A connoisseur of sound and experience. American underground bass and electronica scene.
SoundScrybe (Christian Cortes) is a Tucson, AZ music writer, event producer, and DJ who has forged his taste and identity in the expansive realm of global electronic music. A lover of the dance floor, he crafts his sets for the sonically adventurous, blending textures, intensities, and rhythms into a seamless narrative that traverses the landscapes of bass-driven music. Drawing from a love of psyc
hedelic bass, deep dubstep, drum and bass, deep tech, and downtempo electronica, SoundScrybe’s musical styling bends and defies genre culture while drawing from the shapeshifting frontiers of visionary sound design. Christian's professional affiliations include June Jam, Quantized Creative Agency, High Road Productions, Street Ritual, Walter Productions, Shanti Planti, Desert Trax, and Headroom Music Collective. His writing has appeared on nearly 100 music releases since 2015 and he has opened for artists that include Desert Dwellers, Dirtwire, Random Rab, Bluetech, Jade Cidada, and numerous beloved acts from the N.
06/25/2025
Those Desert Hearts set times are up! Twyatt Earp and I will be holding it down from 12:30-2pm on Sunday afternoon with an extra spicy set to shake off those sleepies, so come ready!! 🔥
Set Times are live! 72 hours of non-stop House, Techno, & Love. One Stage. One Vibe. It's time we ascend to our final form. Grab your tickets and come ready to contribute to the best damn vibe on earth. We Are All Desert Hearts 🌵💗
06/24/2025
Stoked to be part of 's 2-night event next month at : Mustang Mountain! I’ll be DJing + teaming up with to debut our system for the first time. 🔊
Expect DJs, cabaret, killer food, lotttts of Southern AZ wine, an epic landscape, and a proper decompression night in Old Bisbee. Let’s gooo! 🍷🌀
06/12/2025
Dropping in at Solar Culture Gallery this Saturday for a session with the one and only Treavor Moontribe. If you like hearing killer music from one of the best DJs in the underground scene, don't miss it Tucson people!
Treavor Moontribe (Desert Dwellers, Dreaming Awake) with Desert Decibels & SoundScrybe
We are adding to our line-up SoundScrybe (Christian Cortes)!
See you on the dance floor!
05/15/2025
Wrote my first promo blurb in like 2 years for MantisMash's new album, 'Memory Trails' — Out today on Shanti Planti! ✨
We are thrilled to announce our latest release from MantisMash .. a beautiful 9 track full length album.
Exclusively available on bandcamp and will reach all streaming platforms in 4 weeks 🔊
Drawing from years of sonic exploration and shaped by travels across the globe, 'Memory Trails' marks a pivotal moment in MantisMash’s musical evolution. Known for his vibrant fusion of dubwise traditions, fluid psychedelia, and high-resolution sound design, he has honed his distinctive sound through extensive studio experimentation and live performances — earning his place in the global psychedelic bass scene as both an innovator and a crowd-moving force.
Blending lush psydub atmospheres with nods to classic dub, breakbeat, and drum & bass, 'Memory Trails' offers a vivid and expansive experience firmly tuned to the modern dance floor. Surging basslines, shimmering textures, and finely-tuned rhythms flow seamlessly across the album's nine tracks, balancing technical precision with MantisMash's signature sense of play. From the organic warmth of "Echofluid" and saturated echoes of "Behind the Thunder," to the deep DnB grooves of "BeatJunx" and "Reflekt," the album pushes the boundaries of psychedelic bass music while remaining deeply connected to its roots.
Richly detailed and alive with a sense of movement, 'Memory Trails' signals the next chapter in a journey shaped by travel, performance, and the ever-shifting landscapes of the musical world.
⚡️ TONIGHT broadcasting LIVE on KXCI Community Radio ⚡️
Electric Feel warmly welcomes special guest, local DJ and friend SoundScrybe to join in on the fun with resident Shelby Athouguia. If you like music that is groovy, eclectic and 100% guaranteed hi-fi, you're going to want to tune in and turn up tonight 🔊
Deets 👇
📍91.3FM (local) OR stream worldwide
⏰ 8 to 10pm MST
💿 Full track list available at KXCI.org - follow along to get track ID's on what the crew is spinning and support the artists you enjoy!
📸 Photo taken by SoundScrybe
03/29/2025
I know streets make easy targets for photos, but the atmosphere of this walk/hike was too much to resist. I just love how the barren aspens recede into the fog and hazy afternoon light. Easy to get lost in time in this kind of weather... 🫥
I want more but I'm afraid time is up for the winter near home now. Just glad I stocked up with more moody photos to get me through some of the many sunny days that lie ahead.
03/26/2025
One of my favorite frames since getting back into the rhythm of shooting film. I was at the end of the roll and wishing I had more, but all it took was one shot to capture what I’d seen: stillness, shadowplay, and that stark contrast of the desert against cold steel.
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📷 Nikon FM2 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 Ai-S
🎞️ IlfordHP5
03/24/2025
Funny how the last shot of the day can sneak up on you... kind of like the end of winter.
Looking back, I wish I’d stuck around for a few more frames—but after hiking in the snow at elevation all afternoon, and now surrounded by kids sledding as I made my way back to the car, it felt like the right time to wrap.
Got a few more from this hike during Mt. Lemmon’s final snow of the season that I’ll be sharing soon. For now, here’s a quiet farewell to winter as temps in Arizona shoot into the 90s this week. 🥵
03/11/2025
Took to the rolling hills and grassland of S. AZ wine country over my birthday weekend. I'm rather impressed by how well my fifty year-old Nikon captured the landscape and am feeling more inspired by shooting film with each new roll. So glad there's a B&W film lab in Tucson again!
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Sure do miss those high school darkroom vibes though...
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📷 Nikon FM2 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4
🎞️ Ilford HP5
📍 Sonoita Wine Country, AZ ()
03/11/2025
Not quite ready to let go of winter... 🫠
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Hold for the occasional DJ gig, I've been shifting my digital profile away from music back toward photography over the last year... slowly archiving posts that don't really fit in and changing what and how often I share. The music scene feels overcrowded (not that digital photography isn't) and I'm increasingly more interested in just producing and promoting the events from a distance (through entities) rather than pushing them personally... I've even been considering retiring my DJ monicker (after 10 years of solid use) and switching this whole thing over to my name. I still love DJing, and don't plan to stop, but I don't feel as aligned with the SoundScrybe persona as I once did, and the idea of shaking things up feels right...
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I suppose a bit more pondering is warranted. 🤔
03/08/2025
Family portrait of some of the residents of Saguaro National Park. 🌵
Tire as I do of constant sun, it's not hard to be reminded of just how special this strange desert landscape and its inhabitants are... Trying not to take it for granted!!
03/06/2025
Breaking free from creative paralysis... Not expecting much traction on Instagram with my photography, but working not to do it for the likes anymore... Nevertheless, really digging Threads for art, so follow me there for more consistency (and higher quality) going forward. 🤍
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Christian Cortes (SoundScrybe) is a music content creator with a predilection for psychedelic music and electronic event production. His creations can be experienced through his work as a writer, DJ, music label manager, talent agent, marketing specialist, and music event producer. He works out of the desert southwest city of Tucson, AZ.
As a writer, he has been commissioned by electronic music artists around the world for everything from biographies and press releases to speciality release content and in-depth writeups. His words have appeared on websites such as LostInSound, Reality Sandwich, and The Untz, as well as on dozens of musical collections by international artists on labels Shanti Planti, Street Ritual, Desert Trax, Merkaba Music, and Dreaming Awake Records.
As an event producer, his journey began as an event writer and photographer who quickly discovered a talent for project management and artist relations after entering the electronic music event industry in 2015. His portfolio includes work at Symbiosis, Serenity Gathering, Lightning in a Bottle, Gem & Jam, and key production roles at Coalesce NYE, Juniper Jam, June Jam, and Convergence at Arcosanti. He also serves as the music director and co-founder of Arizona’s High Road Productions.
As a DJ on international psybass label Shanti Planti and American bass label Street Ritual, SoundScrybe crafts his sets for the sonically adventurous, blending textures, intensities, and rhythms into a seamless narrative that traverses the landscapes of visionary and bass-driven music. Drawing from the realms of deep and psychedelic dub, mid-tempo bass, breaks, and halftime DnB, SoundScrybe’s musical styling bends and defies the boundaries of genre culture while endlessly probing the surreal and shapeshifting frontiers of high-fidelity sound design.
Christian Cortes also works as talent agent for international talent agency Sub.mission. His roster includes artists dela Moon, Bumble, Mindex, Pathwey, Soulacybin, Ovoid, Dillard, Digital Vagabond, and Living Light.