patrick is part of forward strategy group, together with smear (who previously contributed a mix for this site); he also summons more experimental sounds through his (i)sodyne project. compared to smear's set of slow-moving chaos, patrick has made something a bit... faster. but more on that later. first, an interview, where patrick was kind enough to provide some words to introduce himself and his music. read on:
So, Patrick. How did you get 'into' electronic music? What musicians have made the biggest impact on you, as a listener and as a producer?
An interest in Science Fiction and the Esoteric is probably why I got into electronic music. I think I'm equally as influenced by the writing of Frank Herbert, the artwork of HR Giger or Max Ernst and the philosophy of people like Gurdjieff as I am by musicians like James Bernard, Jeff Mills, Fluxion, Steve Bicknell and Autechre.
Tell me about the Forward Strategy Group 'corporate family'... How did you first meet Smear, and what made you two decide to create a label and put out your own vinyl?
I met Smear through listening to his music online, I got in touch with him and we've been making music together in one form or another ever since. I'm not 100% sure we had even met in person before we put our first record out, we are both quite anti-social and elusive creatures.
As to why we started a label, sometimes I say as a joke "we took techno - because you didn't want it" people can make of that what they will...
Another individual project of yours is (i)sodyne. Can you tell me about that?
(i)sodyne or isodyne is closer to the stuff I used to make when I originally began making electronic music and in general, it represents my more experimental and reflective side.
I always like to ask, especially for artists involved in multiple projects: do you have a philosophy of music?
My most basic principal with music is that no art is higher than creation. If I'm lucky, I might be able to use my music to convey certain aspects or feelings evoked by the wonderful gift of a seemingly endless universe, the possibility to traverse it and the mind to try and comprehend it, but my efforts will always pale into insignificance when compared to the natural wonders we enjoy every day.
If you had to choose your favourite records or pieces of music, what would they be, and why? Do you have any favourite and/or new producers that you're watching now?
Some of my favourite pieces of music would be :
Bitcrush : 'Epilogue in Waves'
Epic shoegaze / droning guitar stuff of the type Ride, Swervedriver or Chapterhouse would be proud of.
Brian Eno : 'Prophesy Theme' (from the Dune Soundtrack)
Visceral, cinematic and timeless.
Murcof : 'Camino'.
Not many electronic artists can truly get under the skin emotionally, but Murcof does it consistently.
Rhythm & Sound : 'Mango Drive'.
Deeper than the Pacific, this is simply amazing.
James Bernard : 'Mars Rain'.
This is from an album on Rising High called 'atmospherics' which is one of my all time favourite ambient albums.
Burial : 'Fostercare'.
Haunting, melancholic, a bit depressing really, but an example of how it is possible to convey a full range of complex emotions through electronic music.
Steve Bicknell : 'Inchoate Form'
There's not much I can say about this, you either like it or you don't, it's obtuse, stripped down to the bare bones and to me; it is hard techno in it's purest form.
As far as producers or artists I have my eye on at the moment, I could fill a page and don't want to bore your readers, I update my charts on Resident Advisor each month and we try to do the same as FSG, if people want to know what we're into right now as regards techno and electronic, that or one of our DJ mixes is the place to look.
What are you and Forward Strategy Group up to next?
We have 2 new EPs on the way as Smear / Walker and FSG on Dynamic Reflection and Perc Trax respectively. These will be followed by a remix for Donor on Prosthetic Pressings alongside Silent Servant and also a remix of Dave Miller & Paul Boex on Labrynth alongside Pacou. I'm also currently working on a 'Monad' release for Stroboscopic Artefacts with Inigo Kennedy and a solo EP as isodyne on TVO's new label; broken 20.
Finally we're going to start working on an album in the next couple of months for Perc Trax, this will hopefully be followed up by some more releases on our own label which has been put aside due to demands for remixes, releases, live shows and podcasts.
Would you like to share some thoughts on this mix?
Hopefully people will like it! I guess it's perhaps interesting to note that it's 100% live mix with no tweaks or edits, and it was created using Ableton live with 2 control interfaces, one to control the individual channels and one to control effects and overall EQ. The tracks are all in wav format, either sent by the labels / artists in question or digitised from vinyl to 48k 24bit resolution.
... and now, we move to the audio portion of our presentation! like smear, patrick shows how it's gotta be done when you do it digital: dense and layered, driving and rhythmic, and as he told me, "it goes a bit heavy by the end". in a larger context, i think it's a nice chapter in this mix series, picking up the pace after suspect's mix and leading into darker places...
plastikman & thomas brinkmann // concept 1_07 // m_nus
tvo // bc7 memory // broken 20
skirt // ikaros // horizontal ground
ness // diagnostic sequence // prologue
wireman // distance // ism
horizontal ground 07 // mas // horizontal ground
jolka // five // silent servant mix // sect
marcel dettmann // plain // beatstreet
sandwell district // feed forward test session // a // sandwell district
sandwell district // immolare (main) // sandwell district
mike dehnert // md // fachwerk
truss // obasten // perc trax
paraphonic // vitalic // wireman mix // load and clear
martyn // vancouver // 3024
ness // diagnostic function // prologue
mike parker // subterenean liquid // prologue
claudio prc & svart 1 // black moon part 2 // mono
rob alcock // traces // mike parker mix // geophone
milton bradley // derealization // do not resist the beat
marcel dettmann // corebox // mdr
donato dozzy & giorgio gigli // real love // wagon repair
reality or nothing // silent servant mix // rsb
pacou // modular // cache
acrid abeyance // dynamic twin // remix // important
the subjective // tremmor // rotation
counterpart // decoded // warm up recordings
jeff mills // it went westward
hu // untitled // surface
sebastian kramer // arts // steve bicknell remix // content
for more information, head to patrick walker's RA page, and his isodyne soundcloud ... then check out forward strategy group's RA page and facebook page. thanks again to patrick for joining in the fun here. like all the previous artists, it's been a pleasure to talk with him, and it's easy to sense his enthusiasm for the music. enjoy!
thank you. really looking forward to this.
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