Page 35 - Zone Magazine Issue 020

Whats your favourite piece of equipment?
I love my Aarturia MicroBrute coupled with a Boss Digital Delay pedal. If I’m writing with someone I’ll take them with me to Jam with as it sounds warm and phat and is a great sound source. The Boss pedal you can really twist and bend the sounds as well giving you instant hands on twisted fun!
What is your work flow when writing a track, do you have a set structure?
Sometimes I will just start with a beat and a bassline and build the peak of the track first and work from there, sometimes I will write in a more linear way. A lot of the time I’m messing around with something building and jamming for hours and getting lost capturing things I like and structuring them later. I’m not a big fan of templates and I start fresh every time I make a new track. Writing music for me is an adventure and a journey into some unknown aspect of myself – a pilgrimage to the source perhaps?
What are your thoughts on the current state of the dance music scene?
I think there are some incredible artists and Djs out there at the moment but not necessarily the venues or outlets for dance music these days, especially outside the big cities. This is why we created our own scene and took it outside. Keep it underground I say. Mainstream dance and EDM isn’t really where I see myself. I just want to make good music. More and more people are making tunes these days and there’s an awful lot of samey dross out there which can make it harder for more interesting artist to get exposure. That’s why it’s so good to have Zone Mag and other Magazines, Blogs and playlist curators to give artists the boost they deserve.
What/who are your biggest influences?
Way Out West, BT, Chemical Brothers, Bjork, Dj Shadow, Ninja Tunes, Warp Records Aphex Twin, Orbital, Leftfield, KouncilHouse, Shpongle, Hedflux, Stone Roses, Far Too Loud, Digitalis, Faithless, Wax Hands, Andrew Weatherall, Aphex Twin, Forest Parties, Anime, Sci Fi, Osho, Neil Gaiman, Robert Anton Wilson, Herbs, Shrooms and Pingers.
Any upcoming artists that are really doing it for you at the moment?
The new album “Tick Till Friday” by KouncilHouse is pretty much on repeat at the moment. The album has a variety of genres but it works as a whole piece of music. It’s beautifully produced with elements of nostalgia for Dance’s golden age while still sounding fresh and up to date. The album is a future classic in my opinion and if you haven’t got it already you should as there’s something for everyone on it. The new album from Bicep on Ninja Tunes is also brilliant.
What does the future hold for Phat Pilgrim?
I have a couple of EPs ready to go, one progressive house and one funky glitched-out breaks. I have collaborative project with my man Illian developing a downtempo broken psychedelic sound with a vibe and groove that hasn’t really been heard before. At the time of writing I’m working on a remix for KouncilHouse and I hope to do more high profile remixes in the future. The future holds more love, more understanding, more bass and tight beats.
Connect: https://www.facebook.com/phatpilgrimofficial
words by john ricketts pic by dom johnson
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