HYPERPHANTASIA by JUSTIN TATO

HYPERPHANTASIA is the result of two years of modular synthesis experimentation, philosophical research, and immersive listening practice, which explores the blurred edge between memory, imagination, and reality. It is titled after a condition of the same name, where mental images appear with vivid, sometimes unbearable clarity. Each piece in this album is a sonic translation of these images: visions of ecological collapse, war, memory fragments, and surreal inner landscapes, made audible through sound design.

The sound pallet of the album is rooted in what I call Sonic Biomimicry, a technique where modular synth patches behave like living organisms, generating sound ecologies that evolve over time. Inspired by feedback systems in nature, the patching process mirrors organic growth, erosion, and climate.

This album is also a personal meditation on overwhelm. Composed during a time of deep reflection on global violence, I hope these pieces offer a nonverbal response to a violent world.

Much of this work was composed using a custom-designed Eurorack modular system, with each composition emerging from a unique patch, each its own synthetic organism. I see this instrument not just as a tool, but as a sculptural and philosophical object, something alive and expressive in its own right. From the quiet dread of imagined futures to the warmth of remembered ones, HYPERPHANTASIA invites the listener into a sonic world where images become sound, and sound becomes a site of healing.

–TATO

TATO (Justin Tatone) is a Canadian composer who sculpts vivid, nature-inspired sounds using modular synthesis. His work transforms raw synthetic sound into intricate, organic-feeling environments. Active in experimental music, film sound, and hip hop, TATO builds immersive sonic worlds through careful synthesis and a deep interest in artificial systems which replicate the non artificial

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