Michael Vincent Patrick, half of Designer Drugs, one of the US’ hottest dance music-making duos, plays at The Wall (這牆) in Taipei tonight. Comprised of Patrick and Theodor Paul Nelson, the prolific electro-house and indie-dance producing twosome have garnered huge support since the project took shape in 2007. Having conquered the circuit in North America and Europe, Patrick is now turning to Asia, with Taipei the first stop on his tour of the region.
VW: It’s only been a few years since Designer Drugs started up and you are like rock-star DJs now. What’s your secret to success?
MP: [Laughs.] We were born rock stars so it just came naturally. I think Designer Drugs is a successful project because we wanted to make music for other people, not just ourselves and other DJs. We wanted to give people something banging but musical, something for the iPod. We also did about 40 remixes or something so people have a large variety of Designer Drugs to choose from.
VW: How old are you? We’ve heard that you started deejaying when you were 15? What kind of parties did you play at? What kind of music did you spin?
MP: We are 28 now and starting deejaying around 15 or 16. We played pretty much anywhere we could, house parties, warehouse parties, skating rink raves, coffee shops, head shops, etc. We played drum and bass and have always pursued it as a sort of career but always had side jobs and college, etc. I have a 20 mixtapes from high school that I would give to my friends and promoters to get shows.
VW: Do you prefer to work in the studio or as a DJ?
MP: Studio for sure. I love writing music. It’s hard work and stressful but deejaying is the payoff if the crowd is freaking out.
VW: You make many different kinds of music, but what’s your specialty? What’s the style you really like?
MP: Well our specialty is definitely electro house/indie dance. It’s sort of hard to define. When it comes to listening we appreciate everything that’s good.
VW: How was the European tour last year? Which city would you like to return to?
MP: Europe was amazing. I liked all the cities, especially Helsinki for some reason. Maybe it was the sauna!
VW: Are you touring Asia without Theo this time? When you play a solo set, do you play differently?
MP: Unfortunately Theo can’t make it because he is in medical school and the courses are very demanding. We pretty much play the same music if it’s myself or the both of us. I take care of most of the deejaying stuff because Theo is too busy to look for tunes, but when he comes he deejays as well.
VW: Your party pictures look crazy. What is it that you do to make the people go nuts?
MP: Good music. We try to play banging stuff that
makes the crowd freak out. We play for the crowd, not for ourselves.
Designer Drugs, Mykal and Eat Me! Black Hole! tonight from 11:30pm to 4am at The Wall (這牆), B1, 200, Roosevelt Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路四段200號B1). Admission is NT$800.
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