As an exciting fixture of the vibrant Helsinki scene, Suski is a selector who is driven by an intuitive and curious nature. While her sound finds a solid twin foundation in both minimal and dub techno, her explorations go much further, with her vivid, psychedelic selections offering both tension and release. Throughout her years on the circuit, a reverence for collective unity has not only inspired her thrilling, versatile sets but has also seen her take the stage at Helsinki institutions such as Post Bar, Kaiku and Flow Festival. Outside the club setting, Suski is co-founder of Electronic Market - a booking agency and collective which seeks to increase awareness of and provide support for underrepresented artists in the electronic music industry. Suski’s Patterns of Perception 65 both embraces and celebrates diversity as an intricately and intuitively crafted tapestry of moods, textures and sounds. Covering genres as far flung as IDM, dubstep, house - and of course minimal and dub techno - these 73 minutes are an unpredictable and rousing inner voyage that matches deep, subtle textures with soulful, bright grooves from decades past. Scattered throughout are sonic postcards from close friends and counterparts from Suski’s beloved Helsinki scene. Combined, these act as a tribute to the city and the dynamic talent at its core. Suski's Links: SoundCloud Facebook Resident Advisor electronicmarket.agency

Hailing from Naples and well-known as one half of natural/electronic.system, Antonio Giova is a selector and producer of unparalleled talent and vision. Over the course of a career spanning over 1.5 decades, and which includes a tight relationship with the esteemed record label Tikita, a collaboration with Neel, and key performances at festivals such as Labyrinth, Waking Life and Parallel, Antonio has developed a unique sense of texture, atmosphere and narrative which glows deeply in both his productions and his mixes. Based on his set from our Winter Edition party at ://about.blank in late-February 2020, Antonio let his intuition guide him with this Patterns of Perception 60. The outcome is somehow both raw and seamless, a vignette of ethereal proportions: eternal and infinite, timeless and dimensionless. Antonio Giova's Links: SoundCloud Facebook Resident Advisor

Italian duo natural/electronic.system. have been a force within techno’s underground since 2004, gaining respect through their much revered podcasts for cult websites such as mnml ssgs and Smoke Machine, as well as their international dj sets, including at Labyrinth in Japan. After a mesmerising set at the Patterns of Perception opening party at OHM in April, we are pleased to have natural/electronic.system. provide the next instalment of our mix series. We caught up with Antonio Giova and Valerio Gomez de Ayala to have a brief chat about the mix, their inspiration and how they started to collaborate as teenagers back in their hometown in southern Italy. Firstly, thanks a lot for putting together such a compelling mix. How was it recorded? Thanks to you guys for inviting us to make a mix! As you probably know already, we are now based in different cities (Antonio in Berlin and Valerio in Rome). When we can’t spend time together physically to prepare a mix, we usually start by putting together a track selection, then we begin to try to mix the tracks in our home studios, speaking about the sequence or how the flow of the mix should be. When we come up with an organic sequence of tracks that fully satisfies us, the mix can be recorded using turntables and CDJs. Was there a specific concept or idea behind it? This mix was inspired by the time spent with the Patterns of Perception crew for the party we had in April at OHM in Berlin. We really felt at home, so we felt totally free recording this one… everything was flowing in a very natural way. Before our event at OHM.  You are known for being extremely careful selectors. Do you follow any particular process when choosing records? It’s more related to our personal taste and musical vision, emotions, images evoked in our minds, vibrations… you know, when you expose your body to some sort of audio signal you can provoke different responses. You could say in the end that we just select tracks that make us “vibrate” in the way we like… You have now been collaborating for more than 10 years. How did you meet in the first place, and what made you start DJing together? We were in the same class at high school in Portici, our hometown near Napoli. At that time I (Valerio) was collecting records and I shared this exciting thing with my good friend Antonio. He loved it and together we started to buy and listen to a lot of different stuff and that was probably the time when we shaped our current musical aesthetic. The rise of the internet at that time boosted our curiosity and granted us access to an endless flow of musical information. I mean, not everyone is so lucky to have great record stores in their neighborhood or stores with the music we were interested in. Then in 2004 we decided to found the natural/electronic.system. duo. Our first gig ever was at the Old River Park between Napoli and Caserta, it’s a pretty famous place in our area. It was a 12 hour long Easter event and we played a 2-3 hour DJ set on a very small stage but a lot of people enjoyed the music! Photo courtesy of mnml ssgs. Your name implies a strong influence by nature. How did it become a key theme in your sound? Are there any other major sources of inspiration? Nature and art have always been our main sources of inspiration. We come from a country where you are surrounded by history, art, amazing landscapes and great food everywhere. Our education was based on these things that are inseparable from nature… it’s in our blood, in our roots, in our local traditions and we try to bring a bit of this flavor into our music. You are first and foremost known as DJs and only recently released your own music on vinyl (Body 2:2 Mind on Tikita) for the first time, receiving a stellar review by Resident Advisor. Is production something we can expect to become a bigger focus for you? We have been into production for a long time, but to have a competitive studio to work in you need money to spend. We both have a day job to pay rent, records and equipment and we work on music mostly in our spare time so that’s mainly why the process was slow. We were also aiming to create a particular “n/e.s.” sound in the studio… we wanted to bring something “new” or at least something that sounded different from the rest. Not stuff that sounds the same as all the music going around. So over a couple of years we came up with some interesting things and yes, for sure, we will concentrate much more on musical production in the future. This seems to be a pretty exciting time for natural/electronic.system. What else is on the horizon for you both? Yes, indeed. We have some pretty exciting gigs coming up, like on August 28 we play an ambient event at the Funkhaus in Berlin with a beautiful lineup with artists we really respect. Same story for the Parallel festival near Barcelona early September, which is in its first edition but is very promising: an open air event in the forest of Spain with a very well selected line up… this will be a lot of fun for sure! Production-wise we are working closely with Karim from the Tikita record label. We have a solo EP coming up soon on that label and are working on some material for other labels too. To stay in sync with natural/electronic.system., follow them on Facebook and SoundCloud

Ten tracks that represent our current sounds and inspiration. Compiled by Refracted and Andreas Maan. Selected by Andreas Maan From the Moderskärlek EP. Trolldans, 2014. This Svreca remix of Claudio PRC on Troldans morphs from its noisy opening into a hauntingly restrained final few minutes. Listening to this track is like lying at the depths of the ocean and watching the sun beginning to rise over the water’s surface above. - From Eco. Hypnus, 2014. Hypnus records in general, and Jana Sleep specifically, are my inspirations as a producer right now. Everyone Is Waiting perfectly defines her sound: slow, sparse, ominous, yet somehow still luminescent. - From the Faynot EP. Ensydaen Records, 2013. I couldn’t resist putting a second Svreca remix on this list. I hadn’t heard of Ajtim before I found this remix, but I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on him. Notime’s icy beauty is mesmerising. - From Circular 10. Circular Limited, 2014. Devennue has been making some great deep techno, and this BLNDR remix on Circular Limited is a favourite. This track moves at such a controlled pace, yet pushes forward so insistently. - From Mayfield. Hypnus, 2014. The second Hypnus release on this list is all about its intense, brooding atmosphere. What little unfolds does so slowly, but insistently, as sounds dance lightly across the surface of this track’s dark core. Selected by Refracted From Lost Recordings #1 – Why? + For Whom?. Cosmic Recordings, 1996. Steve Bicknell is a timeless genius in my opinion. He has so many great classics but this one is especially well-fitting to my style of sets. - From S100 EP. Stockholm LTD, 2011. I love the depth of this track and how it slowly evolves. It’s a nice warmup track to start filling the floor. - From the Squadra Quadra EP. The Bunker New York, 2016. One of my favourites from 2016. Mind Bomb. - From Faith Is Fear. Dust Science Recordings, 2007. Perfect track for closing a set or for a break midway. Love it. - From Mind Express 002. Mind Express, 2015. Sorry for the shameless plug but I’ve been closing nearly all of my sets this year with this one and it was hard not to include it. Full playlist

In a country where the ravy end of the techno spectrum often prevails, Ben Buitendijk’s deeper, experimental sound has earned him a solid following. Based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Ben has found success with a string of releases on Dutch labels ESHU and Ogun Records, plus the inclusion of his track Colourblind on a collection from Field Records. This year, he took the step of founding his own label, a move that will give him the creative space he craves to release his unique productions. You can get a taste of Ben’s sound at the Patterns of Perception party at OHM Berlin next week, where he will play along with fellow Dutch artist Tom Liem. In the lead up, Ben takes us on a journey through the Dutch techno scene and explains why storytelling is essential to his music. Hailing from the Netherlands, a country with such an ingrained culture around electronic music, it must be easy to fall into the techno world. How did you discover the art of DJing and producing music? Actually it’s kind of a weird story. I’ve always liked electronic music – obviously it’s really big in Holland and there’s dance music and house on the radio everywhere. My parents were already listening to house but it was mainstream top 40 house. In high school, some friends sent me some music – some EDM at the time – and I went to my first party. I liked it so I went again the next month and I heard the exact same set. That was when I started to look a little bit deeper and after awhile I ended up here. At the beginning it was just about collecting music but slowly it just grew more serious: more gigs, better gigs, nice labels to release on. You’ve described your sound as having “no boundaries for genres or styles”. With such a wide ranging palette, what is your production process like? It’s always different. Sometimes I don’t have any ideas and I just jam something and see what happens. Sometimes I have an idea for a beat and start with that and then hopefully ideas for the rest come along. Sometimes I start with a sound or even a technical idea. My productions use a lot of effects and processing, but for example normally you would use a compressor during the mixdown. I can use it in the wrong way but it still gives an interesting sound for me. That’s also where ideas and inspiration come from: what if I put this setting like this? It shouldn’t work like that, but somehow it does sound cool. That’s usually what gets my flow going. In my productions, there are really no boundaries for anything. I do whatever I feel like and then if I like the sound, why not? I keep it. Does a similar idea of breaking the boundaries of different genres and music styles apply to your DJ sets? What do you look for when selecting music for a set? In theory, yes. I buy records from any genre and any style as long as I like them. But if I’m playing a techno party, I might bring a house record but I’m not going to bring house house. As a DJ, I try to limit everything I do to whatever suits the party, the crowd and the club. I think every record has its time and place, where it will work and where it will fit. Those are the things you have to keep in mind when you’re packing your bag. Even then you sometimes have surprises and you wish you had taken different records, but that’s part of the job. In the end, it’s not about the tracks you play. You can play banger after banger after banger, but after three of them there is no rush anymore. You can play really deep for three records then you just put a little more energy, and suddenly, although the track isn’t a banger at all, it becomes a banger because of the order you play it in. It’s more about the story you tell. Every record is like a tool and if you structure them the right way, you can build something that’s more than just a few records mixed together. You play primarily on vinyl. What does this format give you that digital doesn’t? Every type of equipment has good DJs and bad DJs. But I notice for DJs who play digitally, they focus more on sound and less on storytelling because they can make every track fit perfectly. For vinyl DJs, you can’t play that tight so you need to tell more of a story. It’s a limitation but you have to solve it or do something else to make up for it. You can have two tracks that are totally different styles but they still work together and they create something extra. Playing with records, I become more concentrated because it requires more concentration, and that’s what I really like about it. We recently got to hear your remix of Abstract Division, and another of Janeret’s Air. What do you enjoy about remixing others? What do you look for in a track when deciding to remix? It differs for each remix and each track. For Janeret, I really like his music and his originals so it was nice to work with his samples and try something out. With Abstract Division, I heard the original and I heard the synths that I use mainly in the remix and right away I thought, about what I could do with it. So when they asked me for a remix for their album, it was really easy to decide. It’s interesting to hear the same sounds and bring to it a different vibe or different output. I don’t like to do remixes that are completely different from the original. You might as well just do an original then, you know? Or sometimes you have a remix that is more or less the same but just with a different kick. There should be some recognisable parts but it should be different. That’s also the fun part of it. You started your own label, Oblique Music, earlier this year. What was behind that decision? How do you know it’s the right time to start a label? Basically I had some tracks ready. I’m still in contact with some labels but the tracks didn’t fit the label or the guys who ran the label wanted something different. So I had the music but I didn’t have a place to release them. I work at a distributor called Triple Vision and my boss suggested I start a label. So some of those tracks are really old, even from 2012. But I will say that I take my time to release them. It’s the advice that I give to anyone who is starting out: patience is the most important thing. What has starting the label taught you about the music business? Does it give you a new perspective on your own productions and the music you make? It’s really different running a label to making music. Normally I wouldn’t think about that side of things myself but now I’ve really learnt to think about how to build an EP. You can throw four tracks together but it’s important to think about what people are actually going to buy. But when producing I try not to think about it this way. Someone told me recently that I should try to make music with this in mind but I like to have the freedom just to let the creativity flow in whatever direction it goes. At the moment, I don’t really aim for a label or certain sounds when I make something. In the moment, if I feel like making this, that’s the direction I go. With this rich texture and spacey atmosphere we find in your tracks, where do you think that your music can be best appreciated? What is an ideal place to hear your music? Every track has its own place and time. Let’s take the tracks from my EP for example, because they’re all really different. The first one was this kind of dark and hypnotic techno track. That one has to be in some dark club, not too big, with a good sound system. Just some place where you get separated from the outside world. The second one is more dubby, more groovy. Actually I would like to hear it on the beach. At a beach party, outdoors, with good weather. What can you tell us about the crowd in the Netherlands and the sound in general? What are the best clubs that you’ve played at lately? For me, I would say that I play a little bit deeper than what’s popular in Holland but we do have a pretty good scene focusing on the more harder to listen to sounds. There is a healthy scene below the big clubs and the big parties. With regards to clubs, Radion in Amsterdam had a weekender in March. I was playing from 7 in the morning until 10. It was perfect for me because it was the afterparty vibe and people were having a lot fun. It was a crazy vibe, one of the most fun gigs I’ve played anywhere. To be honest, before that happened, I didn’t expect that in Holland. It’s also possible here, you just need to find the right moment. Earlier this year, you released a split EP on ESHU Records with Tom Liem, who will also play at Patterns of Perception. How did you start working with the ESHU guys? It actually just grew from something really silly like a comment on SoundCloud and a message. I put a track on Soundcloud and someone commented on it, suggesting the ESHU guys. I looked them up and was completely blown away by what I heard. I was favoriting every track and commenting on everything. I wanted to send them a demo but I didn’t dare! After awhile, I got a message from them that they liked my music, then I went to see their first live show and met them there. We started to hang out together and make music. To get that feedback from them at that point already, it was a great boost of motivation for sure. Lastly, have you and Tom played on the same bill before? What can people expect from hearing you both at Patterns of Perception? I have played with Tom before once, as Dilated Pupils together with Ivano Tetelepta and Jocelyn Abell (from ESHU Records) as well. Other than that, I’ve heard him play quite a few times and I know his music so in that sense I know him pretty well. With the whole ESHU crew, I notice when I play back-to-back with anyone, it’s like someone else is playing with my bag and I know every record. It’s really easy to play together because we have the same taste and style. It will be nice to play with Tom this time. Ben Buitendijk plays at Patterns of Perception at OHM Berlin on December 2

Ten tracks that represent our current sounds and inspiration. Compiled by Tom Liem and Ben Buitendijk. Artwork taken from Ben and Tom’s split EP on ESHU. Selected by Tom Liem From Piano Nights. [PIAS] Recordings, 2013. Beautiful doom jazz for lonely nights reflecting on the day or a period of time. - From Together is the New Alone. Mille Plateaux, 2001. He’s my hero seriously – his ambient works are so good. Very minimal with maximised impact. - From Liquid Swords. Geffen Records, 1995. Wu Tang forever! - From Kering#004.  Kering, 2016. To me Ivano is the craziest producer in Holland right now. Forget about all the popular ones you hear about. Ivano is a true wizard and master of the arts. - From The Jungle Planet. Sleeper Wakes, 2013. Mills is still so far ahead of anyone else. This whole album is just one sick trip. I recommend listening to it on some magic mushrooms. Selected by Ben Buitendijk From Untitled. Office Recordings, 2016. Baaz’s Office Recordings has been on fire recently. - From the Bad Signal EP. ESHU, 2015. ESHU, besides being good friends, put out great music. - From Painting. Tape Records, 2016. I’m a big fan of Deniro (obviously :D) and his label Tape Records is one to follow. - From the Drai EP. Stratosphere Recordings, 2001. Tikita has put out some super nice records and the next one is a re-issue of one of my all-time favorites. - From Undulating Frequencies.  Spazio Disponibile, 2016. Everything Donato Dozzy is involved in is great. Spazio Disponibile no exception. Full Playlist:

For London-based Volte-Face, the recent announcement of fabric’s closure (and subsequent reopening) hit close to home. An established figure in the city’s electronic music scene, he has both co-promoted parties at the club and played there regularly over the past decade. Yet at a time when some are predicting the demise of the city’s nightlife, he remains optimistic about the future of clubbing in the UK capital. We recently sat down with Volte-Face to discuss his views on fabric’s closure, his current projects and collaborations, and what we can expect from his headline set at Patterns of Perception on March 10. What’s 2017 got in store for you? What are you working on at the moment? More of the same really. I’ve just put out the first BleeD release of the year, by Phil Moffa, who’s somebody I’ve wanted to work with for a long time. I’m putting the finishing touches to my next BleeD EP, gearing up for the festival I co-organise, Field Day (which is headlined by Aphex Twin this year), and also looking forward to working out some Rote shows with Daniel Avery later in the year. I’ve also been meditating daily, and have finally stopped biting my nails habitually. You’re based in London, which was hit pretty hard by the announcement of fabric’s closure last year. Now they’re back in business and you’re returning to play in April – how do you feel about heading back there? I’ve been playing semi-regularly at fabric since 2006, so it was certainly a shock to hear of the closure. People underestimate the effect that a venue like fabric has on the entire ecosystem of clubbing in London. In my view, there are very few venues on the planet as well run and conscientious as fabric, so it would have been nonsensical to close it on grounds of health and safety. I can’t wait to play there again. A lot of the media coverage last year focused on what fabric’s closure meant for the future of London’s nightlife more broadly. What does fabric’s return mean for the city’s electronic scene? Is it now back to business as usual or has the damage been done? I think there will be positives that come out of the situation. Fabric has had the chance to reflect and regroup, and others in clubland have had the opportunity to work with artists who might not have been so easy to book in the past, and potentially consolidate some new following as a result. Clubs are always coming and going in London, but I don’t think the volume of people going out and enjoying quality nightlife varies a great deal. We’re pretty committed ravers over here! What might the implications be for a city like Berlin, where clubbing culture is so unregulated compared to London? Do you see the city as eventually heading in the same direction as London? I do marvel at how permissive the Berlin club environment can be in comparison to London, but it seems that the authorities recognise that this is a cultural differential which should be cherished and protected, rather than systematically undermined in the manner that the British police went for fabric, with the dubiously titled ‘Operation Lenor’. You’ve recently played a lot with Berlin-based artist Blind Observatory, both on the same bill and b2b. How is this a good musical fit? And more generally, how do you approach your b2b sets? He’s somebody that I happened to catch at Berghain a few years back, and have since been following religiously. I invited him to play back to back with me at the last Plex/BleeD event in London, and we’ve become friends since, playing a second b2b recently at Fade Blank in Amsterdam. We cross over a fair bit, especially when it comes to the more ‘romantic’, trance-infused side of techno and electro. It feels like something new, rather than a compromise, when we play together, which is surely a good sign. What’s coming up for BleeD Music this year? Any particular releases you’d like to mention? What direction are you taking for the label? It’s a blank canvas, and occasionally a slashed canvas too. I’m working on it! One of my favourite new artists is working on a remix for me as we speak, which I am eagerly awaiting. You’ve previously run your own club nights through BleeD. In your experience, what’s the recipe for the perfect party? What’s needed in terms of the crowd, music, sound system, etc? I had five good years promoting parties under that name, although the sound I was pushing was generally more abstract and experimental than what I have been releasing on the label so far. For me, what’s needed is some kind of tension in the curation. I never saw a reason why an ambient artist, let’s say Bee Mask, couldn’t play in the small hours at a ‘club’ night, alongside more traditional ‘techno’ artists. Some memorable moments include Oneohtrix Point Never playing alongside Oni Ayhun and Veronica Vasicka at my first ever club night, Daniel Bell playing krautrock peak-time at a Downwards x Diagonal party, British Murder Boys playing a secret set in a 250 capacity room at a Blackest Ever Black party alongside Raime, and Morphosis playing b2b with Ben UFO for eight hours at Corsica Studios. What can we expect from your set at Patterns of Perception? Is there anything you will do differently from your usual sets to cater for the venue and the crowd? Although it does tend to derail my life a little, I try to treat each show as a unique event, and put a lot of preparation in. Having seen OHM in action at your last party, I feel like I can treat it like a house party set, of sorts. Nice and varied, deep and full of surprises. That’s the plan at least. Volte-Face plays at Patterns of Perception at OHM Berlin on March 10

Kalawila is a techno star on the rise. An up-and-comer from Sweden, his list of credits so far include a recent release on Johanna Schneider’s Bossmusik, a close friendship and collaboration with Dorisburg, and a series of high quality productions on his own label, Mountain Explosion Device. In this interview, he tells us about his early influences, gives us a glimpse of the Swedish scene and explains why melancholy is essential for producing good techno. You can catch Kalawila at OHM Berlin for Patterns of Perception on March 10. Tell​ us the Kalawila story: how did you get into electronic music? What inspired you to start DJing and producing yourself? I guess I really started taking an interest in dance music when I organised parties in Gothenburg together with the guys from Aniara, but I didn’t play records back then. It wasn’t until I moved to Berlin that I started buying records of my own, and then one day I just asked my roommate if he could teach me how to play them, and he did! When it comes to producing, I was going out dancing a lot and I just really needed an outlet for those hours when I got back from an inspiring club experience, where I could channel what I had just taken in. So my friends installed Logic on my computer, showed me the basics, and then I just tried to focus on learning a few aspects of it really well, like delays. Software like that can be a bit daunting if you try to learn everything at once. Baby steps are key, I think. I’ve done almost all my tracks at home with just the basic Logic package. You can do tons, even if you don’t have access to a studio and/or expensive analogue equipment. How​ would you describe your current sound to those who haven’t heard of you before? What are your main influences? Electro-magnetic reptile? Haha, I’m not sure how to describe it. I’m really bad at categorising music properly. I had seven snakes growing up, and would sometimes sleep with them in my bed. I just try to picture what they would enjoy if they had ear drums. Also, I like having the feeling that whatever you’re listening to at the moment always has another gear to kick into. Kind of like a closed pressure valve that just keeps building up tension, but never releasing it. I try to go for that feeling when I play. A lot of people seem to be highly influenced by space, but I’d say most of my influences can be found here on Earth (which is also in space, I guess). Things like amphibians, Butoh dancing, Skynet, or Monolake. All great influences. You​ recently released on Johanna Schneider’s label Bossmusik, home of fellow Swedish DJs including Dorisburg and Henrik Bergqvist. How did you meet the crew? We are all really good friends. Stockholm is small so we see each other quite often. I like that Johanna keeps Bossmusik a family affair, even though she’s probably been approached with some killer demos from random people. I’ve known Alex (Dorisburg) for a long time. We are both from Gothenburg, and we moved to Berlin together the first time in 2009, then we did the same thing again in 2012. The second time we basically spent every waking hour together, playing video games, going out dancing, and listening to Shackleton. I know every angle and wrinkle of him. Best guy ever. Tell​ us a bit about your 2016 two-track debut on the label, ​Krokodil Når Västerås / Bhati Dilwan. How did you approach this release? Krokodil når Västerås is actually a newspaper headline that I read once. The article was about the drug Krokodil now popping up in the small town of Västerås in Sweden, but I misread and thought it was about a crocodile that had swam all the way from Egypt, and had now finally arrived in the small town of Västerås. I thought my misinterpretation would be a funny scenario to try and paint with sound. All of my records are named after newspaper headlines that I read: Slagsmål utbröt på Mount Everest (A Brawl Broke Out On Mount Everest); Ensam Kamphund Tog Pendeltåget (Lonely Fighter Dog Rode the Commuter Train); and my next one is Lönnmördare Fick Betalt i Frimärken (Assassin Got Paid In Stamps). Most of my B-sides are named after gruesome and shitty scenarios. Like Bhati Dilwan is a town in Pakistan, where Nestlé built a factory for bottled water, and contaminated the natural water source. So now the citizens of Bhati Dilwan have to buy their clean water from Nestlé. Virunga is a national park in Uganda where oil companies are paying locals to kill gorillas, since the area is full of oil, but it also has gorillas. If the gorillas are gone, there is no need for the government to protect the area anymore, thus the oil will be up for grabs. The B-side on my upcoming record is Dadaab, which is the world’s largest refugee camp. It’s in Kenya towards the Somali border, and it has over 300,000 people. They are trying to shut it down, though. None of the b-sides are funny scenarios to paint, but they had a big impact on me. I don’t have a background in music, and I don’t really play an instrument, so I try to come at it from a different angle. I don’t really “jam” – I usually start with a scenario that I want to describe, then I take a sample or field recording that I twist and turn inside out on my computer until I feel it fits in my musical universe. The main reason why I make music is so I can spend time in that place. Johanna​ Schneider said in ​​an interview late last year​ that “the lack of vitamin D makes everything (in Sweden) sound like that light-in-the-tunnel-kind-of-vibe”.​ Would you agree? How would you describe the sound that’s coming out of Sweden at the moment? I think I know what she means, but where she sees light in the tunnel, I think I see melancholy. We have plenty of that to go around. A lot of things up here just have a kind of beige aura. But I like that aspect when translated into something feral, like techno. That’s why I always try to look for at least a sliver of melancholy when I listen to techno; if the music is hard just for the sake of being hard, I have a tendency to tune out. The qualities I look for in music are basically the same ones that I look for in a person: curiosity, finesse and quiet dignity. Are​ there other Swedish DJs or producers that you’re following particularly closely at the moment? I always follow Fjäder, Jin Mustafa and Johanna Knutsson with great suspense, they’re always really on point. Oh, and Jana Sleep! Definitely one of my favourite producers. She really taps into something beautiful when she produces and performs. You​ recently recorded a mix for Patterns of Perception. Did you have a particular concept in mind for this mix? I always try to picture a very specific person listening to the mix in a very specific situation, and then keep that vibe in mind when I’m recording it. The actual recording session is not very romantic. I don’t have record players at home, so I write down tracks that I really like at the moment on my phone, in the order that I think they will work. Then I go over to my friends’ house and record it. Surprisingly, I rarely stray from what I wrote down before starting the session. Imagining how the tracks will work together is almost more fun than actually hearing them together for me. Recording a mix works pretty much the opposite of playing in a club for me. One happens in my head, and the other happens in my gut. How​ do you prepare for your DJ sets? Can we expect anything in particular from your set at Patterns of Perception? I usually plan my sets pretty meticulously and I try to group tracks after which colour they represent in my head. So maybe I’ll play turquoise for the first 30 minutes, then purple, then red, etc. But if I show up at the club and notice the vibe isn’t turquoise at all, I just shift the colour blocks around a bit. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but I have to visualise it like that for it to make sense to me. Oh, and lately I’ve been really into some more downtempo techno, like 112-113 BPM stuff. It’s really cool, so maybe I’ll bust out some of that! What​ else does 2017 have in store for you? Tons of fun stuff! I wrote a radio theatre piece called Sagor Från Medelklassen (Fairy tales from the middle class) that aired on Swedish Public Radio in February. Also, my fourth EP is coming soon, entitled Lönnmördare Fick Betalt i Frimärken. I also decided to start releasing tracks by friends, so there will be releases by Dorisburg and Birds ov Paradise on my label Mountain Explosion Device. Oh, and I want to move to Mexico City! Image credits: Johanna Schneider

Ten tracks that represent our current sounds and inspiration. Compiled by A. Brehme and Hysteria. Selected by A. Brehme From Dyson Sector-NGC-224. Hypnus, 2014. For being the soundtrack of an intense psychedelic experience. - From Sister Feelings Call. Virgin, 1981. Because there’s no reason for not having it on constant rotation. - From Vocalcity. Force Tracks, 2000. For being one of the sexiest records I own. - From Evoked Potentials Part Two. Semantica, 2010. For serving as the soundtrack of an emotionally tough period. - From the 80s Compilation EP. EE Tapes, 2012. For being a token for the many discoveries working in a record shop has to offer. - From Entain. Mille Plateaux, 2000. For bringing me inner peace when demanded. Selected by Hysteria From Eyes in the Center. Ostgut Ton, 2017. Dark, trippy and cosmic. I feel like I’m flying through an intergalactic space chase. - From Timid Ocean Drawings. Deep Sound Channel, 2014. Strikes a perfect balance between hypnotic intensity and lucid dreaming. - From Kinship. Delsin, 2017. My favourite track from their debut LP. Pulsating acid trip. - From Bakom Planteringen. Posh Isolation, 2016. Rhythmic and melodic electronica, perfect for a drive home. Full playlist:

Ten tracks that represent our current sounds and inspiration. Compiled by Volte-Face and Kalawila. Selected by Volte-Face From Syndicat De La Couture. Avian, 2017. - From Pitch Black Mirror. Sonic Groove, 2016. - From Red Zone. Acidworx, 2016. - Featured on As Patria’s forthcoming Hypoborean Land EP, due late March 2017. Ravage, 2017. - From Metastability.  Sonic Groove, 2015. Selected by Kalawila From The Axiom EP. theAgriculture, 2011. - From Cory Arcane. Raster Noton, 2015. - From Painting. Photek, 2006. - From Momentum. Monolake / Imbalance Computer Music, 2003. - From DK Jamz.  Nintendo, 1995. (So good.) Full Playlist:

Italian producers Roberto Bosco and Kiny are Ichinen, an experimental techno project reflecting their long-standing friendship and complementary musical styles. After years spent focusing on their solo work, the duo first earned acclaim for last year’s A Morning Without Glory, a dance floor-oriented EP with remixes from techno heavyweights Dasha Rush and Etapp Kyle. Since then, their music has taken a more experimental turn. As long-time friends but more recent collaborators, Bosco and Kiny set up their label Last Drop Records to release the kind of music both were craving to make. Their first LP Dual Craters, set for release on March 31, fuses Bosco’s rhythmic elements with Kiny’s more experimental sounds. Ahead of the release, we sat down with Bosco and Kiny to chat about what made them switch from techno made for the dance floor to the dubby, experimental ambient that characterises Dual Craters. The two of you first met in your home town of Salerno, a seaside city in Campania, Italy. Can you tell us the story of how you met? Where did this all start? Kiny: We are friends since the youngest age. We live in a suburb near Salerno. At the end of the 90s, some friends and I created a place under my home, in a garage where there were two turntables and a mixer and a lot of records. It was a space to have fun, and to remedy the boredom and monotony of the city. This place was called Last Drop and Roberto began visiting at the age of 15. It was useful for him to escape and dream there, too. Roberto: Then during 2013, after living about a year in Berlin, I came back disappointed to Italy. It was very hard this change, having lost the passion to make music. Having found Kiny again as a friend was like travelling back in time, to when I experienced music in a carefree way. The rest of the story happened by itself. You’re both independent artists in your own right. How did Ichinen as a project come about? Roberto: We spend a lot of hours in the studio making music together. Quite simply, we found that we really enjoyed it, despite our different personal music inclinations. Certainly we’ve experimented a lot, and the result was this really intimate music and a very personal sound. We enjoy our mental journeys. Simply, we have fun making music together and we divide the roles easily: Kiny makes the ambient part and I stay focused more on the rhythm. Kiny: First and foremost, an important factor for this collaboration was the friendship between us. And working on this project also helped us both overcome more difficult moments within our everyday lives. What were your main influences or inspirations for this project? Kiny: We have different backgrounds but these still meet in this project. The sounds range from electronic minimal techno to dub, and even reaching an industrial level. We mix all this together in a very personal and experimental way. For the Ichinen project, we have kept our two different identities, but still manage to arrive at a common point. Finding the right feeling and common ground with another person can be really hard, but in our case it was quite natural. Roberto: We don’t really have one particular influence but rather several influences. Our journey was inspired first by our feelings and our daily experiences. Certainly there is more experimentation and the novelty of using synthesizers like Elektron since we have always produced music only with computers. On Dual Craters, you explore a much more experimental sound than you’ve offered in the past. What drove you to make music that’s less inclined towards the dance floor? Roberto: We don’t necessarily want to stay away from dance floor music, though we were tired of that sound to some extent and we wanted an ‘escape’. So we just tried to experiment with our music and the idea for this Ichinen LP just came out. Kiny: We both always listened to ambient and experimental music, and for sure in recent years it’s become more popular among connoisseurs. But certainly it remains a more niche musical style. You founded Last Drop Records in 2014 – taking the name of the studio where you first met. What led you to set up the label? What have been your biggest challenges? Roberto: Personally I really felt the need to found my own label for some time. Then I met Kiny and, after listening to his stuff, I thought to combine our forces and bet on something new and personal. Our biggest challenge was to put out Kiny’s Damaged Memory EP. He was very unknown some years ago in the music industry, mostly because today’s market mainly demands dance floor music. Labels tend to push new producers down this road, rather than direct them to produce something that really expresses their own style and their taste. And often this leads us to always listen to the same stuff. Personally, I think there is a lot of amazing music out of there that isn’t always earning recognition but which should do. Kiny: Basically, we created the label Last Drop with the intent of putting personality into our music, trying to create a unique product, regardless of the current market. Tell us about having A Morning Without Glory remixed by Dasha Rush and Etapp Kyle. Were you happy with how each interpreted your track? Kiny: They certainly helped to increase the visibility of the project, keeping in line with our concept for the label, and we are really grateful for their support. Roberto: We wanted two different versions of A Morning Without Glory – we are very tied to this track. Dasha maintained the energy of the original version and also gave a very personal interpretation. On the other hand, Etapp completely overwhelmed the track, having a personal vision more based on minimal electronic dub. We are really satisfied with both interpretations. Ichinen’s Dual Craters is out on Last Drop Records on March 31. Pre-order the album over on Bandcamp

Antonio Vázquez hails from Seville, Spain, but learnt his art as a DJ in Madrid in the 2000s. Moving to Berlin was the turning point in his musical development: it was here he started to explore the deeper side of techno. He has since released on such forward-thinking labels as Shaded Explorations, Hypnus Records, and Semantica, while taking up bookings at some of Berlin’s most respected clubs. We caught up with Antonio to discuss the concept behind his recent mix for Patterns of Perception, how moving to Berlin has impacted his sound, and why paring back his life has helped him find a sense of peace that flows through his music. Tell us about your Patterns of Perception mix. Was there a particular concept or inspiration behind this mix? How do you approach mixes more generally? For me the mix started with the idea to project different moods and music styles within techno. The starting point was what I’m interested in, which kind of tracks. Typically when I do a podcast I meditate first and then record it. Everything flows in this way. With music, I see myself as an instrument. I’m interested in many different styles of music, especially because of my concept of what music really is. I see it as a tool to make us vibrate in different states. The first part of the mix is a really calm, profound, deep sound with atmospheres and grooves and weird elements to create different emotions. I wanted to set a really calm mood. The second part is much harder, which is developing more into my punk, metal, rock and more hard styles. This is to create a sense of rage and anger, to let out these emotions and feelings. Then the third part, which is the most danceable I think, it belongs between the previous two parts. Sometimes there’s a track that’s more moody, more groovy or more hard, but it sits in between both. This third part could be the middle point of the first and second part. Is there a particular reason you structured the mix this way? Why put the ‘middle’ section at the end? We shift between two poles and it’s clear that we have to make a balance. You feel one side and then the other side, and then you put it in balance. It’s like everything in life – you cannot understand one side without the opposite. So that’s why I put this third part at the end, to put everything in balance. But what I’m more interested in is what other people receive, what other people feel when they listen to it. Most importantly I want them to really enjoy it. Take me back to the start for you. How did you first get into music? Almost everything in my life is just about following my natural flow so it’s difficult to explain. But actually, if I reflect on it, I think it was because of my father. My father has a really big focus on music. Whatever he does, he really needs to have his time for music. When I was younger, he was working a lot, moving around, and most of the time I travelled with him in the car and he always puts on these cassettes recorded from the radio. We’d stop at the gas station and we’d buy cassettes. But of course, it started because I had it inside – we all have it inside. I have these moments that I need to explore with music. What music did you listen to with your dad? Well, he plays a lot of different styles and songs, especially ballads and quiet music, and also jazz, classical music and awhile ago I tried to get him into post-rock. I started to show him my favourite band Tortoise. He enjoyed it. He’s not a person to express his feelings so what he thinks about it, you see it in his face. The music he played help me to discover Pink Floyd and early Santana, so this took me to focus on psychedelic rock. I think I was eight years old when I first listened to electronic music, with a cassette compilation that my father bought me called Max Mix 10. How did you get your start as a DJ/producer from here? I was living in Malaga, trying to study at university. I say ‘trying’ because it was not my thing and I quit it two years after. I was involved with friends, especially one called Javier Salas, he started to DJ and play and show me a lot of music also. And also with other friends, Ruben Guerrero and Segundo del Toro, we started meeting and listening to music. Here I discovered bands like Gong, Can, Tortoise, Mogwai, etc. This was a really good inspiration for me. And we started to go out to parties and to Granada to go to clubs, to see Oscar Mulero and Oliver Ho, for example. Then I started to research about music programs for my computer. I had a lot of fun with it. Two years after this I moved to Madrid. And then after one year or so, I decided to buy turntables and to start learning to play. In about 2009, I played in my first club, called Cassette. Before that, it was mostly bars, private parties and events. This made me more comfortable to do it. How did your sound develop over this time? My music taste developed because in Madrid at that time the kind of techno I used to play was not really promoted, so I shifted to explore other music. I often played in really small bars and there were not so many places where you could play that harder sound. I was always between the two sides of really smooth and really hard. After playing at Cassette, it made me go back to that root of harder techno. This is the history of my music life: I develop and then I always come back to the root. Then the key moment was when I came to Berlin, this is essential. At what point did you decide to relocate to Berlin? I came to Berlin in 2011. As with everything, it was the flow of life. You feel the impulse and you follow it. In Berlin, I met some really good friends and inspiring friends who were making great music. Here I met Refracted. To me, he is one of the highest producers and DJs. His music speaks for itself. What he does with his concept and how he expresses himself, there are no words. Besides meeting these friends, what is it about Berlin that’s had such an impact on you? Berlin gives you the freedom to be whatever you are. You can dress however you want to, nobody judges you. You feel it on the street, you feel it walking. I think part of it is because of the history of the city. One kaiser, I don’t remember who, in the time of the inquisition took all people persecuted by the church and made a safe place for them in Berlin. That is what the spirit of the city became. Energetically, I think it’s also because of the amount of water. Berlin is surrounded by water and I think the water is what gives it this energy. Water has the possibility to have memory and be affected by energy. And everything in life is energy. How has moving here affected your career in music and your sound? I just started to research, thanks to Refracted, more deep techno. Because of the group of friends we were, we started to have after parties at home and I just started to play more. Two podcasts I made were important but one in particular, the T_mood podcast, I think this one was the key moment with how everything develops for me. Thanks to that podcast and meeting Caleb ESC, I was invited to play for the first time in About Blank. At this time, I released an EP on T3R Records under the name Versenkt called The Owls Are Not What They Seem (in reference to one of my favorite directors, David Lynch). And then I had the big surprise: I got invited to play in Berghain about one year after I arrived in the city. It was totally out of the blue, actually I just received a message on Facebook one day. I think this is how I want to live: just enjoy your life and not expect anything. I’ve learnt it with the years, to live in peace with yourself and your environment, and to follow your own flow. The most important thing is how you wake up in the morning. If you have a moment of peace – if you have your cup of coffee and breakfast and enjoy it quietly – then this helps you to have this same energy throughout the day. Maybe play some ambient music, some quiet music. And also do the same before you sleep. These are two essential pieces to find balance. What’s your moment of peace in the morning? Do you have a particular routine? This morning, for example, I woke up and I played Vangelis. I can’t remember the album. I usually listen to a full album and after that I take my coffee, I play some post-punk or rock to energise myself. And then I continue the day. I live quite comfortably because I work just two days per week. To work more is unnecessary. I reduced my expectations of life: I don’t have a phone, I don’t need to eat too much, I don’t need to spend so much money. I reduced the… I wouldn’t say my needs, but wills. I worked a lot in the past years and I discovered, why do I work so much to go on holidays? Why am I not living like I’m on holidays? This is one of the essential points for how I reached the peace that I have. What impact has this way of living your life had on your music? I’m still waiting to see. For the moment, I just express it through my recent podcasts. This one (for Patterns of Perception) is the fifth one since I started to feel this, and I think the Deep Electronics podcast really shows the moment where I discovered the peace I was living. What I discovered is that I don’t want to limit myself through my musical tastes. I receive what I like, I process it inside and then I express it. I also discovered that I don’t want any stress about producing or releasing my music. I don’t like to see my music as a product, I just see it as it is: a tool to enjoy and make us all enjoy. I try even to avoid promoting myself because I don’t like it. I only do it because I am asked to do it, and to support the parties, sites and labels I’m involved with. I stopped using Facebook at one point for this reason and others, and wish that soon I will stop again. If people are interested in following what I do, they will find a way to search for it. My life and what I do is not an advertisement. In summary, I don’t care to become a big artist or earn a lot of money with what I do. My success lies in enjoying every moment that I live, in every breath I take and every step I do. So I don’t need anything else. How have you seen the Berlin techno scene develop over the years? Techno is always developing. It is always reinventing itself. This is what I like in this style of music. Every time I talk with Refracted, or all the friends I have who make music, they are really searching for something new, something different. And myself, I’m always searching for new things. Also for my productions, each one is different. That’s why I think I am on Hypnus. It’s the feeling that the owner of the label gave me, that to meet him and also all the family was essential for my evolution as a producer. Hypnus is like a family, with freedom of expression, but of course with a certain quality of sound. And in Berlin, there are always new parties and the clubs are open to receiving and promoting more events and new music. Lately I have heard a lot of comments, judgements and opinions about clubs and parties, which is just gossip at the end. All this takes the real joy out of partying, which should be somewhere you can feel free to release yourself, without being affected by others, without affecting others with our own perceptions, thoughts and emotions – and just have fun and enjoy the music you like or want to explore. I believe parties are the best place to meet people because here they forget a lot about their own lives and worries. They just open themselves properly and enjoy. The world would be a much better place if we all partied. Let’s take Kim Jong Un to a party! Merkel, Trump – let’s do a Patterns of Perception presidential edition. You’ve released on labels including Semantica and Shaded Explorations as well. What have been some highlights production-wise for you? The Coil on Shaded Explorations is the one that reached people the most, based on their feedback. But each release is different for me because each marks a certain moment that I was living. The Semantica one, everytime I hear it I find something new. This is my goal because it gives you something more. Repeating the same thing is nice of course but I prefer to discover something new. Are you working on any releases at the moment? At the moment, I’m working on a release for Hypnus. I’m researching and have a clear idea of what I want to do. I even have the name of the release, it’s just taking some time. But I have to give something to the family. What else is on the cards this year? Any gigs you’re particularly looking forward to? Definitely Parallel Festival. I was recently asked about my personal goal, and the only thing I thought of was to play at Parallel Festival. I can say so many things about the experience from last year but nothing would do it justice. Parallel has a special concept – each day means something. I still don’t know at what time I’ll be playing so I will guess and keep researching tracks. What I like is to prepare the beginning of the set, like the first hour. Then I get people in the mood for the kind of music I like to express. I’m still waiting for confirmation from two of my favorites parties in Berlin to play so I would prefer not to say anything else until they are confirmed. My next gigs are at AVA Club on May 17 and at the Tokyo Redlight party at Renate on June 17. Every gig teaches me something new so I am really looking forward to them. Anything else you have coming up? Next winter I’m thinking to move back to Seville. My idea is to go back to my roots, to experience something new from them. It’s also about energy, meditation and all these other things I’m practicing. Just for the winter. Other than that, what is coming up will come up. I prefer not to know, I prefer to focus on the moment as always. Links: Antonio Vázquez on Resident Advisor Antonio Vázquez on Facebook Antonio Vázquez on Soundcloud