I knew Renegade wasn’t meant to stay in my folder.
It started as a piano sketch that felt promising but incomplete. I could hear the mood, but not the destination. So I sent it to Coalescence Cascade, because sometimes collaboration is simply admitting that someone else might hear the missing piece.
What I love about working with other musicians is that a track never comes back the same. It evolves. It gains weight. It gains contrast. It surprises us.
Here is our conversation about Renegade, from cinematic piano beginnings to bass-heavy transitions, police sirens, and somehow, a beaver politician who refuses to stay in the background.
You can listen to Renegade here:
🎧 Spotify | 🎶 Apple Music | 🌐 Beatport | 📺 YouTube
‘Renegade’ has a strong sense of motion. Did it start from a rhythm, a mood, or just experimenting without a clear plan?
Coalescence Cascade:
Spacey sent me the initial one or two minutes of the track which stayed pretty much fully intact, i added some bass and drums, but the vibe was already there. The track then flows through a bridgey part where we blend and flows into more my stuff in the later parts.
Spacey Panda:
I was playing around with piano and a sample I found inspiring, but I wasn’t able to continue the idea. The track was starting to sound cinematic, and I immediately thought about Josh and how he could bring it to another level. Sometimes you just feel when a piece isn’t meant to be finished alone.
Collaboration always reshapes a track. What do you think Renegade became together that it wouldn’t have been solo?
Coalescence Cascade:
Working with others always puts me in situations i wouldnt find myself in on my own and i love it, i find ive been making faster and faster music and for this track its 100bpm which is a lot slower than some of my more recent stuff. That made it fun to go back to a chiller and more constant rhythm.
Spacey Panda:
I’m still not sure how I ended up starting this project at 100bpm because it sounds faster to my ears haha! I completely agree that collaborations are the perfect way to step out of your comfort zone. I’m currently in my “add bass everywhere” era, just not at Josh’s level yet. Working with someone who truly masters something you want to develop is incredibly inspiring.
Collaboration can be unpredictable. What do you enjoy most about making music with someone else rather than working alone?
Coalescence Cascade:
I love everything about it! Ive only been working with people steadily for the past year or so but it was a goal i set out to achieve and its been way more fun and ive learned way more than i ever thought i would.
Spacey Panda:
I’m always better at starting music than finishing it, and sometimes I also find it easier to finish someone else’s track (I work both ways in collabs). Having a fresh set of ears is such an advantage when it comes to pushing creativity further.
If someone discovers your music through Renegade, what do you hope it tells them about your artistic world?
Coalescence Cascade:
I think all my music has a dark and ethereal vibe with an epic scale and i think those elements come through in this track as well. I hope people connect with the emotional content of all my stuff.
Spacey Panda:
We are both classically trained, and I think you can hear that influence in our collaborations. My music is multi-genre, so it’s difficult to define my entire artistic world through one track. But cinematic atmospheres and/or piano are often present in my work in one way or another.
Looking back now, what part of this release feels the most satisfying to you?
Coalescence Cascade:
Every time i get to work with Sophie on music is amazing and a special gift, but my favorite part of this release will probably end up being the same as my favorite part of our last release, the #spampaign on social media. We have a lot of fun making the videos and its usually a pleasure to work with Nibbles.
Spacey Panda:
Josh and I both share a strong sense of humor, so beyond the music itself, our promos and the way we connect with our audience are always light and playful. We share a lot of the same listeners, and these moments really reinforce a sense of community for us.
Was there a moment where the track surprised you, or went somewhere you didn’t expect at first?
Coalescence Cascade:
I think the drivey bit at the end surprised me, I just kind of started something different and then blended it in after with composition but i think it makes the track a journey that lands you somewhere different then where you started.
Spacey Panda:
The police siren was one of those completely random ideas we had. Why did we add it? We honestly don’t really know haha. But somehow it worked and gave the track that slightly chaotic twist we didn’t know it needed.
In collaboration, what helps you stay open to new ideas?
Coalescence Cascade:
I just love music and making music, any music someone else is excited about i often will get excited about. It is honestly just such a great feeling to be creating with people I respect so much in the industry.
Spacey Panda:
Music is something you never stop learning, and I still have so much to discover. New ideas genuinely excite me. I’ve learned that not being too rigid about your initial vision is essential. When I’m too attached to a specific direction, I simply decide to work on that project alone. Collaboration, for me, is about flexibility and trust.
On the Instagram promo, we could see a beaver part of the story, can you tell me more about it?
Coalescence Cascade:
I wasnt sure if Nibbles would come up in this interview or not. The #spampaign and Nibbles originally came about with our last track we released Gravity Falls. We were talking about promo ideas, we ended up deciding to do some smear campaign videos of eachother and we were messing around with AI generated versions of ourselves. The best version of me that chatgpt could make didn’t look very Canadian, so we thought adding a beaver to the photo would help. He quickly got a name and he’s been a special connecting tissue between both our projects ever since. He even now has a merch store!
Spacey Panda:
The smear campaign originally started as a playful parody of Canadian elections, since we’re both from Canada. We were supposed to “run for office,” but somehow Nibbles, who was initially just Josh’s beaver sidekick to make him look more Canadian, ended up winning the election. Since then, we built an entire storyline around him. Nibbles became sentient, developed a personality, and now even has his own Instagram account. We often joke that he has more supporters than both of us combined.
How does Nibbles differ from how you usually present yourselves as artists?
Coalescence Cascade:
The funny thing about Nibbles is we always intended for him to be kind of a jerk, but i think both Sophie and I are so sweet and kind, that we cant hide it and everyone just seems to love him.
Spacey Panda:
Nibbles embodies the ultimate self-obsessed, silver-spoon politician archetype.… Which Josh and I are definitely are not haha. He’s a troublemaker and a bit of a troll. It’s refreshing because Nibbles allows us to explore a more exaggerated and chaotic sense of humor.
What’s the most unexpected interpretation someone has had of Nibbles so far?
Coalescence Cascade:
I think that hes been around long enough that some people who follow him do not know where he originally came from, i do wonder if there are people out there who dont know whos really behind him?
Spacey Panda:
It’s honestly hilarious. He truly has an identity of his own now, and I can confirm that some people follow him without knowing where he originally came from. Another funny detail is that Josh and I both log into Nibbles’ account and sometimes post content without telling the other. Then the other one has to deal with the consequences later haha.
What does a successful release look like to you, beyond numbers?
Coalescence Cascade:
Numbers are not really on my radar, i plug away at the algorithm but for me im making music for myself and my friends and family. Primarily myself though, im my #1 fan.
Spacey Panda:
I think many indie artists can relate to this: the best feeling is when someone reaches out to tell you how your music made them feel. That connection means more than any amount of streams. For me, that emotional resonance is the real success.
Renegade feels like exactly what collaboration should be. A meeting point. A shift in tempo. A shared creative language that neither artist fully controls.
There’s something powerful about letting a track evolve beyond your original intention. About trusting someone else to shape it with you. That’s where growth hides.
And occasionally, that’s also where a fictional beaver politician somehow becomes part of the lore.
Thank you, Coalescence Cascade, for the creativity, the basslines, and the unpredictable energy that made Renegade what it is.
- Interested to know more about Coalescence Cascade? Read my other blog articles where he is featured:
- Follow Nibbles’s questionable political career here.
Huge credit to FutureSynths (Shrey Dev Gumpa) for bringing this track to life visually. His artwork captures the mood and energy of the music so naturally. It’s detailed, vibrant, and imaginative, like watching the sound unfold in color.
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