Last week, we got our hands on Dirt Monkey’s new album, Chroma. I absolutely loved it. The idea that an artist can put so many different genres in one album was so incredible to me. It is something we haven’t really heard before. Sure, we hear a few (one to three), but Dirty Monkey went absolutely insane with it. I knew we had to interview him because I wanted to know what it was like to be in the mind of a mad man. After finishing the interview, I was stunned with some of his answers in the since I expected something completely opposite. We thank Dirty Monkey for his time and check out the interview.
Can you tells us about yourself?
My name is Patrick, I’m 29 years old, I make electronic music, rock climb, and drink way too much mate’
You released your album Chroma. What was the inspiration to create it?
It started as half Dirt Monkey songs & half songs for another project. I was going to start a future bass project with a different name, until I showed my girlfriend (now wife) those songs and she was like “yo! you need to put these out for the world to hear!” That’s when the wheels started turning to release all that music together as a very diverse album, rather than only using certain songs for certain projects.
We understand that this is a difficult question, bud do you have a favorite track from the album?
Sure, this changes a lot, but I would say my overall favorite is ‘Truffle Shuffle’. It’s the one I would dance the hardest to if I heard it in a club.
What was the process in creating tracks for the album and narrowing them down.
For the first year of working on these, I was just making the songs with no clue about what to do with them. I just wanted good music to play out.. Then during the last 6 months of working on the whole project, I really decided which songs were gonna make the cut (11 out of about 20 ideas), then honed those in until they were almost perfect. I got a lot of help from my friends on which songs to use and which ones to ditch.
You have a diverse amount of genres. Which genres do you prefer to make your songs? What genre do you want to make a song in that you haven’t?
Well, as you can see I prefer to make all genres of music. That’s the only way I could release 11 songs at once. You know how boring it would be to just make 11 dubstep songs, or 11 future bass songs, or 11 twerk songs? And one genre I’d love to go deeper into here soon is moombahton/dancehall stuff.
Who is one artist you would like to collaborate with?
Tipper. He is the most brilliant producer of our era.
What or who is your biggest inspiration for making music?
People at my shows. The best feeling in the world to me is playing for a packed crowd & dropping one of my songs for the first time, WITHOUT telling the crowd anything about the song, and having them lose their shit… It’s like 100% music doing the talking, and the most rewarding feeling ever. It’s making all the people have a great time, and making me feel motivated and inspired to make more stuff like that.
Is there a different mindset between remixes and original tracks?
Definitely.. With an original track you pretty much can do whatever you want and it’s gonna come out as your own unique creation. With a remix, you are basically doing the electronic equivalent of jamming with instruments that are being played. Theres already a main idea and you just build off of that. I love doing remixes sometimes to spark my creativity if I’ve been in a bit of a rut, then I’ll be more inspired to make some original stuff..
Were you self-taught or was their any formal education involved in making music?
With electronic music, no. I don’t think education for that existed when I started. I did play saxophone in school for 4 years though, and that did a lot for me musically..
Where is your favorite place to perform?
Beta Nightclub in Denver. I’ve been a resident there for about 5 years, so it’s my home, and every show is either sold out or almost sold out.
Where have you not performed that you want to perform at?
I really want to play in Australia & New Zealand. Also Japan. It would be tight to get to do an epic world tour for a while.
What is downtime like for Dirt Monkey?
My downtime consists of mostly outside and physical activity. Sitting in front of a computer making music all day kinda makes me go crazy so I usually run on trails (there are a lot near my house) or go rock climbing (I work at a climbing gym)… Soon it will consist of surfing though since my wife and I have just decided to move to the ocean next year!
You’ve created a plenty of collabs, singles, remixes. You have created an album. What is next for Dirt Monkey for the rest of the year and next year?
Well, I’m sitting on some pretty dope songs right now that will all come out as singles. Got a really sick bouncy dubstep one with Jantsen & Notixx, a nice twerky one with JSTJR, an epic pretty song with Savoy, a dark dancehall/trap song with Ruxell, a little something with Wooli, and a whole new project under a new name with one of my best friends who I won’t name so it’s a surprise when it happens..
What advice would you tell your teenage self ?
Play the piano, and DON’T listen to anyone who is keeping you from chasing your dreams. No matter who they are… Chase that shit
What is something that people wouldn’t know in regards to you making music?
I don’t think anyone knows this besides my wife, but every time I have a production session, I meditate for about 15 minutes in front of my studio desk. It clears my mind so I can go even harder making music.
What would you tell up-and-coming producers who are trying to make a name for themselves?
Be social. That is the name of the game. Talk to everyone you can, get in everyone’s face, make sure everyone is hearing your music. Get on Skype, get on AIM, all over social media, etc.
Any final words?
Yea, make sure you check out my record label with Jantsen – Kairos Audio. That’s where all this new music will be coming out, and the home base for all my future stuff. Thanks for talking with me!