Pete Lazonby’s ‘Sacred Cycles’ was the underground anthem released on Braniak Records back in ’94, making Pete Lazonby a (techno) household name. Alongside his March release on Hooj Choons – a rework of the go-to trance weapon by Fort Romeau – and under his Padre moniker, Lazonby drops ‘Alterity’ on Spanish label Aterral. Ellis May had the pleasure of sitting down with Padre to talk about Taiwan, otherness, and working beyond genres.
Thanks for taking the time to talk. Where are you today and how will you be spending it once you’ve written this interview?
Thanks for asking. I’m on my balcony at home, just north of Taipei, listening to some new springtime birds and looking at the River Tamsui and Yanming Mountain. Probably much the same later hopefully.
Where are you from and where are you based now?
England and Taiwan.
What do you love the most about where you live?
Where to begin? It’s so unique. The sole extent of China’s influence here is to persuade the rest of the world to not treat Taiwan as a nation. The result is it is free to conform or not with world order as it pleases. There is no theft or violence here. You could literally leave a wallet stuffed with cash anywhere with a 99% chance of it finding its way back to you with every dollar. I never lock my bike. Working people can afford their rent and to eat out. It’s a young democracy where capitalism hasn’t yet eaten its own tail.
There are 286 mountain peaks above 3000m on an island one seventh the size of the UK. I could go on.
I’d love to hear about the initial idea for your new release Alterity. When did you first approach this concept and what was your original intention with this release?
I decided to call it Alterity (otherness) right at the end because I believe being different should be celebrated. Music is a realm of endless possibility. Despite the huge quantity of music being made, most of it could have been made by virtually anyone and brings nothing new to the table. That’s fine for people who need familiarity and to stay in their comfort zones. However, Art needs the opposite. It must be unfamiliar yet somehow make sense. It should be something that only that one person or group of people could have made. Then it endures and is not disposable.
What was most important for you to convey through this music?
I think a tune has to go way beyond you or your intentions to have a chance of sounding the same in ten years time. I’m usually looking to share some newly discovered ecstatic wonder or other. Arriving at a point of sufficient unique identity is the process of that feeling becoming more and more clear and specific. Real life human emotion is the most thrilling force there is. Anyone who is open to music can receive a full dose. The artist pleases themselves, I mean really pleases. It doesn’t matter if the listener has felt that feeling before, it’s inside you because we’re all built the same way; we’re all looking for love and heading to oblivion.
What are you most proud of with Alterity?
Working beyond genre but still making sense.
What was the most challenging part of bringing this release together?
Oe, the singer. I would love to discover a reasonable and empathetic person writing words and responding to electronic sound like he can. That person may not exist though.
I know this Ep marks a lot of years in the music business, I’d love to hear your thoughts on how your creative production process has changed and remained the same over the years. Do you approach anything differently now?
Originally sequencing was MIDI only. Since computers could handle audio too I’m 100% in the box. Even when everyone played vinyl, the whole digital / analog debate was bogus because those tracks were all mastered on DAT machines with primitive A/D. If there really was a problem with digital audio then we’re all infected from day 1.
Native Instruments Reaktor alone has more power and possibilities than one person can even comprehend. On the technical side, Dynamic EQ was a game changer, as is software compression. Unlike hardware, plug-ins know what is about to happen so you have a lot more control. This is how some producers are able to make the sounds really pop out of the speakers in an easy sounding, low pressure way. You need good monitors to benefit though. Ditch all the hardware and get an expensive 4-way system with dedicated mid-range drivers.
I have to ask about Sacred Cycles. Even though this was a long time ago, it was a pretty epic release. Tell us what steps led up to this release and how it came about?
A bit of spare time in Red Jerry’s Hooj Studio where I was engineering at the time. The unexpected arrival of Jules Evans laden with snow. A pre-prepared Genesis pad and whoosh from a session with old friend Marc Adams (Bourke) at his mum Bernie’s place in Islington.
A bloke on my first foreign holiday on the Costa del Sol who gave me a cassette with Bhagwan on one side and Malcolm X on the other after a long conversation in a bar the previous night. Listen to the form, not the content, he advised. I ran the cassette live because the AKAI samplers didn’t have enough memory for the long speech.
After the 3 day session (I skipped day 2 because I was so battered), Jerry told me several times that the whoosh sample was too loud. I said ‘for who?’ or ‘for whom?’ every time he said it. I wanted that whoosh to make your stomach do a somersault, so I deliberately mixed the quiet start of it audible and let it grow ridiculously massive. Jerry had to wait another 7 or 8 years to get the tune for Hooj because of that, but he always knew that he would succeed one day and his release was the most effective.
Would you say that Sacred Cycles was life changing for you?
I suppose so, but it’s the act of making things that change you for the better.
What drives you to continue creating music to this day?
I just answered that!
Where do you find the most inspiration when it comes to discovering new music?
I’m more interested in orchestral, free improvised jazz and indigenous roots music than electronic music. When electronic party music can touch upon the heights that those fully evolved forms do, then it endures.
My writing partner for this release, Bar.ba used to love the nutty Italian 60s hits his grandfather played him, so maybe it doesn’t matter where you look for a yardstick to measure up to, as long as it’s completely outside electronic music? All art is interrelated, let alone all music.
You are releasing on Berlin label Aterral. What can you tell us about the imprint and why did you feel this was the right place for your music?
I’ve had lots of good times with Carlo. He’s an easy guy to be around and deal with. He respects music first. He doesn’t want you to hand over your tracks to make himself look good or because he thinks he’d be doing you a big favour. Good relationships have balance. Personally, I reject all social hierarchies because they are delusional and absurd; the product of value systems warped by money.
I think these tracks fit how Carlo describes Aterral. He also told me they are where he wants the label to go.
What has been one of your favorite moments from the past?
I liked it when Derrick May played Icon at (my) peak time after I’d been gushing over it to him in the DJ booth an hour earlier.
What has been one of your favourite moments from the past year?
All my collaborations with Bar.ba have been a joy. Often he sends me very detailed stems so I can concentrate on engineering first with no need to think about what I am doing. I just fill the space. During that process, I become more aware of the music’s force and am able to enhance that by adding whatever may be needed. This process only works with music that hasn’t decided what type it is or is many types but also none of them. I can’t mix music in pre-defined genres because there’s no intuition involved in that.
What is next for Padre?
Releases on Isolate and maybe some other Muting the Noise labels and I’m mulling starting my own label if I’m able to promote the music rather than just bury it.
Download/Stream Padre & Bar.ba & OE – Alterity on Bandcamp
Pete ‘Padre’ Lazonby on Instagram
Bar.ba on Instagram
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