Articles - Interviews

“I can be a lazy bastard, that is probably the biggest obstacle I have to overcome: that and a short attention span.”

Though his debut artist album Vapour is already being acclaimed by everybody from Sasha, Jooris Voorn and his own personal favourite Laurent Garnier, Amsterdam-based German producer Patrice Baumel insists he has no ambitions to emulate their superstar DJ level success.

“I am driven to make good music and find new excitement in what I do day after day. I believe that I still have a lot of good things in me and that I am still improving,” he explains.

“And what is success anyway? A lot of people agreeing with what you do? Not very high on my priority list,” Patrice continues, “Each human being has to go down their own path, I see no point in comparing myself to anyone else.”

Focused and opinionated, he’s also friendly and charismatic; personality traits that have served him well since he first moved to Amsterdam 14 years ago, relocating from his hometown of Dresden, Germany.

Nowadays firmly ensconced as a resident DJ and promoter at the city’s most credible nightspot Trouw, he’s also one of the founders of the club’s new identically named record label, co-running the label when he’s not DJing or in the studio. Previously releasing a number of EPs on key house and techno tastemaker labels including Get Physical and Trapez, he’s opted to release Vapour on Trouw, taking control of his own destiny as much as building on the club’s reputation.

“The best way to sell music is still to make standout tracks, the cream always rises to the top,” Patrice declares.

“At Trouw we do not have the will and resources to cluster-bomb our target audience on all available channels, so instead we focus on a few essential media outlets that are read by a lot of people. And we try to let the music do the talking via Soundcloud,” he says.

“We also put a lot of effort into local marketing – the club has a large fan-base in the Netherlands and is instrumental in putting people in touch with our music. We have more than a thousand potential customers coming to us every weekend, that is where a lot of the marketing effort goes,” he explains.

“The whole web 2.0 thing with spamming people to death on Facebook or Twitter is just soul-destroying and uninspiring, we keep that to a minimum,”
he adds. That he’s putting his heart- and all his energy- into both the label and his music, is clear, with each demanding more time than he’s physically got, he admits.

“I wish I could spend more time in the studio, but the word of the new label needs to get out. I would say that I devote 60% of my time to marketing and running the label,” he adds.


Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): Starting with the album: how long have you been working on it; how much did you start with a clear vision?

Patrice Baumel: “The whole process probably took the best part of a year. I started with nothing but good intentions – no clear idea of what to do and no half-finished tracks on my hard drive waiting to be finished. I wanted to find a fresh sound. That initial search for direction took at least six months, after that things really fell into place and it was bam, bam, bam. I worked on most tracks simultaneously, so whenever I got stuck on one track I just switched over to another and did not waste much time. With that approach it was also much easier to have control over the transitions in between tracks and keep an eye on the bigger picture.”

Skrufff: What’s stopped you from making an album before? And given that dance music’s always been dominated by singles, and is even more so nowadays with downloads why make an album at all?

Patrice Baumel: “I have only been producing music for a few years so until a year ago I just did not feel like I had enough to contribute that would justify the album format. The influx of electronic artist albums coming out each week – often more a lengthy collection of singles – has done a lot to devaluate the album format. But during a chance encounter with my dear colleague Marc Romboy he encouraged my to go down that route anyway, that it would help me to grow as an artist. He was right. I also really enjoyed the process of digging my teeth into a big chunk of meat. I still think there is a place for an album, even in dance music. People happily stick on a podcast while driving their cars or doing a jog in the park. I tried to give the album that same continuous feel.”

Skrufff: The track titles are all rather minimalist until the last one ‘To Insanity and Beyond’: how much thought goes into them: what made that title right for that track?

Patrice Baumel: “Words often pop up while I am listening to a song, it is kind of a subconscious, playful process. If they are aesthetically pleasing and convey the same vibe as the song itself, I will use them. “To Insanity and Beyond” reminded me of the final 30 minutes of Kubrick's “2001: A Space Odyssey”, where the movie turns madder and madder and finally finishes in this calm, sterile and outlandish room. The track also completely unhinges and disintegrates into mad, random fractals and bleeps before finally arriving in this place where it all falls into place, beyond the madness.”

Skrufff: The press release says ‘The physical CD release will contain a guestlist invitation to a Trouw event of choice in order to give the listener the total experience’: does that include your upcoming Panorama Bar gig?

Patrice Baumel: “It is an invitation to any event taking place at Trouw. It is not valid for our away games. We want to encourage people to see it all, the club and label together form a strong unit. At the same time we want to reward their support with this gesture, we know times are financially tough for many folks.”

Skrufff: Berlin is full of expats claiming the city as their own: how much do you identify with Amsterdam (i.e. and see yourself as an Amsterdamer?
What advantages- and disadvantages does being a German in Amsterdam bring?)

Patrice Baumel: “I feel 100% local, I know the city well, speak the language and feel part of the local music scene. Amsterdam traditionally has a massive expat community. Being foreign and Amsterdam local at the same time feels very normal.”

Skrufff: What drew you to Amsterdam instead of Berlin?

Patrice Baumel: “I grew up in East Germany and wanted a fresh start. Berlin would have felt like more of the same to me. I can understand the appeal of the city – my mum lives there and I can visit whenever I feel like it – but Amsterdam is just a much happier place with a relaxed vibe. People really sleep in on a Saturday, as soon as the sun is out they move their chairs and tables in front of their houses and read the newspaper while drinking a glass of wine. The size of Amsterdam is very manageable; I can get to pretty much any point in town within 30 minutes on my bike. The beach is only 30 minutes away. Taking into account that Amsterdam is about 1/4th the size of Berlin the nightlife is just incredible. We have a great airport and Berlin, London or Paris are all just an hour flight away. The list goes on.”

Skrufff: You spent time in America when you were 16 living in the middle of
Utah: how many of the other kids were Mormons? And how did they react to you?

Patrice Baumel: “95 % of people around me were Mormons but that was never really a problem. I was encouraged to go to church with them and study their scriptures, which I did to a certain extent, but I never got into trouble for being atheist. Fellow students approached me with curiosity – when you are the only one who is different you simply do not present a threat to them. I had a blast.”

Patrice Baumel’s new album Vapour is out now on Trouw Music.

 
Article by Jonty Skrufff (http://listn.to/JontySkrufff )