I showed up really early last night to the Designer Drugs show at Public Assembly in Williamsburg. As I waited for Michael Vincent Patrick to come on stage in the venue’s Back Room, I wandered towards the front where another band, The Secret History, was playing. When their show was over, The American Dream Team was on in the back, but still no sign of Patrick's electro band, Designer Drugs.
I sat at the bar to pass the time. The bass player from The Secret History joined me. We talked for a short while. He asked me what brought me here and where I was from. I told him I came for Designer Drugs, and I asked him the same slew of questions. We went back and forth for a bit. He made it a point to tell me that although he grew up in the States—Long Island to be exact—he originally hails from the Philippines. Great.
I asked him about Mindanao and the separatist movement of the Bangsamoro people. He paused for a long moment and replied:
“Do you do designer drugs because you’re so depressed?”
I took this as my cue to walk away and see if Michael was on stage.
I had spoken with Patrick earlier in the week.
So tell me a little bit about your background.
We grew up in central Pennsylvania and met in high school due to similar musical interests. We started making music together and learning a lot about producing and slowly built up to this point.
You guys recently released two singles, "Back Up In This" and "Zombies." What inspired the switch from remixes?
Originally we never planned on doing so many remixes, but they're fun and it seemed to work well for us. Making remixes is great because the pressure of being an artist is in some ways relieved. Nothing really inspired the switch, it's more like a revival back to our roots. I'm working on the Designer Drugs project full time and Theo is attending school for medicine.
Some of your remixes feature some bigger names like Mariah Carey, but others like Little Boots that aren't so big. How do you choose artists for your remixes?
We did the Mariah remix for a contest and the Little Boots mix was solicited by Victoria herself (who we love very much) because she liked our Hail Social remix. Currently most of the remixes are commissioned by the artist or their management, but if we find something inspiring and have the time we'll pursue it, although we are most inspired to write original material at the moment.
Do either of you have any classical training?
We both play the piano, although Theo can probably play anything he picks up.
Why electronic music?
I originally got into electronic music because it seemed to have vast possibilities for sounds and it was possible to orchestrate much of it by yourself and without any need for a band. Although lately I have been intrigued with the idea of only having five instruments, it's stressful choosing sounds when you have so many, it takes time away from the musical composition.
What are you currently listening to?
I really like The Count & Sinden, Herve, A-Trak, Foamo, Armand Van Helden, Crookers, Bloody Beetroots, etc. when it comes to club music, but I have been listening to the new Van She album a lot and have a very great appreciation for Lightspeed Champion. There is so much great music out there I can't even begin to go on.
What do you do when you're not playing music?
I spend most of my weekends perusing airport's restaurant menus and DJing but when I'm in NY I really enjoy partying at Ruff Club and Six Six Sick and if I'm not there I'm either shopping or in the studio.
