2018 has been a pivotal year for Polish-born / Rotterdam-based Adrian Rybka AKA Satl. Having blazed into the year with the still massive Everything Anything, he’s now about to sign out of ’18 with another equally remarkable and far reaching EP Everything To Me.
Both released on Artificial Intelligence’s Integral label, both loaded with his signature hazy fusion of cosmic soul and powerful rolling beats, Satl’s EPs this year are the latest in a sizeable line of releases that stretch back four years to when he was still in school.
From a slow smouldering start on labels such as Fokuz and Innerground, this year’s output has galvanised his status as a leading light in the next generation of deepsmiths. Working closely with Integral and The North Quarter and even getting the nod from dBridge for unauthorised use of his vocal, something tells us 2019 is going to be even more pivotal. We called him up to find out where he’s at, what he has coming up and why he seems to have a thing for the word ‘everything’.
Everything will be revealed….
Take us back to the moment you felt pursuing music could be a serious thing….
That was really early on. Maybe like a year after I started. I was still in school and I got booked to play in Moscow at this big gig. I was like ‘shit! I’ve done this and it’s only been a year. Maybe I’m doing something right?’
When was this?
2013 I didn’t have much out at all at that point but they invited me to play and it was like ‘okay let’s give this a real try’. I met Marky around that time and we connected in Poland and we kept in touch and I did a release for him on Innerground. He was so supportive in those early times. He still is. He jokes now that I am not Satl anymore and that my girlfriend is. Marky likes funky stuff and bouncy disco basslines, as she does, but I’m more into moodier deeper stuff recently, not like my early stuff.
Haha. I hear you’ve got a musical family?
Yeah my dad used to play in a band. They play at local parties, weddings and events. Music has been a strong presence. Maybe not music I particularly liked at points, but it was always there and was to be enjoyed and played.
Cool example to be setting your kids. Just having fun with music. Big up your folks
Thanks. I’m really passionate about music and everything that comes with it I’m really grateful for. Parties, amazing people who I meet, places I’m able to visit. It is all an astonishing bonus!
Everything Anything has been massive this year. That’s a sign things are heading in the full time direction.
That has been mad actually. I had that ready for last year’s Sun And Bass and I’d already talked to Glen and Zula [Artificial Intelligence] about releasing it. Then I played it there and got such a reaction from it. I put it on the Sun And Bass podcast a few months later and got so many messages on it. People thought it was a London Grammar remix. We kept it anonymous and sent it around then when it dropped people realised what track it was they were like ‘oh shit it’s this one!’ People ask for it all the time still. It changed the game for me.
I like the dubplate vibes of that. Growing the tune in the club. Letting the hype bubble.
It’s not like dubplate culture of the 90s when tracks were around for years but it’s great to see a hype build like that for a tune. Also the Everything To Me on the new EP has been ready since April and had a nice build up of hype so people can get to get to know it.
That’s how tunes develop momentum and make connections with people
Definitely. A lot of people used to tell me to release lots and lots but Artificial Intelligence, and also Lenzman, have been really influential saying don’t release everything. I produce a lot, but I’ll only release the best of what I’m doing. And also I don’t pick what I’d like to release on what type of impact they have, I pick them because I feel they’re me at my best. There was never a ‘oh yeah Everything Anything was big, let’s do the same again’ type of thought.
Totally. But at the same time, there’s a good continuation between the two Integral EPs this year. That deep linger soul vibe. Maybe your girlfriend’s influence?
Actually yes! The Everything To Me track is something she found! We were playing some music and this tune came on. She said it was a band from New Zealand and I was like ‘I need to bootleg this’. I did it and sent it to Zula and Glen and they were like ‘this is it’. Then I was staying in New Zealand with Tali and her husband and I played them the tune. They said they know the singer so we asked to release it and they were up for it.
Small world! You seem like a real natural fit on Integral, how did you link with Artificial Intelligence.
I’ve always looked up to them. Since they started to push the label again I made it my mission to release one thing with them. Then we played one party, I can’t remember where it was but we shared emails and I sent some things and we chatted more. I was writing with Malaky at the time and we had this bootleg of Aaliyah’s Rock The Boat. We tried the instrumental and we’d been searching for vocals for months and somehow Steo heard it. He liked and said he’d do vocals on it and it fell into place. After the EP came out they wanted to work more. Obviously I was down with it. I had to step up my production game. At that point I knew I should try to beat myself with every new track I do. After that EP things rolled faster. We chat on weekly basis since then. A year and something from now. We got a lot of plans together. EPs, podcast, a lot of stuff, I’m grateful for their friendship. We have fun as well as talk about music all the time.
Didn’t Glen wind you up about an unofficial dBridge remix you’ve done?
Ha. Basically I had this instrumental and a friend of mine found this dBridge acapela on vinyl. I put it on the track, sent it to Glen and we all really liked it. But I didn’t know if Darren would like it. Then I played a party with him but I didn’t have the opportunity to talk to him and I was afraid to play it. You hear things about using unpermitted bootlegs don’t you.
Yeah bootlegs are lazy but you’ve built a new tune around the acapella
Yeah I’m newcomer though. I want to be respectful to everyone and not cut my legs off for a bit of hype. Darren is a legend.
He’s said in interviews that he wouldn’t put an acapella out if he wasn’t cool with people using it. He puts clean breaks in his tracks for the same reason
That’s good to know but I didn’t know this at Sun And Bass. I played the tune and then my girlfriend came and told me to play it again. She said he was there and wanted to hear it. He really liked it and called for a rewind but at first I was confused. Glen told him to do an angry face at me! I was freaking out for a minute but they were laughing at it. It was cool. Quite a surreal moment for me.
Share some future moments…
I just want to work as much as possible with Integral and The North Quarter. I have something coming up for Sun And Bass Recordings. There’s a lot of people asking for a tune of mine called Bravehearts… It will come next year but I can’t say anything more.
That’s been bubbling for a while, right?
For a little while. Dan Stezo is on it, it’s just developed from a little idea I had to this much bigger thing. It’s really cool. A lot of people think it’s coming on North Quarter but it’s not. I can’t wait to release it.
Satl – Everything To Me is out now on Integral
Follow Satl: Facebook / Soundcloud
READ
