Atlanta's Own: Patrick Bandy on His Latest Album and Inspiration [INTERVIEW]
BY BETHANNA ATHENA
The QR Network caught up with local producer and hidden gem Patrick Bandy right after he dropped his new album “Time is Not the Essence,” a 6-month project out now on Spotify, Itunes, Bandcamp, and Soundcloud in association with UUeird. The album is well worth a listen or several, especially if you enjoy intelligent, original, genre-defying bass music that’s just trippy enough to make you think.
QA: Your album just dropped last week. How do you feel about the reception so far?
I have honestly been taken aback by what people have been saying about the album. I, being a harsh self criticizing artist, find it rather unbelievable sometimes that there have been people saying it's "a masterpiece", "fuego", and that it's "so gas that it might power your car", among other things. Overall I am quite pleased but in the end I don't make music for the praises of my peers or fans. I make it because it gives meaning to my life with the hopes that it can do the same for others in some way.
QA: What was your creative process? Where did you record and how long did it take?
It is really hard to describe my creative process because it is different every single day. The simplest way I can describe is that first I am inspired by something. It could be an idea, a person, nature, or anything really. From there it's as if my conscious translates that inspiration into melodies and rhythms almost automatically. Then I start working in the program (FL Studio) to compose everything I hear in my head and make it into a song. It is hard to describe and it's full of nuance but for those more curious I usually document production sessions in live streams on my personal Facebook account for friends and my peers in the Atlanta dance music scene.
I started working on the album in August of 2018 which was just a couple weeks after I had an EP release on the same record label "Time Is Not The Essence" came out on. I worked almost entirely at home on my desktop computer with the exception of a couple times when I was inspired out and about like on the college campus for example. My laptop came in handy at that point.
QA: What were you listening to most in that time frame? Any inspirations for the album?
When I started the album I would say three artists I was always listening to were Ganja White Nights, Tool, and Sultan Khan.
Some of the major pieces of inspiration I had came specifically from the paintings of Michelangelo (the Sistine Chapel) and John Singleton Copley (Ascension) as well as my experiences learning about new ideas and fringe theories during my senior year of college. Performing at Imagine Music Festival for the second year in a row last year always helps conjure up some major inspiration for me. I wouldn’t mind repeating that amazing experience in 2019.
QA: Do you personally have a favorite song on the album?
It's all good!
Such a hard question to answer! It has to be either Let Me Tell You About Time (Part 1) or Ascension but I am definitely leaning more towards Ascension because it made a friend of mine cry tears of joy.
I'll be honest it also brought tears to my eyes when I first nailed the melody.
QA: How would you categorize your music? Are you faithful to a particular genre or theme?
I have made music from all around the dance music spectrum. House, Psytrance, Drum & Bass, Dubstep, Trap, Techno, Space Bass, etc. I just make what I feel and what I hear in my head.
So I just categorize it as "Patrick Bandy Music" [Laughs].
QA: Which producers among your local peers do you respect most? Any collaborations in mind for the future?
Most respected from me in no particular order: Gardnsound, Shift Mojo, Salty, George Antonios, Organik, Ployd, Clerks, and Variant, among many others. All of these people not only make amazing music they are amazing human beings that you could talk to and hang out with without feeling judged in any way.
Collaborations include Vandull from the U.K. and some others that I don't want to announce yet..
QA: What are your favorite production and promotion companies to work with?
I haven't worked with a lot but when I do I always love working with Iris Presents. The first show I ever had was at the old venue Iris Presents had. Other than that Torch DnB is always a pleasure.
QA: So now that you've released the album, how will you be spending your time?
Working full time, hanging out with friends and family, and writing more music.
Learn more about Patrick Bundy:
https://soundcloud.com/patrickbandy
https://www.instagram.com/patrickbandy/
https://www.facebook.com/patrickbandymusic/
This interview was curated by The QR Network which specializes in exclusive interviews with names such as Riot Ten, Protohype, Herobust, and Mikes Revenge.