An ambient space is more than just a chill-out area: done well, it can add an extra layer to the club experience. This was our goal in adding an ambient-focused floor to the program for our upcoming party Patterns of Perception // Winter Edition, happening next week at ://about blank, with guests Lara Palmer (of Monument collective) and Antonio Giova (one half of natural/electronic.system.) on the bill. To warm up for their sets in the Zelt next Friday, we asked Lara and Antonio to each share five of their current ambient inspirations with us. Enjoy the journey. Selected by Lara Palmer from MDF.  on Acid Camp Records, 2018 As you’re hosting the upcoming party at ://about blank, I thought it was fitting to include this warm and friendly track by Shingo Suwa, an artist who’s closely attached to the club through his Buttons residency there. - from The Unrush Tapes - Requiems For Refuge Vol. 2. on Unrush, 2020  Unrush is a beautifully curated label, podcasts, interviews and event series focusing on ambient music. Recently, the label’s second cassette surfaced, including this track by JakoJako and unrush founder Mareena, an enthralling play of tension and relief. - from Non Virtual Reality. Semantica, 2019 This atmospheric floater by Jonas Kopp is a good example of the power frequencies can have on your mind, making it travel, and creating some space in the everyday chain of thoughts. - from The Coexistence Patterns. Kabalion Records, 2016 A jam session by Claudio PRC and Dubit that I am glad was captured on wax. - from Amber. Warp Records, 1994 Recipe for a short excursion into space. You need: a good sound system (alternatively good headphones), a place where you can lay down comfortably, 2 ears, 2 eyes. 1. Find the place where you can lay down comfortably. 2. Put on the track. 3. Lay down. 4. Close your eyes. 5. Listen. Selected by Antonio Giova From Vernal Equinox. Lovely Music, 1978 Not much needs to be said about this gem. Jon Hassel with his winding sinuous trumpet draws exotic, tribal, landscapes accompanied by the percussions of Naná Vasconcelos and electronics. All time favourites for me. It will be remastered and repressed on vinyl soon on Ndeya for the first time since 1978. - From Dai Primitivi All'Elettronica. Casal Gajardo Records, 1990 Again a synthesis of folk, ancient, ethnic and electronic music. Reminiscences of raga, cosmic music, controlled chaos. Repressed on Black Sweat Records few years ago. - From Crescente. Spazio Disponibile, 2017 Certainly one of my favourite records of the recent years. Here each track is a mysterious uncertain story, the memory of something that emerges from the sub-conscious, an incessant sometimes frenetic search, it keeps me glued from the first to the last minute every time I listen to it. - From The Mantra Recordings. Astral Industries, 2017 I chose this one from this amazing catalogue, but there are several beautiful past, recent and future releases on this label.The field recordings here are used masterfully, they are an instrument themselves. Headphones on and start dreaming. - From Ritme Jaavdanegi. Latency, 2019 My last pick can’t be considered an ambient record but Latency is a very interesting ambient/contemporary music label and this release again underline their research for unique beauties. I love percussions, not only used for dance purposes, and here you can easily hear how Mortazavi’s incredible playing technique makes the the Tombak and Daf talk.  I strongly suggest to see him playing live, it’s hard to believe he only has two hands. Full playlist:

Deeply embedded in the Basel scene, surrounded by good friends with a shared passion for music, Timnah Sommerfeldt’s style as a selector has flourished. From teenage years spent sneaking into her brother’s room to play records, to now sharing a home/studio space with fellow artists and friends, the Swiss talent has moved through many sounds, slowly developing a diversity of taste that infuses every set she plays.  Expect selections that traverse a wide tapestry of drum & bass, techno and ambient when Timnah joins Patterns of Perception // Winter Edition this weekend. It’s a sound also perfectly encapsulated in her recent contribution to our mix series. Below, we caught up with her to learn more about her take on djing and to explore the importance of friendship for honing her skills. You started playing at quite a young age of 17. Do you remember what attracted you to take up DJing at this time? How has your relationship to the craft and to music in general changed since? Yeah, sure. My brother is a little bit older than me and had already played records at that time. He played only hip hop/trip hop, 2step etc. That was at the end of the ‘90s. That impressed me a lot and I sneaked into his room a lot just to play records, which of course he didn’t like at all. It’s completely different now. We always do events together or visit each other at the events. I think if my brother had chosen a different way back then I wouldn’t make music like I do now. Musically I was interested in many things and still am. I have trouble concentrating on one thing, too much interests me. Your bio describes your style as “earthy dance music”. Can you elaborate on that? What do you look for when selecting tracks as a DJ? I still find it hard to describe my own style myself and I can’t really say what exactly I pay attention to in my selection. But what is very important to me is that I like to have a selection together that doesn’t just consist of one genre. I like to break it. So it’s possible that I go down to 80bpm within a techno set. I really like the diversity of djing and find it exciting to work with. Was there a particular concept behind your recent mix for Patterns of Perception? How do you approach preparing a podcast or mix, versus preparing for a DJ set? First I listen to the podcast series and then I look for a style and music. For the Patterns of Perception mix, however, I let myself be guided musically by an older mix of mine because (Patterns of Perception resident DJ) Steve Duncan had such pleasure in the way the mix was done. We love the concept of Home, the monthly radio show you host with Garçon (from Amenthia Recordings) in your living room. Does hosting the show in this intimate & cosy environment give your guests a chance to play music they might not otherwise? Definitely! And that’s also very welcome. We have never restricted ourselves to one genre of broadcasting, which is why we always create very exciting music evenings and we never know what’s happening or how the music is gonna be. It’s not as if we only meet for the stream. It’s hanging around with friends, having good food, listening to good music together and having a lot of fun. As you’ve found your feet as a DJ, what have you learned from, and what inspiration do you take from, friends and collaborators like Garçon and others? Mainly my friends here in Basel inspire me. And of course also other artists. Over all these years we have raised and experienced so many things together. That alone was a huge inspiration. I’m infinitely happy about what I can experience here. For years we have been living together in a multi-family house with a flat on the ground floor which is only dedicated to music. Varuna has their studio there, and we also have our home studio. It is an enrichment to go to Varuna’s studio after dinner and join a jam session or just listen to new tracks together. Your early productions were very house focused, but these days your music selections are much more diverse and eclectic. How has your taste changed over the years? Any thoughts on what has driven this change? In these 16 years I have been through many genres. In this time I have also produced music which I don’t do anymore. I think the taste has certainly changed a lot with the influence of friends. We have always exchanged ideas and played new things for each other. I think it is mainly the dynamics that are created. In addition to that, we have many good producers here in Basel which has influenced me a lot musically. Electronic music plays an important role in Swiss cultural life. Away from the well-documented scene in Zurich, how is the scene in Basel today? The scene is constantly changing, which I like a lot. But there are always gaps in between, which balance each other out over time. I don’t think Basel is an isolated case. Sometimes there are too many clubs, then too few again. But at the moment I think it’s very harmonious. It has a bit of everything. I’m very happy with Club Elysia as my home base. It’s nice to have a place that values sound. Which emerging Swiss producers/DJs should we put on our radar? Definitely A Walking Contradiction, the label Varuna launched with Simon Lemont & // Suibheallan. Also Cephei, who is an amazing dj and resident at Elysia. The guys running the party label Swim, Mark Lando and Tesdorpf, are doing very interesting stuff, being it events or zines. Somatic Rituals, run by Kombé, Mafou and Mukuna. And last but not least - Baby Val from Zurich :) Lastly, which three records have you had on constant rotation lately and why? Healing Force Project - Sideral Escape (Amenthia Recordings) Especially Mechanical Concept in the Mental Fluid. But I like the whole EP. It has just a nice vibe. Varuna - Metamorph (Amenthia Recordings) Already one of my favourite albums ever. Blind Observatory, Dorisburg, Agonis - SMKMCHN#01 (Smoke Machine) Superb EP, with Blind Observatory’s the Long Tomorrow II song par excellence

Along with all the other changes happening around us, the way we listen to music has also shifted. Just a few weeks ago, many of us were regularly rinsing club-worthy techno mixes or maybe even dancing in a club itself. Now, as we find ourselves confined to home, the type of music we crave has also changed, sometimes in unexpected ways. Like many of you, our collective is now spread across the globe, with some of us in quarantine in Europe, while others are back in Australia and unsure about when they can return. To inspire your music choices through this uncertain time, we’ve compiled a list of the albums that are accompanying each of us through these challenging days. Each selection is presented alongside views from our windows, whether from our apartments in Berlin or Helsinki, or even our family homes back in Australia. We hope the list below gives you some small comfort for the time ahead, inspires you to seek out something new, and encourages you to support the artists with a purchase, wherever possible. Selected by Zilka I stumbled upon this album by chance a few months ago and have been revisiting it often since we began self-isolating. Sato started making music after the 2011 earthquake and subsequent tsunami washed away her hometown in coastal Japan. This short album, featuring field recordings from the town Arahama, is so much more than just beautifully crafted ambient music. There is nostalgia and wonder and hope oozing out of these tracks. Set in context, it’s a timely reminder that we humans can withstand so much. Sato says of this album: “I understand what happened to us is a tragedy. However, predominantly, these experiences are part of my personal life experience. I accept the reality of what happened as is, rather than being in despair. “Making music” was at the heart of that process of acceptance.” My plan for this period is to practice a similarly mindful approach, while also spending time listening, deeply, to all the music I never have enough time for. We’ve been forced to put everything on pause and I believe we can choose to see this as an opportunity for reflection and respite, if we wish. I hope you can also find solace in music when things get difficult the next while. - Selected by Andreas I first discovered Ethiopian pianist and composer Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou through another pianist and one of my oldest friends, Gideon Preiss. Guèbrou’s story is worthy of a treatise in itself, so I will do my best to briefly summarise it before coming to her music. w Born into a high-society family in Addis Ababa, Ethiopa, in 1923, Guèbrou attended primary school as a boarder in Switzerland, where she trained in violin and piano. However, soon after returning to Ethiopia in 1933, Guèbrou – along with her family – was captured by Mussolini’s soldiers and imprisoned in Italy as a prisoner of war. Soon after the war ended, Guèbrou had a profound spiritual experience, which led to her renunciation of music and a ten-year period of self-imposed asceticism atop Ethiopia’s “holy mountain”. Only after she relocated back to Addis, now a devoted nun, did she continue her work as a pianist and composer, expanding her influences further to include early Ethiopian religious music, which shares features of its distinctive pentatonic modes with modern African music forms, as well as American jazz, blues and roots (these are discernible in Guèbrou’s compositions, too). Forced out of Ethiopia a second time in the 1980s, this time by a Soviet-backed dictatorship that opposed her religious practice, Guèbrou has spent the past few decades in Jerusalem, where she continues her lifelong mission to bring musical education and instruments to disadvantaged children in Ethiopia and abroad. By all reports, now well into her 90s, she continues to play, compose and improvise on a daily basis. This recording, from 1963, captures her at the relatively youthful age of 40. An effortlessly beautiful synthesis of classical western and Ethiopian tonalities, Guèbrou’s melodies and rhythms dance gracefully up and down the keyboard, evoking both the profound, sacred and enigmatic, and something very intimate and personal, like the diffused memory of a peaceful summer day from one’s childhood. Such qualities make this music, for me, the perfect accompaniment to these weeks (and possibly months) of stillness, reflection and solitude. - Selected by Hysteria Whenever I need an escape from electronic music, my favourite space to jump into is world music, genres from across the sphere ranging from J-pop to Anatolian rock. Recently however, I’ve been slowly crawling my way through Molam, traditional folk music from Thailand (mostly from the 70s) with a very psychedelic rock flavour. Also known as ‘taxi driver music’, I first discovered it during a trip to Bangkok last year during a visit to ZudRangMa Records, a store which specialises in vintage vinyls from this genre. Originally folk ‘villager’ music from the countryside, it was mostly locals who enjoyed it until a recent surge in popularity (due to interest from the west) has seen it spread to a much wider audience. This compilation was released by the owner of ZudRangMa and a great way to jump into Molam and traditional Thai music for those who fancy something a bit different. I’m still discovering the genre, but whenever I need a reason to smile, I search for one of the artists on Spotify, start a radio and off I go. - Selected by Steve I first came across the works of Pauline Oliveros after reading about and listening to her pioneering experimental electronic material from the mid-late 60’s. Tracing her work along, I was struck by the themes of resonance and vitality that flowed through her music, and although her body of work is impressive, her releases alongside Stuart Dempster and Panaiotis (and others) as the Deep Listening Band have stuck with me the most over time. Their album “Deep Listening” is a seminal example, and also one of my personal favourites in this space. Recorded in 1989, deep under Washington State in a massive, disused and uniquely reverberant water cistern, the various ambient, drone, experimental and regal melodic qualities of this album still sound radical and cutting-edge today. Alongside her musical output, Oliveros’ writings and teachings regarding Sonic Meditation and Deep Listening practices are also highly regarded within the music community and beyond, and can help to soothe stressed minds during these times. Stemming from a period of retreat and self-exile from the traumatic happenings of the 1970’s, she found mental and physical solace through deep listening and long, droning notes played on her accordion. Wanting to share the healing properties of these practices with the world, she first held deep listening sessions with small groups in intimate settings, before releasing her first book “Sonic Meditations” in 1974. This book teaches deep, attentive and conscious listening, and aims to provide healing, mindfulness and expanded consciousness. Her writings invite readers to ponder on questions like: “Are you listening while you are hearing?” and “What sound is most meaningful to you?”. To me, her music is the perfect companion for these stressful times. It flows with and through her practices, and mirrors the healing and revitalising qualities for conscious listeners. Not only has it provided me with energy and escapism, but also calm, focus and mindfulness. I don’t follow her practices every day, but even reading through her exercises gives me a sense of peace. If you haven’t already, I recommend taking a look here. During this period of self-isolation, I’m trying to stay as positive and active as I can, which of course is not always easy. I find that this situation has made me appreciate the world, music, family and friendship even more than before, and I can’t wait for us all to get out and enjoy each of those things once again. - Selected by Bianca If you’re like me and the outlook of your windows are met with concrete and more windows, then I highly recommend listening to this mellow EP by Green-House. The LA-based artist’s first release under this project couldn’t have arrived at a more perfect time. Six Songs for Invisible Gardens provide exactly as the title suggests: six environmental soundscapes with transcendental qualities, both calming and whimsical. I love how the unhurried melodies are balanced with just the right amount of atmosphere and noise. Combined, they arouse strong visual cues of tranquil moments and memories. Sansevieria, in particular, takes me back to my childhood, when I used to climb onto my parents’ garage rooftop and watch the sunrise above the horizon of our backyard fence. I would just sit there and smile as the world would wake up and it would just be me, the rising sun and our garden. It’s corny, but those still and peaceful moments are so precious to me and with more music like this, I hope to discover even more serenity and grace. So in the coming weeks, my immediate future will look like this: slowing down and tuning in. - Selected by Kim I’m forever grateful to my friend Morgan for introducing me to The War on Drugs a few years back. After moving to Berlin I had drifted away from acoustic music, but this discovery reignited my interest, transporting me back to my youth and the music I grew up with. Watching them live a few months later, I was blown away. The synergies between all six band members and their instruments were absolutely spellbinding. Featuring psychedelic guitar riffs and dreamy reverb, A Deeper Understanding is a nostalgic and emotional trip. At the same time, the music can be super uplifting and positive, which to me makes this the perfect album to get lost in during the moments of solitude that are now becoming everyday life.

As both a DJ and producer, Refracted is coming into his own. The past year has seen him release the lush Through the Spirit Realm LP on Silent Season, secure slots on the summer festival circuit and hit the studio to work on a host of new productions, to be released on his own Mind Express label and elsewhere. His career has taken him from his hometown of Majorca to Berlin, a city that allowed him to pursue music more actively and to carve out a space of his own in the techno scene. Ahead of his appearance at Patterns of Perception this Friday, Refracted reflects on his path to music and gives a glimpse of what’s to come. You hail from Mallorca in Spain. How have your hometown and home country shaped your sound and perception of music? Mallorca is a wonderful island full of beautiful landscapes and amazing waters surrounding it. My love of nature and the sea have probably led me to feel more attracted to organic sounds and textures instead of a more clinical sound design. This, in turn, shaped my own idea of “good” sound throughout the years. Once I started working on music I had a clear vision of the type of sound I wanted to pursue. How did you found your way to music and to Berlin? During my teenage years, I was very lucky to have access to techno parties every weekend. Angel Costa, the local resident and promoter, would keep bringing all the big names to the island and I would be on the front row every day. After these events, I would always scour the internet to find tracks and new artist names. It was an obsession that really shaped my taste and throughout the years of non-stop listening I refined it. If it wasn’t for Angel, I don’t know where I would have ended up. Berlin came many years after that. After completing my postgraduate degree in London and working in the completely uncreative and mind-numbing corporate sector for a couple of years, I decided to put my hard-earned money to use and bought a laptop with Ableton and a Machinedrum. I was hooked. Soon after that, I was packing my bags, I left everything to go and pursue my newfound passion for music production. Berlin allowed me to live on short working hours and I needed that extra time to work on my music. You have a singular sound which is rich in its diversity – from the ambience of your LP Through The Spirit Realm, to the hypnotic techno featured on your own Mind Express label. Can you tell us a bit about the artistic vision that drives your productions? Honestly, there is no clear artistic vision. At least not at the beginning of the creative process. Once I start jamming and things flow in a certain direction that I like then it might happen that I get visions of the track being played in certain environments like an outdoor festival or a dark warehouse. This puts me on focus and tends to shape the overall sound and texture of the track. I like using this trick and not to overthink too much about concepts and thoughts. To me, it’s all about the creative process and I think some people get too hung up on abstract concepts which then aren’t even heard in their music. For the album, it was completely different. I spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to do with it. In my opinion, albums should tell a story not just be a collection of tracks. I took this idea and decided to tell a story with it. At the time I was reading True Hallucinations, a book by Terrence McKenna and experimenting with certain substances. This was deeply inspiring and shaped what the overall story for the album would be. After that, it was just a matter of focusing on what each chapter should tell and how it should sound. I’m pretty happy with the result and look forward to starting the next one. You’ve just returned from DJing at the much talked about Parallel festival in Spain. How do you go about preparing for your DJ sets, and does your mindset change when putting together a festival set versus one for a club setting? Preparing for a DJ set, I like to look at the whole lineup and where my slot is. I also pay attention to the club and past events the promoters have organised. This gives me an idea of the sound and intensity I can play. Then it’s all a matter of careful listening and selection. I like to take a week at least to do this. I don’t like to play the most usual tracks so it takes a bit of extra time to find and think about something more personal. The mindset definitely changes depending on whether it’s a festival or a club event. Especially if it’s an outdoor festival like Parallel. I really believe the primal aspect of techno fits perfectly in a natural environment. Nothing beats a well-tuned and powerful sound system outdoors where there are no concrete walls or air conditioning vents to impact the flow of sound. Thinking about this while preparing for a festival set is really inspiring. Sometimes I have even produced tracks to play specifically at a festival. I just get in this mindset which really takes me to the spot and then the creativity just starts flowing. There seems to be a lot of recognition building for what you are doing. What’s in the pipeline for you now? Mind Express 003 is soon to be pressed and I’m again collaborating with another track on the next official CD mix from PoleGroup made by Reeko. There is also an EP coming out on a big record label at the beginning of next year. Shortly after that Mind Express 004 should follow and then maybe it’s time to start thinking about a new album.

With a deep appreciation for hip hop, it’s no surprise that Tom Liem has developed a taste for funk and groove. These days, the up-and-coming Dutch artist has switched to electronic music, but his passion for hip hop has more than left its mark. Ahead of his appearance at Patterns of Perception on December 2, Tom takes us through his early influences and current inspirations, and explains why friendship is the key to collaboration of all kinds. Tell us the Tom Liem story – how did you get here? Good question! When I was younger I grew up listening to hip hop records that my cousin had. KRS-one, Das EFX, A Tribe Called Quest and of course my biggest influence, The Wu Tang Clan. I guess the journey began here and I got into DJing through hip hop actually. I began as a scratch DJ and then I found out that you could actually match the record with the pitch. After that it was like, yeah let’s mix it up. But once I became friends with the ESHU Records crew in Nijmegen, everything fell into place. It’s here that I’ve learned the art of the trade and where I sharpened my blades, ready for battle. You’ve now released music on ESHU and also collaborated a lot with the other members. How did you all meet initially? I was actually booked in a local club called Doornroosje – it’s one of the oldest clubs in Holland, or at least the longest running club night. That’s where I met these guys and they were all pretty much the same as me, and also listening a lot to hip hop. From the start, it was kind of like we’d always been friends. There was a connection right away. Did your early love of hip hop influence your taste in electronic music? And how would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard of you before? Yes, definitely. I tend to prefer more old school sounds where there’s a lot of jazz influences and there’s a lot of funk in the tracks. That comes definitely from hip hop music. In terms of my overall sound, I always try not to stick to one genre but rather give a blend of my own personal taste, whatever that may be. But if I have to describe it in words, I guess it could be deep, tribal, psychedelic or even spiritual comes to mind. The sound of your tracks is a complex trip – each one seems to have a story to tell. Can you tell us a bit about your production process? I’m not a person who sits in a studio a lot. I’ve found that the best way for me to produce music is to come up with an idea first of what type of sound I want to express. This can come from many things, like a certain production technique, an instrument or a simple melody I’ve heard. For me it’s best to work as fast as possible so I always try to set up my studio in a way that allows me to express myself really fast, or else I will lose the idea. This makes it more difficult, but to me it sounds more human in a way. I’m not a guy who spends hours and hours perfecting a track, I like to make it then and there in a brief moment. And I don’t really care if it’s perfect or not, as long as the vibe is good. The way you build the sound during your sets is quite unique, incorporating experimental sounds without losing the dance floor atmosphere. What are the main elements of putting together a set in this style? Mostly the groove is where I focus first. It has to be funky so I set some basic boundaries for myself in track selection, and within that frame I can experiment with more abstract sounds. But to be honest, for me no sound is experimental. I like it all as long as it’s something I can relate to. I try to keep an open mind to all sounds and not constrain myself to a certain type of sound or a certain trend. For my sets, I also usually add a third deck just to be more versatile. You are also one half of J&L, your project with Jocelyn Abell, and have collaborated on other projects like the collectives ARC# and Dilated Pupils. What do you like about the collaboration process? All those projects were with the guys from ESHU Records. I won’t go into the studio with just anyone but if it’s a good friend and we’re on the same wavelength in terms of music, it’s so much more fun than sitting alone making tracks. You really feed off each other and give each other inspiration. It’s a little game of give and take, cause and effect. You hear something and you can react to it. For me, it’s much more fun than working alone. You’ve recently relocated to Berlin but you’re still firmly rooted in the Dutch techno scene, having co-founded the Breakfast Club after-parties in Amsterdam. Tell us about Breakfast Club. Are you still involved with them remotely? Yeah I’m still very much involved, just doing everything over email now. We started as an after party but because we serve breakfast, it became more of a daytime event. What we see is that 50 percent of the people continue dancing from the night before, and 50 percent just wake up to go. So you get this really interesting mix of people who have just woken up and people who are still partying. I think that’s a good energy to have, it really works. And we do a big buffet so people can eat bananas and brownies and fuel up. For the recent ADE party, you played at Breakfast Club alongside artists like Mike Servito, Sebastian Mullaert and Dino Sabatini, to name a few. How was this experience? What do you look for when curating a Breakfast Club party? It was such a nice day! I think the Sunday is always particularly special during ADE. Last time we had Donato Dozzy playing a hybrid set and everyone was losing it. They were totally freaking out. This year it was not quite the same but it had its own vibe as well. A highlight for me was Dino Sabatini’s live set, as well as Sebastian and Ulf of course. Dino really had the people hypnotised. When we try to figure out these line ups, we are always looking for a nice balance in music style and energy. There has to be a continuous line in the whole day. That’s very important I think. Tell us a bit about your mix for Patterns of Perception. How did you approach it? The idea behind the mix was very simple: I wanted to create something that wasn’t too distracting or too demanding to listen to. To me, it feels more like a floating mix. It’s easy to the ear and you can lose yourself quite easily in it. I also tried to hold on to the principal of a beginning, middle and end piece. I really enjoyed making this mix so I hope you can hear it and enjoy it. Finally – what’s on the horizon for you? What’s next for Tom Liem? 
I’m working on a new EP and we also have a new EP coming out as J&L on Deep Sound Channel. That EP is three original tracks, two are more for the dance floor and a third one is basically just a kick with a melody through it. It’s not easy listening. Either you’ll really love it or you’ll hate it, it’s a very psychedelic track. Tom Liem plays at Patterns of Perception at OHM Berlin on December 2.

Recently dubbed the king of warm up techno by a fellow Belgian DJ, A. Brehme is making waves in the country’s growing deep techno scene. We sat down with him to discuss why techno first caught his attention, the current state of the scene in his hometown of Brussels, and what to expect from his set at Patterns of Perception on June 16. Tell us how you got to where you are. How did you get your start in techno? Around the age of seven I was already attracted by the early Belgian New Beat and EBM vinyls and CDs of my parents which hit Belgium between the mid-eighties and the mid-nineties. Tracks such as Neon’s Voices, In-D’s Virgin In-D Sky, Euroshima by Snowy Red, and The Neon Judgement’s TV Treated belong to my first musical memories. I had my first clubbing experience around the age of fifteen, at a former venue called Structure Béton. It was a dark and infamous underground drum and bass venue, in an empty parking lot on the industrial outskirts of Brussels. I attended raves over there multiple times a month for about two years until its doors closed, and during this period I got hooked on DJing. Since it took me significantly longer than my close friends to learn how to beatmatch, I decided to create my own music in Fruity Loops and sync it through Ableton. This lead me to a kind of primitive live set which I performed for an audience for the first time when I was seventeen years old, consisting a ravey sound that was quite popular at that time and which often surpassed a tempo of 160 beats per minute. After a while I didn’t experience any gratification with this anymore and started digging for techno and going out to Fuse in Brussels. What initially attracted you to techno as a genre? I quickly got hooked on the slower tempos and more challenging textures techno has to offer. From this point I started studying techno, defining my musical identity and carefully began recording sounds from machines through Logic and got booked more often to play in clubs and parties around the country. It’s only recently that I started being productive in the studio, after facing a lack of self-confidence in my output throughout the years, which held me back from producing music on a regular basis. Thanks to some significant changes in my life and stimulating sources of inspiration I found the determination to sculpt and wrap up tracks that define my personality. Your bio says your approach to DJing and producing envelops “the last twenty years of musical history”. How so? I like to combine older records alongside more contemporary sounds. One of the two resident DJs of Fuse since more than two decades, Deg, often played and still plays a lot of older techno records that instantly intrigued me — by artists such as Random XS, Basic Channel, Lory D, G-Man, DJ Slip and others – and that I like to include in my sets on a regular basis as well. Unfortunately, there’s a dead gap which started in the early 2000s until approximately 2006 where techno tends to be too loopy in a harsh way for me. But I regularly find a lot of interesting minimal, electro and ambient sounds originating from that period which I like to use as a second or third layer in my sets as well. The impressive home set-up that A. Brehme shares with his housemate, DJ Walrus As a Brussels born and based DJ, how have you seen the city’s techno scene develop in recent years? What place does the deep, hypnotic techno you like to play have in the clubs of your hometown? Unfortunately, Brussels has few clubs to offer, which leads promoters to occasionally use temporary or one-time locations throughout the city. Sadly enough many purist initiatives get repressed by the authorities. I prefer not to be too rancorous about this and try to focus on the future and the past initiatives instead that have worked out, such as last year’s rave in an abandoned multi-level fashion house in the heart of the city, which offered a place for more than 500 people to party around the clock without being noticed by the police. I had the chance to play nine hours and still often daydream about what happened during that particular night. I feel that Brussels is emerging from a quiet period when it comes to deep techno. Artists such as Lunar Convoy, Ground Tactics, Thomas Hayes, Kafim and Siwei have released or are preparing more than interesting and refreshing releases. As a buyer of the techno selection at Crevette Records, a new record store in Brussels, I’m partially involved in the settlement of our own record distribution and I can already see that this is facilitating and accelerating releases for artists that are sitting on a huge pile of interesting unreleased tracks. On a personal level, I promote a club night called Sonata Forma at Fuse a handful of times a year, where I welcomed artists such as Marco Shuttle, Luigi Tozzi, Deepbass and Evigt Mörker. The next ones are scheduled for September and November. Along with Peter Van Hoesen, you’re a resident at Technoon, the Sunday day party in Brussels. It seems like a great concept, with similar bookings to Patterns of Perception – what’s it like to play there? The people behind Technoon have become like family. There’s a unique spirit of mutual trust and confidence which makes the experience ironically unique every single time. I feel that this is the case for the invited guest DJs as well. It’s dark. It’s loud. People dance from the first until the last row. Since the very beginning I’m taking care of the three-hour warm-up slots most of the time, and it’s been a great apprenticeship for that concern. I’ve seen a tendency of people anticipating every new Technoon party without being focussed on the booked guest DJ, being daunted by weather conditions or having to go to work on Monday morning. And that’s unique in Belgium. I feel blessed to be a part of it alongside a warm group of likeminded and committed people. Fellow Belgian DJ Pilose called you “the king of melancholic warming up in techno land” in a recent interview. How do you feel about that label? I generally don’t support labels, but I take his finding as a compliment. I enjoy playing warm-up sets because it offers the opportunity to play out weirder, slower and more experimental tracks than during peak time slots. In contrast to other time slots, the vibe of the whole set can collapse by just one slightly inappropriate track during a warm-up, which makes it absolutely delicate but interesting and it forces me to be focussed on every single track, as a small independent piece of a wider puzzle. I often like to start out at a tempo around 80 BPM and go up until I reach a tempo which is suitable for the next DJ to take over with a dancing audience. However, I prefer not to pin myself down to a certain time slot. Every occasion demands a specific approach depending on time and space which keeps it challenging for me, whether it’s a full house during peak time or whether it’s in front of a handful of people during an after hour. You’re playing alongside Amandra for the next Patterns of Perception party on June 16. What can we expect from your set? A melancholic trip in techno land enveloping the last twenty years of musical history! What else is on the cards for you this year? Any productions on the horizon or are you focusing on DJing for now? Currently, I’m working at my new studio on the first release on my label Sonata Forma. Next to that my first solo EP is scheduled after this summer as the second release on an exciting new Belgian label, and a remix for the first release of Siwei Recordings is coming up as well.

On June 16, Patterns of Perception hosts the German debut of revered producer Amandra. One half of Ahrpe Records, he co-founded the label with good friend Ovend, giving each the freedom to produce and release music without conforming to expectations. His music is rhythmic, tribal and often tinged with acid, offering a brand of techno that’s bright and uplifting, never dark. We caught up with Amandra ahead of his live set at OHM Berlin this coming Friday. First up, tell us your backstory: how did you get into techno, and why did it stick? I started to listen to electronic music with my friend Ovend 10 years ago. Then techno music turned to be quite trendy so that’s how I got into this movement probably. At home everyone in my family is a musician with different tastes and styles. I have a classical background in music with playing the guitar, singing etc, so I guess it’s logical that the whole fun here to me is about producing this loopy atmospheric music more than DJing. I love to look for new rhythms. You’ve released on labels including Tikita and Silent Season (as the project Odes Of the Kabatians with PVNV), as well as the label you co-founded with Ovend, Ahrpe Records. How would you describe your sound and vision as a producer? Well my sound and vision are constantly changing. I like simple things so that’s why in my studio you’ll find only very limited instruments (synthesizers etc). As for describing my style as a producer, I want to find a cool balance between atmospheric stuff (but not boring, at least I try), tribal percussive sounds and not-that-obvious acid. I give it a retro side; I love music from the 80s, that’s mostly what I listen to. I’m also quite a “bright” guy – I don’t like metal music for instance – so even if the whole thing may look dark from the outside, I try to give it a bright and soulful feeling (see for example Ahrpe’s visuals). Soft stuff you can mainly listen at home. Resident Advisor compared your productions to “the likes of Abdulla Rashim or the Hypnus crew, but … illuminated with a unique sense of vibrance and color”. Would you agree with this comparison? Yes, when I started producing, I was listening a lot to Plastikman, Ko-Ta from Stratosphere Records, Iesope Drift, Abdulla Rashim’s early brilliant loops from what he self-released mostly, and all these quite comparable classy atmospheric sounds coming from the ‘90s-2000s. So of course this has influenced my music. I’m not a revolutionary brain, I’m simply producing what I like to listen because I feel there’s a need, otherwise it would be pointless to produce it! What is the concept behind Ahrpe Records? What inspired you to start the label? How do you choose what music to release? The concept is simple: we were tired to hear critics from outside of our music. You know, people feeling above you without doing it any better. We understood that the demo process is lame and that a lot of guys are producing electronic music, so the only way to be “free” and release our stuff without caring much about people’s opinions was to build something from scratch: Ahrpe! Ovend is a graphic designer so he took care of all the visual side with building of course ideas with me. Another friend, miss Anthea Lubat, is a pro artist doing very interesting visual work so it sounded obvious that she would participate in the project as well with her paintings. And myself being a master engineer in mechanical structures, I take care of the whole project and organization aspects behind the label (and there’s a lot to do). We thought we had the skills to build something very personal without spending too much money and that’s what we did. Music comes either from Ovend and I, or very close friends like Flogo for instance. We choose music to release simply by sending each other’s tracks along with a project idea, that’s it. You originally hail from France but are now based in Warsaw, Poland. What was behind your decision to move there? Love my friend, love! What is the techno scene like in Poland at the moment? Is the style of deep techno that you produce well appreciated there? To me Poland has a huge potential, it’s like Berlin but without this saturation in artists. So it’s nice! There are some crews doing a great job like Behind The Stage which I’m part of, throwing some personal events around. It’s cool and small, you should come over Berliners! Also the Technosoul peeps are doing awesome events, I’m jamming from time to time with one of them, Michal Wolski, an impressive musician and moreover very close friend. I’m a big fan of Brutaz as well, a Polish name to check if you guys don’t know. Well, anyway, it’s nice in Poland. Patterns of Perception will host your German debut on June 16, which we’re very excited about! What can we expect from your live set? I’m also super excited, thanks again for the invitation, looking forward to it! I don’t plan too much my live sets, I like to improvise a lot on my machines so each live I do is unique. Expect the place to be tribalized. Lastly, which artists do you have your eye on at the moment? Tikita and Semantica, labels to keep both eyes on.

One of the most captivating new voices in Berlin’s electronic music scene is Consumer Refund. A multi-talented artistic channel of various and diverse arts, her music – dark, ambient and shimmering – is as difficult to categorise as her artistic practice. Here, she meditates upon some questions we posed to her following the completion of her latest mix, Patterns of Perception 20. Consumer Refund is more than a music project. What’s behind it, conceptually? Consumer Refund is like looking into a pool of water. There is simultaneously: your own reflection, and depth into something unseen, something that is collectively shared. It is a research and art project collecting information on the flow of intuition or creative energy, from social perspectives, physical perspectives, from a mystical perspective, from a spiritual perspective. It is an ‘absurd’ channel to facilitate collective creative energy, addressing points of pointlessness and purpose in mass production, in art, in the way we think, and it uses the internet to do so, interacting with its participants. C-R plays games… dedicated to the ‘nonsense of art’: I think it’s an interesting question, whether C-R is a commodity in itself. I am considering the borders of self-expression as a form of the ego inherently acting in a capitalistic manner (ie: self expression, self promotion), as opposed to an artist acting as a potential channel of the common or collective unconscious. I do a lot of research with this project, into the psyche and into intuition, sometimes holding collaborative painting sessions and dreamwork sessions. It’s a project about playing with concepts of industry crossed with mythological self-help. For most of it over the last three years, the artist (me) has remained invisible, purely pulling strings around people to help them come into contact with creative energy… until now… 🙂 Although you’ve come relatively recently to music, you’ve been creating art in many different forms for a long time. Tell us about your history and practice as an artist. Yes! I’m pretty new to producing electronic music. Everything takes me a very long time because I am also meticulous to the point of driving myself almost crazy. Consumer Refund comes to music from something like a mix of natural progression and an interest/study of Core Shamanism. A particular drum pattern is used to journey, via a technique similar to practising active imagination. The journey is a tool for divination, a meditation and visualisations can be read, or asked of its ‘intention’. I’ve been a friend of music, and dance, since I was very small. Picking up my old flute and touching the keys of the piano again, after over 10 years, was like rediscovering an old part of myself that I knew very well, but had forgotten. What actually bought me back to music was a few unavoidable big dreams.. I couldn’t deny the meanings. My practise as an artist, that’s a big question. I have been through many different stages of making art and went through some years as a fashion designer, and graphic designer. Previously I’ve exhibited performance, happenings, video, costume, fashion, sound, object, have been in various art collectives, and ran an artist space for a short time. Nowadays, I am painting, drawing, musicing. I research a lot into myths and archetypes, and am also fond of curation/facilitation of art and collaboration. I have always been in search of the edges of creativity, asking “where does it come from?” and “how does it come?”, finding more purpose to the process than the product. I am most at home within multi disciplinary art projects, where I can output several different media, at once, all relating to the same concept. Some big art influences are Paul McCarthy (the performance artist), Marina Abramović (her early work), and a lot of 70’s performance art, artists like Lygia Clark, who didn’t make work that was easily exhibited and commodified. Your website features a “dream archive”. What’s that about? Good question! Find out. Follow the instructions on the website. Consumer Refund likes games. What does creating art, and specifically music, mean to you? Creating art is communication, is exchange, between interior and exterior worlds. Art (and music) is very special, it holds some kind of transcendent matter that can communicate in ways that language fails to. Holding charged symbolic matter, it touches each individual on a personal level and also on a collective level. Music, vibrations, they become the body. Feeling bass pulsing through the matter around you, it is a physical reminder that we are connected to each other, and the entire cosmos. I understand it that people who make art or music are picking up on not only their own subconscious matter, but also are picking up on the collective subconscious matter. It resonates. Artists are channels to help an audience feel and process current emotions that need to move through a society. Lately with sound for Consumer Refund, I have recorded from live instruments: drums, flutes, rattles, and am very grateful to a fellow healer-friend who I recorded playing her gong. All of the instruments used are also instruments of healing practises. This is important. You walk into an art experience, whether it be a museum, a gallery, a club, a film, a performance: you feel charged, reminded of particular things. Symbols and myths are allowed to be lived out within yourself. Art for me therefore is also: stories, emotion, reality, fantasy, life, health… Your music is refreshingly difficult to categorise. What are your musical influences? Yes, it’s weird for me too – to fit into classification systems without being reductive. Un-classification is an interesting process though because it allows scope to change. A big influence for a long time has been Healing Force Project. I once read an interview from Antonio Marini and he said something like: “I don’t play a particular genre, I play just good music.” Simple. The personality in his sense of rhythm, texture and the colour of his music… it’s a multi genre explosion to the mind and soul. I love HFP. There’s some obvious influences in this mix, not definitive and to me, not ‘so’ experimental. I included artists’ projects for what they stand for. For example Positive Centre: between shadow, spirituality and music. I didn’t pay much attention in this mix to catching up with latest releases although I had heaps of cool stuff which didn’t make it in. I chose tracks based on conceptual feelings of where myself and the dream archive are at. Woob, Paul Frankland, is a favourite… He used to work in advertising before he made music in the 90’s… An interesting connection? I’m listening at the moment to a bunch of old ambient, jungle, breaks, and abstract/leftfield techno and drum and bass… IDM, downtempo, dub… I appreciate ambient drum and bass with a peppering of mysticism. Also, some heavier stuff, noise and acid. But, just good music. I haven’t even really started digging to the extent of what I want, or where I want, yet… It’s an iceberg. I have big respect for long-time diggers. You grew up in Melbourne, Australia, but have lived in Berlin for a number of years, now. Why did you move, and what keeps you here? The concept of staying in one place my whole life was not for me. I moved to break out of my own constructed persona, all of those expectations you grow up enforcing on yourself in whichever city is called home city… sometimes that’s needed to be able to evolve as a human. So you could say: I moved to gain knowledge about humans, the world, and myself. A creative city such as Berlin allows space for introversion and autonomy. The rhythm of the seasons, the scope of the art and music scenes, the aliveness of the night. There is liberal freedom and spontaneity here without judgement. The ability for an artist to live a somewhat open life without too many boundaries is important … it helps to access the true stuff. I think that cities which have had a lot of destruction, change and creative migration in the past, hold a lot of residual emotion that can and needs to be worked with… in a way sensitive people flock to it to be ‘healed’ as the city ‘heals’. Spaces like this need to be cherished and protected. Is gender relevant to you as a producer? What are your thoughts on gender in the electronic music scene, in Berlin and abroad? Firstly, Gender is not a binary notion to me. There are both male and female energies within C-R, and within me, within everything. Both are needed. Balance and equality is a constant process. Yin Yang or the oúroboros, they are not static, they are in constant motion and conversation between light and dark, product and process, thought and intuition. The only constant is the flow of energy between the two. The unfortunate thing is, it is clear that so much is out of balance in our societies – in politics, economics, in some of the basic human understandings of ourselves and of each other… The topic of gender in every single industry cannot be pushed aside in the present day. It is extremely relevant, not only in electronic music: in every aspect of life. I think for starters, basic empathy is needed to see how far inequality in general affects individuals, every single day of their lives, and society on the whole; how deeply it is implanted into the fibres of the glasses we then look through (our perception), and how this can affect people. Inequality starts impacting on someone’s life when that individual is born, of course, one tiny insidious fleck of an experience of sexism, racism, homophobia, can manifest to become core beliefs that continue to hold them back their whole lives. It can easily stop them from believing they have the right to their own voice. It is not only by the time they decide to make music, and want to be booked, that minority artists begin to battle with inequality. In the industry, it is not just the bookers that need to be solely responsible. They are seemingly the ones who choose, but they are not alone, really, there’s also: press, the audience, the social media fan base (which does a lot of ‘indirect choosing’, if people book respective to the amount of followers an artist has), the labels, the clubs…  if each of those sections are all a bit biased, down the line, it adds up. I wonder whether female/LGBTQ identifing people feel as comfortable, in general, to self-promote, as their male counterparts. I don’t think there’s any point in blaming or pointing fingers, we could go eternally in circles, (and it’s boring). But the facts, they are pretty important to know, for me. I’m lucky to be a member of female:pressure… and able there to channel some past experiences into positive work… I’m building up a kind of creative studio, co/re, which will focus more on ethics: working with artists/graphics/promotion for creative fair projects. I’m happy to be making some co/re graphic work for female:pressure, on a particular project organised by an extremely hardworking and strong group of female individuals. I’m thankful for groups like sister, meet:up Berlin, happy to see parties like Lecken, communities like Room4Resistance, collectives like Mint, and now NoShade pops up! All focusing on female and queer spaces and run by cool, smart and thoughtful people. I’m glad to see a group of funding bodies in Berlin focusing on supporting young female producers with open call’s that have put preference on offering places to ‘female identifying’ acts. This Consumer Refund mix features male producers. I do exist in many male dominated scenes, I listen to many male producers. I’m still in the middle of pondering what that means: I have produced a mix for Patterns of Perception that is pretty masculine…. How easy it is to propagate the inequality, without realising or intending to. In the end, as Sarah, I’m absolutely a feminist. Yet Consumer Refund is genderless. It doesn’t matter which gender anyone is, or chooses to be, or if they even have a gender at all… at any given moment CR would rather be ‘everything, everyone, and nothing’: to be accepted as such, without so much as a batted eyelid… But: isn’t that very simply what we all want? To be truly accepted, as equals, ie: exactly the way we are… What do you see as the future for Consumer Refund, the music project? I’m at the tail end of refining a chunk of tracks at the moment. As to releases, I’ve had a few conversations here and there but haven’t set anything in stone yet, and the work is still in process. It takes time. I am keeping the process moving and creating more new work: if I focus too much on over-refining, I lose connection to the source. There’s a radio show coming out soon in collaboration with Berlin-based producer Akkamiau, which I am very happy to be a part of. It features readings from Sylvia Plath’s diaries, focusing on female energies – the first episode will be coming out soon. I’m acquiring more magical instruments and integrating that into live performance. The future is largely unknown, which is good.. I hope it will include me finding more opportunities to take your mind/body/souls to interesting places. I think it might.

From the nature to the music, Japan has been an inspiration for our collective since the very beginning. We’re excited to bring this Japanese influence to Patterns of Perception // Winter Edition when SO, a resident of Labyrinth festival, joins the lineup this Saturday. We also have a close connection with SO himself, having first met at Nachtdigital in 2016, where he played one of the festival’s stand-out sets. Ahead of this weekend’s gig, we asked SO to share a selection of his favourite Japanese music with us. This is what he had to say. “Here I introduce my favourite Japanese producers and my top 10 tracks from them. It is not a ranking from one to 10. Rather, the first five are danceable techno/house tracks and the last five are more downtempo and chill-out tracks. The first five includes well-known names like Nobu, Wata Igarashi and Takaaki Itoh, all of whom I play a lot. Miruga is an artist from Nagano who makes atmospheric techno/house. Itokim is also a great producer and this track is one I played at Nachtdigital 2016, Sunday morning lakeside, where I actually met (Patterns of Perception residents) Kim and Steve. For the last five, I like this Iori downtempo track which is cool and mystic. This is a remix but Iori’s productions are always not only staying just techno and house. Kuniyuki and Koss are the same guy. He is also a great producer who has several styles but I really love those two tracks in particular. They’re very calm and soft. Steve Good has been the sound engineer at the Labyrinth festival for 20 years as well and just released a new album last month. This one is the best one for me from that album. Lastly, Naohito makes beautiful house and chill-out tracks. This one is from 2007 but it’s such a timeless, gentle song. By the way, those last four tracks are all from northern island Hokkaido. Now we can see how nature is inspiring the production of beautiful songs.” Miruga From the Atmospheric EP. Foureal Records, 2017. - Wata Igarashi From Stealth 2/3. Time to Express, 2016. - Ken Ishii From LC Circuit. Devotion Records, 2018. - DJ Nobu From EP1. BleeD, 2015. - Itokim From The No One Else EP.  Nice & Nasty, 2009. - Iori From Ten Years Of Phonica. Phonica Records, 2014. - Kuniyuki Takahashi From Early Tape Works (1986 – 1993) Vol. 2. Music From Memory, 2018. - Naohito Uchiyama From The Sun Also Rises. Synapse, 2008. - Koss From Silence. Mule Musiq, 2015. - Steve Good From Nothing Is Ever Created Or Destroyed. Self Released, 2020. Catch DJ SO at Patterns of Perception // Winter Edition this weekend, along with Peverelist, Shifted, Timnah Sommerfeldt, Lara Palmer, Antonio Giova and more.

Hailing from the Netherlands and now based in Berlin, Nick Lapien (aka Lapien) is a DJ and producer whose sounds encapsulate delicate and detailed grooves, combined with an unwavering understanding of what makes dance floors oscillate. Perhaps best known as one half of Artefakt alongside Cyspe (aka Robin Koek), Lapien has also enjoyed a prolific solo career, with releases on labels such as Fred P’s Soul-People Music, DVS1 ’s Mistress Records and Radio Slave’s Rekids. Although recent years have seen him focus mostly on his work with Artefakt, early 2019 saw a return to solo form for him with a stunning debut EP on cult Moroccan label Tikita. Lapien's Patterns of Perception 53 is a rhythmic excursion that journeys between deep, percussive grooves and mind expanding house-oriented reflections, both punctuated and anchored by the understated energy and momentum that he calls his own. Lapien's Links: SoundCloud Facebook Website Resident Advisor Artefakt - SoundCloud

As an electronic music artist, Peter Van Hoesen needs little introduction. A techno veteran renowned for his innovation and creativity, Peter has spent his career balancing the cerebral and the physical, in line with his ethos of producing ‘mental body music’. Most recently, his musical inspiration has come from the halcyon days of the Belgian electronic music scene in the 1990s. This new focus was the result of a period of self-reflection for Peter, in which he determined that the mental side was starting to outweigh the physical in both his own music and within segments of the wider techno scene. To bring the balance back, he started the Center 91 label, and upped the urgency, groove and BPMs of his world-spanning DJ sets. Patterns of Perception 50 is a snapshot of Peter’s refreshed, idyllic vision of techno, an intricate tapestry of visceral psychedelia and compelling rhythms. It perfectly captures and illustrates the balance of mind and body music that has been the cornerstone of his work to date. Peter Van Hoesen's Links: SoundCloud Facebook Twitter Instagram Time To Express: SoundCloud Facebook www.t2x.eu/

One of the most distinctive talents to emerge out of Melbourne’s techno scene, Mosam Howieson‘s singular brand of experimental live techno is texturally colourful, warm and immersive, drawing in listeners and dancers alike. Patterns of Perception 30 sees Howieson set out to both challenge and captivate the listener, expertly weaving an array of textures, genres and atmospheres into a intriguing, powerful body of work. Having already released on Silent Season and Further Records, among others, his next EP is slated for release on Butter Records, and features remixes from Wata Igarashi and Sleep D. His European debut at Belgium’s Meakusma festival has also been scheduled for September, signalling what will no doubt be a breakout year for the Australian artist. Mosam Howieson's Links: Facebook SoundCloud