed the top spot on Apple Music’s global Today’s Chill playlist.

2018 found Instupendo heading in exciting directions within his signature sound palette on his sophomore EP, Faces I Know -- featuring Hype Machine #1 "Boy", and US/CA/AU/NZ New Music Friday selection "Fleur feat. Teen Daze" -- and his Pitchfork-'What's Good'-endorsed remix of Rostam's "Half-Light feat. Kelly Zutrau". He racked up time on the road as well, opening for Shallou at Brooklyn's Rough Trade, Digitalism at Philly's CODA Nightclub, Eevee in Montreal, Queens, Washington DC, and Los Angeles, Rostam at Brooklyn Steel, Ryan Hemsworth/Giraffage in Brooklyn, Cambridge (MA), and Washington DC, and Snail Mail at 9:30 Club in DC.

2019 launched a new chapter with the release of “50-50 feat. Instupendo” on collaborator Toro Y Moi’s Outer Peace LP, followed shortly thereafter by his first original music in nearly a year: “Persona”, a song that arose from his participation in a campaign with Urban Outfitters and Teenage Engineering to launch TE’s OP-Z synth. His latest song, ‘Cinderella’, is the first single from his forthcoming Boys by Girls EP, out June 5. It’s the first track to feature his own vocals.