![]](http://www.ektoplazm.com/wp-content/themes/xenocide/images/c-tail.gif)
An Interview With La Baaz
(Articles) Author: Basilisk :: Posted: December 26th, 2007 :: 726 views
Building on years of success with the minimal psytrance project Paste, Patrick Sonderegger founded La Baaz as his solo project in 2002. Over the last five years, Patrick has developed a deep and hypnotic style of progressive dance music that has resulted in cutting edge releases on labels such as Plusquam, Flow, Cold Groove, Echoes, Candy Flip, Aeon, Fat Form, and Soul Tribe. Tracks such as Bodyloation, Virtual Halloween, and Asirion typify the La Baaz aesthetic—they are eerie, mesmerizing, and extremely well-produced.
Recently I conducted an interview with Patrick via email to find out more about the La Baaz project. The full text of the exchange follows.
First of all, what is your background in music production, and what sort of philosophy governs your creative efforts?
Ever since I was young, music has been something very important for me. In my teenage years I was a singer in a heavy metal band and played many concerts in Switzerland. When I bought my first C64 (and later, an Amiga) I also tried to do my own music. Later I discovered techno and trance music and became a DJ. With Stefan I formed the duo Paste where we were producing and getting attention very fast. To do my own tracks I founded the project La Baaz in 2002. I always get inspiration from other artists and music in general, but my goal is to make my own unique sound.
What sort of new La Baaz releases can we be looking forward to?
The following new releases are coming:
Andre Absolut – Crash (La Baaz Remix) on Kumquat Tunes (vinyl EP) and Echoes Records (CD).
La Baaz – Space Cut on Echoes Records (CD).
S-Elerator – Nice & Sexy (La Baaz Remix) on Vertikal Records (CD).
La Baaz – First Second Digital on Divide Records (International Groove Compilation CD).Together with DJ Kara Mehl I compiled “Kinky Beats,” the next CD compilation for Echoes Records. DJ Kara Mehl and I also have a DJ compilation coming out on Plusquam Records soon. Also watch for the full La Baaz artist album in mid-2008.
Can we expect anything more from Paste or are those days over?
No, those days are over; Stefan stopped making music some years ago.
How is life in Switzerland? Has the scene grown or changed in recent years?
Life is good but expensive :-) the main scene is focused on very minimal techno stuff—there are several parties and DJs of this style in Zürich every weekend. The progressive trance scene has gotten smaller than some years ago and the progressive electro kind is very small. Together with DJ Kara Mehl I started the Kinky Beats party project beginning this year. We bring new and modern music in the electro and progressive genres to our parties. The whole concept is very sexy; we’re trying out something new.
What inspires you to write a song? How does it all come together?
The main inspiration I have is from music I hear at parties and at home, but I am always looking for new ways and new sounds. I’m very into deep and fat bass lines and groovy stuff. Mostly I get an idea for a track and then try to work it out as fast as possible. This is important—to focus on one idea.
A question for the gear-heads and producers out there—what sort of equipment are you using?
I use a Powermac G4 Dual and Cubase 4 for producing and Mack 824 speakers. Mostly I’m focused on using VST plugins and software synths. Rarely I use an Access Virus. I’m doing the whole mix of my tracks on the computer.
Recently you have been released a digital single with Cold Groove Records. How do you feel about the shift toward purely digital sales in recent years? Are you still a vinyl or CD fan, or are MP3s and WAVs the way forward?
Actually I still like vinyl a lot, but the new way of online sales and digital releases is very comfortable for DJs—you can get fresh music very fast and quite cheap. The release process is also faster. I’m a big customer of beatport.com. To have MP3 and WAV is also good—you can store many tracks on your hard drive. As a DJ I play mostly with CDs and rarely with vinyls.
Where do you weigh in on the subject of other DJs playing your music? Do you like knowing your music is heard all around the world?
Yes of course, it’s a very good feeling to be in a club and to hear DJs playing my music. Mostly my tracks are played at clubs and afterhours—always for the deep side of the party.
Your previous project Paste was heavily involved in the minimal movement from 2000 to 2003. Since then, electro and minimal techno have exerted considerable influence on progressive psytrance. With the cross-genre success of artists like Extrawelt and Minilogue, do you see electronic dance music moving toward convergence—a state where boundaries between genres no longer apply? Do you see yourself having a role to play in this?
I think this mix between genres is something very important as new ways of music can grow like this. The music I do with La Baaz is not psytrance anymore—I also bring new combinations of progressive electro to minimal techno in a groovy and powerful way.
As a DJ I’m playing many different genres of electronic music from progressive trance to minimal techno, presenting it in a powerful and smooth way. I think to keep it interesting for me and for the listener it is very important not to stick with just one style. With the La Baaz project I try to bring this combination to the people.
How live is “live” in electronic music? Are you tweaking knobs and altering sounds in real-time or are your performances formatted more like a DJ set?
It really depends on the music you are presenting live. I think that most artists are between real live and a DJ set. My live set is a combination of fixed tracks over which I can mix samples loops and also the Access Virus synth I use and also different effect channels. The most important is that the live set is never built up the same and always sounds different. I’m also very free to combine the tracks in different ways. Like this I can always react to how people move on the dance floor.
What sort of music is on your player these days?
Mostly minimal twisted techno stuff—artists like Format:B, Red Robin, Barem, and Stephan Bodzin.
What aside from music keeps you busy?
I have many projects: working as a freelancer in web design and being shop manager for a online computer store. At the moment I also work for a photographer to make him well-known on the web.
Lastly, any words for your fans and friends who might be reading?
Thanks first for the nice interview… and of course to all my fans and party people that always are in good mood to listen to good sounds and make a real party. Special thanks to DJ Kara Mehl for our projects together and of course to the crew in Canada, Jeremy and Andrew.
La Baaz will be appearing live in Toronto on New Year’s Eve 2007/2008 for Harmonic Duality, presented by the BLA and Shakti collectives. For more information about La Baaz, check out Patrick’s MySpace profile.
