Funky, groovy tunes that get you moving are exactly what we all need after the past couple years. Luckily, Pat Lok and Party Pupils deliver just that with their recent double A-side “I Want You / Alaska,” out via Club Sweat.
After their successful first collaboration, “From the Back,” the two producers came together again to deliver more bouncy, melodic house to the welcoming arms of their fans. This time though, they collaborated virtually due to the pandemic. Despite the barriers, they managed to create these two absolute house heaters that prove to blend each of their production styles together seamlessly. In fact, the two created nearly a whole album’s worth of music together virtually.
STREAM ‘I Want You / Alaska’ by Pat Lok and Party Pupils
Pat Lok brings his Vancouver-influenced sound to the table, with notes of R&B, soul, disco, and house. Complimenting this genre cocktail is Los Angeles-based Party Pupils with his diverse musical background and strong songwriting skills. Their two styles blended together create a funk-focused and futuristic yet nostalgic sonic.
Listening to “I Want You” with my eyes closed had my imagination soaring. Though this track has not been a part of my own past, it still had me reminiscing on past memories of some of the best moments of my life. I imagine myself hearing this track from a distance at a festival and immediately being drawn to whatever stage it’s coming from. And of course, as soon as I land in front of the stage, my body would immediately start grooving to the energizing rhythm. A seamless transition leads into “Alaska,” giving ravers a chance to really soak up the surrounding energy as the spacey tunes engulf them.
However, Pat Lok shared other situations in mind for when these tracks are playing (which you’ll have to read on to find out about).
Pat Lok & Party Pupils x Respect My Region Interview
Respect My Region had the chance to chat with Pat Lok and Party Pupils (Ryan) about their recent collaboration, working together virtually, how their hometowns impact their sounds, and much more. Read on for the full exclusive interview.
RMR: After writing about music in many different regions, we’ve really learned how much an artist’s location and roots can influence their sound and career. Tell us about your roots, and how you feel your environment growing up influenced your sound and career.
Pat Lok: Growing up in Vancouver, one of the most international cities in the world, I became curious about different styles of music pretty early on. I realized that, the more you dig, the more exciting stuff you can find. I used to watch this show called Electric Circus on MuchMusic (think Canadian MTV) where they’d have big DJs come in and play to all these beautiful people dancing to electronic music, I thought that was so cool it stayed with me forever.
RMR: Now, Pat Lok being from Vancouver and Party Pupils from Los Angeles, how do you feel your cultural differences and experiences affect the process when creating music together?
Pat Lok: We come from fairly complementary backgrounds in music. I started DJing in college and am a big fan of all that history and culture, dating back to house music’s origins in the 80s/90s and disco and soul before that; so I’m always thinking about how our music “fits” into the world. Ryan is a music lifer and has played in countless different acts/bands of varying genres, and that knowledge and experience brings a versatile, refined approach to our songwriting process.
RMR: Kind of building off of the previous question- as two separate individuals from two pretty different places, what musical influences did you each bring to the table when working on this project? How do these influences affect the outcome of the music you create together?
Pat Lok: I’m definitely a house-head! So I sort of lean towards classic rather than modern sounding production, whereas Ryan’s stuff is very clean and bangs, but we both share a love of disco and jazzy sounds and locked in grooves.
RMR: What are some of the difficulties when working together on a project and how do you overcome them?
Pat Lok: So we don’t have exactly the same taste in our sonic aesthetics, but we’ve found a happy medium after writing several demos and records together. Honestly, we have a great working relationship (open communication is key) – where Ryan will send me a session and I’ll add parts and flip them back over, or vice-versa. We haven’t written in the same room since “From The Back,” our first collab, but the remote thing seems to work.
RMR: What is your goal for listeners’ feelings when listening to “I Want You / Alaska?” Any specific occasions or places you imagine these songs being ideal for?
Pat Lok: Get crazy and have a naked dance party with your closest 10 friends! Run it when your Bumble date comes over… or when you get the Sunday scaries.
STREAM ‘I Want You / Alaska’ by Pat Lok and Party Pupils
RMR: Since last collaborating in 2019 on track “From the Back,” how do you feel things were different/similar this time around? I especially ask this regarding impacts the pandemic had on many people.
Party Pupils (Ryan): We made “From The Back” together in person in our first session together. When the pandemic started, most producers and artists weren’t comfortable doing in-person sessions, so we decided to give the remote session thing a try. We ended up making almost an entire album’s worth of music together that way.
RMR: Are there any specific artists you would love to hear remix this project? Any specific genres or styles you’d like to hear it as?
Party Pupils: We actually have one artist remixing “I Want You” for us that we’re extremely excited about, but can’t talk about yet. I would love if someone like Lone did a remix for us too, he’s truly my favorite electronic artist. I’d also love to hear Bibio do a totally different type of remix of anything we do. I would lose my sh** if that happened!
RMR: What are each of your plans now that the pandemic is dying down? Any more music together?
Party Pupils: We have a ton more ideas to finish, and we’re talking about doing some b2b tour dates next year. Overall we’re just excited to be out and about playing music and seeing people again.
RMR: If your friends hand you the aux cord, what is the first artist or song you are putting on?
Party Pupils: Party Pupils! Haha. Or some new Disclosure track probably.
RMR: Lastly, if you could be reincarnated into any animal, what animal would it be and why?
Party Pupils: A house cat. Hands down. No animal has it quite like them. What a life!
STREAM ‘I Want You / Alaska’ by Pat Lok and Party Pupils
Connect with Pat Lok
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Connect with Party Pupils
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