This week’s XLR8R podcast comes from Sean Patrick, the Los Angeles DJ-producer and owner of Willis Show Bar in Detroit. Patrick began DJing at clubs right after he left school, more than 20 years ago, first spinning sets of post-punk, new wave, and industrial. But over time, his sound has increasingly shifted towards house and electronica, and with that progression he’s performed with artists including Daft Punk, The Chemical Brothers, Thom Yorke, Massive Attack, Trentemøller, and Kevin Saunderson. Recently, he has brought back Temporary Spaces, a concept night that has previously seen the likes of LCD Soundsystem, Metro Area, Matthew Dear, Holy Ghost!, DJ Three, Move D, and Seth Troxler.

Patrick’s most recent project is called Made From Shadows, which is an evolution of Bystander and recently released a single on Hallucienda, the label of DJ Three. (Who himself has contributed an XLR8R podcast and curated a special edition of XLR8R+ in March 2021.) The package of “History is Not Shrinking,” a heartbreak anthem recorded with the support of Mount Sims, Kinsey Dulcet, and Linda Lamb, comes with a remix by Reverse Commuter (a.k.a Kenneth James Gibson) and LCD Soundsystem’s Tyler Pope, who pairs up with Patrick on this mix. What the pair have delivered is the first in a series of B2B mixes from a far. “Basically, ‘here’s a vibe I’m feeling today, what would you do with it?'” Patrick says. Press play for just under an hour of electro and post-punk stylings.

01. What have you been up to recently?
I’ve been getting into the studio as much as possible working on a bunch of Made From Shadows originals and a few remixes. I’m really enjoying the relaunch of my old club series in Los Angeles called Temporary Spaces as a pop-up party now. Temporary Spaces featured a ton of DJ debuts and early sets to LA back in the day, including Seth Troxler, Metronomy, Damian Lazarus, Metro Area, Friendly Fires, DJ Kaos, Move D, and others. Also, I had my first all Made From Shadows show opening up for Moderat at The Fillmore in Detroit, an amazing 3,000 capacity 100 year-old venue.

02. What have you been listening to lately?
I’m always listening to as much older music as I am new stuff. For newer things, I have Red Axes, Ambiance, Darkside, Hardt Antoine, Cosmosolar, Ghost Culture, David August, The Acid, Moscoman, La Mverte, and Fanatico X playing. Then some of the old standards for home listening include Massive Attack, Joy Division, UNKLE, Portishead, Aphex Twin, Brain Eno, Cabaret Voltaire, and Autechre.

03. You’ve just put out a new release on Hallucienda. What can you tell us about it?
Mount Sims and I met in the early ’00s at The Standard in downtown LA in the heyday of its legendary rooftop parties during my stint as music director. Around the same time, Mount Sims released his seminal debut album, Ultra Sex. We quickly bonded over new wave, post-punk, industrial, and shoegaze bands, as well as Chicago house, Detroit techno, and electro and record labels like DFA, Ghostly International, Turbo, Warp, Environ, and Planet E. From there, DJing together and collaborating on music with a tight-knit circle of friends soon followed. “History Is Not Shrinking” started as a sketch centered around the synth line that I did in the studio with Kinsey Dulcet and then passed on to Mount Sims. He took it further along and eventually got our friend Linda Lamb to do vocals. Over the course of some time, I was able to get friends Reverse Commuter and Tyler Pope to do remixes as well. It feels like this combination of artists has made for a perfect little EP and I’m very pleased to be releasing it on DJ Three’s Hallucienda imprint.

04. Where and when did you record this DJ mix?
This mix is the first part of a mix series that Tyler and I are doing. We started the series at the end of 2023 and they were recorded in Los Angeles and Berlin.

05. How did you choose the tracks on this mix with Tyler Pope?
This started with Tyler and I doing some B2B gigs together during the LCD Soundsystem 20-year anniversary shows and the relaunch of my Temporary Spaces parties. From that, I came up with the idea where I selected 10 tracks and then sent them to Tyler. From there, he chose between seven and eight of those tracks and then filled in between each with his selections. Tyler then did the same process for me. He sent more of a post-punk disco and dirty house selection for the second mix. It’s been a fun and interesting way of doing back-to-back DJ mixes.

06. What can the listener expect?
Here on “Electro Mixx #1,” as we’ve called it, you can expect a really moody vibe. You’ll be transported to a late night basement or warehouse party. Some of these tracks are by friends or released on friends’ labels and, of course, there had to be some reference to Andrew Weatherall for me. He remains one of my “north stars” when it comes to music.

07. What’s next on your horizon?
I’ve done a remix for the song “Why Must I?” from Tyler Pope’s amazing recent EP, Pay Attention To Bass, and I have also remixed a forthcoming Mount Sims track called “Night Bridge.” Currently I’m finishing a ton of new music that I’ve worked on with various collaborators including Jeremy Dawson, Kenneth James Gibson, Kinsey Dulcet, Willa Rae Adamo, Linda Strawberry, and Eric Sharp.

XLR8R Subscribers can download the podcast below. If you’re not an XLR8R subscriber, you can read more about it and subscribe here.

Tracklisting

01. Detroit In Effect “You Got Get Down” (MAP Records)
02. Carl Finlow “Downstream” (20/20 Vision Recordings)
03. Hashim “Al Naafiysh (The Soul) Bonus Beat” – Cutting Records
04. Ambiance “Electronic Emergency” (Duro)
05. Jerome Hill “Drumwar” (Swords)
06. Bejenec “My Leg Hurts” (Bejenec)
07. Gerd Janson “The Slam” (Bonus Beats)
08. Roland Lesser “The Demon at Rashomon” (Get Physical Music)
09. UK Electro “ICA Beats 84 #2” (Gerd Janson Edit) (Running Back)
10. Derek Plaslaiko “Praia da Amalia” (The Bunker New York)
11. Init “Holes In My CV” (Optimo Music)
12. Repeat Repeat “Homestop Welcome” (Andrew Weatherall Remix) (Soma Records)
13. MMM “Donna” (Above Board Projects)
14. Chambray “Ghetto Giants” (The Hacker Remix) (Ultramajic)
15. The Dove “Feels Like Fire” (Turbo Recordings)
16. Fatherhood “Why Boys” (Origami Sound)
17. Laven & MSO “Looking For God” (Klang Elektronik)