Get Familiar: Dekmantel Mixtape
Dekmantel and Patta join forces once more for another collaboration. Since 2015, the two homegrown Amsterdam imprints have collaborated on a very special release highlighting local talent. Following up on the success of the 2020 compilation, this year’s edition has a mirrored impetus, presenting a choice selection of our favourite established artists and up-and-comers based in The Netherlands. Available on a limited 150 cassette tape and digital release, the album arrives in tandem with unique merchandise items – two Patta x Dekmantel T-Shirts and a Hooded Sweater.
For the 2021 instalment, eight purveyors and shapers of the Dutch scene have each whipped up an exclusive contribution. Launching things off, there’s De Lichting associate and Kommune founder Nathan Kofi with ‘Omdu,’ a sunburst take on classic deep house. Next up are familiar fixtures of Holland’s club-circuit, Jasmín – who dives into the world of production via 'Purl Stich Knitting' – and Cinnaman's esoteric 'Duck.' Famed for her hardware live sets, Rotterdam's Alberta Balsam offers up 'Pyramids,' a centrifuge of warbling 303 basslines and icy-sharp refrains. Flipping over to the B-side, you can find, amongst other earth-shattering tracks from Naone and Nadia Struiwigh, Garage Noord resident DJ Corridor’s 'Never,' a euphoric blend of delicate, watery melodies and flexed breakbeat. Before Mary Lake dispatches 'Back From Crete,' the hyper-glitched out melody infused with wiggy, shuddering bass.
A mixtape dedicated to club basements, dusky summer festival evenings and crowded house parties – in sum, a love note to all that we've missed in the past 18 months. While impossible to collapse into a single, definable sound, the cassette is flooded by the unmistakable flavour of dance fervour. Amping up the energy to insurmountable levels, navigating kaleidoscopic twists and turns – take it as a promise of everything that’s to come in 2022.
dekmantel · DKMNTL x PATTA 2021 // Various ArtistsBefore we release the brand new Patta x Dekmantel collection, it's only right that we get you up to speed with the names behind the release.
Cinnaman
Please introduce yourself and your craft to our readers?
My name is Yuri aka Cinnaman. Been Djing for 20 years now and producer from time to time.
Tell us about your track on the compilation?
Is probably the first solo house track ever after so many years making music. The lockdown made me do it!
What do you hope people will experience from listening to your music?
Pleasure and with this I hope when we can people will dance on it
How has your creative process been during these lockdowns?
For me it was such a good time. As I learned a lot about letting go. Finished a EP called Kingfisher and is out on my label. Just made some music for a short movie by Kyle Weeks. Also some other music coming on Patta later this year. So I've been very productive.
What can we expect from you in the near future?
A lot more music is to come!
Jasmín
Please introduce yourself and your craft to our readers? My name is Jasmin Hoek and I DJ as Jasmín, which is actually just the correct spelling of my name. I started DJing around 2016, and started playing out in the year after. I started making music in 2019, but didn’t have the time to really dive into it until last summer. Next to that I’m currently doing a Master’s degree in Gender Studies. Tell us about your track on the compilation? The track started with a sample from the sample pack I made for RE:VIVE (https://revivethis.org/DJ Corridor
Please introduce yourself and your craft to our readers?
My artist name for club influenced music is DJ Corridor. I make a blend of the club music I enjoy.
Tell us about your track on the compilation?
I actually made the track somewhere in the beginning of the whole corona situation. I thought it was a fun track but fun isn't enough so at first it ended on the pile with the rest of my music. One day I decided to send it and someone liked it. Now it's on the compilation!
What do you hope people will experience from listening to your music?
I hope they feel like listening to loud music on a big soundsystem.
How has your creative process been during these lockdowns?
In the first two months I was very productive and then it went back to normal. Corona didn't really change my creative process . Would've been sick, but no.
What can we expect from you in the near future?
More tracks!
Mary Lake
Please introduce yourself and your craft to our readers?
I’m Mary Lake, born in Algeria, mostly raised in the Netherlands. I DJ and produce electronic music.
Tell us about your track on the compilation?
When I make music it’s very much an expression of my mood. Therefore the music I make is always different. In this case I just came back from holidays in Crete, went straight to the studio and made this track in a couple hours. You can probably tell I was well-rested, sun-kissed and melancholic.
What do you hope people will experience from listening to your music?
I hope my music can bring consolation to some. And a sense of belonging.
How has your creative process been during these lockdowns?
Exercise, meditation, sobriety and music production has helped me get through this pandemic. I feel blessed to have the resources to keep creating and to be able to continue to grow as an artist. Without all the distractions of the pre-pandemic fast paced world I’ve been able to focus more and become more authentic with my creative process.
What can we expect from you in the near future?
I have some tracks and remixes releasing soon on other compilations from different labels (Céad, All Centre, Nous’klaer and Oddysee). I’m also in the process of finalizing my second EP. It will be released on JP Enfant’s new label Psychedelic Romance.
Nadia Struiwigh
Please introduce yourself and your craft to our readers?
Heya! I am Nadia Struiwigh, an Electronic producer/performer from The Netherlands, Rotterdam now based in Sydney. I am mainly focussed on Ambient and Experimental Music. I have released music on CPU, Clone, Nous'Klaer etc and I work with amazing people of Ableton, Native Instruments, Plugin Alliance and Modal.
Tell us about your track on the compilation?
I love creating music with my gear, but for this particular track I mixed it slightly up with some cool VSTs. This piece is more a song than a track. I wanted to give it more of a commercial touch, but it still got an experimental sound. The energy is pumping, and emotions will increase further down the song.
What do you hope people will experience from listening to your music?
Love this question. One of the most important elements in music for me, is having emotions, or creating images which are representing emotions. Music without emotion is like fast food: everyone can make music, and it may sound nice, but if there are no feelings involved, your brain/ body will forget it. So I dearly hope my audience will experience a musical and emotional journey, and if not, I hope they can go deeper each time they listen to a song. Long story short: music based on our hearts, not our minds.
What can we expect from you in the near future?
A lot. I am working on multiple gear collaborations, which I am truly grateful for and I just released a brand new Album on Nous'Klaer. We will launch a Remix competition soon. I will work on my fourth Album and.... I can call LittleBig Agency my new family – a dream came true! Lastly, I am currently working full-time as a Creative Lead/Graphic Designer at Jaxsta Music – Database of Official Music Credits, so every music professional can get insights in their credit history which is a very important movement.
Alberta Balsam
Please introduce yourself and your craft to our readers?
I am a producer and live act from Rotterdam playing delicate IDM, electro beats and quirky acid. It’s both futuristic nostalgia and longing for the future.
What do you hope people will experience from listening to your music?
Escapism from the grim future of our planet. An invented, surreal universe to flee to. But most of all; hope, nostalgia and optimism towards whatever will come after this horrendous period in time.
How has your creative process been during these lockdowns?
I’ve heard a lot of people saying their creative process has stalled because of COVID. For me it’s quite the opposite. Making music is what I love to do most. I want to do it all day every day. Having more time to do so has been a blessing. I have been more productive than I’ve ever been. I think it just has to do with having more time and putting all of that spare time into music. Being in lockdown has made me more introspective and brought back making music for the sake of making music. I don’t think at all about how it would work in a live or club environment. And that has been hugely liberating for my creative process.
Naone
Please introduce yourself and your craft to our readers?
Hello, this is Naone. I moved to Amsterdam from South Korea last January, and despite the lockdown and everything, quite enjoying the life here. I love listening, playing and also making music.
Tell us about your track on the compilation?
I found a new house this January, and finally was able to have a small studio room in the apartment, and this was the first track I made with new gear and a fresh mindset. It’s a downtempo track with a bit of a funky acid line, a lot of echo and emotional chords (always!!), I really enjoyed making this one.
What do you hope people will experience from listening to your music?
Wavy and groovy... but I leave this up to people.
How has your creative process been during these lockdowns?
I had ups and downs but overall this period definitely allowed me to have more time to sit down and work.
What can we expect from you in the near future?"
More music, I hope!
Nathan Kofi
Please introduce yourself and your craft to our readers?
Greetings readers. My name is Nathan Kofi. 29, Amsterdam based, DJ & producer, and grew up between two cultures; Ghanaian and Dutch. ‘Kofi’ means ‘born on a Friday’, so you could argue that I’m all about the weekends. I’ve been active within the house and techno sphere for over a decade now. That is a long time, come to think of it... Started as an experimental hip-hop producer when I was 19 and gradually found love in Detroit techno and US-based house anthems. However, I do not limit myself to these two genres, but I rather use them as a compass. I also created weird spaced-out ambient and even weirder electronica cuts that sometimes don’t make sense at all. But then again; does everything always have to make sense? Furthermore, I co-founded the imprint “De Lichting’’ with a bunch of equally music-nerd-esque friends of mine. We exclusively release music from the crew and follow a rather DIY-centred approach. However, I do more than just music; I’ve been a music educator and career coach for 6 years over at ‘Herman Brood Academie’ and a high school in the Bims (Bijlmer) Bindelmeer College, where I use to teach all facets of the fun, loving, unfair, complicated, dramatic, bigoted, self-consumed, hateful, radiant, and rewarding music industry. All the good, and All the bad; we gotta educate the young innit. Lastly; I also closely affiliated with my Late Night Talks fam (Alkebulan Productions), where we create an inclusive talk show, produced by and for POC, to contribute a colourful-inclusive gaze to the overtly white-centred entertainment and media industry of the Netherlands.
Tell us about your track on the compilation?
Moving on to music; the track on the compilation named ‘omdu’ is a pretty emo tune. In a way that it feels like the track has a lot on its plate if you feel me. There is this urge to express, an urge to explain; a cry for help. It’s not weird for my doing to create emotionally charged music in the studio. I always have the feeling that I can express myself better through music, than through words or emotions. I made it a little while ago and it consists pretty much exclusively out of analogue synths, apart from the drums. It’s quite a loopy track and I kept it that way because I felt that the elements in the track were fundamentally strong and interesting enough to tie it all together, without getting boring. The latter; actually being a challenge for many producers; it's always a journey how to keep a repetitive track interesting throughout.
In this case; if you listen closely you notice that the pad and the bass gradually change. They effortlessly cooperate and move with ease and comfort with one another. The pads have an additional layer on top created out of an FX chain which makes it playful and a bit inconsistent. The drums, however, maintain certain energy to keep it all running; a pacemaker. They are slightly over-processed to add a lill bit of grit and grease to them. Just the way I like it.
What do you hope people will experience from listening to your music?
First and foremost; I like people to experience whatever they experience from listening to it. I never really like to impose or direct people how they should feel or experience music. I know by now that each one of us has its own unique way of experiencing music. So let’s say “it’s open to interpretation”. But if I may ‘hope’, I would say that I just hope that people appreciate the effort that has been going into it and that they also experience a share of the emotions attached to it. That it hits the right spot; right in the feels. That’s precisely where I wanna hit you. That you are a bit stunned, dazed and confused and want to keep on going back to experience that over and over and over again. And when you do; that you’ll find out why the music kept you there in the first place. Those are my hopes.
How has your creative process been during these lockdowns?
I’m gonna be completely honest with you. This lockdown has done more harm than it has done any good. But in any way; life doesn’t come without suffering. And I’m probably not only speaking for myself but let’s keep the focus on my own experience.
In the beginning it was all fun, and everybody, including myself, had big expectations of oneself; to spend hours, days, and weeks In the studio to create the next best album the world needs to hear. But actually, the opposite happened. Halfway in the first lockdown, I suffered a burn-out, and as some of you might know, burnouts also come with a bunch of free other goodies (read: mental struggles). And don’t forget the global BLM event, which basically triggered so much trauma in loads of BIPOC folks; so add that to the mix. So I basically was forced to lay down all my work, and completely focus on my personal healing journey and mental wellness. So I did. Fast forward 8 months; this experience actually has proven to be very valuable to me. I know myself better, I know where to draw the line and I know how I want to proceed with life aka music, in a more healthy way. Within those healing months, I still maintained some of my music endeavours; I did some podcasts, mixes, tracks. And although not as productive as I used to, I now tend to do the things that I really want to do. And no shit; I have the feeling that my music outings have become more honest and pure ever since. Now I’m actually grateful for it. It made me a better person to myself and others; and a better-matured artist in the end.
What can we expect from you in the near future?
Expect a healthier, energized and better version of myself first of all. Second; after the summer I’ll drop my long-awaited De Lichting EP, which just needs a lil bit of love and attention before we push it over for production. Moreover, also expect more stage action. But when.. we all don’t know. I do know that this summer should’ve been a pretty hard-core festival agenda. But sadly, none of it became reality. So I’m pretty hopeful that things will soon return to normal but at the same time I feel like the meme: ‘’where the dog is sitting in a burning house, acting like nothing is happening and all is fine’’. In this metaphor, our scene, our club culture, our nightlife-necessity corresponds with the burning house.
Photos by Qin Xione, Dimpi Pearl, Andrea Amponsah, Marilyn Sonneveld, Celine de Block, Melissa Lewis and Loes de Boer
