Interview With Jay Pattinson (AP Audio)

1)When did music first start feeling important to you, like more than just something you listen to?

1a.) Music first became important to me probably in school when we’d have house parties. I didn’t have much exposure to any music as a kid before then so hearing the 90s classics provided by my mates was a real eye opener. So much in fact I bought a big (at the time) speaker and loads of lights. I was hooked and ended supplying the equipment for all the parties from then on. I suppose it was a pretty good taste as what was to come.

1.1)Do you remember the first time you heard a sound system that genuinely blew your head off? What was it, and what did it do to you?

What’s your earliest memory of music feeling physical, like you could feel it in your body?

1.1a)The first time I heard a proper soundsystem was in digital Newcastle. It was a Funktion One rig. We went to see Alan Fitzpatrick with our fake ids I reckon we were like 16 or 17. As you can imagine it was a bit of a step up from my Bluetooth speaker I thought was mint and another eye opener to the possibilities of this scene I so dearly love.  

2) What does a “perfect moment” in music feel like to you?

2a.) A perfect moment in music to me is when the dj is playing something absolutely fucked. Some shit you’ve never heard of and you look to your left and right and see your mates loving it. Youse make the bass face and laugh because you’re thinking the same thing. “What the fuck is that” I love it man 

2.1)When the sound is right, what changes in the room? What changes in you?

2.1a) Good sound at a party makes a world of difference. My top 3 at a party would go:

• Crowd

• Sound

• Dj

Without a good crowd there’s no party. Without a good system anything that gets played isn’t impactful enough to mean anything to you. And the dj is super close to being second don’t get me wrong but how many times have you seen an unbelievable dj on a lack luster system? It truly is a shame and abit of a waste of their skill to run them through a rig that can’t portray their art the way it was intended.

3) When you talk about “depth of field” in music. What does that actually mean to you?

3a.) Depth of field in music is super important it’s what makes it feel immersive like it’s more that just noise. It’s where each sound in the song has its place, its own space to fill and breathe. The kick is usually central, firm and present. Then you might have a snare to your right and hats panning side to side and something lurking in the back round only heard when it wants to be. Without depth of field the music would feel flat and boring. This is delt by the producers but a good system can really make a track come alive, sometimes bringing out elements the producers didn’t even hear making it. 

3.1) What’s the difference between a loud system… and a system that feels three-dimensional?

3.1a) There are a lot of loud systems. It’s not hard to go loud but the difference between that and one feeling “3d” is huge. Each driver plays an important role from the subs to the highs. You need them all for true immersion and if it’s unbalanced it spoils the sound. Finding that balance is the hard part. You want your drivers to work in synergy, not against eachother and unfortunately that’s what a lot of loud speaker manufacturers are ignoring because it’s hard using conventional speaker design.

4) Why do you think good sound matters so much, not just for DJs, but for people’s experience and emotion?

4.) Good sound is crucial. Without it there’s no emotion and when there’s no emotion there’s no party and no memories. A bag rig and destroy a party whether there’s not enough bass/ wayyyy too much or the mids are muddy or the highs are harsh they’re all bad but each one can ruin somebody’s experience. I fear for those experiencing all 3 at once. Get out of there mate.

5) Danley Sound Labs / what makes them “incredible”

What was it about Danley that made you go “yeah… this is the one”?

5a.) what makes Danley incredible is their parented synergy horn technology. They uniquely place their drivers a quarter wavelength apart allowing for proper phase alignment between the frequency bands. The higher the frequency, the smaller the wavelength therefore the closer together the drivers are which is what gives them their crazy look. It was their look that first drew my attention to them because they don’t even look like speakers, they looked alien. I found out about them on an old forum from like 10 years ago. Some guy saying Danley have the best subs in the game. So I searched them up and was like “what the fuck is that?!” I then proceeded to watch every single YouTube video on the site about them, there actually isn’t as many as you’d think. 

5.1a)When you’ve got the SH69-HTs and TH118XLs running together, what’s the main thing you notice. Is it the clarity, the punch, or how clean it stays even when it’s loud?

Clarity? Punch? Clean at high SPL? The rig does it all. When the room acoustics are right and the tracks are clean, Fack it’s hard to beat. The main thing that sets it apart from non danley systems is the complete phase coherence and zero distortion many systems seem to suffer with. 

6) What was the moment you decided to start AP Audio properly, like make it real?

6a.) The moment I decided to start AP properly was actually with you. We were at an after party with the FBT rig that’s now in an install. It was the first time I’d ever charged anyone to use my equipment so I took a video. Even though I hate taking vids on the dance floor but that’s another story for a different day. On the video you can hear me telling you it’s for instagram and you say “well if it’s for the gram at least make it look good” because I was kinda hiding my phone. So I just stuck my arm up and got a good view. That’s the first post I ever made on my AP account, it’s still up and will never be taken down. That was the moment I thought yea I reckon I could probably do something with this. 

6.1)What’s been the most rewarding moment you’ve had since starting?

6.1a) My most rewarding moment was probably at Friends of Friends festival last year. I couldn’t believe the system was at a festival. On from 12 to the early A.M seeing everyone move from other stages and staying at ours was so sick. But also building the crew we have now. The fackin dream team! My man Torin ( Dr.T150) has been by my side for about a year now. Up and down the country at ridiculous hours I couldn’t do it without him he’s the man. We’ve been working along side dodd and jimmy doing their lights on a bunch of these gigs and we a pretty good rigging crew together I love these lads to bits and we may not have been this close without doing this shit. They’re the bollocks. 

7) What does it mean to you personally to move into a field you actually care about?

7a.) Being able to do this as a job means the world to me. After having a spinal stroke in 2022 I couldn’t look at doing a regular job after going through all that. This doesn’t feel like a job to me. Everything down to buying the damn cables is enjoyable and I’m so thankful to have made something of myself after something not so good happening. I guess as cliché as it sounds AP represents not giving up, doing what you love and listening to some sick ass speakers. 

8) What do you think the North East scene has that other places don’t?

8a.) Newcastle has some class local djs (Torin) ;) and it shows just look at some of the collectives that have came from here recently. Shy Bains, Granville, Synrg, to name a few. They’re all wicked and are now throwing parties all over the county. The northeast attitude is infectious. Everyone’s super nice and keen to have a good do. We yearn for the do. Our contribution is providing the system these parties deserve and just trying to make it as good as we possibly can. 

9) What’s your favourite thing about watching people experience music together?

9a.) As my mobility has been rudely hindered I’ve taken a step back from being in the mix and found enjoyment in watching people have a good time. I love seeing people dance and moving doing daft dance moves with their friends or even catching afew bass faces through the haze. Seeing one of those makes me feel like we’re doing something right. 

10)Where do you want AP Audio to go in the next year? And then long-term?

10a.) Future vision for AP would just be more festivals, bigger DJs maybe even over seas if the system gets that nutty. I just want everyone to hear music how god intended it to be heard, through a Danley Rig. 

“Offit subs”