An interview with Patrick Berg

I’m in my studio crafting some new music, the first thing I need is my breakfast to get started, then I usually do some sports (jogging and then off to the gym). The very next thing is to go to the studio and start working.

Can you tell us a little bit about your background? Where are you from / how did you get into music?

Though music has always been a constant in my life I’ve had to do many different jobs to get by, for example I worked as a cook, in a refugee camp, bouncer and a multitude of other day jobs before deciding to go to university for audio engineering and pursue it as a career.

What does your studio look like right now? What type of hardware / software do you like to work with?

I’d say my studio is a very comfortable space, which is most important in my opinion.
As far as hardware goes, I use a Moog Sub37, Microbrute running directly into my Apollo 8 Interface with a few UAD processing chips and a NI Komplete keyboard + an MPD 232 midi controller, other than that I purely use Software.
My main DAW is Ableton, my favorite Synths are Sylenth, Jupiter 8 by Arturia & Zem-V.
My favorite effects are the D16 group plugins, the Waves bundle & Izotope Ozone 9.

Who have been your main inspirations (Both musical and in ‘life’)? And how have they affected your sound?

Musically my key inspirations have been Pig & Dan, Stimming, Adam Beyer but also Michael Jackson, Daft Punk & Busta Rhymes.

In Life the most important people have been close friends and family who have been supportive all the way.

Apart from that I’ve definitely been influenced by the work of the authors Arno Gruen, Yuval Noah Harrari.

Currently I like listening to harder rougher sounding stuff as well as more relaxed house music and draw inspiration from both, it’s always difficult to project where you want to go but the labels I’m most influenced by at the moment are Terminal M & Drumcode.

Can you clue us up on any acts you are loving right now, especially any that other people might not know?

I really like “Another Life” another cologne-based producer, Hito, Rebuke & Eli Brown.

Has confinement affected you?

To be honest the core of the track was finished by early 2019 so I was not affected by the lockdown at the time but nonetheless the lockdown has impacted me & my sound since I’m lacking the direct response from the audience which is important to gauge how tracks work.

Do you have any final words of wisdom?

I’m always working on music but the projects usually take shape later once I got enough tracks to select from, then it’s important to arrange them in a way where they flow seamlessly and got a cohesive sound.

Cologne had a very lively music scene pre-Covid and in my opinion is one of the most underrated cities for electronic music, the clubs have great sound systems and the overall enthusiasm of the ppl really rubs off on the acts.

Now many venues, their employees and the musicians/DJs are struggling since the running costs are overbearing and there is little support politically as music and culture are not seen as essential which is very threatening given that we are still far from having the disease under control and I fear that many clubs may go bankrupt.