5 Questions with Rags #19 - Beat Fatigue

There are few things I love more these days than really funky electronic music anchored by a live instrument and few guys are doing it as well as Beat Fatigue. Coming from that bastion of freedom, Amsterdam, Beat Fatigue's guitar licks might just be funkier than his basslines - but they might not be. I'm torn on this one. Even though his name was on the headliner list for Shambhala, released some time ago, it was only in the last few weeks that I saw his name on there (Because I'm bad at reading things, apparently) and I've been pumped ever since. Lucky for me the good homey was down to get on the march to Shambhala with me and answer my ridiculous questions for all of your reading pleasure.

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1. Do you remember the first album you bought with your own money? Do you still listen to it? What format? Favourite track?

Haha, I have to dig very deep now…I think the first album I actually bought with my own money was Stevie Ray Vaughan’s ‘The Sky Is Crying’. I was obsessed with his version of "Little Wing" for quite a while, still am, actually. That dude played the blues like no other! I still listen to a lot of blues, it’s a language that really speaks to me. 

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My Shambhala 2015 Wishlist - Part 1

My first Shambhala was in 2013 and it couldn’t have been a more positive experience musically. I went into it completely unaware, “Open heart and open mind” was the motto, and definitely found the entry point into the world of DJs there. In that time I’ve become a pretty big fan, though my heart still lies elsewhere. So, you, expert EDM person, might find my wishes and tastes rudimentary and lacking in things like DnB and aggressive dubstep and whatever the hell else y’all kids listen to these days. I’m like Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon (TOFTS) and just want tasty hip-hop and funk-heavy grooves. Some of these are realistic wishes and some of them are just completely Shambs-dreaming. Whatever. It’s a fun exercise either way.

The Polish Ambassador

Ideal Stage: The Grove

How perfect would the Polish Ambassador, “the World’s Funkiest Diplomat,” be for the Grove? His masterpiece record from last year, Pushing Through the Pavement, is taylor-made for the hippie, world-beat loving audience of the Grove. It’s laid-back, groovy hip-hop weirdness at its finest and all those tribal drumbeats would sound too fine blasting out of those lovely PK speakers (As most things do, admittedly). Sometimes I think the good homey PA is too laid back for a some of my EDM-loving friends, but he’d fit perfectly here and provide me with enough tasty funks to appease me if for some reason Opiuo doesn’t make the trip. I can’t stress how good of a fit this is. The Ambassador’s Permaculture Tour campaign is a fucking fascinating inspiration and makes me happy that someone with a voice is trying so hard to fuse his love of and care for the Earth with his hip-hop art. That’s a Victory.

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