West Side Feeling.
A chat with ATØNAL.
Although having met in our mutual hometown at Loose Antenna for his then-platform Basses Fréquences back in December 2022, our first contact only gave me a glimpse into the many activities that this soon-to-be beat veteran partakes in.
By definition, "atonal" refers to composing music by obscuring tonal structures or by ignoring conventional harmonies altogether.
It is also the moniker that Loris Scaglia adopted to express himself creatively, rewritten with a diacritic across the second vowel to accentuate the idea of no restraint when it comes to sonic exploration. For the better part of fifteen years, ATØNAL has been a music enthusiast, experimenting with sound through different disciplines in the likes of music production, DJing and event curatorship.
Influenced by 90s and 2000s club music, ATØNAL has crafted his own signature style through a formidable eclecticism in the realm of Electronic Dance genres. Shifting between Bass, Breaks, Garage and Techno-infused sounds, he blurs genre barriers through sets as sharp as they are unexpected.
Although native to Lausanne, ATØNAL has explored the better parts of Romandy through residencies through nightclubs such as le Zoo. Now back in his hometown, he holds a residency at Le Bourg as a co-founder of the platform Breakfast Club where he showcases the Swiss electronic scene through various projects he oversees. ATØNAL is one to proudly incorporate while simultaneously generously giving back to his community.
How does one stay authentic to their roots yet consistently evolve? Perhaps by intertwining the lines between the personal self and artistic persona. This avoidance of tradition to welcome innovation is something evident in his work. COUNTERBALANCE is a work ethic ATØNAL adopted to level his visual and sonic creative endeavours. A glimpse into his activities, whether by working in advertising during the day or the usage of cap locks in his titles, reflects an urge to be present and expresses that branding is very dear to him. An ongoing thought process in the separation and attachment to one’s self with a pseudonym to do just that: be loud.
[....] Although we are here today talking about your upcoming release with us under your moniker ATØNAL, I noticed at the beginning of this chat that you introduced yourself with your name of birth. Do you find things that you can express through ATØNAL that you cannot from Loris?
I don't think so.. I mean I did not adopt this moniker for the sake of being mysterious or have something to hide. It’s funny to me because although ATØNAL and Loris are the same person, I tend to cringe on some evenings when strangers call me ATØNAL. I tend to kindly, yet quickly correct them to call me Loris. It’s actually a question that came on and off to me. Especially because I like to explore different musical styles, it would make sense to release under different monikers. When I first started producing, it started off more House, then deep to eventually hard techno to today’s UKBass /Breaks. I started wondering if it was necessary to have a different alias to match these different music personalities, but I always felt comfort in releasing solely under ATØNAL. It felt possible to release all these different genres under one name as I feel it also reflects the music I like to DJ with.. It happens that the music I produce can have ambiguous tones and agnostic pitches therefore it made sense to keep the same name throughout my career in music.
You’ve explored various genres throughout the years. What are your fundamental ideas or values behind music creation since you like jumping in between styles? Why do you find this genre of music best to express yourself?
I think that foremost, I am just a music lover. It may sound cliche or generalised but that’s really the premise of why I want DJing and producing to be a big part of my life. I never sought to instrumentalise it, or rather it to me. My creative thought process or rather inspiration comes from the fact that I traversed many musical styles. The continuous exploration of genre is what allows me to stay focussed yet inspired in my mind. I like to produce what I hear, which evidently currently revolves around breaks, but not solely. I think my inspiration also comes from the fact that I am drawn to genres that have a very fertile ground. I mean this in the sense that my attraction to Jungle for instance, has an immense history that goes to reggae or dub and African polyrhythms whereas its future holds endless evolving sub genres offsprings in the likes of DnB, UKG or Dubstep (to name a few). I find myself drawn to this cultural heritage aspect of music and to be able to incorporate my own personal voice through it. I like to have the possibility to cultivate this form of music eclecticism and also simultaneously be able to keep doing research on its neighbouring genres so that I may in return, educate others around me, whether through club sets or putting out music.
Regarding your second question, I think through this flux of sonic exploration is how I eventually landed on UK Bass music. I find that its current scene to be more open minded. A few years prior, something around 2019, I felt that everything started to become codified in the Swiss Techno scene. Some sort of homogeneity. I think it got further depthened after the pandemic, since a lot of people, especially the younger generation, experienced techno through social media as opposed to physically being in a club or rave. From there, this acquired culture from behind the screen suggests that it got packaged..sanitised.. and thus people had a more expected idea of what is to come in an evening. This meant less curiosity and desire of openness, but a favouring of immediacy of a defined product. As a techno DJ at the time, I missed that sense of being able to express yourself and inject inquisitiveness into the audience.
The style of music that you produce is based a lot around sampling. After all, jungle is just sped up hip hop drum samples. Is it safe to assume your early teens were submerged in such styles?
Not necessarily actually.. I remember my first notable experiences and eventual gravitation towards electronic music was from being 11 years old and going to MediaMarkt on Saturdays with my dad and buying CD compilations in the likes of Street Parade 2002 or Mad Nique (of the MAD Club). It was in part for the attractive artwork, sure, but also due to the familiarity of of certain names in the tracklists.
Of course, the aforementioned two institutions have a different reputation now, much more oriented towards the mainstream since the early 2000s. But this does not digress that my introduction to electronic music was through “popular dance music”, which is why I won’t act like the crazy underground guy that was digging crates before you even knew what vinyl was. The exposure to this type of music still felt like a sound from the future with alien-like appeal. It’s funny when I reminisce about that time. It really didn’t feel like the Swiss scene, at least in Romandy, was immensely populated with DJs. Compared to now, it’s easier to surround yourself with likeminded people. It’s you and friends, which soon become a collective where you start to throw your own parties. I find that this template of organisation is so easy to access now, and I mean that very positively. 25 years ago, being someone from a suburb in Switzerland in the 2000s can seem quite daunting to get into this unknown field. It turns out that we were (people in my age group) all have more or less always been there, but with no means of connecting since we were a niche and social media was not yet a thing. You wouldn't know where to start and who to connect with. Nowadays, it's easier to share and enthuse any passion with others.
Your day job revolves around advertising. I bring this up because of the blurred lines between ATØNAL and Loris. That said, we were talking about how as a DJ, it is important for you to not only play things that you like, but also things that would please the audience. Advertising is a field to make a specific topic as relatable as possible to the wide audience. Do you find that this is subconsciously why you chose this music genre as the best way to express yourself creatively?
That's a really interesting observation.. I never really thought of it this way. But seeing this parallel from an outsider’s point of view, there's definitely a connection to be made. Especially since before I said that Loris and ATØNAL are synonymous, I suppose that through ATØNAL, is where I channel my inner loudness in the musical sense, whereas Loris is more the visual. There’s a desire to have an idea for it to speak or to communicate to as many people as possible without being too centred. I’d rather let my creations speak for itself. I am someone who likes to speak their mind, to enthuse and share ideas with people, but I am not someone who likes to be too much in front or who likes to show off. I like the spotlight, but it’s not my priority in life. I guess with these points mentioned, ATØNAL is the “Loud Voice” within me who can be in the spotlight without feeling awkward. I mean, there is some anecdotal irony that the advertising agency I co-run is called “Baston” (fight), whereas the music I make tends to also hit you in the face and gut, metaphorically speaking. I like to be discrete without limiting myself in expressing my creative endeavours to reach people, i.e. an audience. I guess that relating to my pseudo, this could be interpreted in such a manner.
There was this time where we spoke about how you have a specific playlist to induce creativity when you are working on a project relating to your daytime job which is advertisement. Although I try to keep the artist and the individual separate they obviously intertwine in some areas, as we discussed throughout this chat. Being immersed in visual communication, do you find yourself having a similar approach of using visual props or cues to produce music?
Again, that’s an interesting observation that I hadn't been concerned with until now. Of course, there’s a certain mood that I try to maintain in the studio. Lighting and decor are always important for comfort and inspiration reasons. But I cannot say that this is something I do regularly. I should definitely keep it in mind though, it might be worth trying! I think the way I set up the studio is a big influence in how effective I will produce. It is important for me to create an ecosystem where everything is ergonomic. I need to have things immediately accessible at my fingertips, whether it being machinery, templates or gear. Through this mentally is where I keep a sort of visual focus.
You mentioned that these tracks were composed on and off throughout the year, thus with no real intent in maintaining a type of thematic coherence. Has this always been the case?
I mean, constraint on creativity is essential. In the sense that, although I never work on a theme in the case you mentioned, I do have a soft spot in the practice of making remixes or bootleg edits. I start from something existing, and I make it my own. For me, this is my favourite kind of mandate because you are indeed already predisposed with an objective, set of sounds, moods and context which in the end are all permissible to go beyond that and break the rules. After all, the practice of remixing is very ingrained in the culture of the genres and styles that I produce, so it makes sense that I gravitate towards that mentality. In reference to my daytime job, it’s the same principle. You are expected to be creative in how you communicate things whilst retaining in the back of your mind that there is a client with expectations…and deadlines! But once again, because I produce in a handful of different styles and genres, I find that composing with a theme in mind might hinder this type of creative process and exploring for experimentation purposes.
If I say the words “punk” and “popculture”, which one resonates with you the most?
I would say punk for sure, although the two are not always completely opposite.
I ask because you use a lot of samples in your music. At times, specific samples originating from mainstream music such as for your track “DIRTY SOUTH” which has Ashanti samples. It has been referred to before that jungle is the punk of Electronic Dance Music. Punk after all is a reinterpretation, a phoenix of pop culture.
For sure. I’d say it’s a double answer. There’s definitely a punk mentality when it comes to the DIY approach of the music I produce, or the events I organise through Breakfast Club. The choice in samples I use is indeed a sort of middle finger to corporate major labels who have a tight grip on the usage and rights of such songs. Sometimes even regardless of the Artist’s opinion on how their music is used. And then there’s the fact that in order not to get your track flagged, that you then have to release such music through alternative outlets, which refers once again to the anti-mainstream aka underground ethos of punk culture. As a secondary answer, there is this appeal for me, especially within the premise of a dancefloor, that you want the music you play to evoque some familiarity within the audience. It’s a way to reach out to as many people as possible. The older generation, because we grew up on the original track, but rehashed for a new interpretation for the newer generation. It’s a strategy for people to enthuse on a similar riff, melody or in this case sample albeit experiencing it in a different manner. For the former, nostalgias and the latter, discovery. We all connect on the dance floor. Like it or not, they're still songs of our generation. A moment in the world of pop music that surrounded many of us at some point.
On a final note, you mentioned Breakfast Club. Breakfast Club being the label/eventseries/music journalism platform you created with your partner Sonia Imseng. I was wondering what the genesis of the name was. Fast Breaks until Breakfast Time?
Yeah it’s something like that. A club for rapid rhythm enthusiasts.
And why did you and Sonia make this? Did you see a need or demand for it in the Lausannese scene?
I mean, it’s true that we always did events. At the time that you and I met at Loose Antenna in December 2022, Sonia and I were still doing radio shows and events under the name Bass Fréquences, while launching a new party series called "Breakfast Club" at L'Usine/Le Zoo in Geneva. It’s true that Geneva is perhaps a bit more “spoiled” in regard to cultural upbringing, especially in recent years. So it’s nice to do something in our home territory. Although it was more event focussed at first, we felt that there was something more to it, which is why we then decided to turn it into a record label with the occasional interviews we have with the artist in our evenings. This eventually led to our newfound residency in Le Bourg, whereas we are also branching out to have our own radio residency at TRNSTN Fribourg starting in April. Was there a need for this? Well, let’s just say that Lausanne is more in need of a collective like ours than Geneva does. They have a slightly more fragmented scene with everyone kind of doing their own thing. I don’t say this in a negative sense, but there’s more role models and opportunities to grow, with a wider range of higher capacity clubs. There’s a little less loyalty but not that it’s a bad thing. There’s just a lot more flexibility due to the size and infrastructure of the city. In Lausanne, at least in our case at Le Bourg, there’s a following of regulars.
That said, Lausanne is a smaller scene, so there’s a much more tight knit group that thrives with one another and are easier to reunite. But of course, the relationship between Breakfast Club and Le Bourg grew more than that. It truly became a work ethic of working together and not for each other. And that’s why it’s been going well. To be able to trust and to experiment is really important for us in order for the Lausanne scene to thrive. By no means are we trying to be gatekeepers of the Lausaneese scene. On the contrary, the hope that will come out of Breakfast Club is to reignite something within the local scene to encourage others to start their own thing, so we aren’t limited to only going out to major cities. Something that we can all benefit from: invite each other to our respective parties, radio shows and so on. There’s no reason to be dogmatic.
Stay up to date and get in touch with ATØNAL and Breakfast Club.