‘Diatonic Gin’…a remarkable new album from one of Belgium’s finest
Interview by Dan Prince
‘Diatonic Gin’ is Patrick Bruyndonx’s (aka BP) most personal artistic statement to date – a deeply delicious collection of melody rich house music, marking the culmination of an exciting five-year journey of musical development as a solo artist. This remarkable work is also the first ever album to be released on Plattenbank. Bruyndonx is well known as one of Belgium’s top producers for many years now, with a successful 20-year career as a DJ and producer behind him, having released a long list of superb music in all kinds of styles under many monikers, always evolving, always pushing his boundaries. He may be old school but he has the best new tricks of the trade. DMCWORLD checks in…
Patrick a huge welcome to DMCWORLD…where on planet earth are you today?
“I’m living in a small town called Grobbendonk twenty minutes out of Antwerp, Belgium.”
The first piece of music you heard after rolling out of bed this morning?
“Today, funnily enough it was the promo of Robert Babicz Babiczstyle 002 LP, I’m preparing my set for the EDGE party with my friend Eran Aviner.”
A very exciting few weeks for you with the release of five years worth of hard graft, your ‘Diatonic Gin’ long player…Plattenbank’s first ever album release no less. The album has a wonderful story. Here is Patrick Bruyndonx – a successful producer and DJ with over 20 years of experience with a long list of varied music releases behind him. And then a ‘eureka moment’ thanks to stumbling on music tutorial on the web given by Karen Ramirez. Most producers in our day and age will not have heard of Diatonic Harmonies or Circle of Fifths!!! Please explain why this tutorial of the physics of music changed everything for you…
“Well…I’m not a musician, so all those previous works were often collaborations or just going along the way with vibes and one-chord tracks, after finding Karen Remirez on YouTube that kind of changed. Not that I can play well now, but I do have a better understanding of what the hell I’m doing! She explains it in alternative ways so it’s easy to get your head around the physics of music and melody.”
It has been said that the new album has raised the bar in terms of what is possible artistically and also is a starting point for a whole new generation of producers to discover and develop their own experiments with melody. Do you really believe that?
“Not really, to be honest. Music is a constant evolution, everybody learns from everything they listen to, and I listen to all kinds of music out there, I just got fed up with the kick & noise tracks in underground dance, emotion in music is very important for me.”
Tell us about Karen Ramirez…did you actually meet her? Is this the same young lady who had a chart topping record covering Everything But The Girl with ‘Looking For Love’ all those years ago? The lady must have chords running through her bloodstream!
“LOL, no, this is a elderly lady giving classes to seniors (just a little bit slower so easy to follow) in the USA and she also has a YouTube channel where you can be in her class online. I just stumbled on her one night looking for chord change lessons. Here’s an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqGKVjPnHlY
So let’s talk about the album: Ten wonderful tracks with some amazing collaborations with most names of the records having some meaning. Please give us a few words on each of your new musical babies…
Listen Album Preview Clips:
https://soundcloud.com/bruyndonx-patrick/diatonicginpreview/s-BDsaF
01. BP – Spare
This one was the very last track I made on this album, it was actually really a spare track, finalising the album some of the other tracks lost their magic in mix-down or pre-mastering mastering, so I had to kill those babies.
02. BP & Ramon Tapia – Moogy
Ramón Tapia is a very close friend and the minute I told him I’d got my Moog Voyager, he came to the studio and we kindly abused it that day, all the sounds were generated by this timeless analogue monster.
03. BP – Panama
I made this one after a night with Hernan Cattaneo at Panama Club Amsterdam last year, he has been a huge supporter of my work and I’m honoured to be in his family called Sudbeat.
04. BP & Eran Aviner – Edge One
Talking about inspirational collaborations, Eran Aviner is one of the best music connoisseurs I know, he and his partner Dave Schamisso also throw a great party called EDGE where I’m playing as resident. We made the track to play at the party and we immediately new it had something special.
05. BP – Aguila (Exclusive Album Mix)
Eagle Flight was my first title for this one, I don’t know where that came from, it just felt that way. I specifically love the album version where I had Cedric Murrath playing all the strings live, I wrote and produced the Aguila EP (original mix) with Omnisphere.
06. BP – Trip At The Off Keys
The second oldest track on the album, I made this one in 2009, I always loved it but never got the right place for it to be released until the album idea came up.
07. BP – Somebody Else
They say the best come quick, well, this one didn’t take long at all.
08. BP – Ocean View
This one dates back to 2008, with various big labels wanting to put it out, but sometimes a track is like good wine and stands the test of time.
09. BP – Time Machine
I was in Bloemendaal Woodstock where Marco Carola and Dubfire were playing, when suddenly Marco played a track I made with Frank De Wulf (Inferno Disco) released on AELLA so that inspired me for “Time Machine”.
10. BP – Diatonic Gin (Outro)
At first it was made as the intro… Diatonic Gin is a musical journey just playing what I learned and felt at that moment, and the most important word here is PLAYING, music should be played, not programmed, its so much more FUN!
It is obvious that melody is at the heart of every track, five years worth of musical art. Where does this put you know? What are your future production plans?
“Everywhere we go, there’s a new horizon and every corner we take there are new surprises! Who knows what the future brings, I just hope I can stay on this musical brick road.”
Over the five years, who were some of the artists you were listening to…what sort of genres were filling your ears?
“Oh, how many pages do we have? Lol…I must say I love Radiohead, Jon Hopkins, Kollektive Turmstrasse, Ripperton, Guy J, Hernan Cattaneo, Nick Warren, and the sets of Matthew Dekay and Lee Burridge always inspire me.”
Are you happy with how the album has been accepted…you must have known you had created something very special?
“Of course, I’m proud that the long nights in the studio and my emotions are well accepted, however, I think its hard to predict how people will react, I’m just very happy that more people have the chance to listen to it, the main reason I make music is to reach and touch other souls.”
Will you be happy that in 30 years time people will still be talking about your album the same way people still harp on about Wally Badarou’s ‘Echoes’??!?
“Haha touch !! That would be a triumph indeed, these days music is often consumed like fast food, I had to save up to buy the Wally Badarou album and I still have it!”
You love the writing process of a song – you call it a journey into the unknown. You struggle with the mixing of the tracks, sometimes the constraints of a small studio frustrates you. What do you do when you hit that wall…how do you recapture the energy?
“Sometimes I don’t!! Dust yourself off and try again, making music is a balance between science and emotion, so hitting a wall is evident, along the years you learn to put those moments into perspective. Mixing-wise I might put everything in mute, take all the EQ off and start from the bottom up again and again… leaving a track for a while to forget about it and stumble on it on a lost night months later – and find yourself finishing it in a few hours!!!”
Recently in Antwerp you played with one DMCWORLD’s oldest friends in John Digweed. Now there’s a man who likes his gin! How was the party?
“Minus one on my bucket list to be fair, playing with the legend was amazing and the gin was nice too!”
What are the 5 big tunes in your box this weekend, please give us a few words on each…
– Few Nolder, Kurak “Holy Pouly” (Dave DK DJ Version) http://youtu.be/vqCaJfJX63s
Such a cool track, great sounding production, mix and mastering and then the musical emotional break makes it a winner for me.
– The White Shadow (Fr) “The Sky” (Original Mix ) http://youtu.be/NHUNKHbXDW8
Great floorfiller and a very solid sound.
– Robert Babicz “Nuda”
A promo from his upcoming BABICZSTYLE 002 LP. Talking about efficient simplicity, always playable.
– Stas Drive “Carnival 69” (Original Spagetti Mix)
I love the drive on this one, with a Lil Louis kind of solid bass and enchanting sequence taking it into an unreal dreamy break, and then we kill the speakers with a deep bone trilling saw bass – what’s not to love on this track?
– Sahar Z “Side Caution” (test promo)
Sahar is one of my mentors in progressive music, a warm up DJ session by him is a must hear experience!!!! And this track has all that unmistakable Sahar emotion.
The person from history you would most like to have a beer with?
“I would like to have a couple of beers with Robin Williams and ask him why!!”
A film you could watch over and over again?
“I’m not a movie fanatic really, but I do like to totally switch off and watch something stupid and ridiculous sometimes.”
A DJ date in your 2015 diary that you just cannot wait for?
“Minus two on my DJ bucket list is playing with my friend HERNAN CATTENEO at Bloemendaal “Woodstock69” NL on the 26th April 2015 and I could not wish for a better birthday!” https://www.facebook.com/events/370023073179598
An up and coming producer we should watch out for this year?
“Kiasmos is the first name that comes to mind, I’m sure its going to break thru, and if I look at my Skype contacts there are these guys called Mike Thor, Hermanez, Steve Slight, Roger Martinez, Stas Drive, Sahar Z….”
You hail from Belgium, a country that somehow has always punched above it’s weight in the dance music arena since New Beat exploded in the early 90s. Back then, had you any idea that electronic dance music was going to be here for the long run, or did you think like many it was just another fad like Disco?
“Playing clubs for the last 20 years, I never had a doubt that it was here to stay, and yes I do have a New Beat collection, although I must admit I played the bigger mainstream clubs for the first 15 years of my career. We played all styles of music and we played all night long, working and owning a record store helped me follow all streams in electronic music (PS disco is! not was!) As I listen to genres like Deep House and House, Disco is still a huge and for some an original sample bank. Is Moroder Disco or Techno – avant la lettre?”
Is there a better festival in the world than Belgium’s Tomorrowland?
“I played on Tomorrowland a couple of times and I must say it’s impressive. They took dance festivals to another level, for sure. I can’t say it’s the best in the world because I’ve never been to Burning Man, Sonar or Glastonbury, for example…”
And finally gotta ask… I give you the option of owning a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO for the weekend or a round of golf at St Andrews with Rory Mcllroy and Arnold Palmer… Which do you choose? I know you love both…
“Ah, not to be rude…in that dream I would pick up David Leadbetter in a 1965 Mercedes SL PAGODE for an 18-hole afternoon on Pebble Beach golf course.”
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BP – Diatonic Gin LP (Plattenbank) BLZ044 is out now worldwide…
Beatport: https://pro.beatport.com/release/diatonic-gin/1461547
Further Information:
https://www.facebook.com/PlattenBankRecords
http://www.facebook.com/BruyndonxPatrick
https://soundcloud.com/bruyndonx-patrick
http://www.beatport.com/label/plattenbank/6064
