Get Familiar: Marcus Elizabeth

Interview by Marco Sottana and Passion DzengaFor Angelo Marcus Elizabeth, fragrance has always been about more than smelling good. It is a way of holding onto memory, identity and the places that shape you. Born and raised in Curaçao and now based in Amsterdam, Angelo brings those worlds together through Marcus Elizabeth, a constantly evolving creative universe rooted in an Afro-Atlantic perspective.That world now crosses paths with Patta for Saffron Attitude, a warm and confident fragrance built around saffron, leather, incense and woods, with bergamot, ginger and cardamom cutting through the mix. After first introducing the collaboration in Paris, we bring things back home to Amsterdam.We caught up with Angelo to talk about his unexpected route into perfumery, turning confidence into something you can smell, and why the best fragrances need a little dirt under their fingernails.Before we get into perfume, who is Angelo Marcus Elizabeth, and what was the creative journey that brought you to where you are today?I’m a designer and perfumer from Curaçao, now based in Amsterdam. I’ve always been interested in the way objects, clothes, images and scents can carry identity and memory. As a child, I was constantly drawing and paying attention to patterns, colours, shapes and materials. Fashion eventually became the first professional language through which I could turn those observations into something tangible.Fragrance came into my life much more unexpectedly. During the pandemic, I started making scented candles at home, initially because I wanted to work with my hands and quiet my mind. At first, I was making them for myself, then for friends and family, but gradually I became much more interested in the scent itself. I became fascinated by how a handful of materials could create an entire atmosphere, bring back someone you hadn’t thought about for years, or completely change the feeling of a room.That curiosity eventually became Marcus Elizabeth. Today, I don’t really see fashion, perfume and objects as separate disciplines anymore. To me, they are simply different ways of telling and expressing the same story.You originally came from fashion and design. What could working with scent give you creatively that clothing couldn’t?Scent gets past the eye. With clothing, there is almost always an immediate visual judgement: you notice the silhouette, the colour, the styling, perhaps gender or status. Fragrance is much harder to control in that way. Someone can smell something and connect emotionally with it before they have even decided whether they consciously “like” it. I found that incredibly powerful.Fashion taught me about proportion, material, contrast and construction, and I still use all of those ideas when I think about perfume. Fragrance gives another level of intimacy. You can wear a perfume underneath everything and nobody necessarily has to know it is there. It can feel completely private, while at the same time changing the way other people experience your presence. That combination of intimacy and impact is something I find very special.You were born and raised in Curaçao before making Amsterdam home. What do those two places smell like to you?Curaçao smells warm to me. I think of sun on skin, humidity,  salt, dry earth, plants just after they have been watered, fruit ripening, flowers, cooking and the sea. There is a certain density to smell in a hot climate; everything seems to project differently.One of my strongest memories is my grandmother’s garden. There were mangoes, mispel, papaya, guava, watermelon and citrus. I had to water the plants every day, and that is where I really started noticing that every plant had its own smell. I loved the lemon tree in particular. Sometimes I would put pieces of lemon peel in my pocket just so I could keep smelling them throughout the day.Amsterdam is completely different. I associate it with cooler air, rain, wet stone, wood, old buildings, coffee and, during winter, sometimes smoke drifting out of chimneys. At the same time, Amsterdam is such an international city that you can turn a corner and suddenly smell spices or food that transport you somewhere completely different.Curaçao gave me warmth and instinct, while Amsterdam gave me structure and contrast. I think Marcus Elizabeth exists somewhere between those two worlds.Are there particular materials, smells or olfactive memories from either place that continue to find their way into your work?Definitely. Citrus peel, green leaves, tropical fruits, flowers, dry woods, warm skin and the smell of the sea keep returning in different ways. But I’m usually more interested in translating the memory than reproducing the smell literally.If I think about fruit from Curaçao, for example, I don’t necessarily want to make a perfume that smells like fruit juice. I might be more interested in the skin of the fruit, its bitterness, a green stem, the humidity around it or simply the sensation of eating it in the heat. Those details often feel more personal and more interesting to me.Amsterdam brings another set of textures into the work: woods, leather, wet stone or mineral notes, smoke and clean musks. Those materials allow me to put structure around the warmth. Again, it is that contrast between the two places that often becomes the starting point.Marcus Elizabeth describes itself as being carried by an “Afro-Atlantic essence.” What does that mean to you personally, and how does something as broad and layered as that actually translate into an olfactive identity?For me, Afro-Atlantic is not a perfume note and it isn’t a formula. It is a way of understanding where I come from. Curaçao sits at an intersection of Africa, the Caribbean, the Americas and Europe. Our language, food, music, architecture and rituals have all been shaped by movement across the Atlantic. There is a lot of beauty in that, but also a very complicated history.I don’t want to reduce something so layered to “tropical notes” or to a stereotypical idea of what a Caribbean fragrance is supposed to smell like. Instead, it influences how I put materials together. I’m interested in warmth alongside discipline, sensuality alongside restraint, something natural against something polished or urban.That can mean a tropical fruit meeting leather, or a floral placed next to something mineral or woody. Something familiar can be made slightly strange. That tension feels much closer to my identity than simply making something and saying: this smells Caribbean.Your journey into fragrance started with you making candles in your attic for yourself, friends and family. Do you remember the first scent you made where you thought, “there might actually be something here”?I remember the feeling more clearly than one exact formula. I was making scented candles very intuitively, without really thinking of them as a business, and then people started responding to them much more strongly than I had expected. They weren’t just saying, “this smells nice.” They wanted to know what the scent was, whether I could make another one or whether they could buy one for somebody else.That was when something shifted for me. I realised that I wasn’t simply making a scented object; I was creating an atmosphere that people wanted to bring into their own lives. From that moment on, I started taking the materials, formulation and the actual craft of perfumery much more seriously.How important is memory to the way you create a fragrance? Are there smells from your childhood that you can still access instantly?Memory is probably one of the most important things in my work. Smell is strange because a memory can disappear from your conscious mind for years, and then one scent suddenly brings the entire thing back. It is not only the image. You remember the temperature, the place, the person and sometimes even exactly how you felt in that moment.My grandmother’s garden is still very accessible to me in that way, especially the citrus leaves and peels, but also bananas, mangoes, flowers and the smell of plants after they have just been watered.I don’t necessarily try to reconstruct those memories literally in a perfume. I use them more as raw material. Sometimes only one small part of a memory enters the fragrance: a green note, a bitter peel effect, a humid floral feeling or a warm wood.For me, perfume can be a door to memory, but the beautiful thing is that it can also create completely new memories for the person wearing it.How do you reference where you come from without becoming nostalgic or overly literal?That is something I think about a lot, because heritage should never become costume. If you translate everything literally, you can very quickly reduce a culture to a set of recognisable symbols: coconut, rum, tropical flowers, bright colours. That doesn’t represent my experience of Curaçao.I would rather take something culturally specific and ask myself what it actually means to me emotionally or materially. What is the texture of that memory? Where is the tension in it? What happened around that smell?From there, I can translate it into something contemporary. The goal is never to recreate the past perfectly. I want the past to have a conversation with the person I am today.When you begin developing a new fragrance, what comes first?A new fragrance can begin almost anywhere. Sometimes the starting point is a material, sometimes a name arrives first, and sometimes it is an image, a person, a place or even a contradiction that I find interesting.The first question I normally ask myself is: what should this perfume feel like? From there, I begin collecting references and materials and start building an accord that captures the central idea. Once that accord works, the process becomes almost architectural. I start asking what needs to support it, where the tension should come from, what needs to disappear and how the fragrance should move from the opening into the skin.I rarely want a perfume to explain itself completely within the first five seconds. I like the idea that you have to discover it gradually.Let’s get into Saffron Attitude. What was the first conversation between Marcus Elizabeth and Patta, and at what point did you realise there was a fragrance to be made together?The first conversation actually wasn’t about making a perfume. It was much more fundamental: we were talking about whether Marcus Elizabeth and Patta were genuinely a good match, and whether bringing these two worlds together could become the beginning of something beautiful rather than simply a one-off collaboration.A big part of that conversation was also about my ambitions as a black perfumer and founder. The perfume industry still has very few black perfumers and black-owned houses with real visibility, particularly at the level where I want Marcus Elizabeth to operate. I spoke very openly about where I want to take the brand, the space I want to create within the fragrance industry and what it means to build that from my own perspective.The question then became: what role could Patta play in that journey? Patta truly asked how can we help? That made the collaboration much bigger to me than simply putting two brand names next to each other. Patta has spent years building a platform around culture and community and creating space for people and ideas that do not necessarily come through traditional routes.Once we realised there was a genuine alignment between us, fragrance became the natural medium through which to express it. Saffron Attitude grew from that conversation and became a fragrance about presence, confidence and taking up space without apologising for it. In that sense, the idea behind the scent is very closely connected to the reason the collaboration exists in the first place.If you had to describe Patta into an olfactive identity before this collaboration existed, what would it smell like?Warm, direct, textured and slightly rebellious. I would imagine spice, worn leather, woods and incense, perhaps with something mineral or metallic underneath. But there would also have to be freshness, because Patta has a lot of energy. I wouldn’t want it to become too heavy or nostalgic.It should smell like someone entering a room without asking permission to be there. And actually, when you describe it that way, you end up quite close to Saffron Attitude.Which side of saffron were you interested in bringing forward for Patta?The leathery, dry and spicy side. We didn’t want saffron to become overly sweet or conventionally luxurious. Saffron can have this almost metallic tension to it, and I find that incredibly contemporary.In Saffron Attitude, leather, incense and woods give the fragrance depth, while bergamot, ginger and cardamom keep energy running through the composition. So the saffron has presence, but it isn’t sitting there like a precious jewel that you aren’t allowed to touch. It has a little dirt under its fingernails.How do you translate something abstract like confidence into the texture, projection and composition of a fragrance?Confidence isn’t necessarily loud. Someone can walk into a room, barely say anything and still completely change the energy. That distinction was important when we were developing Saffron Attitude. I didn’t want to create a fragrance that simply screamed through enormous projection; I wanted it to have presence.You build that presence through contrast and structure. The opening immediately brings energy, while saffron, incense, iris and leather give the fragrance texture and identity. Then the woods underneath create stability and keep everything grounded.The end result has to feel composed rather than desperate for attention. For me, that is confidence: you notice it, but it doesn’t need your approval.How important was the progression, or drydown, to the fragrance?Very important, because I don’t think a perfume should be a photograph. It should be a film. The first spray of Saffron Attitude is bright, spicy and energetic, but then it gradually begins to reveal more texture. The iris changes the surface of the fragrance, incense introduces smoke, and the saffron and leather create warmth and tension.As it develops further, the woods, vetiver and amber become increasingly important. That evolution is part of the personality of the fragrance. You encounter the confidence first, but as you spend more time with it, you begin to understand the depth underneath.Was the contrast between bright and dark, fresh and warm, spicy and woody deliberately built into the fragrance?Absolutely. I’m very interested in contrast because people aren’t one thing either. Patta can be street and sophisticated at the same time, rebellious but also incredibly precise. Marcus Elizabeth similarly exists somewhere between island warmth and urban structure.It therefore felt very natural for the fragrance to contain those contradictions. Without the brighter elements, the leather, saffron and woods could easily become too heavy. At the same time, without those darker materials, the freshness would not have enough gravity.It is really the tension between those two sides that makes the fragrance interesting.Was there a version of Saffron Attitude that almost became the final fragrance but ultimately got rejected?We actually started with three completely different fragrance directions. Two of them were rejected, while Saffron Attitude was the one that immediately stood out to us.What made it feel right was its spicy, bold and warm character. It simply had more presence. There was something about the combination of saffron, spice, leather and woods that connected very naturally with the energy we associated with Patta, while still feeling refined and wearable.The other two fragrances had interesting qualities, but Saffron Attitude had the strongest identity. It didn’t just smell good; it had an attitude. Once we recognised that, the decision became quite clear.What does Patta bring to the fragrance that Marcus Elizabeth might not have arrived at on its own, and what did Marcus Elizabeth bring into Patta’s world?Patta brought a certain directness into the process. Marcus Elizabeth can sometimes be very introspective; we think a lot about memory, ritual, material and atmosphere. Patta brought community, street energy and a kind of unapologetic cultural confidence that pushed the collaboration in another direction.At the same time, I think Marcus Elizabeth brought another sensory dimension into Patta’s universe. Clothing is something you see and touch, and music is something you hear, while perfume is almost invisible yet incredibly intimate and personal.In that sense, both brands pushed each other slightly outside their usual medium, which is when I think collaborations become genuinely interesting. I’m very thankful that Patta gave us the opportunity and trust to create something together in this way.How did you translate the same olfactive idea into the Saffron Attitude candle?You can’t simply pour a perfume formula into wax and expect exactly the same experience. Skin has warmth, movement and its own chemistry, whereas a candle interacts with a flame, a room and the air around it.For the candle, I wanted the saffron, leather, woods and amber to create more of an atmosphere around you. It can be slightly warmer and more enveloping because it is scenting an entire space rather than sitting on one person’s skin.The perfume becomes part of your personal presence, while the candle changes the environment around you. They speak the same language, but they speak it in different voices.Paris was effectively the introduction, but this is a collaboration between two Amsterdam-rooted worlds. Does bringing Saffron Attitude back to Amsterdam for the official launch feel different?Definitely. Paris was very exciting because you have that Fashion Week energy around you, and it was essentially our first opportunity to introduce Saffron Attitude to a wider audience.Amsterdam feels much more personal. This is where Marcus Elizabeth has its atelier, where Patta has built such an important cultural presence and where our communities actually overlap. Bringing the fragrance back here therefore feels a little like completing the circle. Paris was the introduction; Amsterdam is where Saffron Attitude comes home.Has anyone’s interpretation of Saffron Attitude made you smell the fragrance differently yourself?What I really enjoy is seeing how differently people move through exactly the same fragrance. One person immediately finds the saffron and leather, while someone else connects much more strongly with the incense. Others first notice the brighter spices or the softness of the iris.As a creator, you know every decision that went into the composition, so at some point you stop experiencing it completely innocently. Then somebody describes something you made using completely different words and suddenly you smell that part of the fragrance again.I actually like losing some of that control. Once a fragrance belongs to somebody else, their own experiences and memories become part of it too.Who did you imagine wearing Saffron Attitude while you were making it?I deliberately didn’t imagine one specific person. I was much more interested in imagining an attitude: someone who has their own point of view and a certain confidence in who they are.That person could be twenty or sixty. They could be incredibly expressive or extremely quiet. What connects them is that they are not dressing, speaking or living primarily for somebody else’s approval.That feels much more interesting to me than designing a perfume around a conventional demographic.Do you think the traditional idea of “men’s” and “women’s” perfume still has any relevance?As a marketing category, it obviously still exists, but creatively it isn’t very useful to me. Smell itself doesn’t have a gender.Leather can be beautiful on anyone, rose can be powerful, woods can be sensual, vanilla can be dark and florals can feel masculine. Those classifications tell us much more about cultural conventions than they do about the materials themselves.I would much rather ask someone: does this smell like you? To me, that is a much more contemporary and personal way of thinking about fragrance.Do you see Marcus Elizabeth ultimately as a perfume house, or as a much wider creative universe where scent happens to be the starting point?Perfume is at the centre, but Marcus Elizabeth is gradually becoming a wider creative universe. I still very much think of it as a perfume house because scent is our most important language and the place where many of our ideas begin, but I’ve never wanted creativity to stop at the bottle.Artifacts, candles, fashion, objects, imagery and exhibitions can all belong to the same world, as long as there is a clear reason for them to exist. Ultimately, I’m interested in building a universe that you can smell, wear, touch and live with.What do you think people misunderstand most about the craft of perfumery?Probably how much editing is involved. From the outside, perfumery can sound incredibly romantic: you choose a few beautiful ingredients, mix them together and suddenly you have a perfume.The reality is much more precise. A tiny adjustment can completely change the balance of a composition. Sometimes you add more of something because you want it to become more noticeable and somehow it becomes less visible. You remove one ingredient and another suddenly becomes incredibly loud. Something can smell beautiful on a blotter and behave completely differently on skin.A lot of perfumery is repetition, evaluation and restraint. Knowing what not to add is often just as important as knowing what to add.What scent do you personally never get tired of?Fresh citrus peel. I think that probably goes all the way back to the lemon tree in my grandmother’s garden.When you cut or peel a citrus fruit and the oils are released into the air, there is something incredibly alive about that smell. It is so familiar to me, but somehow it still manages to surprise me every time.And finally, when somebody sprays Saffron Attitude and walks out of the door, what do you want them to feel?I want Saffron Attitude to feel like the final thing you put on before leaving the house. You’ve chosen your clothes, your shoes and maybe your jewellery, and then the fragrance is that final gesture that completes everything.Not because the perfume suddenly transforms you into somebody else, but because it brings something forward that was already there. It gives you that final sense of presence, confidence and attitude.You spray it, and you’re ready to go.Saffron Attitude is that final move before you step out the door. It is not about becoming someone else, but bringing a little more of yourself forward. Now, the fragrance comes home to Amsterdam, the city where both Marcus Elizabeth and Patta have built their communities.Come experience Saffron Attitude for yourself this Friday, September 11 at Patta Amsterdam, where the fragrance and accompanying candle will be available in-store.

We gave you fair warning; now here’s the lineup. Early bird and regular tickets are already gone, so if you’re still figuring out your Amsterdam Dance Event goals, now is the time. Final tickets available now.On Saturday, October 24th, we’re taking over Skatecafe from 21:00 till late for Round 4 of our ADE events, with over 1000 people dancing across three rooms. The night is 18+ and as a little gift from the universe, the clocks go back that night so we get an extra hour on the dancefloor.From emerging talent and local legends to international guests, expect the energy to build from doors open to close. Grime, dubstep, bubbling, soundsystem pressure, leftfield bass, UKG and jungle collide with baile funk, gqom, kuduro, Jersey club, dancehall, Afrobeats, amapiano, R&B, hip-hop and house. Plus two live sets pushing things into different territory, from Caribbean carnival pressure to soulful Afro-electronic R&B. What are you waiting for? Get amongst it!

Interview by Passion Dzenga A year after releasing Pages of Philosophy, Ruby Francis still isn’t quite ready to close the book on it. If anything, the London singer, songwriter, producer and DJ has found another way into the record.Written and produced by Francis herself, Pages of Philosophy sits somewhere between R&B, neo-soul, jazz and electronic music, reflecting an artist who has never had much interest in staying inside one musical lane. Now, a new collection of remixes opens the album up even further, handing its songs to friends and collaborators from London to New York, Australia and South Africa and allowing them to pull the music into completely different spaces.It also arrives as Francis’ relationship with the dancefloor continues to deepen. Alongside making her own music, DJing has become another important part of her practice, changing how she thinks about movement, arrangement and what happens to a song once it leaves the studio.We caught up with Ruby to talk about giving Pages of Philosophy a second life, trusting other producers with her music, the difference between thinking like a songwriter and a DJ, her Jamaican and Italian-British roots, and what comes next.Pages of Philosophy has been out for a year now. When you listen back to the album today, what do you hear differently from when you first finished it?It’s hard to put into words because I feel a lot of different, contradicting things. It still feels brand new to me, and I’m still excited by it and its future. But at the same time, when I listen back, I feel that it’s ageing and nurturing, like good cheese or wine!I’m really proud of it and still feel excited by it. I love the musical and sonic choices I made, and I’m excited to watch it grow. It’s a bit like a baby turning into a toddler.What made this project feel like the right one to revisit through remixes rather than simply moving straight on to the next record?It almost wasn’t my decision! I got such great feedback from people, including a lot of artists, and a few of them asked if they could remix the record. It felt right to honour that, and I’m so happy I did.I’ve also been deepening my knowledge and career as a DJ, and I’m really starting to understand the power of remixes. Whether it’s bringing something onto the dancefloor or playing it on my radio shows, you’re giving the music a new life and giving different people new ways to digest it.I guess if you’re asking me why, my answer is: why not?You wrote and produced the original album yourself. What was it like handing those songs over to other producers and letting them reshape something so personal?If I’m honest, once the original project was released, I felt a sense of detachment from it. It no longer belongs to me. As an artist, I’ve done my part and handed it over to the world.I felt similarly about handing it over to other producers. These are producers I’m a fan of and also friends with, so there was already an element of trust and excitement around it.The remix project brings together artists from South Africa, Australia, New York and London. How did you choose the collaborators?It was all quite organic. I had pre-existing relationships with each of the artists involved and I’m genuinely a fan of all of their music.Geo Jordan is my chosen family. We’ve been friends and collaborators for years. MXXWLL I’ve known for many years too; we’ve always kept in touch online and started working on a few bits when he came to London. Geotheory and Fiji Mageba are artists I’ve been a fan of for a while — I love everything they release and we’ve always been in touch online. Jamie and Basile are friends and are always up to cool stuff, whether that’s playing live or DJing at events around the city.I’m super lucky to be in touch with all of them.Did you give anyone direction on where you wanted them to take the originals?None at all. I honestly didn’t have any expectations, because if I did, I feel like that would defeat the point of a remix.I wasn’t approaching it thinking about making music that sells. It was more about creative curiosity and seeing how each producer would interpret the music individually. I gave no direction to any of them and simply trusted their talents to create something unique to them.Was there one remix that completely surprised you or made you understand the original differently?They all did to an extent. I really loved hearing my vocals on Geotheory’s liquid vibe, and Fiji’s super slow, ethereal one.I also loved how all of the remixes reharmonised the chords I’d written. I’m a huge fan of chords and always love a good reharm. It’s so rewarding to my brain and spirit.Your own contribution is the club edit of “Y U Always On My Mind?”. How does your approach change when you’re thinking like a DJ rather than a songwriter or producer?I’m thinking more about bringing the mood and how it might fit with other songs rather than the arrangement or individual technical bits. I’m thinking, “How can I make people get gassed and move?” rather than, “How can this lyric tell this particular story?” or, “What type of snare should I use?”With this remix in particular, I pretty much just sped it up and made the arrangement longer so DJs can mix it with other tracks easily. I didn’t actually change anything in the production.Your music pulls from ’00s R&B, neo-soul, jazz and electronic music without ever sitting neatly in one space. Have you always been comfortable moving between those worlds?Absolutely. I’m always most comfortable outside the box.Each of these sounds has raised me both as an artist and as a human, and I love being able to pull inspiration from each genre. My expression has never strictly fallen into any one category. That’s just how it has always naturally been for me. I don’t know any different.You started writing and producing from a really young age. What did learning to produce your own music give you creatively that songwriting alone couldn’t?More ways to communicate and express myself — often more than lyrics can. Production says things that words cannot. Sometimes a progression of chords, a melody or an arrangement can say it all.With words, you can say, “I love you,” and of course there are other poetic ways to convey that. But musically, there are limitless ways to communicate the same feeling. It could be through the movement of chords, the space you use, bringing strings into one section and taking them away in another, or through synth lines that are slightly detuned, reverbs and textures.“I love you” can really be felt without the words.Your dad played bass and you grew up around a lot of music. What parts of your Jamaican and Italian-British upbringing do you recognise in your music now?It’s interesting because my cultures didn’t really play a huge part in my musical upbringing. It came more through subtle values at home and my wider family. I’d visit my Jamaican grandparents and hear their beautiful accents and stories from the past, or visit my Nonno and have risotto and learn words with him. Those things trickled down into my home as a child, but they weren’t necessarily the most prominent part of growing up.It’s actually in my adult years that I’ve become much more interested in the music and culture of Jamaica and Italy. Especially Italy. I’m obsessed with Italian film music from the ’50s through to the ’70s. Composers like Henry Mancini and Piero Piccioni have really inspired me.I’m also feeling called to travel to Jamaica and Italy to deepen my knowledge of my Jamaican Black history as well as my Italian history.And through my dad being with an Icelander and moving to Iceland, I now call Reykjavík a second home. I’m often back and forth between there and London and feel really familiar with the culture there too — Björk, hot springs, soup and the Northern Lights!You’ve mentioned everyone from Stevie Wonder and Jill Scott to Björk and Astrud Gilberto as influences. What part of your musical taste do you think might surprise someone who only knows you through your R&B records?Anyone who really knows me would say none of it is surprising! But perhaps people who are more familiar with the R&B side of my sound might be surprised by the more alternative stuff.I love indie, alternative and slightly rocky stuff like Men I Trust, as well as the old-school film music I mentioned earlier.On 10 September you’re performing at Gamla Bíó in Reykjavík around Yasiin Bey’s show. What does sharing a bill with an artist like him mean to you?It’s pretty nuts! It’s a massive privilege to share the stage with such a legend.Although I’m not the most familiar with his music, I love pretty much anything that came out of the Soulquarians, and I love what he stands for lyrically. I’ve heard he’s a wicked performer, so I’m excited to watch him do his thing. That’s the best way to fully educate myself!I also think it’s great that his music is being brought to the small population of Iceland. Big ups to my boy Benni, B Ruff, for making it all happen.The performance itself will be a DJ set by Rev, with a few other artists joining for a kind of cypher set with some crazy visuals. It’ll be a vibe.After giving Pages of Philosophy this second life, what feels like the next chapter for Ruby Francis?New music! I’m going to be locking in over the next few months to work on my demos and a new direction.I’ll also be travelling to Jazzy Jeff’s Playlist Retreat this month, which I’m sure will bring about new inspiration and collaborations. I’m excited to finish up and release new stuff.I’m also working on my next live headline show in time for the five-year anniversary of my debut album, Archives.A year on, Pages of Philosophy feels less like a record Ruby Francis is looking back on and more like one that is still finding new places to go. Handing the songs over to friends and collaborators has opened them up to different tempos, dance floors and interpretations, while her own growing relationship with DJing has given her another way to understand how music can move between people.That same curiosity seems to be carrying Francis into whatever comes next. With new demos taking shape, time set aside for writing and collaboration, and the fifth anniversary of her debut album Archives approaching, she is already thinking beyond the world of Pages of Philosophy. If the remix project proves anything, though, it is that moving forward does not always mean leaving old work behind. Sometimes a song just needs a different set of ears, a different room or a few extra BPM to reveal what else was hiding inside it.

As we prepare to close the doors of Patta Milano, we’re spending the weekend showing love to the people and communities that have made the city feel like home.On September 13, our homies at MOSAIKO are taking over Quarto Oggiaro for the MOSAIKO Block Party — bringing together music, community and some of the people pushing Milan’s creative culture forward.Milan is full of artists, collectives and communities building incredible things every day, but those different worlds don’t always get the chance to meet. MOSAIKO wants to change that.Taking place at ARCI Itaca, the Block Party is about creating a space where people can connect, dance, create and celebrate together. More importantly, it isn’t about bringing something to Quarto Oggiaro, but building something with the neighbourhood.Created alongside Milan-based collectives, artists, partners and local community members, the day is rooted in exchange, collaboration and giving back. Music. Community. People. Energy. We’re proud to support the homies and see Milan come together for this one.

After more than seven years in Milano, we’re bringing this chapter of our story to a close. To mark the moment, we’re opening the doors of our Milano Chapter Store for a special sale from September 10th until September 12th, bringing together our community one more time in the space we’ve called home. This is our chance to celebrate those seven years together.While the Milano Chapter Store is closing, our relationship with the city and the wider Italian community continues. Patta will keep building through grassroots initiatives, activations, collaborations and new projects across Italy.Thank you to our Milano team and to everyone who has walked through the doors, supported us and made the space their own.The chapter closes. The community continues.Find us this week here

Interview by Passion DzengaLaunching in 2021, Echobox has been forging a path for community radio by showcasing the diverse characters and concepts that surround their station. In this feature, we will be looking into one of the broadcasts that you can tune into, so get locked in and don’t touch that dial.Ten years in, Rhythmic Culture still moves like it’s in its first year - hungry, stubborn, and led by taste over hype. What started as Brendan Reterink’s personal SoundCloud for sharing mixes with friends has grown into a multi-lane platform: a mix series with international reach, a monthly Echobox radio residency that brings the community into the room, a label releasing left-field projects on its own terms, and an agency built from the same instinct that started it all, spotting talent too good to be overlooked.In this conversation, we trace the full arc: the early DIY parties before venues would trust them with a night slot, the pandemic pivot that pushed Rhythmic Culture from link-sharing into proper world-building, and the philosophy that’s kept it consistent for a decade. Brendan speaks on rhythm as the “red thread” across genres, why community can’t be treated like a marketing line, and how real trust - in artists, in curators, and in your own instincts - is what keeps a platform alive when nobody’s making a living off it. With 50 radio episodes on the horizon and new releases in motion, Rhythmic Culture isn’t celebrating an anniversary. It’s marking momentum.You started Rhythmic Culture as a personal platform, what was the original spark?Basically, when I started Rhythmic Culture, I was also in my early days of getting into DJing. I wanted to create a platform for myself where I could share the stuff I was into with friends and people who were interested. That was way before my full-time time in the music scene, so my network wasn’t what it is now. I didn’t have so many like-minded people around me. It was just a place to drop what I liked. There wasn’t a bigger plan behind it back then.At some point, I started asking people around me like, “Hey, are you interested in recording a mix for this too?” That’s how we started dropping mixes on SoundCloud every now and then, and we did that for about a year.When did it move from “just a SoundCloud” into something more real?The first year was mainly that. Then I started an internship at ADE and I was around a bunch of young people who were eager to do something in the music industry. I told some guys, “I have this SoundCloud thing, we’ve got a little community checking it, and I’m planning to do a little event, are you interested in helping?” They were like, “Yeah, let’s do it.”Our first event was from 7 to 11 in the bar of Chicago Social Club because they didn’t trust us enough to give us a proper night slot. So we got a slot before they opened, but we filled the whole bar with friends. From there, we started connecting with programmers and venue people in Rotterdam, Breda, and Amsterdam, and we started asking if they were willing to let us host small parties. And we did for a year and a half.Then COVID started. We had our agenda planned and then nothing could happen. We were sitting still and didn’t know how long it would take. After a couple months, we were like, “Why are we not going online?” We still had something to offer.That’s when we started building a website, doing regular mixes on SoundCloud, and creating a proper online music platform. We started doing editorials too. That switch is really the base of what Rhythmic Culture is now.So the DIY approach was always the foundation, did that DIY mindset also shape the editorial side?Yeah, everything we did was from our own resources. We looked at what we could do within our team. It was, and still is, very personal to all of us. It’s a direct reflection of my vision of music, and I think that’s why I could do it for so long. It’s personal, and I have the freedom to show what I want. No one tells me, “I don’t like this,” or “You should do something else.”That’s also why Rhythmic Culture differs from other projects I did with ADE or Dekmantel. Those are bigger, more professional organisations. With Rhythmic Culture, we always had freedom. We don’t care if you’re a bedroom DJ or established, if we think you’re cool, we’ll try to give you the platform.And we’re still small in that sense. We serve a certain group of people who are searching for this kind of music curation. There’s no need for us to be the next RA, those platforms already exist and serve that community. We’re trying to bring a different curation. I still find names I’ve never heard, and that triggers me. There’s so much talent out there that doesn’t get a podium. Over the years, I've also learned that being independent isn't just about doing everything yourself. It's also about not relying on external validation. In the beginning you naturally hope people around you will understand or support what you're building, but I've realised that's not something you can expect. Now, whenever we start something new, the question is simply: are we genuinely excited about this ourselves? If the answer is yes, that's enough. We've learned to trust our own taste first, and I think that's what has kept Rhythmic Culture authentic after ten years.In your press release you said: “Even after all this time, we still haven’t cracked the code.” What are you still learning?I think what we’re still learning is that there probably isn’t really a code to crack. The musical landscape is always changing, and so are we. For us, it’s more about sticking to what you believe in, while still being open to what’s happening around you.Being stubborn in how we look at music is a big part of that. That’s what brought us here. We believed in what we saw in the musical landscape and pushed it without making too many compromises. But at the same time, you’re constantly discovering new things and learning from the people and scenes around you.And I think curation is probably more important now than ever. We have access to so much music now, pretty much everything is out there if you know where to look. But there’s also so much that it can be hard to find something new or different. That’s where I think curation becomes important—someone showing you something you might not have found yourself.That’s also why things like our guest curation series are important to us. We ask artists we admire to pick two lesser-known artists from their city, scene or country to record mixes for the channel. Everyone I asked said yes, and through that we’ve had the opportunity to work with artists like Simo Cell, Mia Koden and ZULI. Recently we did one with Lil Mofo, and there’s a very cool one coming up with Gavsborg. For me, that’s also what community is about. It’s not something you can just use as marketing. It comes from people actually wanting to be part of what you’re doing and contributing to it in their own way.There’s a desire to show what’s around, because established artists already have platforms. But there are so many talented people who don’t. I think that’s something we’re still learning as well: to keep looking beyond what we already know and not think that we’ve figured it all out. The drive stays the same—do what you believe in and don’t just go for what’s successful.You’re celebrating 10 years,  why “Rhythmic Culture”? What does rhythm mean to the platform?When I started, I was thinking: what word captures what I believe in? I’m not someone who’s only into one type of music, but the red thread in everything I’m into is rhythm. And if you look at what we represent, everything is based around different sorts of rhythms.We don’t really care if you’re a techno guy or into dancehall. For me, it’s more about that common thread between all these different types of music. And we’re still expanding and evolving as well. I’m exploring a lot of Hip Hop beat making now, and those elements are slowly finding their way back into the platform too.Has anything “left field” surprised you through running the platform, something that changed the way you think about curation?Curating a lot and running the mix series has definitely encouraged me to keep looking at what’s out there. There’s a lot of digging involved—going through SoundCloud, diving into artists and listening to sets. I listen to a lot of mixes throughout the week. Not everything you come across is something you like, but that’s also part of digging.I think the biggest thing is that it keeps you curious. There’s often an element of surprise, even when you think you know what to expect from an artist or a scene. You can come across something completely different from what you had in mind, and suddenly you’re down another rabbit hole.Even for me as a curator, I still get surprised by the things I’m curating. I think that’s probably what changed the way I look at it. You can have your own taste and ideas about music, but you have to stay open and keep looking. That’s also why I still enjoy doing it so much after all these years.You’ve also introduced guest curators. What’s your thought process there?We showcased a lot of artists already, but there’s so much going on that’s not on my radar. And because I’m doing many things in the music environment, I got in touch with a lot of artists and people, and I got to know them on a personal level too.At some point I thought: why should I put focus on the Lisbon scene myself if I’m not even from there? Why not ask someone local who’s in the middle of it, let them pick two artists. It adds an extra level of discovery, because my knowledge stops somewhere.It keeps it interesting for me too. Sometimes when I see what people are coming back with, it’s often names I haven’t heard about. I think it’s a great opportunity to put lesser known artists in the spotlight and the curators often have very personal stories that come with it. Simo Cell for example picked his university professor, who turned out to be a sick DJ.You’ve been running Rhythmic Culture Radio on Echobox for years now. What does the radio format give you that the mix series doesn’t?Before Echobox we did radio shows at places like Operator or Kiosk, but they were one-offs. When we found out Echobox was starting, it was like: we can apply and build something recurring, a monthly thing.When Echobox gave us the monthly residency, they wanted us to host and talk on the mic – which I didn’t really like in the beginning haha. But it added a whole different layer to the show because we could actually talk about music. Now it’s almost second nature.The mix series became something with a very international focus and it’s something that solely lives online. The Echobox show lets us focus more on what’s local, and talk, and the format is different. It’s a chance to highlight new music I get sent through promos or friends. When we get a guest, we do interviews.And there’s a physical element to it, because we actually go to a radio studio and meet with people. A lot of what we do is digital, but with the radio we can really connect in person with artists and the music community.You also started a label. How did the label releases come together, and what’s next?The label was always something I wanted to do, but I never really had the time to put a lot of effort into it. The way we approach it now is quite simple: we get demos from friends or people who know and like what we do, and see if we can make something work.We had a release with Keita Sano from Japan. I got something like 20 demos from him and honestly, everything was sick, but we narrowed it down to five. That release was super cool–it’s not necessarily a super polished EP and that also made it very interesting for me to put out.We also did one with Benedikt Frey, which went more into a breaky jungle/drum & bass direction—quite different from his other projects. And we did a mix cassette with Zohar and Mika Oki.At the moment, we’re working on some future plans again, so hopefully we’ll have some new stuff coming out towards the end of the year.50 episodes of Rhythmic Culture Radio is just passed, how did you mark the moment and did you celebrating it properly?We’ve treated our 50th show pretty much like all the others—just bringing good tunes. I also think it’s quite hard to suddenly do something that feels unique or fresh, especially considering we’ve gone all over the place with the show over the past 50 episodes and counting.Echobox moved to a new studio. What changed for you, and what does the new space unlock?When Echobox started, the studio was literally two minutes from my home. I’d get a call five minutes before the show, like, “You coming?” and I’d leave and be there. Now I have to bike to Noord, so I have to plan.But I really like the new studio. It fits the vision better because Echobox wanted to become a community space. Now people can actually go and visit, that accessibility was missing. The old studio was nice but hidden. If you weren’t an insider, it was impossible to go there.Now it can become more like Kiosk or The Lot Radio: a space where you can just go hang, meet like-minded people. I want Echobox to become that, if you’re visiting Amsterdam or it’s a sunny Sunday and you don’t know what to do, you go there, drink a beer, talk about music.Amsterdam has a lot of islands, techno people there, jazz and house there, hip-hop there. With Kiosk it doesn’t matter, you sit at the same table. I hope Echobox becomes a space like that: you’re into music, you go, connect, put ego aside, and share discovery.If you go back to 2016. Did you ever expect you’d still be doing this 10 years later?No, not at all. I never started with a vision of becoming a platform. I still ask myself sometimes where we want to go. We always kept going with what felt good, followed the flow, and we’re happy with the direction.We’re still super small. Sometimes it’s frustrating, you put effort in and don’t always get feedback back. But the important thing is we stayed real to ourselves. We never made choices we weren’t happy about. And we’re not financially dependent on it, everything goes back into the platform, everyone has a job on the side, that’s the strength of the DIY mentality.What excites you most right now, what feels “next” for Rhythmic Culture?After 10 years I reflect more on what we do and our position, what we bring. I’m thinking a lot about reinventing in a way that still fits us. Things are working, but I still feel there’s potential.  More to get out of it, more to win for the platform and the people we work with.That’s why it sometimes feels like we’re just starting. Which is weird, because it’s been 10 years, but it feels like there’s still more to figure out.Is that same “natural progression” why you expanded into an agency?Yeah. With most projects we start, there’s never a big intention; it comes from flow or frustration.I was like: we talk with so many people in the industry, why don’t we just try to get them some air time? So we started. I had no experience in running a booking agency, neither did Tim, we just went for it and learned along the way. That’s still how we approach it.I think we’re not the typical booking agency. We’re not there to get the most and biggest shows for the highest fees and that’s something we always make clear from the beginning. I want the roster to offer something fresh and exciting into the scene. All the artists we work with, we strongly believe in and we’re eager to find out what we can do and put our platform behind our artists.Who’s on the roster right now?Our roster consists of quite some names that I’m happy to work with, and first and foremost am a big fan of myself. For some international artists we function as a sub-agent for just The Netherlands. We’ve got AliA and Ava Eva, both crazy good Belgian DJs. Then we’ve got Photonz, a Lisbon dance music legend and King Kami – a killer DJ from Brazil and also based in Lisbon. Low End Activist, NPLGNN and ojoo all are real champions in soundsystem culture and their (live)sets are out of this world. And of course we have incredible local artists on the roster that I’m very excited to work with; askmelater, Lieke TR, Lolo Batten, Max Abysmal, Misa, Nathan Kofi and Teqmun. I can really recommend checking them all out.With that in mind, what do you want to build into the agency next?Tim and I talked about building a talent development program into the agency. Like: bringing in someone young from Amsterdam, putting them alongside other artists on the roster, and giving leverage through our platform. Using the platform for new talent is something we shouldn’t underestimate.Last one: you run a platform that also gives curators space. How do you approach trust in curation?When I ask someone to curate for us, I give them full trust. I would never tell someone that I disagree with what they’re doing. If I choose to put the curation out of my own hands, I want that person to have complete freedom and my full trust.That’s also how I’ve approached Rhythmic Culture from the start. If I wanted to do something, I did it. I didn’t really care whether it was “cool” or not. I just put it out and made sure it got the exposure it deserved.I think that’s also how I look at the people we work with. Everyone has their own perspective and way of looking at things, and that’s exactly why you ask them to curate in the first place. So for me, Rhythmic Culture is a platform not only for makers, but for curators too.And you’re really saying you’ve got another 10 years in you?10 years is quite a long time and 2016 really feels so long ago, but I have the feeling we have so much more to offer and discover. If we can keep going at the same pace as the past 10 years, I’m pretty sure we’ll manage another 10.Tune in to Echobox. Broadcasting from below sea level every week, from Wednesday until Saturday.

After more than seven years, we’re closing the doors to our Milano Chapter Store.Since opening, the store has been a place for the Italian Patta community to meet, connect and spend time together. From releases and events to the everyday moments in between, Milano became an important part of Patta’s journey.We want to thank everyone who helped make the store what it became. To the Milano team, whose work and dedication kept the space moving, and to everyone who came through the doors and supported us over the years.While the store is closing, our connection to Milano doesn’t stop here. We’ll continue to build with the communities we’ve connected with through grassroots initiatives, activations and other projects in Italy.Seven years brought a lot with it. Friendships, collaborations, memories and a community that extends well beyond the store itself.Thank you to everyone who is part of Patta Milano.The doors may be closing, but the community remains.

From the first broadcast to the final track, Oroko Radio became the heartbeat of our Fête de la Musique celebrations in Paris. Together with Awake NY and Marshall, we spent the day bringing together artists, DJs and creatives from across the diaspora. Ann1cee, Badgalbob, Charles Moon, Likkle Studio, Yokothemoon and Yoluigi each brought their own perspectives. As the broadcast came to a close, the energy spilled into the streets for the Patta Cypher, together some of the city's sharpest MCs alongside friends and family. Big up to Dooky, James LeJ, Costa BLF, Wata MC, Radou, D2R, L'Ultra, Oussoum, Robinin and Akadre. Bringing together some of Paris' sharpest voices alongside friends and family, it was a reminder that, whether through records or rap, the spirit of Fête de la Musique has always been about people coming together to create something bigger than themselves. Thank you to everyone who tuned in, pulled up and made the day what it was. Paris, we'll see you again soon.Listen back to ANN1CEEListen back to BadgalbobListen back to the Patta CypherListen back to YoluigiListen back to Charles MoonListen back to Yokothemoon  

Photography by Filippo and Angus FraserLast Sunday, we came together for a series of cycling workshops focused on building confidence, skills and community on two wheels. With little to no previous experience needed, participants worked on group riding, on-bike agility and cornering techniques, learning together and supporting one another throughout the session. More importantly, everyone brought plenty of energy and smiles along the way.A huge thank you to everyone who came through, whether you joined the workshop or helped make the day happen. We hope this is only the beginning, and we look forward to seeing everyone back on the bike for a future ride. Special thanks to Streetwise Cycle Team and De Regenboog Groep for sharing the vision and helping bring the workshops to life.

Luca Durán links with Kelman Duran and Gavsborg for “Lejanía,” the lead single from his forthcoming album, Killing Mariposas, arriving via TraTraTrax. Following a string of appearances on the label, Killing Mariposas marks Luca Durán’s first full-length studio album for TraTra. Drawing from the contradictions and connections of the diasporic experience, the record brings rhythm-heavy club forms into contact with the experimental textures of Durán’s European musical education. Field recordings, acoustic instrumentation and analogue synthesis sit alongside forward-thinking production, moving between moments of contemplation and outright euphoria. Across the album, traces of cumbia, reggaetón and dembow emerge through fragmented, memory-like electronics, with collaborators including Kelman Duran, Gavsborg, Iceboy_Violet, Debit, Rosa Pistola, BÉBE YANA, Kamohelo, kacha and SAM-E helping expand its world.Watch the music video for “Lejanía” by Luca Durán & Kelman Duran featuring Gavsborg now.