JM#192 – Patås

(Gabriel) Patås is back on the Jaeger Mix and a lot has transpired since his last visit. The Oslo native has moved deeper into the fringes of Techno since his debut via Dugnad Rec with influences of Jungle and DnB permeating through his latest creative endeavours as it stretches to the boundaries of IDM. He’s launched a new Label called LEK with kindred spirits Kim Dürbeck and Lárus which in three releases are already pushing the boundaries of known club conventions.

Hey Gabriel. It’s been a while since we spoke and I know it will be impossible to sum up everything that has happened since, but what are some of the highlights?

Hello ! Well, the biggest highlight was probably covid. During that time I got to sit at home from morning till night working on production and through all those hours I feel I reached a different level as a producer. As an effect of that, starting my own label with mates Kim Dürbeck and Lárus Sigurvin and setting it up with proper international distribution has been vital.

Tell me a bit more about your work at Hærverk. Everybody here really appreciates it as a true vestige for the underground. What are you guys doing there at the moment and what’s the ethos behind it all?

Ah, Hærverk, what would Oslo be without it?  In a city where the nightlife is being held in a chokehold among a few business brands, copying trending nightlife concepts from bigger cities and assimilating it over to Oslo, Hærverk remains as one of the few places left with an actual soul. Where culture is the actual goal, not just a means for enriching its venture capitalist owners. As a concert venue, it’s the natural home of smaller genres like jazz, improv, noise, punk, but also just as much for rock, metal, and all sorts of electro/acoustic constellations. As a club, it continues its legacy of keeping Oslo connected to the roots of detroit, as well as booking exciting up-and-coming new international talent, being a home for the proper local DJs with connection to the roots, all while fending off all this trendy bullshit music and politics that keeps on corrupting the rest of the city and the scene. A free zone.

Yes, there’s a kind of informal scene that has cropped up there, which seems to be continually evolving. How has it informed your own musical inclinations?

I’m always working the bar during the free jazz series Blow Out, which has just outstanding booking. It really feels like a joke getting paid to watch these concerts. It’s cool to see how different musicians handle a situation where they are totally free to do whatever they want, which is the same situation I’m facing when in the studio with a blank ableton project. Language lets me only arrive at cliches like «too much freedom can become a prison» and «a limitation imposed for the sake of liberating creativity, can quickly become the new shackle that takes you back to ground zero», and blablabla, but these concerts shows me the more nuanced depths of this topic and its relatives.

From the club perspective, witnessing those nights when mostly sober makes it very easy to single out what’s not working in a set and why, which is always reassuring.

The other thing I’m really curious about is your label Lek. Can you tell us more about that, how it came about and the musical ideologies that inform it?

Starting Lek became a necessity when I saw that each new track I made ended up in very different territory from the previous. This was a result of my mind shedding dogmas and other shackles and the process becoming more and more intuitive, and thus more fun as I was not so much in my own way anymore. Naturally, compiling a selection of tracks for a specific label and maintaining my source of life seemed not compatible as most labels are defined by a specific sound, lurking deep within a sub-genre. When I joined forces with Larus and Kim for the creation of Lek, we ensured that we can keep this «special place» untainted for as long as we live. In essence, it’s a celebration of the spirit of playfulness and a platform for dance music of all kinds.

Are there any Lek pieces in this Jaeger mix? 

I really can’t recall everything I played, but I know the opening track is «Atlantic Potion» from my newly released 12″ from December. (WARNING: COMMERCIAL CONTENT!!)I’m out of copies at home, but a few copies are still left at Filter Musikk.

There’s a deep and dubby mood throughout this mix, which to me has some similarities to the music you make. Was that the foundation from which you programmed your mix?

I really didn’t have a plan with this one, just showed up with a bag of vinyls and sticks full of stones (aka BANGERS cuz its so HEAVY!), and the mix got more dictated by the crowd and vibe that night. That being said, I’m very rooted in the dubbedy dub, and every track I make is fundamentally rooted in the sub movement. With a real groovy sub on a proper system you are basically moving peoples bodies for them. It would be a shame to pass on that opportunity!

What should the listener deduce from your own musical inclinations through this mix?

This opportunity, however, I would like to pass on!

What do you consider some of the highlights in this Jaeger mix?

Hmm.. I think I should mention the Anders Hajem track “Restless”. I was quite shocked to find that such a top lvl producer was hiding in plain sight here in Oslo. Supa fresh! Also DJ Franky Gees massive “message to the party people all over the world” is being played at every occasion lately. I found it for 1€ in a forgotten box while digging, and feel more and more like a criminal every time I play it.

There’s a trajectory, especially towards the end where you go into higher tempos and there’s more of an urgency there. Where do you think this mix will eventually have gone if you were left to programme the entire night?

I think we were just about to enter more broken beat/electro/free techno territory, so basically how it would be when I play hærverk or abroad and it’s getting late. Probably would have ended in jungle/footwork territory as ive recently dug out some.

And what can we surmise from that in terms of your own music and the next step in your DJ career?

Production wise I’ve got another LEK 12″ mastered and ready for the press, and I’ve been fortunate enough to be invited to release on some exciting labels as well. On top of that there are some collabs as well as remixes.

I’m planning another trip abroad this spring to play, but this time it’s gonna be with a solo hardware live set. As always just an excuse to get real close and personal with the machines in the coming months.

I’ve been privileged enough to hear the next Lek release, coming from Kim Dürbeck and it’s gotten me pretty excited. What else do you guys have in store for Lek that you’re eager to share?

Oooh, Kims release, what a bomb! That ones coming up on April 21st and is probably what I’m most excited for at the moment. Then there is my forthcoming record, maybe arriving aug/sep. I’m also planning out an invitation for another V/A featuring producers from Norway and Georgia. Hærverks acid junkie Krass is making some cosy trippy tunes for us, with remixes from Bergen homies Trym Søvdsnes and Marius Bakke, that wax will be steaming hot fo sho! As always, we are trying to get Lárus to do a release this year, and if he does, it will be the highlight of the year for me!