BandCampWes: Bamenda—Because Dema Doesn’t Do Enough Music Already

“I made the tracks by myself, and I did it because I always need to be working on something musical.”

Wesleying’s own Dema Paxton Fofang ’13—also known as Fofang, also known as Dema, also known as The Big DPF—has released a new EP of his homespun laptoppy electro-pop. Yes, Dema is also in Lioness (the Artist Formerly Known as Friendsome), Treasure Island, and the Weezer cover band. Yes, he recently completed 14 pull-ups. No, this isn’t another Lioness post.

Dema first launched Bamenda, a solo electronic project, last April, when he dropped two tracks: “Contact” (featuring production and mastering by sometimes-bandmate Ethan Young ’13) and “Distance.” Using his Macbook and an apogee audio interface, Dema spent much of the summer recording two follow-up tracks: “Secrets,” a winding synth-pop track that culls from a grab bag of ’80s Casio tones, and “Medicine,” a moodier (and lengthier) showcase of thick synth pads and reverb-heavy vocal tracks.

Dema explained the project in a bit more detail via email: 

I made the tracks by myself, and I did it because I always need to be working on something musical and I find writing/arranging/producing by myself fulfilling in a very different way from being in a band. There’s more instant gratification, even if it’s not really easier. Ethan Young ’13 helped master/produce a song on the first EP. The EP1 art is a picture from Tobias Butler ’13 and the EP2 art is a pic taken by Jordan Kenna ’12 from Dan Obzejta ’12’s thesis shoot.

Both tracks are featured on the aptly titled EP-2. They’re also embedded below. If pure, sugary synth-pop is your thing (think: Lemonade, Tanlines, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone), they’re worth hearing:

Here’s the BandCamp link.