Dapayk Solo, real name Niklas Worgt, is a Berlin-based producer with 10 solo LPs already under his belt—the most recent of which arrived in April, titled The Calling. It was his first album since 2015’s #nofilter. 

Worgt was born in Thuringia and found his way into electronic music during the early ’90s, initially through broken beats and drum & bass; he first appeared as Frauds in White but his aesthetic steadily shifted as the decade reached a close. The early 2000s saw him start the Depayk project through which he showcased a new techno sound with releases on Karloff, Resopal Schallware, and his own Mo’s Ferry Prod. His debut album arrived in 2006, titled Impulsion Parasite, and he’s since maintained a steady stream of new material upon which he expands continuously with various side projects. 

The Calling, out now, tells the story of Zoe, a young survivalist searching for answers on a digital pilgrimage; think of it as an atmospheric score to her science fiction adventure on her personal path of spiritual enlightenment. With modern programming, techno beats, opulent analog pads, and stylistic elements picked from house, electro, minimal, trip-hop, and ambient, Worgt creates a dark and meditative sound aesthetic—at times cinematic and dream-like, yet not bereft of dancefloor compatibility. Interested to know more, XLR8R reached out to learn about the key pieces of studio gear behind the music. 

Mutable Instruments Clouds

The Mutable Instruments Clouds is a Eurorack module that I used for creating reverbs during the album production. In combination with random voltage into the different inputs, it can create really unusual sound effects. The freeze function can also be used to create endless drone patterns to achieve an ambient feeling like at the end of the “The Field.”

Elektron Analog Rytm

The next machine in my set up is the Elektron Analog Rytm. I added it to my toolset in 2014 and it’s a very essential piece for me when I play live. I have a long history with Elektron. I just love their machines. It’s the best drum machine I have worked with so far. The combination of the analog drums and sample player leaves great possibilities for creative opportunities. I especially used the kickdrum section of the Rytm a lot, since the low end is really important to us. Also, the Rytm offers a quantization function by percentage. I love the fact that this gives you the possibility to gradually quantize your recorded finger drums. This makes for some very organic and human sounding drums.

Moog Mother 32

I added the Moog Mother 32 to my setup last year. This is the first Moog in the studio. I thought one is not enough, so I got two of them in order to be able to sync them to get a two-voiced detuned bass sound. It was the wisest decision I’ve made in a long time. The sound is unbelievably warm and full—in a way very classical. It’s an important tool to create a bass foundation for tracks while layering pads. We worked with it on several tracks on the Dapayk & Padberg album Harbour, such as “U-Camargue” and “Stop Running.”

Novation Circuit

Another fantastic tool is the Novation Circuit. The Circuit is great to help you out of a creative low. I had a creative block after a holiday in Mallorca when our computers with the most recent versions of the Harbour album on it were stolen. We were really pissed because a lot of ideas and tracks were just gone. Soon after that incident a friend of mine sent me the Circuit and asked me to give honest feedback on it. I did and it got me started on working on new ideas again. I used it especially for bass and drum sounds, mostly to produce some small loops, which we later sampled and edited in the computer. The option to load in samples and just play around with ideas is a lot of fun and sometimes just what you need to broaden your possibilities.

Soundcraft Ghost

The Soundcraft Ghost has been an important part of my studio since 2009. It’s a classic mixer which is almost 18 years old now. I had been looking for this mixer for ages before I finally found one sitting in the storage unit of our record distributor (it was hidden behind tons of shelves and boxes leading the sad life of a un-used tool). Everything we record goes through this mixer at some point. It’s famous for its EQs, I especially love the silky trebles.