I have set a goal with our new releases to do an interview with every artist we release on our new label. I have done it with Swiss Portrait, Eversame, and Mishino, so only URGES was left. This time we have done it via email instead of doing a video interview.
I met Patrik online because of our other artist Mishino and I am glad I did because Patrik is a young and talented musician and his music deserves to be heard.
Here is the latest EP:
You can read more about it on our blog as well.
First, before reading this interview, go and play this EP and listen to his music.
Secondly, read the answers to my questions: You will enjoy it.
Filip: What inspired you to start making music?
Patrik: I’ve always searched for a way to self actualise painting, drawing, etc. URGES is basically a materialization of my thoughts, opinions, feelings and so on into melodies and lyrics. I just wanted to try to do for others what some music does for me, plus it’s a good way to blow off steam too.
When I was thinking about a name for the project I came up with many elaborate ideas but nothing really stuck with me, so I thought to myself: “What is a thing every living breathing being has…. well urges.”
Be it the urge to be loved, the urge to find meaning in one’s life, the urge to feed, the urge to create or to destroy, the urge to live and stay alive. Plus the name seems kinda catchy and quirky.
F: I have discovered you thanks to Mishino. How did you meet him?
P: I found out about him through a mutual friend of ours a while back. Basically, I wanted to freshen up my EP’s title track, hear someone else’s take on it… so I reached out to him.
F: We released your EP. How does the EP feel now since it has been out for almost a month?
P: The EP was and still is great, I definitely do regret not getting someone to master and mix the tracks for me because the end result could have had much better quality that way. I wouldn’t say I have any other massive regrets about releasing it, it’s a part of my journey and I respect it for what it means to me. It was experimental, it was raw and it was me.
F: How do you find the whole process of releasing music? The planning, singles, etc.
P: Oof, as far as planning goes that’s like totally out the window for me, I create music spontaneously and the same goes for releasing it. It feels like I’m holding it back if I keep it hidden away. I do write songs on the occasion that are meant just for me. Some of them I might release later on some will stay as they are, with me.
F: What does your creative process look like?
P: As I mentioned earlier, when I write and create music it’s more often than not very spontaneous. You can’t really force that sort of thing, if you do, it comes out wrong on the other end. Very often it’s just me playing around with a synth or my guitar and it just sticks, I like it. Or I might very well just get inspired by someone or something else, an event, a movie, something I’ve read and the like.
F: Do you search for meaning through the music? Does the creative process help you to process your thoughts?
P: Definitely, I sometimes write a poem and on its own, sure I have a good idea about what I wanted to convey but, when I make it into a song it takes on a whole new form and identity. The meaning oftentimes shifts, either partially or completely. It’s to the point where even I’m surprised by what I’ve created. I can really do some soul searching that way, it’s like a whole new door opens up for me and it helps me understand myself better, in a way. Although the process can sometimes be pretty draining, I enjoy it and I’ll keep on trying, practicing and learning.
F: Where do you seek inspiration for your lyrics? How do you choose what to include in lyrics and what not?
P: Very often the song chooses for itself.
I might have some lyrics already meant for said song but because the whole process is so fluid, it’ll just call out for me to try to take another look at it, understand it better. As far as inspiration goes, it just sort of hits me. I might be doing something quite ordinary like walking my dog or something, anything. And it writes itself. Inspiration is all around us, in books, in cinematography, out there in the real world. There’s tons of it just waiting for you to interpret it and make it your own. My surroundings be it people, things or places greatly affected my mood, my picture of the world and make me who I am in general. If I see, hear, smell or feel beauty it leaves an impression on me, if it’s something foul it does the same.
F: Which artists have influenced your music the most?
P: That’s a really tough choice as my music taste is quite diverse. But I’d have to go with The Cure, HIM, Placebo, Bauhaus and credit where it’s due Nine Inch Nails. But as I said my music choices are very colorful: Pixies, Peha, Hole, The Twilight Sad, MCR, Mr. Kitty, Depeche Mode, Pink Floyd, M M, girl in red, Twin Tribes, Sonic Youth, David Bowie, Crystal Castles, Nirvana, Joy Division and so on and so forth.
F: The cover art on our latest EP has been made by a Japanese horror comic illustrator Yugami Sasaki. How did you find out about him?
P: I’ve been following him for quite some time. One of his artworks might’ve just popped up in my insta feed one day and I liked it. Definitely worth checking out.
F: You live in Trnava in Slovakia. How does living in that town influence your music?
P: I mean it’s my hometown, the place I grew up in. In a lot of ways it’s a part of me, it’s something I grew familiar with, something that’s been there since I was born, since before I arrived, always. Some parts you love, some parts not as much but it’s home anyhow.
F: Are you part of the local scene in Trnava? What does a DIY underground community mean to you?
P: I think people who are creative in any way and want to create are bound to be drawn together. So it’s awesome that there are people in my town who are just like me, trying to create art, music. I love collaborative efforts, they usually make everyone shine and they are some of the best sessions to learn from.
F: You study. How hard is it to find time to make music together?
P: It’s never really been a real issue for me. Anyone can make time for something they are passionate about, something they care about. If you have any dream, aspiration or idea that is so meaningful to you that it lights up your whole existence I think it’s worth going after with everything you’ve got. Trying is what’s important.
F: Do you have a problem that people are not treating you respectfully because of your age?
P: Not as of now, not really.
If anything, people are often impressed that I’m making what I love.
F: Do you have any other hobbies besides music?
P: I love drawing, making things, painting. Anything creative really. I also love learning new things over all, broadening my understanding and knowledge of the world, which also includes hanging out with interesting people. Seems that everything, no matter how you look at it, in the end it all boils down to people.
F: Any favorite or inspirational books or movies?
P: The Symposium is an interesting read, has a bit of food for thought. Similarly Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of my favorites, it’s a world you can get lost in. Sense8 would be another one I recommend.
F: What keeps you motivated to continue making music?
P: Just making something new, being creative. Creating something better, something different each time. Trying to make something that matters.
F: What was the most challenging thing in your music (artistic) path?
P: Finding my sound, finding my voice. There’s a lot of uncertainty involved in everything that we do. I always wanted to make something important, something that would matter.
The biggest challenge for me was never really so much about finding the why or what for. What challenges me the most to this day is problems with my inferiority complex bundled up with being in a limbo between genres which I guess doesn’t necessarily have to be something bad.
I kind of like keeping things versatile and I guess in the alternative spectrum of things.
F: Do you have any set goals with your music? Some milestones you would like to achieve?
P: I’d love to go live as soon as possible, that’s number one. Art was never really about numbers or fame, at least not from how I look at it. It’s more so about being heard, seen and understood. Feeling like you belong with people.
F: What would you dream to do if anything was possible?
P: I’d love for the world, for people to see that, no matter the differences between us all, we’re all human in the end… made up from the same atoms and molecules. People shouldn’t harbor so much hate in their hearts. I hope we don’t end up destroying what we created, we’re better than that.
F: In the end, I have one challenge for you. Describe every song from your last EP “look away, gone“ in a single sentence, one sentence for each song.
P: For me look away is the prologue to a catastrophe, you’re running from something that there is no way to run from, it alway catches up and makes itself known, it’s like running from yourself whilst not even realizing any of it.
Gone is the aftermath of that process, a face that doesn’t even recognise itself a mere shadow of a person, driven mad by their own hypocrisy and hatred, doing what they set out to mitigate in others.
Again is the outro of the EP preparing you for the whole thing to start again and then again in endless repetition.. unless you play something else.
You can follow the artist on: