The story behind Novelty Engine
Novelty Engine is an improvisational live project created by Ajja S.F. Leu. Its 2015 Ozora Festival debut brought Ajja together with a large international lineup drawn from psychedelic electronic, dub and reggae circles, including members of System 7, Ott, Dick Trevor, Dymons, Vlastur and singers from The Congos.
The project returned to Ozora in 2017 as Novelty Engine for Funk’s Sake with another expanded lineup, making the rotating personnel part of the concept , not a fixed band roster. Novelty Engine represents the live-band, improvisational side of Psytrance culture, connecting Ajja’s electronic work with dub, reggae and progressive-psychedelic musicians on a major festival stage.
Later activity has been intermittent and centred on festival performances. Connected to Ajja’s broader live and modular work and to a rotating network of psychedelic, dub and reggae musicians.
Origins of Novelty Engine
Created by Ajja as a variable-lineup live band built around improvisation and cross-genre psychedelic performance.
The early years
The project debuted publicly at Ozora Festival in 2015 with an expanded international lineup assembled around Ajja.
How the career developed
A second Ozora appearance in 2017, billed as Novelty Engine for Funk’s Sake, continued the variable-lineup concept with a funkier live direction.
Novelty Engine sound
Improvised psychedelic dub, reggae, funk and electronic music combining live rhythm section, vocals, guitars, keyboards and electronic processing.
Place in psytrance history
Novelty Engine represents the live-band, improvisational side of Psytrance culture, connecting Ajja’s electronic work with dub, reggae and progressive-psychedelic musicians on a major festival stage.
Connections and influence
Connected to Ajja’s broader live and modular work and to a rotating network of psychedelic, dub and reggae musicians.
Novelty Engine today
Later activity has been intermittent and centred on festival performances.
Festival connections
Ozora Festival
O.Z.O.R.A. is a Hungarian psychedelic gathering at Dádpuszta whose modern festival history began in 2004 after the site's landmark Solipse solar-eclipse celebration in 1999.
Related projects and collaborations
Artists with overlapping styles
Aardvarkk
Aardvarkk is the solo Psytrance project publicly credited by Bom Shanka Music to Nigel Shiva Valley, known for groovy psychedelic night-time material and the albums/EPs Lunar Origin and Heroic Dosas.
Ace Ventura
Yoni Oshrat’s Israeli Psytrance project, combining progressive groove, psychedelic detail and long-form DJ storytelling across a wide network of collaborations.
Alpha Portal
Astrix and Ace Ventura’s heavier collaborative psytrance project, created as a faster and more uncompromising counterpart to their solo work.
Astrix
Israeli producer Avi Shmailov’s long-running Psytrance project, known for combining large-scale dancefloor power with detailed psychedelic production and melodic writing.
Captain Hook
Reshef Harari’s Israeli Psytrance project, known for deep hypnotic arrangements, analogue-minded production and a deliberate crossover between psychedelic trance and techno.
Deedrah
Frédéric Holyszewski’s solo project, bridging the first French Goa wave, early-2000s Full-On and later progressive electronic forms.